The first heritage railway to be rescued and run entirely by volunteers was the
Talyllyn Railway in
Wales. This
narrow-gauge line, taken over by a group of enthusiasts in 1950, was the beginning of the preservation movement worldwide.
Argentina (Train to the Clouds) crossing the Polvorilla viaduct in
Salta Province La Trochita (officially Viejo Expreso Patagónico, the Old Patagonian Express) was declared a
National Historic Monument by the
Government of Argentina in 1999. Trains on the
Patagonian
narrow-gauge railway use steam locomotives. The railway runs through the foothills of the
Andes between
Esquel and
El Maitén in
Chubut Province and
Ingeniero Jacobacci in
Río Negro Province. In southern Argentina, the
Train of the End of the World to the
Tierra del Fuego National Park is considered the world's southernmost functioning railway. Heritage railway operations started in 1994, after restoration of the old (narrow-gauge)
steam railway. In
Salta Province in northeastern Argentina, the
Tren a las Nubes (Train to the Clouds) runs along of track in what is one of the
highest railways in the world. The line has 29 bridges, 21 tunnels, 13 viaducts, two
spirals and two
zigzags, and its highest point is above sea level. In the
Misiones Province, more precisely in the Iguazú National Park, is the Ecological Train of the Forest. With a speed below 20 km per hour to avoid interfering with wildlife and the formations are propelled to
liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), a non-polluting fuel. The
Villa Elisa Historic Train (operated by Ferroclub Central Entrerriano) runs steam trains between the cities of
Villa Elisa and
Caseros in
Entre Ríos Province, covering in 120 minutes.
Australia bridge The world's second preserved railway, and the first outside the United Kingdom, was Australia's
Puffing Billy Railway. This railway operates on of track, with much of its original rolling stock built as early as 1898. Just about over half of Australia's heritage lines are operated by narrow gauge tank engines, much like the narrow gauge lines of the United Kingdom.
Austria The
Höllental Railway is a , narrow-gauge (
Bosnian gauge) railway, operating in
Lower Austria. It runs on summer weekends, connecting
Reichenau an der Rax to the nearby
Höllental.
Belgium Flanders, Belgium's northern Dutch-speaking region, has the
Dendermonde–Puurs Steam Railway; whereas
Wallonia, with its strong history of 19th century heavy industries, has the
Chemin de fer à vapeur des Trois Vallées and PFT operates the
Chemin de Fer du Bocq.
Canada Railways Tramways Heritage streetcar lines: •
Downtown Historic Railway, in
Vancouver, B.C. Replaced temporarily by the Olympic Line during the
2010 Vancouver Olympics, abandoned in 2012. •
Nelson Electric Tramway, in
Nelson, B.C.: two streetcars – Car 400 (formerly
BCER, owned by the
Royal BC Museum, operational since 1999) and Car 23 (operational since 1992) operate on a 1.2 km route from City wharf to Lakeside Park. •
High Level Bridge Streetcar, in
Edmonton, Alberta. •
Whitehorse trolley, in
Whitehorse, Yukon. Closed in 2019, re-opened in 2024. Museums with operational heritage streetcar lines: •
Halton County Radial Railway, in
Rockwood, Ontario •
Canadian Railway Museum, in
Delson/
Saint-Constant, Quebec •
Heritage Park Historical Village, in
Calgary, Alberta •
Fort Edmonton Park in
Edmonton, Alberta, operated by the Edmonton Radial Railway society along with the High Level Bridge Streetcar.
Finland at the
Porvoo railway station On the Finnish state-owned
rail network, the section between Olli and
Porvoo is a dedicated museum line. In southern
Finland, it is the only line with many structural details abandoned by the rest of the network which regularly carries passenger traffic. Wooden
sleepers, gravel ballast and low
rail weight with no
overhead catenary make it uniquely historical. Along the line, the Hinthaara railway station and the Porvoo railway station area are included in the National Board of Antiquities' inventory of cultural environments of national significance in Finland. Also on the list is scenery in the
Porvoonjoki Valley, through which the line passes. The
Jokioinen Museum Railway is a stretch of preserved narrow-gauge railway between
Humppila and
Jokioinen. Nykarleby Järnväg is a stretch of rebuilt narrow-gauge railway on the bank of the old Kovjoki–
Nykarleby line.
Germany . The is a
spur line of the
Prussian Eastern Railway, located in the
Märkische Schweiz Nature Park in
Brandenburg. It was originally constructed in 1897 as a
narrow-gauge railway, with a gauge of , connecting
Buckow to the
Müncheberg (Mark) station. This line was electrified and changed to
standard gauge in 1930. It has operated as a heritage railway since 2002.
