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A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 + 1 ⁄ 2 in) standard gauge. Most narrow-gauge railways are between 600 mm ( 1 ft 11 + 5 ⁄ 8 in ) and 1,067 mm ( 3 ft 6 in ).
[7] [8] The Colorado Railroad Museum established in 1959, operates a demonstration loop of narrow gauge track in Golden, Colorado. [9] Stereograph of Utah's American Fork Railroad in the 1880's. In Utah, three foot gauge narrow-gauge railroads sprang up immediately after the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad on May 10, 1869.
In 1886, the southern railroads agreed to coordinate changing gauge on all their tracks. After considerable debate and planning, most of the southern rail network was converted from 5 ft (1,524 mm) gauge to 4 ft 9 in (1,448 mm) gauge, then the standard of the Pennsylvania Railroad, over two days beginning on Monday, May 31, 1886.
Terms such as broad gauge and narrow gauge do not have any fixed meaning beyond being materially wider or narrower than standard. In British practice, the space between the rails of a track is colloquially referred to as the "four-foot", and the space between two tracks the "six-foot", descriptions relating to the respective dimensions.
However, the country began to rebuild and fix existing tracks in anticipation for new train service. FENADESAL currently uses the tracks to connect the capital city of San Salvador to its suburbs. There are now more plans to start a metro rail on the current tracks, making it the most effective narrow-gauge train tracks in Central America.
In Sweden, the gauge was nicknamed Blekinge gauge, as most of the railways in the province of Blekinge had this gauge. [14] Colonial Gauge was used in New Zealand. [15] [16] In Australia, this gauge is typically referred to as narrow gauge in comparison to 4 ft 8 + 1 ⁄ 2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge or 5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm) broad gauge.
The gauge is set by the positioning of the cast-in fixings, so it is not a simple task to re-gauge existing track; it also creates problems with spot replacement of sleepers. Many sleepers were made with the reduced track gauge but 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 + 1 ⁄ 2 in) standard gauge versions have also been manufactured in more recent times. [27]
The vast majority of North American railroads are standard gauge (4 ft 8 + 1 ⁄ 2 in / 1,435 mm).Exceptions include some streetcar, subway and rapid transit systems, mining and tunneling operations, and some narrow-gauge lines particularly in the west, e.g. the isolated White Pass and Yukon Route system, and the former Newfoundland Railway.