Subject:
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Re: More scale questions (Was: Scale of Lego)
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.trains, lugnet.build
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Date:
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Mon, 1 Nov 1999 00:14:39 GMT
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Viewed:
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18 times
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> I can't provide the proof, I spent some time digging fruitlessly but I
> seem to recall reading in a book somewhere as a child that England was
> 4' 8" and America was the extra 1/2 inch wider.
Actually, if you go out and measure Tangent track now, you will find it is 4 8
1/4, and curve is 4 8 1/2 +
There are real reasons why, (don't ask me though!), mostly to do with wheel
wear and tracking. (the gauge narrowing makes higher speeds possible. The
wheel gauge (flange to flange) is 4 8)
> As to gauge conversions, my understanding of the US situation was that
> prior to the Civil War almost every road had a different gauge, and many
> were converted during the war to 4 8 1/2 which had been chosen by
> Lincoln, since several (a plurality perhaps, but not a majority) were
> using it.
Ack! Ack! The US railways were every gauge pre ACW. Canada was even worse! (5
6, 3 ft both very common, 4 8 1/2 not all that common)
>
> In england, with the notable exception of Broad Gauge and mining lines
> the standardization situation was much better.
That was by law. The mining railways were not covered by the law (they ran on
private property). The GWR had a special act, and the rest of the narrow gauge
railways were much later (1867 and on)
So, most of the country was covered in 4 8 1/2 by law, prior to them saying
that you could use any gauge to get the job done. Even still, it wasn't until
much later that the light railways act was passed (which made it much easier to
get a 'licence' to build a common carrier railway)
I have a exelent book on the Tal-y-llyn railway (JIC Boyd) as well as having a
friend who was there in the very early days (the story of replacing crank pins
on a 100 year old engine to make the service the next day...)
James
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Re: More scale questions (Was: Scale of Lego)
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| I can't provide the proof, I spent some time digging fruitlessly but I seem to recall reading in a book somewhere as a child that England was 4' 8" and America was the extra 1/2 inch wider. As to gauge conversions, my understanding of the US (...) (25 years ago, 31-Oct-99, to lugnet.trains, lugnet.build)
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