Railroads in the US have been standardized on "Standard Gauge" at 1435 mm for over a hundred years. We just call it 4ft. 8.5in. What is called Narrow gauge in the US was used in the late 1800s and early 1900s in remote mountainous regions since they could make tighter turns without having to dig quite so many tunnels or build quite so many bridges. In the US, Narrow gauge, was always referred to as 3ft. I am not sure how they US railroaders will treat the 914.4 mm equivalent: technically, it should be rounded down to 914 mm, but 915 mm is cleaner.
Aaron On Sun, Nov 8, 2009 at 6:52 AM, Martin Vlietstra <[email protected]>wrote: > Pat, > > > > In my limited knowledge of Australia, Australian rail gauges are a “Very > Australian Mess”. (For the benefit those who don’t know what I am talking > about, different parts of Australia had different railway gauges as a result > of the views of different colonial governments. They are 1065 mm (formerly > 3ft 6in), 1435 mm (formerly 4ft 8.5in) and 1600 mm (formerly 5ft 3 in). I > do understand however that there is a policy to standardize on the 1435 mm > gauge where appropriate. Would that the British and American Governments do > the same for units of measure. > > > > > ------------------------------ > > *From:* [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] *On > Behalf Of *Pat Naughtin > *Sent:* 08 November 2009 05:25 > > *To:* U.S. Metric Association > *Subject:* [USMA:46135] Re: Ireland > > > > Dear Martin, > > > > The 1600 mm rail gauge is still used in Australia, although they are > gradually changing to the 1435 mm gauge to take advantage of importing > rolling stock from other countries. > > > > To the best of my knowledge the 1600 mm gauge was used in: > > > > Australia > > New South Wales, Australia (State of) (A few routes entering from > Neighbouring Victoria only > > South Australia (State of) > > Tasmania, Australia (State of) and > > Victoria, Australia (State of) > > > > The 1600 mm gauge was also used in: > > Brazil > > Northern Ireland and the > > Republic of Ireland > > You will probably get more information from > http://www.experiencefestival.com/a/Rail_gauge_-_History/id/2054001 but > this does not make the choice of 1600 mm any clearer to me. > > This next reference might give you a better clue to the origin of the 1600 > mm rail gauge: > http://www.google.com.au/search?q=railway+gauge+5ft+3in+history&hl=en&rlz=1G1GGLQ_ENAU345&sa=G&tbs=tl:1&tbo=u&ei=oVT2Ss_zFZHWswPozcSvBA&oi=timeline_result&ct=title&resnum=11&ved=0CCkQ5wIwCgas > it quotes the > *Transactions of the American Society of Civil Engineers* as saying: > > 1854 - The first Brazilian railroads, completed in *1854*, have a *5 ft*.- > *3 in*. *gauge*. Most roads use 1-m. *gauge*, however, which has also beeu > taken for the Transandine *Railway*. Gauges of 1.40, 1.20, 0.95 and 0.60 > m. are also in use. > > AS these lead to rounded metric gauge sizes, I wonder whether the 1600 mm > gauge originated in Brazil. > > > > Cheers, > > > > Pat Naughtin > > Author of the ebook, *Metrication Leaders Guide,* that you can obtain > from http://metricationmatters.com/MetricationLeadersGuideInfo.html > > PO Box 305 Belmont 3216, > > Geelong, Australia > > Phone: 61 3 5241 2008 > > > > Metric system consultant, writer, and speaker, Pat Naughtin, has helped > thousands of people and hundreds of companies upgrade to the modern metric > system smoothly, quickly, and so economically that they now save thousands > each year when buying, processing, or selling for their businesses. Pat > provides services and resources for many different trades, crafts, and > professions for commercial, industrial and government metrication leaders in > Asia, Europe, and in the USA. Pat's clients include the Australian > Government, Google, NASA, NIST, and the metric associations of Canada, the > UK, and the USA. See http://www.metricationmatters.com > <http://www.metricationmatters.com/>for > more metrication information, contact Pat at > [email protected] or to get the free '*Metrication > matters*' newsletter go to: http://www.metricationmatters.com/newsletter to > subscribe. > > > > On 2009/11/08, at 08:11 , Martin Vlietstra wrote: > > > > They certainly don’t use the British gauge of 1435 mm. The Irish rail > gauge is 1600 mm (5ft 3in in earlier years). The difference between the two > is 0.2 mm and since the tolerance on railway lines is of the order of 5 mm, > the two are interchangeable. I sometimes wonder whether or not the engineer > who specified 5ft 3in for Irish railways at some time in the nineteenth > century was secretly pro-metric. > > > ------------------------------ > > *From:* [email protected] > [mailto:[email protected]<[email protected]> > ] *On Behalf Of *Stephen Humphreys > *Sent:* 07 November 2009 20:35 > *To:* U.S. Metric Association > *Subject:* [USMA:46132] Re: Ireland > > > > I wonder if Ireland use British trains on their train network? > > ------------------------------ > > From: [email protected] > To: [email protected] > Subject: [USMA:46131] Re: Ireland > Date: Sat, 7 Nov 2009 20:36:30 +0100 > > When I was in Ireland this summer I saw one strange thing: Irish Rail is > renewing the distance markers along the railways but they have not been > changed to kilometres. So I saw a lot of new markers, all in miles! Totally > contrary what has been done on the roads. Maybe Tom has an explanation for > that. > > The shops that sell carpets, tiles etc. still oppose metric. I have to see > the first shop of that kind in Ireland which uses metric units rationally. > Some shops give the dimensions of carpets in metric and the price in euros > per square yard! > > It is probably marketing nonsense that decrees that the square yard be > used, as pricing by the square metre looks > > more expensive. > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > > *From:* [email protected] > > *To:* U.S. Metric Association <[email protected]> > > *Cc:* U.S. Metric Association <[email protected]> > > *Sent:* Thursday, 2009, November 05 17:33 > > *Subject:* [USMA:46117] Re: Ireland > > > > So, nu ??? What did you observe there regarding metric usage? :-) > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Bill Hooper" <[email protected]> > To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[email protected]> > Sent: Wednesday, November 4, 2009 6:00:39 PM GMT -08:00 US/Canada Pacific > Subject: [USMA:46116] Ireland > > > > Just got back from Ireland and re-subscribed to this list. > > > ------------------------------ > > New Windows 7: Find the right PC for you. Learn > more.<http://www.microsoft.com/uk/windows/buy/> > > >
