Track Gauge
... The extra .5" on the track gauge has puzzled people for some time. Why not 4ft 8"? It fact the first railways in the UK were built to 4ft 8". The answer may come from recent research into the Stockton and Darlington Railway. This line was Built by George Stephenson and opened in 1825. He followed the same pattern as his earlier railways in Northumberland and Durham and made the gauge 4ft 8" and the first locomotives, being 0-4-0 were relatively short wheel base (about 4ft) and therefore had no trouble in negotiating the curves on the line. The engineer in charge of the S&DR, Timothy Hackworth soon found that these primitive locomotives were underpowered and costly and so, following a visit by some Prussian engineers in 1827, decided to build his own locomotives. To increase power he designed an 0-6-0 with a rigid wheelbase of 8ft 7", over twice the average of the original fleet. Locomotive #5 Royal George entered service late in 1827 but soon was found to derail and attempt to straighten the curves. The locomotive was sketched by John U Rastrick in 1829 on his visit in June of that year. Undaunted Hackworth set about widening the gauge by .5" to permit the longer wheelbase. This had no affect on the existing fleet as the width of the tyres was enough to accommodate the gauge widening. Gauge widening was easy because the rails were held in stone blocks and it was simply a matter of edging one line of blocks outwards and repacking. Hackworth told Stephenson what he had done and the locomotives continued to be built to 4ft 8" but from then on George Stephenson and his son Robert built track to 4ft 8.5" and so the "standard" gauge was born.
—Ray State
posted from CPRR Discussion Group at 5:42 AM
10 Comments:
From: KyleWyatt@aol.com
In the early years in the US there was some variation in gauge, even among those nominally using "standard gauge." While many roads used 4' 8.5", a number of others (including the Pennsylvania RR) used 4' 9". It wasn't until well after the Civil War that everyone finally settled on 4' 8.5".
Kyle K. Wyatt
Curator of History & Technology
California State Railroad Museum
111 "I" Street
Sacramento, CA 95814
From: "Wendell Huffman" wendellhuffman@hotmail.com
While I have absolutely no evidence, and it is contrary to "accepted" teaching, I can't help but think the "original" rails (of whatever early railroad counted in the matter) were set 5'0" center to center, but that soon it was realized that it was inside "gauge" that mattered and the center-to-center logic of the whole thing was forgotten.
—Wendell.
From: KyleWyatt@aol.com
On the other hand, if the 5' distance was outside edge to outside edge (instead of center) of a wagon wheel, and then you add a flange plate to the inside edge, you probably come pretty close to 4' 9" or 4' 4.5".
Kyle K. Wyatt
Curator of History & Technology
California State Railroad Museum
111 "I" Street
Sacramento, CA 95814
My work address is: kwyatt@parks.ca.gov
My personal address is: kylewyatt@aol.com
From: "Wendell Huffman" wendellhuffman@hotmail.com
Either suggestion offers a possible explanation for how the rather odd four-foot eightish-inches may have derived from a Platonically more pleasing five-foot even. Not that either suggestion is true, of course.
—Wendell.
From: "Wendell Huffman" wendellhuffman@hotmail.com
... Directing the discussion to the SVRR, have you any documentation regarding the SVRR's original intended gauge? It seems that somewhere I read (from Joslyn or Kneiss?) that the SVRR was to have been 5'3" gauge, but ended up at 5' even. I have inclined to the opinion that the change (if there really was one) was to conform to the gauge of "Elephant," the only locomotive actually in California when the SVRR was organized. I was disappointed in reading the company's original association papers to find no statement of intended gauge. Which makes me wonder just what other information someone else saw that I've so far missed.
—Wendell.
From: "Bill Anderson" bill@fedshra.org
This has been a most interesting discussion, thank you. It should make great reading for our members in an upcoming [Folsom, El Dorado & Sacramento Historical Railroad Association] newsletter. ...
—Bill Anderson, FEDSHRA
From: "Bill Anderson" bill@fedshra.org
What you stated, 5'3" to 5' is what I've heard. Has anyone heard more?
—Bill
From: "Ray State" rhstate@spion.demon.co.uk>
Thank you all for your responses.
Broad versus standard gauge
The variation of gauges in eastern states arose from the lack of vision in the system evolving as national though route. The D&H in 1829 built to 4ft 3" which was retained to end as an isolated route. Horatio Allan built the south Carolina to the larger gauge of 5ft (till 1886) and a mix of gauges existed until quite late. The southern railroads had a wide range of gauges. Robert C Black in his Railroad of the Confederacy cite the fact that this prevented through running and the use of federal rolling stock seized in the Civil War without serious regauging which used up precious iron. It is also thought that the problems with transport south of the Mason-Dixon line contributed a lot to the Confederacy's demise.
The operation of "combination" cars on north eastern railroads where different gauges were accommodated by trucks and wheels of a single size gave rise to the wreck at Angola NY of the 18th December 1867 when a bent axle on a combination car struck a check rail. Gauge stabilisation was probably not complete until the mid 1880s (leaving aside narrow gauge lines the extent of which peaked in early 1900s).
In the UK Brunel's GWR gauge of 7ft (plus a quarter of an inch) lasted until 1895.
Points of Measure
The rail centre to rail centre is intriguing as I had not thought of this. It is interesting that J B Jervis in his requirements for the D&H specified inside rail to inside rail. I need to look again at the measuring methods to see if there is any basis to the gauge measurement using rail centres. Being involved in current gauging the use of track centre line predominates along with gauge rods which set the inside rail edges.
I will probe this matter more. I have not seen a detailed list of what gauges were used where apart from notes attached to the railroads registry published by William D Edson in 1999.
If I analyse Edson is anyone interested in a list of railroads and dates between which they were other than standard gauge?
For example;
Railroad Period of broad gauge Gauge Railroad who led conversion
Albany and Susquehanna 1863 - 1870 6ft Absorbed by Delaware and Hudson
Alabama Great Southern 1877 - 1886 5ft Absorbed by Southern Rly
Alabama and Mississippi 1856 - 1866 5ft Absorbed by Selma and Meridian*
* this railroad continued as a 5ft railroad until 1871
Ray State
From: "Wendell Huffman" wendellhuffman@hotmail.com
Ray, if you indeed compile Edson's remarks on gauges, I would indeed be interested in the result.
I must ask: when you say D&H retained 4'3" "to end", do you mean the end of operations? That was in the mid 20th century wasn't it? I was totally unaware of such an odd gauge, but I know very little about eastern railroads. (I assume by D&H you mean Delaware & Hudson.)
—Wendell
You may wonder why the silence on this subject. I have been very busy but I am now returning to the matter. I did start analysing Edson and its a big job. Just the RR beginning A and B (plus a few odd ones)revealed 63 at 3ft, 5 at 3.5ft, 2 at 3.75ft, 1 at 4.25ft (Delware and Hudson), 40 at 5ft, 7 at 5.5ft, 1 at 5.75ft and 4 at 6ft. I am creating a spreadsheet and timeline of dates between which the gauges existed. More in the fulness of time.
Ray State
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