Are there any Narrow Gauge Railroads (steam, or tourist) in and around Virginia today?
Thanks
I don’t know of any. I don’t know of any from about 1942 onward to 1996, a 54 -year period in which I regularly rode just about every passenger service operated in the state. There may be some private in-plant operations I don’t know about in factories. The nearest is Twitsie in Tennessee, as far as I know…
The Shenandoah Central was built on a farm in Virginia with ex ET&WNC equipment. The SC was bombed out after a few years in the 50’s in a bad hurricane, and was moved to Blowing Rock NC for the Tweetsie Railroad.
Your best bet for narrow gauge is that same Tweetsie RR in NC or the EBT in southern Pa.
You don’t need to go that far for NG Steam - why not get a cheap flight over to Wales for a pretty wide choice of lines:-
Porthmadoc, Caernarfon or Blaenau Ffestiniog for the Ffestiniog / Welsh Highland,
Tywyn or Harlech for the Talyllyn Railway,
Welshpool for the Welshpool & Llanfair, Aberystwyth for the Vale of Rheidol, and Brecon or Merthyr Tydfil for the Brecon Mountain Railway.
Where else would you see a centenarian engine, and even a Narrow Gauge Garratt?
Give it a go.
Pob Hwyl.
Apologies, I should have also mentioned the Snowdon Mountain (Cog) Railway, tha Llanberis Lake Railway, the Bala Lake Railway, and the Corris Railway is making a come-back.
Many narrow gauge railroads are killed by cars.
Nearby Virginia is Pennsylvania’s East Broad Top. For most narrow guage tourist rides, Maine is the main state. Downtown Portland, Bridgeton, Sandy River, and Alna all host narrow guage rides. Then you gotta go to Colarado for real big time narrow guage railroading.
PA has another one in St. Mary’s which operates only on the third Sundays of August and September. It was not a railroad but is a museum with own built trackage and lots of fun.