Lakeside Miniature Railway

The Lakeside Miniature Railway, runs alongside the Marine Lake on the sea front at Southport, England, it is of 15 in (381 mm) gauge and is representative of many miniature pleasure railways which sprung up in the early 1900s.

The line originally consisted of a straight-running line on the seaward shore of the Southport Marine Lake with a run-round loop at each end. In 1918 the original straight up and back track was extended round a sharp reverse curve under Southport Pier through 90 degrees into the present terminus at Marine Parade Station. This layout remains today with the round trip covering nearly a mile. At the Pleasureland end of the line there is a loco shed / Workshop and a second, larger locomotive shed. The station at this end of the line has a single island platform serving two running lines with run round loops which converge to form the single line route which runs alongside the lake, there is also a third siding for stock storage. At the pier end of the line there are two platforms again serving two running lines with run round loops, the station building at this end of the line has recently been rebuilt.

The railway was built in 1911 along the seaward side of the Marine Lake, Southport, England. The first train ran on 25 May 1911. The builder and operator was a Mr. G.V. Llewellyn and hence the railway was originally named Llewellyn's Miniature Railway. The line was originally built with raw materials being provided by the model engineering business Bassett-Lowke and in 1938 the original route was extended round to form an 'L' shape with the new terminus running parallel to the pier, closing Princes Park Station and opening the new Marine Parade Station. In 1945 the railway was sold to Harry Barlow and in 2001 to the present owner Don Clark. The railway is now called the Lakeside Miniature Railway and still runs on the 1911 route with the later extension. It is one of the earliest railways of its type still running on its original route. Rhyl Miniature Railway opened on 1 May 1911, but closed during the Second World War, whilst Lakeside Miniature Railway remained open. Thus Lakeside Miniature Railway claims to be the oldest continually running railway of 15 in (381 mm) gauge in the world.

The line originally had two steam locomotive of the Bassett-Lowke Class 10 ‘Atlantic’ 4-4-2 design, named King George and Princess Elizabeth, these locos were later supplemented by Katie, an 0-4-0 side tank built by that pioneer of the minimum gauge Sir Arthur Heywood. Where the two Bassett-Lowke locomotives had been supplied new Katie was third hand having already worked on the Eaton Hall Railway and the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway in Cumbria. She did not spend long at Southport, arriving in 1919 and being sold on again in 1923 to the Fairbourne Miniature Railway.

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