India in
West Bengal The
Mountain railways of India are the railway lines that were built in the mountainous regions of
India. The term mainly includes the
narrow-gauge and
metre-gauge railways in these regions but may also include some
broad-gauge railways. Of the Mountain railways of India, the
Darjeeling Himalayan,
Nilgiri Mountain and
Kalka–Shimla Railways have been collectively designated as a
UNESCO World Heritage Site. To meet World Heritage criteria, the sites must retain some of their traditional infrastructure and culture. The
Nilgiri Mountain Railway is also the only
rack and pinion railway in India. The
Matheran Hill Railway, along with the
Kangra Valley Railway are preserved narrow gauge railways under consideration for UNESCO status. Some scenic routes have been preserved as heritage railways. Here normal services have stopped, only tourist heritage trains are operated. Examples of these are the
Patalpani–Kalakund Heritage Train and the Rajasthan Valley Queen Heritage train which runs from
Marwar Junction to
Khamlighat.
Indonesia that has become a museum In Indonesia there are several historic train lines and steam trains that are still operated today, including
Ambarawa Railway Museum,
Sawahlunto Railway Museum,
Cepu Forest Railway,
Jaladara excursion train in
Surakarta, and several narrow gauge lines in the Sugar Factory area.
Italy railway station, along the now tourist in
Italy in
Italy In Italy the heritage railway institute is recognized and protected by law no. 128 of 9 August 2017, which has as its objective the protection and valorisation of disused, suspended or abolished railway lines, of particular cultural, landscape and tourist value, including both railway routes and stations and the related works of art and appurtenances, on which, upon proposal of the regions to which they belong, tourism-type traffic management is applied (art. 2, paragraph 1). At the same time, the law identified a first list of 18 tourist railways, considered to be of particular value (art. 2, paragraph 2). According to article 1, law 128/2017 has as its purpose: "the protection and valorisation of railway sections of particular cultural, landscape and tourist value, which include railway routes, stations and related works of art and appurtenances, and of the historic and tourist rolling stock authorized to travel along them, as well as the regulation of the use of ferrocycles". • • •
Ceva–Ormea railway • • Agrigento Bassa-Porto Empedocle section of the Castelvetrano-Porto Empedocle railway between
Poschiavo, Switzerland, and
Tirano, Italy The
Bernina railway line is a
single-track railway line forming part of the
Rhaetian Railway (RhB). It links the spa resort of
St. Moritz, in the
canton of
Graubünden,
Switzerland, with the town of
Tirano, in the
Province of Sondrio,
Italy, via the
Bernina Pass. Reaching a height of above sea level, it is the
third highest railway crossing in Europe. It also ranks as the highest
adhesion railway of the continent, andwith
inclines of up to 7%as one of the steepest adhesion railways in the world. The elevation difference on the section between the Bernina Pass and Tirano is , allowing passengers to view glaciers along the line. On 7 July 2008, the Bernina line and the
Albula railway line, which also forms part of the RhB, were recorded in the list of
UNESCO World Heritage Sites, under the name
Rhaetian Railway in the Albula / Bernina Landscapes. The whole site is a cross-border joint Swiss-Italian heritage area. Trains operating on the Bernina line include the
Bernina Express. In July 2023,
Ferrovie dello Stato established a new company, the "FS Treni Turistici Italiani" (English: FS Italian Tourist Trains), with the mission "to propose an offer of railway services expressly designed and calibrated for quality, sustainable tourism and attentive to rediscovering the riches of the Italian territory. Tourism that can experience the train journey as an integral moment of the holiday, an element of quality in the overall tourist experience". There are three service areas proposed: •
Luxury trains, which includes the circulation of the "
Orient Express - La Dolce Vita" from 2024, and
Venice Simplon Orient Express, already operating on European routes; Some of the most emblematic pre-World War II electric locomotives and trains are the
Crocodile, notably used on the
Gotthard Railway, and the
Red Arrow. Both are occasionally operated by
SBB Historic. Switzerland also comprehends a large number of funiculars, several still working with the original carriages, such as the
Giessbachbahn.
