Track gauge
By transport mode
By size (list)
Graphic list of track gauges
Minimum
  Minimum
  Fifteen inch 381 mm (15 in)
Narrow
 
  • 600 mm
  • 610 mm
  • 686 mm
  • (1 ft 11+5⁄8 in)
  • (2 ft)
  • (2 ft 3 in)
 
  • 750 mm
  • 760 mm
  • 762 mm
  • (2 ft 5+1⁄2 in)
  • (2 ft 5+15⁄16 in)
  • (2 ft 6 in)
 
  • 891 mm
  • 900 mm
  • 914 mm
  • 950 mm
  • (2 ft 11+3⁄32 in)
  • (2 ft 11+7⁄16 in)
  • (3 ft)
  • (3 ft1+13⁄32 in)
  Metre 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in)
  Three foot six inch 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
  Four foot 1,219 mm (4 ft 0 in)
  Four foot six inch 1,372 mm (4 ft 6 in)
  1432 mm 1,432 mm (4 ft 8+3⁄8 in)
  Standard 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in)
Broad
 
  • 1,445 mm
  • 1,450 mm
  • (4 ft 8+7⁄8 in)
  • (4 ft 9+3⁄32 in)
  Leipzig gauge 1,458 mm (4 ft 9+13⁄32 in)
  Toronto gauge 1,495 mm (4 ft 10+7⁄8 in)
 
  • 1,520 mm
  • 1,524 mm
  • (4 ft 11+27⁄32 in)
  • (5 ft)
 
  • 1,581 mm
  • 1,588 mm
  • 1,600 mm
  • (5 ft 2+1⁄4 in)
  • (5 ft 2+1⁄2 in)
  • (5 ft 3 in)
  Baltimore gauge 1,638 mm (5 ft 4+1⁄2 in)
 
  • 1,668 mm
  • 1,676 mm
  • (5 ft 5+21⁄32 in)
  • (5 ft 6 in)
  Six foot 1,829 mm (6 ft)
  Brunel 2,140 mm (7 ft 1⁄4 in)
Change of gauge
By location
World map, rail gauge by region

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

Railways

Country / territory System / RR name Notes
 Netherlands Trams in Amsterdam In operation. Converted to 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) between 1900 and 1906
 New Zealand Trams in Dunedin Defunct
 UK Clarence Railway Became part of the North Eastern Railway in 1865
Hetton colliery railway Closed in 1959[5]
Killingworth Colliery railway
Killingworth Railway
Killingworth tramway
Killingworth wagonway		 Four different names for the same line. Defunct
Stockton and Darlington Railway Became part of the North Eastern Railway in 1863
 USA Centreville Military Railroad Defunct
Green Mountain Cog Railway
Los Angeles and Independence Railroad
Manassas Gap Railroad
Montgomery and West Point Railroad
Mount Washington Cog Railway In operation
New Orleans and Carrollton Railroad Became the St. Charles Streetcar Line,[6] converted to 5 ft 2+1⁄2 in (1,588 mm)
North Carolina Railroad
Pontchartrain Railroad
Raleigh and Gaston Railroad
Richmond, Petersburg and Carolina Railroad
Seaboard and Roanoke Railroad
West Feliciana Railroad
Western North Carolina Railroad
Wilmington and Weldon Railroad

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ 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

  1. ↑ Allen 1974, p. 20.
  2. ↑ The Rocket Men, by Robin Jones, p33; Mortons Media Group.
  3. ↑ Davis, Hunter (1975). George Stephenson: A Biographical Study of the Father of Railways. Weidenfeld and Nicolson. p. 75. ISBN 0-297-76934-0.
  4. ↑ "Robert Stephenson (1803–1859)". Network Rail. Archived from the original on 26 February 2014. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
  5. ↑ Allen, G. Freeman (December 1959). "Talking of trains: First mineral railway closed". Trains Illustrated. Hampton Court: Ian Allan.
  6. ↑ Cook 2005, p. 136.

Sources


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