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Discussion relating to the operations of MTA MetroNorth Railroad including west of Hudson operations and discussion of CtDOT sponsored rail operations such as Shore Line East and the Springfield to New Haven Hartford Line

Moderators: GirlOnTheTrain, nomis, FL9AC, Jeff Smith

 #1453596  by TDowling
 
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?
 #1453599  by DutchRailnut
 
no all the railroad at that time were standard gauge.
1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in)
 #1454435  by TDowling
 
OK. Thats what i thought. Historically, does anyone know if the standard gauge width was initiated by the federal govt back then?
 #1454437  by DutchRailnut
 
not really, basically got dictated by it already being standard in Europe.
 #1454530  by ExCon90
 
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.
 #1455456  by ebtmikado
 
Nothing common carrier freight on either side of the Hudson was wide or narrow.
The last Maine two-footer shut down in the 1940s.

Lee
 #1455506  by dieciduej
 
GirlOnTheTrain wrote:Is that what is now the narrow gauge museum in Portland now? Went there once as a kid.
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.
WW&F Ry #9
WW&F Ry #9
WW&F_#9.jpg (1.1 MiB) Viewed 5237 times
JoeD
 #1455519  by DutchRailnut
 
think this tread has proceeded past the derail.