United Kingdom in 1951, the year it opened as a heritage railway In Britain, heritage railways are often railway lines which were run as commercial railways but were no longer needed (or closed down) and were taken over or re-opened by volunteers or non-profit organisations. The large number of heritage railways in the UK is due in part to the closure of many minor lines during the 1960s'
Beeching cuts, and they were relatively easy to revive. There are between 100 and 150 heritage railways in the United Kingdom. A typical British heritage railway will use
steam locomotives and original
rolling stock to create a period atmosphere, although some are concentrating on diesel and electric traction to re-create the post-steam era. Many run seasonally on partial routes, unconnected to a larger network (or railway), and charge high fares in comparison with transit services; as a result, they focus on the tourist and leisure markets. During the 1990s and 2000s, however, some heritage railways aimed to provide local transportation and extend their running seasons to carry commercial passenger traffic. The first standard-gauge line to be preserved (not a victim of Beeching) was the
Middleton Railway; the second, and the first to carry passengers, was the
Bluebell Railway. Not-for-profit heritage railways differ in their quantity of service and some lines see traffic only on summer weekends. The more successful, such as the
Severn Valley Railway and the
North Yorkshire Moors Railway, may have up to five or six steam locomotives and operate a four-train service daily; smaller railways may run daily throughout the summer with only one steam locomotive. The
Great Central Railway, the only preserved British main line with a double track, can operate over 50 trains on a busy timetable day. After the privatisation of main-line railways, the line between not-for-profit heritage railways and for-profit
branch lines may be blurred. The
Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway is an example of a commercial line run as a heritage operation and to provide local transportation, and the Severn Valley Railway has operated a few
goods trains commercially. A number of heritage railway lines are regularly used by commercial freight operators. Since the Bluebell Railway reopened to traffic in 1960, the definition of private
standard gauge railways in the United Kingdom as preserved railways has evolved as the number of projects and their length, operating days and function have changed. The situation is further muddied by large variations in ownership-company structure, rolling stock and other assets. Unlike
community railways, tourist railways in the UK are
vertically integrated (although those operating mainly as
charities separate their
charitable and non-charitable activities for accounting purposes).
United States Railroads train locomotive|222x222px Heritage railways are known in the United States as tourist, historic, or scenic railroads. Most are remnants of original railroads, and some are reconstructed after having been scrapped. Some heritage railways preserve entire railroads in their original state using original structures, track, and motive power. night photo sessionExamples of heritage railroads in the US by preservation type: ;Original •
East Broad Top Railroad and Coal Company (Pennsylvania) •
Nevada Northern Railway (Nevada) •
California Western Railroad (California) •
Stewartstown Railroad (Pennsylvania) •
Arcade and Attica Railroad (New York) ;Remnant •
Durango and Silverton Railroad (Colorado) •
Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad (Colorado and New Mexico) •
Hocking Valley Scenic Railway (Ohio) •
Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum (Tennessee) •
Strasburg Rail Road (Pennsylvania) •
Fox River Trolley Museum (Illinois) ;Reconstructed •
Sumpter Valley Railway (Oregon) •
Tweetsie Railroad (North Carolina) •
Virginia and Truckee Railroad (Nevada) •
Wiscasset, Waterville and Farmington Railway (Maine) •
Fort Collins Municipal Railway (Colorado) •
Georgetown Loop Railroad (Colorado) ;National Park Related Lines •
Steamtown National Historic Site (Pennsylvania) •
Grand Canyon Railway (Arizona) •
Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad (Ohio) •
Golden Spike National Historical Park (Utah) Other operations, such as the
Valley Railroad or
Hocking Valley Scenic Railway operate on historic track and utilize historic equipment, but are not reflective of the operations carried out by the original railroad they operate on. Hence, they do not fit into the Heritage Railway category, but rather Tourist Railway/Amusement.
Tramways PCC trolley in
Philadelphia around 2006 Heritage streetcar lines are operating in over 20 U.S. cities, and are in planning or construction stages in others. Several new heritage streetcar lines have been opened since the 1970s; some are stand-alone lines while others make use of a section of a modern
light rail system. Heritage
streetcar systems operating in
Little Rock, Arkansas;
Memphis, Tennessee;
Dallas, Texas;
New Orleans, Louisiana;
Boston, Massachusetts (
MBTA Mattapan Trolley)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (
SEPTA route 15); and
Tampa, Florida, are among the larger examples. A heritage line operates in
Charlotte, North Carolina, and will become a part of the city's new transit system. Another such line, called
The Silver Line, operates in
San Diego. 's
F-line in 2003. Pictured are an example of one
double-ended streetcar and two single-ended cars. The
San Francisco Municipal Railway, or Muni, runs exclusively historic trolleys on its heavily used
F Market & Wharves line. The line serves Market Street and the tourist areas along the Embarcadero, including
Fisherman's Wharf. Boston's
Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority runs exclusively
PCC streetcars on its
Mattapan Line, part of that authority's
Red Line. The historic rolling stock is retained because doing so cost less than would a full rebuild of the line to accommodate either a
heavy rail line (like the rest of the Red Line or the
Blue or
Orange Lines) or a modern
light rail line (like the
Green Line). It is also unique in that it used almost exclusively by commuters and is not particularly popular with tourists (and thus may not really be a true heritage system, despite the historic rolling stock).
