5 ft 3 in gauge railways explained

Railways with a track gauge of fall within the category of broad gauge railways., they were extant in Australia, Brazil and on the island of Ireland.

History

600 BC
  • The Diolkos (Δίολκος) across the Isthmus of Corinth in Greece – a grooved paved trackway – was constructed with an average gauge of .
    1840
  • The Grand Duchy of Baden State Railway was constructed in 1840–1851 to gauge before being converted to in 1854–1855.
    1843
  • The Board of Trade of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, after investigating a dispute caused by diverse gauges, recommended the use of in Ireland.[1]
    1846
  • The Regulating the Gauge of Railways Act 1846 made mandatory throughout all of Ireland.[2] [1]
    1847
  • The Swiss Northern Railway was opened as a line and converted to in 1854.
    1854
  • The first Australian railway to operate steam-powered freight and passenger services, Melbourne and Hobson's Bay Railway Company, was built as a line.[3]
    1858
  • The first Brazilian railway was opened: the Companhia de Estrada de Ferro Dom Pedro II.
    1863
  • The Canterbury Railway in New Zealand was built in . It was converted to in 1876.

    Nomenclature

    Installations

    Country/regionRailway
    Australia

    See main article: article, Rail transport in South Australia and Rail transport in Victoria. Currently, the suburban rail networks in Adelaide, Melbourne, and most regional lines in Victoria (including some that cross the border into New South Wales) use .

    The 8281NaN1 long Melbourne–Adelaide rail corridor linking South Australia and Victoria, and some associated branch lines, was converted to standard gauge in 1995. The final 2001NaN1 section of the North East line, Victoria and the 1251NaN1 long Oaklands railway line, which runs into New South Wales from Victoria, were converted to standard gauge in 2008–2010. The Mildura and Murrayville railway lines were converted to standard gauge in 2018.

    Brazil

    See main article: article and Rail transport in 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 the metre gauge network is almost five times longer,[12] Irish gauge is considered the standard by ABNT.[13] The current network is 4057km (2,521miles), 15% of the total Brazilian network.

    GermanyGrand Duchy of Baden State Railway 1840–1855[14]
    Island of Ireland

    See main article: article and Rail transport in Ireland. Following proposed projects of the Ulster Railway and Dublin and Drogheda Railway companies (using and, respectively), and existing issues of competing gauges in Great Britain, in 1843 the Board of Trade (with the advice of engineers Charles Pasley and George Stephenson) introduced the gauge as a compromise. The Railway Regulation (Gauge) Act 1846 was passed to formalise the gauge used on the island of Ireland to 5 feet 3 inches (1600mm). the network totals over 2730km (1,700miles), 2400km (1,500miles) in the Republic of Ireland[15] and 330km (210miles) in Northern Ireland.

    SwitzerlandSwiss Northern Railway between 1847 and 1854, converted to .Fun'Ambule Funicular in Neuchâtel, 330 m long, opened 27 April 2001.
    New ZealandCanterbury Railways from 1863; all were routes converted to by 1876.

    Similar gauges

    The Pennsylvania trolley gauges of and are similar to this gauge, but incompatible. There is also a gauge. See: Track gauge in Ireland.

    Locomotives

    Before the advent of diesel and electric traction, one of the advantages of the broader Irish gauge compared to was that more space between steam locomotive frames allows for a bigger firebox, enabling generation of more steam.

    See also

    Notes and References

    1. Web site: Brief history of Irish railways . . 2 January 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240102215015/https://www.downrail.co.uk/about-us/irishrailways/ . 2 January 2024 . en.
    2. News: Odds and ends . . Hobart, Tasmania . 24 March 1846 . 21 August 2012 . 4 . National Library of Australia.
    3. Book: Harrigan, Leo J.. Victorian Railways to '62 . 1962 . Melbourne . Victorian Railways . 40.
    4. Web site: Iarnród Éireann Heritage and Enthusiasts. Irish. Rail. Irish Rail.
    5. Web site: Irish BG . hmrs.org.uk.
    6. McCormack, K. (2017). Irish Railways in the 1950s and 1960s: A Journey Through Two Decades. United Kingdom: Pen & Sword Books.
    7. Irish Builder and Engineer. (1881:58). Ireland: Howard MacGarvey & Sons..
    8. Book: Fitch, Ron . 2006 . Australian Railwayman: from cadet engineer to railways commissioner . Dural, New South Wales . Rosenberg Publishing Pty Ltd . 1877058483 .
    9. Book: Cast Into the Unknown . Mike W. Harry . 30. 2008 . 9781875329670.
    10. Web site: As medidas das bitolas mais usadas no Brasil. Wasaki. Engenharia. 27 October 2022.
    11. Web site: A padronização da bitola nas ferrovias da Grã-Bretanha. vfco.brazilia.jor.br.
    12. Rail_transport_in_Brazil
    13. Newer Metro systems use standard gauge.
    14. Web site: Breitspurbahn. Rieger, Bernhard. 2006-04-23. 2007-11-29. 10 September 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140910031644/http://www.breitspurbahn.de/3000.html. dead.
    15. Web site: Infrastructure. Irish Rail. 2013-05-03. https://web.archive.org/web/20130507035058/http://www.irishrail.ie/index.jsp?p=115&n=126. 2013-05-07. dead.

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