Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
Measurement of track spacing from the rail head to rail head. By definition, the track spacing is given from centre to centre of a rail track. For an actual construction the distance is measured from the inside of a rail head to the matching one of the other track. As far as both tracks have the same gauge this is the same distance.
Used for the streetcar and radial (and later rapid transit) lines in and around Toronto, Ontario. The 4 ft 10 + 7 ⁄ 8 in (1,495 mm) broad gauge was adopted to allow passage of non-rail carriages and wagons along the rails instead of along muddy streets.
The wagons were built to a consistent pattern and the track would be made to suit the needs of the horses and wagons: the gauge was more critical. The Penydarren Tramroad of 1802 in South Wales, a plateway, spaced these at 4 ft 4 in ( 1,321 mm ) over the outside of the upstands.
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.
This has complicated maintenance of the system, as it requires custom wheelsets, brake systems, and track maintenance vehicles. [5] The New Orleans, Opelousas and Great Western Railroad (NOO&GW) used 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in) broad gauge until 1872, and the Texas and New Orleans Railroad used 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in) broad gauge ("Texas gauge") until 1876
The American gauges converged, as the advantages of equipment interchange became increasingly apparent. Notably, all the 5 ft (1,524 mm) broad gauge track in the South was converted to "almost standard" gauge 4 ft 9 in (1,448 mm) over the course of two days beginning on 31 May 1886. [21] See Track gauge in the United States.
For premium support please call: 800-290-4726 more ways to reach us
Railways with a track gauge between 500 mm (19 + 3 ⁄ 4 in) and 4 ft 8 + 1 ⁄ 2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge. Diamond crossing dual gauge double line narrow-gauge and standard-gauge. Narrow gauge track.