Track gauge question
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Track gauge question
This may be a silly question, but when the MTA/conrail took over the bankrupt railroads, including those west of hudson, did each of them have a different track width? I know the Erie used the widest gauge at 6'. Did the Fed's set a standard or did they just use different equipment to accommodate?
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Re: Track gauge question
no all the railroad at that time were standard gauge.
1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in)
1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in)
If Conductors are in charge, why are they promoted to be Engineer???
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Re: Track gauge question
The Erie converted to standard gauge (4' 8.5") in 1880, so it hasn't been an issue for well over a century.
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Re: Track gauge question
All major railroads were standard by 1900. Nothing common carrier freight on either side of the Hudson was wide or narrow.
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Re: Track gauge question
OK. Thats what i thought. Historically, does anyone know if the standard gauge width was initiated by the federal govt back then?
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Re: Track gauge question
not really, basically got dictated by it already being standard in Europe.
If Conductors are in charge, why are they promoted to be Engineer???
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Re: Track gauge question
Originally the individual railroads made their own choice of gauge, with many adopting the European standard; the Federal Government got into it when Abraham Lincoln ruled that the Overland Route (Union Pacific and Central Pacific) would be standard gauge. (Maury Klein, in his history of the UP.) At that time many railroads in the South still had ~5-foot gauge, but after that the handwriting was on the wall.
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Re: Track gauge question
The last Maine two-footer shut down in the 1940s.Nothing common carrier freight on either side of the Hudson was wide or narrow.
Lee
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Re: Track gauge question
Is that what is now the narrow gauge museum in Portland now? Went there once as a kid.
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Re: Track gauge question
The Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad Co. & Museum in Portland is 2 Foot. Over this past summer I visited the Wiscasset, Waterville and Farmington Railway (WW&F), also a 2 Foot gauge, in Alna, ME.GirlOnTheTrain wrote:Is that what is now the narrow gauge museum in Portland now? Went there once as a kid.
JoeD
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JoeD
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Member of IEEE, BSRA, ERA, BERA, SPH&TS, SFRH&MS, RGM&HS, UPHS, NHRHTA, NE PRRT&HS and PRRT&HS
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Re: Track gauge question
think this tread has proceeded past the derail.
If Conductors are in charge, why are they promoted to be Engineer???
Retired Triebfahrzeugführer. I am not a moderator.
Retired Triebfahrzeugführer. I am not a moderator.