Duffield Bank Railway
Abandoned 15 inch gaauge railway in Duffield, Derbyshire, England
The Duffield Bank Railway was built by Sir Arthur Percival Heywood in the grounds of his house on a hillside overlooking Duffield, Derbyshire in 1874. Although the Ordnance Survey map circa 1880 does not show the railway itself, it does show two tunnels and two signal posts. However, the online map archive of the National Library of Scotland includes a map of 1914 from the 25 inches to the foot series (Derbyshire XLV.9 ) that shows the full extent of the railway.
Overview
Sir Arthur wished to explore the possibilities of minimum gauge railways for mining, quarrying, agriculture etc. He believed that they would be relatively easy to build, and to move. He saw possibilities for military railways behind the lines carrying ammunition and supplies. Some other small railways had been built to 2 ft gauge, but he wished to use the minimum that he felt was practical. Having previously built a small railway of 9 in (229 mm) gauge, he settled on 15 in (381 mm).
Duffield Bank is a fairly steep hillside to the east of the village. Over a period of about seven years, the track reached a distance of about one mile (1.6 km) long, with tunnels and some very sharp curves and steep gradients serving six stations.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Duffield Bank Railway” as abandoned 15 inch gaauge railway in Duffield, Derbyshire, England. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as abandoned 15 inch gaauge railway in Duffield, Derbyshire, England. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 22, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q5312358. Authority coordinates are 52.983, -1.475. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1874, 1880 and 1914.
A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Duffield Bank Railway”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Duffield Bank Railway primary sources, Duffield Bank Railway archive and Duffield research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Duffield Bank Railway”?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Duffield Bank Railway” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.