Re: Irish Gauge

["Robert Lee" <robsl@ozemail.com.au>]

The decision to adopt the 5'3" gauge in Ireland was a compromise between the
then English narrow gauge of 4'8.5" (nowadays we all call this standard
gauge) and the broad gauge of 7 feet (and a quarter inch for the pedants!).
A Select Committee of the House of Lords reporting to the Board of Trade in
1846 made the choice of 5'3" on the basis of its analysis of the
contrdictory advice from a range of engineers.  Gauges between five and six
feet were very common (indeed almost universal) for new railway projects
started in the late 1840s in 1850s.  Canada was nearly all 5'6", and of
course India, Chile and Argentina share this gauge as well.  The first
Brazilian railways were 5'3" (although the later ones were mostly metre
gauge).  Many US lines of this time were 5'6" to 6'.  These were converted
to standard gauge along with the Canadian lines during the 1870s for the
most part.  What was unusual was the choice of NSW of narrow gauge (today's
standard) in the early 1850s.  Almost every railway began then was broad
gauge, becasue that's what the experts advised at the time.  As is well
known, the first thing John Whitton did on his appointment as
Engineer-in-Chief of the NSWR in 1856 was advise their conversion to 5'3"
gauge.

I hope this helps.  I could be more thorough of you want.


John Dennis wrote in message <7v32a1$4nj$1@nnrp1.deja.com>...
>I have just been asked why Victoria ran on 5'3" and New South Wales on
>standard gauge.  I know all the Australian history of those decisions,
>and was able to answer the query.  I was then asked why the Irish chose
>5'3" as opposed to the Biritish standard gauge.
>
>Can anybody assist with an answer ...