More thoughts on gauge
Iwas intrigued to see that the Spanish Sant Feliu de Guixols loco on page 47 of NGW157 is 750mm gauge. Because of my interest in ex-Soviet railways, I thought 750mm was for ‘Russian’ narrow gauge railways, and 760mm was for the others. However I note from 30-inch Railways Worldwide that Spain has a few others of that gauge.
‘30-inch’ is about as questionable as ‘2ft gauge’ which as in previous correspondence in NGW can vary by a few inches between trains and tracks which rarely cause major problems; just as 750mm and 760mm locos are mostly interchangeable as shown by some recent locomotive exchanges between Lithuania and Romania. However, the book does list some restrictions imposed by some railways to prevent problems.
The choice of gauges is shrouded in history, and has been discussed in NGW many times in the past. The subject is confused by the different units of measurement used across the
world viz 600mm = 1ft 11⅝ths inch = 1ft 1111/16ths inch. Thank goodness for ‘2ft’ even if it’s ⅜ths inch wider than actual two feet.
Thankfully most enthusiasts are happy to limit the conversion of 750/760mm to 30-inch, even though there is a slightly greater than ⅜ths inch difference between them. I suppose we should be grateful that Noah’s Ark didn’t have a narrow gauge railway (it was a big boat about 450ft/140m long) so we don’t have to bring cubits into our calculations.
Presumably if there was a horse hauling the wagons, it would have been measured in hands? Only joking – trying to make a point!
Tony Ollson
Andrew C adds: Gauge causes your editor many headaches, especially as in Europe lines described as ‘2ft’ are usually 1ft 11 and something, 600mm being 1ft 11⅝ths, whereas in Australia 2ft is 610mm, which is within 1/64th of an inch of actually being 2ft! Our down-under readers delight in pointing out my regular mistakes on that one!