4 ft 8 in gauge railways
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4 ft 8 in gauge railways are railways with a track gauge of 4 ft 8 in / 1,422 mm. This gauge is 1⁄2 inch (13 mm) less than 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge The first such railways were the Killingworth Railway[1][2] and the Stockton and Darlington Railway [note 1]
Similar gauges
[edit]- The Huddersfield Corporation Tramways, 4 ft 7+3⁄4 in (1,416 mm), the gauge is 3⁄4 inch (19 mm) less than 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
- The Glasgow Corporation Tramways, 4 ft 7+3⁄4 in (1,416 mm)
- The Washington Metro 4 ft 8+1⁄4 in (1,429 mm), the gauge is 1⁄4 inch (6 mm) less than 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
- The trams in Nuremberg for one time nominally used 1,432 mm (4 ft 8+3⁄8 in), the gauge is 1⁄8 inch (3 mm) less than 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
- The MTR uses 1,432 mm (4 ft 8+3⁄8 in) on most lines.
- The Bucharest Metro uses 1,432 mm (4 ft 8+3⁄8 in)
Railways
[edit]See also
[edit]Notes
[edit]- ^ Smiles (1904, p. 160) states that early tramroads had rails 4 ft 8 in (1,422 mm) apart, but Tomlinson (1915, pp. 82–83) challenges this, stating that the most common gauge of the early tramroads and waggonways was about 4 ft (1,219 mm), and some, such as the Wylam waggonway, had the rails 5 ft (1,524 mm) apart. The gauge of the S&DR was given in early documents as 4 ft 8 in (1,422 mm), but the distance between the rails was later measured as 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm), and this became the standard gauge used by 60 per cent of railways worldwide. The difference of 1⁄2 inch (13 mm) is a mystery.[3][4]
References
[edit]- ^ Allen 1974, p. 20.
- ^ The Rocket Men, by Robin Jones, p33; Mortons Media Group.
- ^ Davis, Hunter (1975). George Stephenson: A Biographical Study of the Father of Railways. Weidenfeld and Nicolson. p. 75. ISBN 0-297-76934-0.
- ^ "Robert Stephenson (1803–1859)". Network Rail. Archived from the original on 26 February 2014. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
- ^ Allen, G. Freeman (December 1959). "Talking of trains: First mineral railway closed". Trains Illustrated. Hampton Court: Ian Allan.
- ^ Cook 2005, p. 136.
Sources
[edit]- Allen, Cecil J. (1974) [1964]. The North Eastern Railway. Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-0495-1.
- Cook, Samantha (2005). New Orleans: Directions. Rough Guides. ISBN 1-84353-393-6.
- Smiles, Samuel (1904). Lives of the Engineers. The Locomotive. George and Robert Stephenson. John Murray. OCLC 220796785.
- Tomlinson, William Weaver (1915). The North Eastern Railway: Its rise and development. Andrew Reid and Company. OCLC 504251788.