Dallas has the
M-Line Trolley.
Denver has the
Platte Valley Trolley, a heritage line recalling the open-sided streetcars of the early 20th century.
Old Pueblo Trolley is a volunteer-run heritage line in
Tucson, Arizona; its popularity inspired, in large part, a modern streetcar system for Tucson currently in the final planning stages, which would incorporate the heritage line. The
VTA in
San Jose, California, also maintains a heritage trolley fleet, for occasional use on the downtown portion of a new
light rail system opened in 1988. Other cities with heritage streetcar lines include
Galveston, Texas;
Kenosha, Wisconsin; and
San Pedro, California (home of the
port of Los Angeles). The
National Park Service operates a system in
Lowell, Massachusetts. Most heritage streetcar lines use overhead
trolley wires to power the cars, as was the case with the vast majority of original streetcar lines. However, on the
Galveston Island Trolley heritage line, which opened in 1988, using modern-day replicas of vintage trolleys, the cars were powered by an on-board diesel engine, as local authorities were concerned that overhead wires would be too susceptible to damage from hurricanes. In spite of that precaution, damage in 2008 from
Hurricane Ike was heavy enough to put the line out of service indefinitely, and as of 2021 it has yet to reopen, but three streetcars are being repaired and reopening is planned. Another heritage line lacking trolley wires was
Savannah's River Street Streetcar line, which opened in February 2009 and operated until around 2015. It was the first line to use a diesel/electric streetcar whose built-in electricity generator is powered by
biodiesel. In
El Reno, Oklahoma, the
Heritage Express Trolley connects Heritage Park with downtown, using a single streetcar that has been equipped with a propane-powered on-board generator. The car formerly operated on
SEPTA's Norristown High Speed Line, where
third-rail current collection is used. The El Reno line is
single-track and long. In
Portland, Oregon, replica-vintage cars provided a heritage streetcar service, named
Portland Vintage Trolley, along a section of that city's 1986-operated
light rail line from 1991 to 2014. Elsewhere in Portland, the
Willamette Shore Trolley is a seasonal, volunteer-operated excursion service on a former freight railroad line, to
Lake Oswego, Oregon. This operation uses a diesel-powered generator on a trailer towed or pushed by the streetcar, as the line lacks trolley wires. Similarly, the
Astoria Riverfront Trolley in Astoria, Oregon, is a seasonal heritage-trolley service along a section of former freight railroad and using a diesel-powered generator on a trailer to provide electricity to the streetcar. Other seasonal or weekends-only heritage streetcar lines operate in
Yakima, Washington (
Yakima Electric Railway Museum);
Fort Collins, Colorado; and
Fort Smith, Arkansas. The Fort Collins and Fort Smith lines are both operated by an original (as opposed to replica)
Birney-type streetcar, and in both cases the individual car in use is listed on the
National Register of Historic Places. In Philadelphia, the Penn's Landing Trolley operated seasonal and weekend service as a volunteer operation with former
P&W equipment between September 1982 and December 17, 1995, on the
Philadelphia Belt Line track on
Christopher Columbus Boulevard in the historic
Penn's Landing district. Over 50 years later, the revival of extended
streetcar operations in
New Orleans is credited by many to the worldwide fame gained by its streetcars built by the
Perley A. Thomas Car Works in 1922–23. These cars were operating on the system's Desire route made famous by
Tennessee Williams'
A Streetcar Named Desire. Some Perley Thomas cars were maintained in continuous service on the
St. Charles Streetcar Line until
Hurricane Katrina caused major damage to the right-of-way in 2005. The historic streetcars suffered only minor damage and several were transferred to serve on the, then recently rebuilt, Canal Street line while the St. Charles line was being repaired. By June 22, 2008, service was restored to the entire length of the St. Charles Streetcar line. The New Orleans' St. Charles streetcar line is a
National Historic Landmark. Pre-Katrina, New Orleans had plans to reconstruct the Desire line along its original route down St. Claude Avenue. Instead, the Loyola-UPT line was extended by building a spur down
North Rampart Street to
Elysian Fields Avenue. In
San Francisco, parts of the
cable car and
Muni streetcar system (specifically the above-mentioned F Market & Wharves line) are heritage lines, although they are also functioning parts of the city's transit system. The cable cars are a National Historic Landmark and are rare examples of vehicles with this distinction. Located east of San Francisco is one of several museums in the U.S. that restore and operate vintage streetcars and
interurbans, the
Western Railway Museum. ==In popular culture==