30 longest heritage preserved railways in the UK

[railfan99]

I've been priviliged from Australia to travel to your most interesting group of nations more than once and hence have been on Dartmouth Steam Railway, Ecclesbourne Valley Railway, East Lancashire Railway, Great Central Railway during its autumn 2022 steam gala, North Norfolk Railway, North Yorkshire Moors Railway, Severn Valley Railway and my favourite, West Somerset Railway.

I can't however find a list from top down of the 30 longest heritage railways in the UK.

I am including all gauges provided they open to the public.

I do not include line sections that aren't part of normal timetables. So on WSR it'd only be Bishops Lydeard to Minehead even though due to the embankment problems trains recently had to operate to the traingle near Taunton.

While it's a moot point, I also don't include National Rail passenger train operated sections such as Grosmont to Whitby as that line is not maintained by the preserved railway.

Can anyone compile a list please?

For starters:

#1 West Somerset Railway 32 kilometres
#2 North Yorkshire Moors Railway 29 km
#3? Severn Valley Railway 25.7 km

#4? Bluebell Railway 17.6km

then quite a few in the 11.3-12.1 km range (i.e. 7 to 7.5 miles) such as Nene Valley, South Devon Railway, Talyllyn Railway and so on.


(Mods note - if you want to jump to the list you’ll find it here.)

 

[Box]

The West Highland Railway markets itself as Britain’s longest at 25 miles.

 

[steamybrian]

The West Highland Railway markets itself as Britain’s longest at 25 miles.

Corrected to Welsh Highland Railway

Also add in the Ffestiniog Railway at 13 and half miles which is about the same length as the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway in Kent.
Also in Kent is the Kent& East Sussex Railway at approx 10 miles,

Vale of Rheidol Railway in Wales is 12 miles

 

[CJSwan]

Keith and Dufftown, 11 miles
Strathspey Railway, 10 miles (Aviemore to Broomhill, but being extended to Grantown-on-Spey)

 

[steamybrian]

Gloucestershire and Warwickshire Railway is 14 miles

 

[Calthrop]

Mid-Hants. Railway 10 miles / 16 km.

Great Central Ry. (Loughborough -- Leicester) 8.25 miles / 13.2 km.

 

[Box]

Corrected to Welsh Highland Railway

Oops indeed, thanks

 

[Alanko]

Keith and Dufftown, 11 miles
Strathspey Railway, 10 miles (Aviemore to Broomhill, but being extended to Grantown-on-Spey)

Has there been a breakthrough with the extension to Grantown?


Keith and Dufftown arguably only worth the jaunt if you like early DMUs and whisky.

 

[Magdalia]

I have a very old book "Preserved Railway Miles and Chains". It doesn't have a date but does have a supplement dated 1998 which is 25 years ago! The supplement mainly corrects errors in the original book.

From this source, plus some more recent information, I have the following of 5 miles or more.
* are narrow gauge

*Welsh Highland c25m see above
West Somerset 19m51ch
North Yorkshire Moors 17m72ch
Severn Valley Railway 16m13ch
Gloucestershire and Warwickshire c14m see above

*Ffestiniog 13m50ch
*Romney Hythe and Dymchurch 13m34ch
East Lancashire 12m3ch
*Vale of Rheidol 11m57ch
Mid Norfolk 11m31ch but possibly extended?

Keith and Dufftown c11m see above
Bluebell 10m66ch
Mid Hants 10m11ch
Strathspey 9m5ch
*Bure Valley 8m40ch

*Welshpool and Llanfair 8m7ch
Great Central 7m50ch
Llangollen 7m29ch
*Talyllyn 7m28ch
Nene Valley 7m3ch

North Staffordshire Railway 6m79ch but possibly extended?
*Ravenglass and Eskdale 6m67ch
Paignton and Dartmouth 6m57ch
Dart Valley 6m55ch
Kent and East Sussex 6m54ch but possibly extended to c10m see above

Swanage 5m60ch
North Norfolk 5m10ch
Spa Valley 5m7ch

Two more that are too new for the book, and probably exceed 5 miles, are Great Central (North) and Epping and Ongar.

That gives 30 railways in total.

 

[12LDA28C]

I have a very old book "Preserved Railway Miles and Chains". It doesn't have a date but does have a supplement dated 1998 which is 25 years ago! The supplement mainly corrects errors in the original book.

This book has been updated and reprinted several times to incorporate changes made over time. I myself have 3 editions of it and as far as I know the latest version is still available from Stuart Clarke who compiles the book, as well as versions covering the UK mainline railway and European lines.

 

[DarloRich]

Do we include Whitby as part of the NYMR?

 

[12LDA28C]

Do we include Whitby as part of the NYMR?

According to the OP, no.

