Re: Irish Gauge

[Jackson Harding <jaxsonjo@camtech.net.au>]

David Bromage wrote:

> David Lindstrom (D_Lindstrom@bigpond.com) wrote:
> > On this subject I'd love to know what some of the advantages of the 5'3"
> > gauge are over standard gauge.
> > I recall reading an article in the Melbourne Herald sometime in the 1970s
> > which said that an even broader gauge was also considered for Victoria (the
> > seven feet and one quarter of an inch).
>
> There's a reason for that. Back in the 1850s, the chief engineer to the
> colony of Victoria did not have any experience building railways. He left
> all the decisions to the consulting engineer to the Agent General in
> London, a bloke by the name of I.K. Brunel. That's why Geelong - Ballarat
> and Melbourne - Bendigo were built double track with all the trimmings, it
> was the then GWR standard.
>
> Cheers
> David

That is also why, IMHO,  the VR and the GWR "feel" similar.