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  2. Apr 16, 2001 · The US standard railroad gauge (width between the two rails) is 4 feet, 8.5 inches. That's an exceedingly odd number. Why was that gauge used?

  3. A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 + 1 ⁄ 2 in). The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), international gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge and European gauge in Europe, and SGR in East Africa. It is the most widely used track gauge around the world, with ...

  4. Dec 2, 2022 · How wide are railroad tracks? The US standard railroad gauge is 4 feet, 8.5 inches (Gauge means width between the two rails). The U.S. federal safety standards allow the standard gauge to vary from 4 ft 8 in (1,420 mm) to 4 ft 9 1⁄2 in (1,460 mm) for operation up to 60 mph (97 km/h).

  5. May 22, 2020 · Rail section dimensions mainly contain the rail height, the width of the base, the width of the head, the web thickness, the depth of head, the depth of the base, nominal weight per yard or meter. Railroad rail dimensions provide a method of identifying types of most rails.

  6. The vast majority of North American railroads are standard gauge (4 ft 8 + 12 in / 1,435 mm). Exceptions include some streetcar, subway and rapid transit systems, mining and tunneling operations, and some narrow-gauge lines particularly in the west, e.g. the isolated White Pass and Yukon Route system, and the former Newfoundland Railway .

  7. Originally, various track gauges were used in the United States. Some railways, primarily in the northeast, used standard gauge of 4 ft8+1⁄2in ( 1,435 mm ); others used gauges ranging from 2 ft ( 610 mm) to 6 ft ( 1,829 mm ). As a general rule, southern railroads were built to one or another broad gauge, mostly 5 ft ( 1,524 mm ), while ...

  8. Sep 25, 2023 · Standard gauge is 4 feet, 8-1/2 inches. This is the gauge used when steam railroading began. It became the common gauge of Britain, North America, and Western Europe — except for Spain, Portugal, and Ireland. But how did this seemingly odd width become standard?