 

[John Luxton]

The combined Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland should be regarded as one railway under a common management.

There was a book published some years ago entitled "The Forty Mile Railway" which basically recognised it as one railway.

 

[paul1609]

I have a very old book "Preserved Railway Miles and Chains". It doesn't have a date but does have a supplement dated 1998 which is 25 years ago! The supplement mainly corrects errors in the original book.

From this source, plus some more recent information, I have the following of 5 miles or more.
* are narrow gauge

*Welsh Highland c25m see above
West Somerset 19m51ch
North Yorkshire Moors 17m72ch
Severn Valley Railway 16m13ch
Gloucestershire and Warwickshire c14m see above

*Ffestiniog 13m50ch
*Romney Hythe and Dymchurch 13m34ch
East Lancashire 12m3ch
*Vale of Rheidol 11m57ch
Mid Norfolk 11m31ch but possibly extended?

Keith and Dufftown c11m see above
Bluebell 10m66ch
Mid Hants 10m11ch
Strathspey 9m5ch
*Bure Valley 8m40ch

*Welshpool and Llanfair 8m7ch
Great Central 7m50ch
Llangollen 7m29ch
*Talyllyn 7m28ch
Nene Valley 7m3ch

North Staffordshire Railway 6m79ch but possibly extended?
*Ravenglass and Eskdale 6m67ch
Paignton and Dartmouth 6m57ch
Dart Valley 6m55ch
Kent and East Sussex 6m54ch but possibly extended to c10m see above

Swanage 5m60ch
North Norfolk 5m10ch
Spa Valley 5m7ch

Two more that are too new for the book, and probably exceed 5 miles, are Great Central (North) and Epping and Ongar.

That gives 30 railways in total.

The Kent & East Sussex Railway is currently 10m 60ch (the site of Junction Rd Halt to Tenterden Town Station).
There are regular passenger services over 10m 10ch from Bodiam to Tenterden Town.
If we are sucessful with the public enquiry the line will extend back to 13m 40 ch.

 

[Flying Phil]

There is also the GCR(N) at 9 miles long. If we wait a couple of years, as the "Gap" is filled, then the GCR will be 18 miles long.

 

[Cowley]

I have a very old book "Preserved Railway Miles and Chains". It doesn't have a date but does have a supplement dated 1998 which is 25 years ago! The supplement mainly corrects errors in the original book.

From this source, plus some more recent information, I have the following of 5 miles or more.
* are narrow gauge

*Welsh Highland c25m see above
West Somerset 19m51ch
North Yorkshire Moors 17m72ch
Severn Valley Railway 16m13ch
Gloucestershire and Warwickshire c14m see above

*Ffestiniog 13m50ch
*Romney Hythe and Dymchurch 13m34ch
East Lancashire 12m3ch
*Vale of Rheidol 11m57ch
Mid Norfolk 11m31ch but possibly extended?

Keith and Dufftown c11m see above
Bluebell 10m66ch
Mid Hants 10m11ch
Strathspey 9m5ch
*Bure Valley 8m40ch

*Welshpool and Llanfair 8m7ch
Great Central 7m50ch
Llangollen 7m29ch
*Talyllyn 7m28ch
Nene Valley 7m3ch

North Staffordshire Railway 6m79ch but possibly extended?
*Ravenglass and Eskdale 6m67ch
Paignton and Dartmouth 6m57ch
Dart Valley 6m55ch
Kent and East Sussex 6m54ch but possibly extended to c10m see above

Swanage 5m60ch
North Norfolk 5m10ch
Spa Valley 5m7ch

Two more that are too new for the book, and probably exceed 5 miles, are Great Central (North) and Epping and Ongar.

That gives 30 railways in total.

Thanks for doing that. There’s definitely a few there that have been extended since (the Swanage and Llangollen for starters and probably more), also the Bodmin and Wenford is longer than the last two on the list at 6.5 miles I believe.

It’d be good if we could get these pinned down to produce a correct current list actually. It’s quite a useful thing to know and we can leave a link to the new list at the top of the page.

 

[Egg Centric]

Weardale Railway is 18 miles / 29km (pending some restoration work taking place). Think that makes it #3 or #4 of the ones listed above?

If you enjoy swimming then the heated lido at Stanhope is very recommended while you're up here!*


*Not open at this time of year

 

[Cowley]

Weardale Railway is 18 miles / 29km (pending some restoration work taking place). Think that makes it #3 or #4 of the list.

That’s a good one to add. The Ecclesbourne Valley must be in the list somewhere too as a more recent addition.

 

[railfan99]

Weardale Railway is 18 miles / 29km (pending some restoration work taking place). Think that makes it #3 or #4 of the ones listed above?

If you enjoy swimming then the heated lido at Stanhope is very recommended while you're up here!*


*Not open at this time of year

Huge thanks to all. Great contributions.

