Re: Irish Gauge

[G.Lambert@unsw.edu.au (Geoff Lambert)]

"Exnarc" <gwrly@netspace.net.au> wrote:

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

>There is more in that than you realise, take a copy of the GWR 1934? Rule
>book and compare it with any VR rule book uptil 1966 and not only are they
>worded almost word for word, the rules even follow on in the same sequence,
>(different Regulation and Rule numbers though).

Well, you will find that the rule books of the GWR, L&NWR, Midland,
Great Northern and about 100 other railways in the U.K. are all
identical in most respects.

You will also find that the WAGR, TGR, VR, EBR, Wolgan Valley, NSWGR
and NZR of the 1907-1960 period are indentical to one another in most
respects too, and that they have a great generic similarity to all the
U.K. books.

The reason is that, in the U.K., the wording of rulebooks was
coordinated by a committee at the Railway Clearing House.  Books began
to be standardised with the 1867 issues, and new versions were issued
in 1876, 1883, 1897, 1904 and 1933.  

The 1897 book was the "gold-standard" for rule books.  It formed the
basis for a similar project of the Australasian Railways'
Commissioners' Conference which commissioned two officers from NSWGR
and VR to draw up a similar book.  This was adopted by several
Australian railways in 1905 and the book appeared in 1907.  It was
very similar in structure to the U.K. book and many of the rules were
copied word for word.  It was about 20% bigger though, partly because
there were a lot more rules to do with discipline (I believe this is
the colnial/convict heritage) and with "Way & Works".  Rule books in
Australia were all pieces of delegated legislation, and this was
another driving force for congruency.

South Australia and Queensland agreed to issue these model rule books,
but they never did.  If any Australian rule book resembles the GWR,
then it is the SA book of around the turn of the century.  This is
because of the employment by SAR of E. Carus Driffield, who previously
worked in the signalling section of the GWR.  The SAR book is almost a
direct copy of the GWR 1876 book- they even used exactly the same
woodcuts for the illustrations.  Driffield went on to work for the Mt
Lyell Mining and Railway Company and he did the same thing there- the
1914 MLMR book is the same as the SAR and the same as the old GWR.  He
took the woodcuts with him too.  He did the same with the single line
block instruments that went from GWR to SAR to MLMR too.

Australian railways gave up having identical rule books, starting with
the WAGR in 1962.  Now they are are all totally different, most have
been re-written drastically in this decade.  There is a lot of
pressure from (e.g.) government, to go back to having a consistent
rule book to cover all railways.

Geoff Lambert