Irish gauge

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By size (list)
Broad
  Breitspurbahn 3,000 mm (9 ft 10 1⁄8 in)
  Brunel 2,140 mm (7 ft 1⁄4 in)
  Indian 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in)
  Iberian 1,668 mm (5 ft 5 21⁄32 in)
  Irish 1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in)
  Pennsylvania 1,588 mm
1,581 mm		 (5 ft 2 1⁄2 in)
(5 ft 2 1⁄4 in)
  Russian 1,524 mm
1,520 mm		 (5 ft)
(4 ft 11 27⁄32)
  Standard 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in)
Narrow
  Scotch 1,372 mm (4 ft 6 in)
  Cape 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
  Metre 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 3⁄8 in)
  Three foot, 900mm
and Swedish three foot 		914 mm
900 mm
891 mm		 (3 ft)
(2 ft 11 7⁄16)
(2 ft11 3⁄32) in
  2 ft 6 in, Bosnian
and 750 mm 		762 mm
760 mm
750 mm		 (2 ft 6 in)
(2 ft 5 15⁄16 in)
(2 ft 5 1⁄2 in)
  2 ft and 600mm 610 mm
600 mm
597 mm		 (2 ft)
(1 ft 11 5⁄8 in)
(1 ft 11 1⁄2 in)
Minimum
  Fifteen-inch 381 mm (15 in)
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This box:

Irish gauge (also known as Victorian broad gauge) railways use a track gauge of 5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm). It is used in

History

Timeline

600 BCE
The Diolkos (Δίολκος) across the Isthmus of Corinth in Greece – a grooved paved trackway – was constructed with an average gauge of 1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in).[3]
1840
The Grand Duchy of Baden State Railway was constructed to 1600 mm gauge.
1843
The Board of Trade of the United Kingdom recommended the use of 5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm) in Ireland, after investigating a dispute caused by diverse gauges in Ireland.
1846
An Act of Parliament, the Railway Regulation (Gauge) Act 1846, made this gauge mandatory on the island of Ireland.[4]
1854–55
The Grand Duchy of Baden State Railway was converted to standard gauge.
1875
First narrow gauge (3 ft/​914 mm in Ireland)
1982
December 5 - The Downpatrick & Ardglass Railway began public operation, the first Irish gauge heritage railway in Ireland.[5]
2009
The 125 km (77.7 mi) long Oaklands railway line, which runs into New South Wales from Victoria, was converted to standard gauge. The project was relatively easy because the line has wooden sleepers.
200 km (124.3 mi) of the Albury-Wodonga railway line, Victoria was converted to standard gauge, meaning a double track standard gauge line was created between Seymour and Albury.

Summary

Country/region Notes
Australia States of South Australia, Victoria (Victorian broad gauge), New South Wales (a few lines built by, and connected to, the Victorian rail system) and Tasmania, Australia (one line, Deloraine to Launceston, opened in 1871, partly converted to dual gauge, and then converted to 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) in 1888).
Brazil Lines connecting the states of Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Minas Gerais; E.F.Carajás in Pará and Maranhão states, and Ferronorte in Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul states. Used in older Metro systems. Although metre gauge network is almost 5 times longer,[6] Irish gauge is considered the standard by ABNT [7]
Germany Grand Duchy of Baden State Railway 1840 - 1855[8]
Switzerland Swiss Northern Railway until 1854, converted 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge.
Ireland Irish broad gauge
New Zealand Canterbury Provincial Railways
(1863- ; All routes gauge converted to 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) by 1876)
United Kingdom Northern Ireland Railways - entire network

Similar gauges

The Pennsylvania trolley gauges (5 ft 2 1⁄4 in/​1,581 mm and 5 ft 2 1⁄2 in/​1,588 mm) are similar. There is also 5 ft 2 in/​1,575 mm, see track gauge in Ireland.

Locomotives

One of the supposed advantages of the broader Irish Gauge, compared to standard gauge, is that the greater space between the wheels allows for bigger cylinders. In practice, Ireland does not have any heavily-loaded or steeply-graded lines that would require especially powerful locomotives. The most powerful steam locomotives on systems of this gauge were:

By comparison a non-articulated standard gauge locomotive in the same country was:

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Iarnród Éireann website, infrastructure section
  2. ↑ VicTrack, page 4
  3. ↑ Lewis, M. J. T. (2001), "Railways in the Greek and Roman world" (PDF), in Guy, A.; Rees, J., Early Railways. A Selection of Papers from the First International Early Railways Conference, pp. 8–19 (10–15) 
  4. ↑ "ODDS AND ENDS.". Colonial Times (Hobart, Tas. : 1828 - 1857) (Hobart, Tas.: National Library of Australia). 24 March 1846. p. 4. Retrieved 21 August 2012. 
  5. ↑ Cochrane, Gerry (2009). Back in Steam: the Downpatrick and County Down Railway from 1982. Newtownards: Colourpoint. p. 95. ISBN 978-1-906578-29-9. 
  6. ↑ Rail_transport_in_Brazil
  7. ↑ Newer Metro systems use 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge.
  8. ↑ Rieger, Bernhard (2006-04-23). "Breitspurbahn". Retrieved 2007-11-29. 
General
Broad gauge
  • Breitspurbahn 3 m (9 ft 10 1⁄8 in)
  • Brunel 7 ft 1⁄4 in (2,140 mm)
  • Indian 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm)
  • Iberian 1,668 mm (5 ft 5 21⁄32 in)
  • Irish 5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm)
  • Pennsylvanian 5 ft 2 1⁄2 in (1,588 mm)
  • 5 ft 2 in (1,575 mm), see track gauge in Ireland
  • Five-foot 5 ft (1,524 mm)
  • Russian 1,520 mm (4 ft 11 27⁄32 in)
  • Toronto subway and Toronto streetcar 1,495 mm (4 ft 10 7⁄8 in)
  • Italian broad gauge 1,445 mm (4 ft 8 7⁄8 in)
Standard gauge
  • 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) (Stephenson gauge)
Narrow gauge
Minimum gauge
  • 500 mm (19 3⁄4 in)
  • 18 in (457 mm)
  • 400 mm (15 3⁄4 in)
  • 15 in (381 mm)
Lists
Categories
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