[3] The battle of the gauges Part 1

In the early days, each railroad built its track at whatever gauge it pleased and then built its engines and cars to fit that gauge. The tracks at the Killingworth Colliery, for which George Stephenson built his first locomotive the Blocher, happened to be 4 feet 8 inches (1.42 meters) between rails, so Stephenson built his locomotive for this gauge. When he designed the Stockton and Darlington he made the locomotive the same width but added another half inch (1.3 centimeters) to the width of track. This odd measurement of 4 feet 81/2 inches (1.44 meters) in time came to be known as standard gauge. Other tracks in England ranged between 2 and 7 feet (0.6 and 2.1 meters). The famous English engineer Brunel considered that the (чем) broader the gauge, the (тем) easily would the trains run. Following his advice the Great Western Company had constructed the railway network with a gauge of 7 feet. That is why for many years there were 2 gauges in England: the 7 feet suggested by Brunel and 4 feet 8½ inches, offered by Stephenson. It was inconvenient because where there was a break of gauges, delay was caused and time was wasted. Angry people wrote to the newspapers and demanded to change the broad gauge. “The Battle of the Gauges” lasted more than 30 years. Only in 1892 in the House of Commons* the broad gauge was described as a “national evil”, and it was decided to convert all the railways to the standard gauge.

Part 2

In the United States the early railroad tracks ranged from 3 to 6 feet (0.9 to 1.8 meters) in width. This variance became unacceptable with the demand for connecting lines and through service. Freight soon began to move longer distances and over the lines of more than one railroad. The differences in gauges forced the costly nuisance of unloading and reloading cars. Most of the lines in the area between New York City and Chicago were of nearly the same gauge—between 4 feet 8 inches and 4 feet 10 inches (1.47 meters). Thus, in the 1860s, arrangements were made to use cars specially equipped with broad-tread wheels that could be used on any of these widths. About the same time, the movement toward standardization of the 4 feet 81/2 inch, or Stephenson, gauge received great encouragement when the United States Congress adopted it for the new Pacific railroad. By the mid-1880s there was virtually a double standard of gauge in the United States. In the North and West the Stephenson gauge prevailed, while most of the South used a gauge of 5 feet (1.52 meters). Starting in 1886, the Southern lines narrowed their tracks to the now standard gauge of 4 feet 81/2 inches. This uniformity soon ensured an uninterrupted flow of commerce over the entire nation. Standard gauge is also used in Canada, Mexico, and Cuba, which was once linked with railroads on the mainland by freight-car ferry. No other continent has a comparable standardization, however.

Note: *the House of Commons – Палата Общин

[4] Development of american railroads

Between 1850 and 1871 the United States government made grants to railroads to assist the extension of lines in the West and South, often ahead of settlement. About 8 percent of the country’s railroad mileage was built with the aid of these land grants. The grants were not outright gifts; in return, the railroads were required to haul government traffic at reduced rates. When Congress terminated this arrangement in 1946, it was estimated that the railroads had repaid the government about ten times the original value of the land grants.

By 1870, when the railroad movement in the United States was 40 years old, there were 53,000 miles (85,000 kilometers) of main lines, not including secondary tracks, sidings, passingtracks, or yards. Between 1870 and 1880 another 40,000 miles (64,000 kilometers) were added. The decade from 1880 to 1890 saw the most rapid expansion of American rail lines, with 70,000 miles (113,000 kilometers) added—an average of 19 miles (31 kilometers) of new railroad completed each day. Growth continued, with another 30,000 miles (48,000 kilometers) added in the 1890s and another 47,000 miles (76,000 kilometers) in the next decade. By 1910 the network was largely complete and there was little further extension. In 1916 total railroad-line mileage in the United States reached its highest point at 254,000 miles (409,000 kilometers).

After 1920, with the rapid expansion of paved roads, much traffic was taken from the railroads by automobiles, buses, and trucks, though the overall demand for railroad service remained high. As a result, the railroad network began to shrink as lines that could no longer pay their way were abandoned. By the end of the 1980s, railroad-line miles in the United States had dropped to about 150,000 miles (241,000 kilometers). Some of the lines had been built to serve mines, forests, or other nonrenewable natural resources and were abandoned when the resources were exhausted. Other lines had been built to serve an anticipated need that never materialized. Still other lines disappeared because the industries they had been built to serve entered a period of decline or relocated to other parts of the country. By the late 1980s, American railroads had become primarily high-volume freight carriers operating on long-distance, main-line corridors. Intercity passenger traffic had largely been taken over by automobiles, buses, and airlines. Much freight, especially on the shorter distance hauls, was being carried by trucks. Yet the total railroad freight volume, as measured in ton-miles (a ton-mile is a unit of measurement corresponding to one ton of freight carried one mile) set a new all-time record in 1990—78 percent more than in 1960.