Re: Irish Gauge

[Ian Jelf <ian@bluebadge.demon.co.uk>]

In article <uboR3.4370$we.6792@newsfeeds.bigpond.com>, David Lindstrom
<D_Lindstrom@bigpond.com> writes
>On this subject I'd love to know what some of the advantages of the 5'3"
>gauge are over standard gauge.
A friend of mine, now in his eighties, knew in his youth an old guard on
the (British) GWR.   This guard had begun his railway career as a
teenager in the last days of the Great Western's broad gauge (7 feet and
a quarter of an inch), then moved to work on the Irish railways, before
finally returning to Great Britain after the complete conversion to
standard gauge.

Apparently, this old chap, having experienced all three British gauges,
always maintained that standard gauge was too narrow;  the broad gauge
was too wide;  but that the Irish (and therefore Victorian) gauge was
just about right, combining practicality, stability and comfort.
-- 
Ian Jelf        http://www.bluebadge.demon.co.uk
Birmingham, UK
        Registered "Blue Badge" Tourist Guide
        for the Heart of England and London