This site is a fairly comprehensive listing of the gauges in use on the world's railroads, as well as where,
when, and to a lesser extent- what amount
of trackage is, or was, in a given place in that
specific scale.
In this list the term Feldbahn is applied to
permanent industrial or military RRs. It is
NOT used as a synonym for the portable military
lines used to support war making logistics so
familiar to military buffs and military modellers.
< http://parovoz.com/spravka/gauges-e.html >
In North America, early railroads were built to both
4ft. 8 1/2 inch , and 4 ft. 9 inch gauge, as standard
gauge. Most railroads south of the Ohio River, and
east of the Mississippi were built to 5 ft. gauge, the
Erie's various subsidiaries were 6ft. gauge. and the Missippi and Ohio that connected with the Erie at Cincinnati and ran to St.Louis was also 6 ft.
Defining Narrow Gauge railroads as those of less
than standard gauge , we see a major push to
develop them as a cheap alternative to both the
civil engineering costs of building wider railroads
and the greater mechanical engineering and
construction costs of standard gauge equipment.
It is easy to be taken in by the railroad maps of
1860, in terms of the nature of the railroad system, ESPECIALLYwith respect to connectivity. The railroad,
in most cases, offered such an advantage in speed
of transport over road or canal , that people did
not mind the lack of connectivity or the need to
haul goods from one railroad to another when the
initial railcarrier ended. You should understand, that
it didn't matter if the gauges were common or not,
the various railroads almost never connected. Many
of them had charters that forbid connectivity ,
because the local, or state government thought
it was a deleterious thing to the local prosperity..
There was a powerful local interest made up of
the teamsters, commission agents, forwarders ,
and a host of other people who had secondary
jobs as part of the break of travel. The Mississippi
and Ohio , which had both a common gauge
and physical connection to the Erie, would not
allow itsequipment to interchange with the Erie.
In most places the connectivity you see on maps
did not exist. You see railroads entering a given
town, or crossing each other, but this misstates
what was there. Six railroads came into Richmond, Virginia, four to Petersburg, Virginia , and
several reached Philadelphia, Pa. Prior to the
Civil War, and the military stepping in to build the connections , none of the railroads in those key
places had a physical connection with each other.
The locals didn't want them , and in Richmond and Petersburg the connections were to be severed
after the war was over, in the legislation passed
by the city fathers.
The narrow gauge promoters, who really show
up in the 1870s were not wrong about the virtues
of their alternative system, if the status was to be
quo, as they say. However, it was not, because
the 'Fast Freight' lines , that were organized as
separate entities to operate through service
were going to make interchange normal. They
and the express companies issued through
bills of lading, eliminating countless middlemen.
The larger more efficient standard gauge boomed,
and the larger gauge lines had to go small,
because the various devices such the car hoists
that were all over the ERie at junctions to change
trucks, created costly burdens that slowed commerce.
The thousands of pairs of trucks with sliding wheels
for use on different track gauges that were found
on the Pennsy,Grand Trunk, and elsewhere,... failed at unacceptable rates, as their locking mechanisms
broke and flanges wore out rapidly. So they also
were not ananswer to the gauge differences.
While the last big eastern narrow gauge line
didn't die until the 1930's , the promise of the
narrow gauge system that reached from Lake
Erie to the Texas Gulf Coast was never realized.
The standard gauge lines were able to exploit
the greater speed and safety , of their equipment;
first at the behest of the 'Fast Freight Lines'
and the Express companies , and later on under
the rail carriers own control.
Good-Luck, PJB
when, and to a lesser extent- what amount
of trackage is, or was, in a given place in that
specific scale.
In this list the term Feldbahn is applied to
permanent industrial or military RRs. It is
NOT used as a synonym for the portable military
lines used to support war making logistics so
familiar to military buffs and military modellers.
< http://parovoz.com/spravka/gauges-e.html >
In North America, early railroads were built to both
4ft. 8 1/2 inch , and 4 ft. 9 inch gauge, as standard
gauge. Most railroads south of the Ohio River, and
east of the Mississippi were built to 5 ft. gauge, the
Erie's various subsidiaries were 6ft. gauge. and the Missippi and Ohio that connected with the Erie at Cincinnati and ran to St.Louis was also 6 ft.
Defining Narrow Gauge railroads as those of less
than standard gauge , we see a major push to
develop them as a cheap alternative to both the
civil engineering costs of building wider railroads
and the greater mechanical engineering and
construction costs of standard gauge equipment.
It is easy to be taken in by the railroad maps of
1860, in terms of the nature of the railroad system, ESPECIALLYwith respect to connectivity. The railroad,
in most cases, offered such an advantage in speed
of transport over road or canal , that people did
not mind the lack of connectivity or the need to
haul goods from one railroad to another when the
initial railcarrier ended. You should understand, that
it didn't matter if the gauges were common or not,
the various railroads almost never connected. Many
of them had charters that forbid connectivity ,
because the local, or state government thought
it was a deleterious thing to the local prosperity..
There was a powerful local interest made up of
the teamsters, commission agents, forwarders ,
and a host of other people who had secondary
jobs as part of the break of travel. The Mississippi
and Ohio , which had both a common gauge
and physical connection to the Erie, would not
allow itsequipment to interchange with the Erie.
In most places the connectivity you see on maps
did not exist. You see railroads entering a given
town, or crossing each other, but this misstates
what was there. Six railroads came into Richmond, Virginia, four to Petersburg, Virginia , and
several reached Philadelphia, Pa. Prior to the
Civil War, and the military stepping in to build the connections , none of the railroads in those key
places had a physical connection with each other.
The locals didn't want them , and in Richmond and Petersburg the connections were to be severed
after the war was over, in the legislation passed
by the city fathers.
The narrow gauge promoters, who really show
up in the 1870s were not wrong about the virtues
of their alternative system, if the status was to be
quo, as they say. However, it was not, because
the 'Fast Freight' lines , that were organized as
separate entities to operate through service
were going to make interchange normal. They
and the express companies issued through
bills of lading, eliminating countless middlemen.
The larger more efficient standard gauge boomed,
and the larger gauge lines had to go small,
because the various devices such the car hoists
that were all over the ERie at junctions to change
trucks, created costly burdens that slowed commerce.
The thousands of pairs of trucks with sliding wheels
for use on different track gauges that were found
on the Pennsy,Grand Trunk, and elsewhere,... failed at unacceptable rates, as their locking mechanisms
broke and flanges wore out rapidly. So they also
were not ananswer to the gauge differences.
While the last big eastern narrow gauge line
didn't die until the 1930's , the promise of the
narrow gauge system that reached from Lake
Erie to the Texas Gulf Coast was never realized.
The standard gauge lines were able to exploit
the greater speed and safety , of their equipment;
first at the behest of the 'Fast Freight Lines'
and the Express companies , and later on under
the rail carriers own control.
Good-Luck, PJB