Showing my foreigners' ignorance, I'd never heard of Weardale Railway so will now research.

You have an amazingly great preserved railway scene in the UK. I am not the only person from a non-UK nation who appreciates this: volunteers do a great job.

 

[Cowley]

Huge thanks to all. Great contributions.

Showing my foreigners' ignorance, I'd never heard of Weardale Railway so will now research.

You have an amazingly great preserved railway scene in the UK. I am not the only person from a non-UK nation who appreciates this: volunteers do a great job.

Just to clarify things a little, are you excluding any of the lines on the Isle of Man?

 

[Cowley]

Ok I’ve attempted (after two beers) to draw a current list up.

I’m open to advice on this obviously, and any railways marked * are narrow gauge as @Magdalia had listed them, so here goes, these are all in miles:

1) *Welsh Highland Railway - 25
2) The Wensleydale Railway - 22
3) West Somerset Railway - 19.5
4) The Weardale Railway - 18
5) North Yorkshire Moors - 18
6) Severn Valley Railway - 16
7) Mid Norfolk Railway - 15
8) Gloucester and Warwickshire - 14
9) *Ffestiniog Railway - 13
10) *RH&DR - 13
11) East Lancashire Railway - 12.5
12) *Vale of Rheidol - 13
13) Keith & Dufftown - 11
14) Bluebell - 11
15) K&ESR - 10.5
16) Churnet Valley - 10.5
17) Llangollen - 10.5
18) Mid Hants - 10
19) Strathspey - 9.5
20) Swanage - 9.5
21) Ecclesbourne Valley - 9
22) GCR North - 9
23) *Bure Valley 8
24) *Welshpool & Llanfair - 8
25) GCR - 8
26) *Ravenglass & Eskdale - 7
27) *Talyllyn - 7
28) Nene Valley - 7
29) Dartmouth Steam Railway - 7
30) South Devon Railway - 6.75


I’m sure probably got some of them wrong.

 

[nanstallon]

The combined Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland should be regarded as one railway under a common management.

There was a book published some years ago entitled "The Forty Mile Railway" which basically recognised it as one railway.

That may be how some people want to see it, but on my visits to North Wales, I treat it as two railways -
1. Trains don't run through from Blaenau Ffestiniog to Caernarfon.
2. Few people do the two lines on one day, apart from the occasional special.
3. Locos generally used on the Welsh Highland Rly are too big for the Ffestiniog Rly.
4. They run separate timetables.
5. They have separate supporting societies.

But they are both superb operations!

 

[railfan99]

Just to clarify things a little, are you excluding any of the lines on the Isle of Man?

I have been there and enjoyed it, so yes, it ought be included I suppose.

 

[nanstallon]

Just to clarify things a little, are you excluding any of the lines on the Isle of Man?

At risk of seeming pedantic, I'm not sure that the IoM railways are preserved lines. They are run by the government, although I believe there is a supporting organisation of volunteers. That said, the IoM is a must for any enthusiast.

 

[Cowley]

At risk of seeming pedantic, I'm not sure that the IoM railways are preserved lines. They are run by the government, although I believe there is a supporting organisation of volunteers. That said, the IoM is a must for any enthusiast.

I was thinking along the lines of it not quite falling into the UK category technically. I’m not sure what others think but it would definitely make quite a big difference to the list…

 

[railfan99]

Ok I’ve attempted (after two beers) to draw a current list up.

I’m open to advice on this obviously, and any railways marked * are narrow gauge as @Magdalia had listed them, so here goes, these are all in miles:

Great list, even if some like Churnet Valley Railway are a bit of a pain to reach by public transport. Its website with a timetable not showing how long trains spend at Ipstone is an oddity of this heritage railway.

While WSR is my favourite but requires bus travel from Taunton, the advantage of having trains depart adjacent to a main line station like Eccelsbourne Valley Railway is huge for overseas visitors. It helps to include two heritage railways in one day, or alternatively enjoy a longer day at one to fully acquaint oneself.

Nowhere in the world can match the UK for the variety and number of heritage railways. I pray most survive challenging times.

 

[InkyScrolls]

I was thinking along the lines of it not quite falling into the UK category technically. I’m not sure what others think but it would definitely make quite a big difference to the list…

But then, the OP referred to us as a 'federation', which we aren't, so you might as well include the IoM.

 

[railfan99]

But then, the OP referred to us as a 'federation', which we aren't, so you might as well include the IoM.

Apologies for that mistake.

 

[willgreen]

Wensleydale must be up there - 22 miles according to Wikipedia (but not all of it run over)

 

[Cowley]

Wensleydale must be up there - 22 miles according to Wikipedia (but not all of it run over)

Oh bloody hell!