Differences Of Gauge

It is not really known what, if any, principle governed the determination in the first instance of the gauge between the rails of 4 ft. 8 /2 ins., which is the standard railway gauge of the world. It is supposed to have been adopted from the roads of the collieries in the north of England, whose uniform width necessitated the use of wagons having axles of an outside width of 5 feet. In places these wagons ran on tramways, with a flange on the outer edge of the rail. Then came the edge rail, which transferred the flange to the wheel. However, the same width of track was continued, but measured from the inner edge of the rail it gave a gauge of 4 ft. 8 1/2 ins. When Stephenson was selected from these collieries to build the Liverpool and Manchester railway, he brought with him the gauge with which he was familiar.

The 4 ft. 8 1/2 ins. gauge is the standard one in Europe, with but few exceptions, and in North America, and throughout the world generally, though every country possesses lines of narrower gauges. European countries having a different gauge are Ireland, 5 ft. 3 ins., Russia, 5 ft., and Spain, 5 ft. 6 ins. The standard gauge of India is 5 ft. 6 ins., while there are also a number of railways whose mileage amounts to 42 per cent, of the whole, built on the 3 ft. 3 3/8 ins. gauge. In New Zealand, Tasmania, South Africa and the Sudan the standard gauge is 3 ft. 6 ins. Australia has no standard gauge. In New South Wales the gauge is 4 ft. 8 1/2 ins., in Queensland 3 ft. 6 ins., and in Victoria, 5 ft. 3 ins.