Heritage railways are railway operations that are not part of mainstream rail travel.
Oriented mostly towards historical railways, heritage train travel is usually short in length; many of these train operators are attached to museums, associated with heritage of a region or location. In many cases, heritage railways are the last bastion of working steam locomotives in their respective countries.
Some countries and operators take their role seriously to the point of generous funding, facilities and operational concessions to heritage railways.
Always check in advance as to operating times and seasons, as smaller museums and steam travel in many countries are severely restricted seasonal operations. Many of these lines are run by volunteers or staffed by summer students, leading to annual, seasonal changes of their days of operation. Not all countries provide English as a language for tourist railway information.
Europe
France
- The Orient Express sleeper train cars of the 1920s and 1930s era have been placed back into service as the "Venice Simplon Orient Express", a seasonal tourist train. Only one run annually (in each direction) makes the full Paris-Istanbul trip; others run from Paris (or London) to Venice. While luxurious, this train is expensive and slower than the multiple modern trains required to complete the same route.
Germany
- Germany has a number of historic railways some of them in scenic landscapes like Franconian Switzerland or the East Frisian islands.
- Historically Saxony was a bastion of narrow gauge railways and while most were shut down or regauged, some survive as heritage railways. Most of the surviving railways go through beautiful landscapes in the Saxon Ore Mountains and primarily serve touristic purposes nowadays.
- The Harz contains Europes largest steam railway. As a matter of fact it even expanded in recent years, acquiring and regauging disused tracks from Deutsche Bahn.
Latvia
Poland
Romania
- Vaser Valley forestry railway
- Oravița - Anina railway
United Kingdom
North America
- See also Tourist trains#Historic and museum trains, Rail travel in Canada and Rail travel in the United States.
Canada
- South Simcoe Railway, Beeton Creek Valley, Ontario — steam train
United States of America
- Chehalis-Centralia Railroad, Washington state — steam train
- Little River Railroad, Coldwater, Michigan — steam train
- The Texas State Railroad is a historic (1881-1921) twenty-five mile railway between Rusk and Palestine (Texas) USA with a mix of steam and diesel trains.
- In the Adirondacks, the Adirondack Scenic Railroad runs from Lake Placid to Saranac Lake; there's also a train in Old Forge.
South America
Brazil
- Maria Fumaça - steam locomotive between Ouro Preto and Mariana, in central Minas Gerais.
- Serra Verde Express - single-car tourist train descending from Curitiba to Morretes (low season) or Paranaguá (high season), in Paraná.
Oceania
See also
- Tourist trains have some overlap, though they are often distinct in being for profit and offer even less actual transportation value. Their historical accuracy may be even more lacking.