Reading through Beebe and Clegg's "Mixed Train Daily" today I came across a paragraph on page 276 that mentions the Strasburg Railroad as being at a gauge of 4'9" Since this information is coming from such a reputable source it's hard to discredit it, but i've never seen this fact corroborated. It is true that the Strasburg was originally gauged to 4'9"?

Only in the summer. In the winter, it shrinks back to 4'-8-1/2". ;)

If I remember correctly the Pennsylvania RR used 4'-9" as its official gauge until around 1900. Since Strasburg connected only with Pennsy (and operated with used PRR engines, etc.) it would make sense.


JAC

Is it 4'-9" today? When they rebuild or add track, do they spike it to 4'-9"? I assume that standard gauge equipmpment can run on 4'-9" gauge without any problem. Nevertheless, the discrepancy would seem to place the wheels into the category of "compromise" by 1/2". What are the consequences of that, if any?

RTK

TITLE 49--TRANSPORTATION
CHAPTER II--FEDERAL RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

PART 213_TRACK SAFETY STANDARDS--Table of Contents

Subpart C_Track Geometry

Sec. 213.53 Gage.

(a) Gage is measured between the heads of the rails at right-angles to the rails in a plane five-eighths of an inch below the top of the rail head.

(b) Gage shall be within the limits prescribed in the following table--

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Class of track The gage must be at least-- But not more than--
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Excepted track.......................... N/A............................ 4[foot]10\1/4\.

Class 1 track........................... 4[foot]8............ 4[foot]10.

Class 2 and 3 track..................... 4[foot]8............ 4[foot]9\3/4\.

Class 4 and 5 track..................... 4[foot]8............ 4[foot]9\1/2\.

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While I am not much of a track man, I can say the following.....

57" is number you run into a lot on Class 2 & 3 track. In fact in curves you find it alot on high traffic track where the wheels are actually pushing gauge.
Infact on the remaining portion of the C&O's Greenbrier sub, all the curves are gauged at 57". Theory being that steam locomotives needed a little extra for the curve account of the longer wheel base.
If I were to lay new tanget track, I don't think I'd go for 57" just because your already lost a 1/2" of give when your ties start to go and your already behind the game, but if I where laying curves for steam locomotives......I'd have to ask some questions.....

4'9" was also the "compromise gauge" that many southern railroads went to after the Civil War. On one Sunday in 1886, most southern railroads which were still 5' gauge moved their rails inward to the compromise gauge, which allowed for interchange.

The mismatch and eventual standardization of gauges is an intersting topic. There is a book "The American Railroad Network" originally published in the 1950s which coveres the subject quite well.

Strasburg was historically 4' 9" gage.

Linn:

Thank you...thank you...THANK YOU, for answering the original question (it's amazing how many of these threads go off on a tangent!) I too had heard that the Strasburg was a 4' 9" gauge railroad. Certainly the extra 1/2" did not make any difference in interchange.

Perhaps someone from the Strasburg could tell us if new trackage built after the line was acquired was laid to the railroads historically accurate gauge, or if they now just use the standard 4' 8-1/2".

Les

The first economically successful steam locomotive was built by George Stephenson in England in 1814 for the Stockton and Darlington Railway Line. The S&D was built to a gauge of 4 foot 8 inch (56 inch). Stephenson found out later that by widening the gauge ½ inch, the locomotive stayed on the track better. So came into existence the first steam locomotive in what is now called Standard Gauge.

Quote from my upcoming book on the Gainesville Midland Railroad and no it's not a direct answer to the question posted.

Doug

Benjamin brings up a good point. Do any tourist railroads running steam today still expand the gauge on curves to accomidate a rigid wheelbase steam locomotive?

The Strasburg RR's original connection with the outisde world at "Leman's Place" (as spelled in original c.1850s P&C timetables) was with the Philadelphia & Columbia RR, which was originally listed as 4'9" ga. in Poor's. In fact, the PRR would often list its gauge as 4'9" for many years but curiously this reference disappeared by the 1880s. Many early roads were built to this specification, though it is kind of a joke, really. Since the Strasburg's interchange partner was this gauge, certainly they had to be, too, right? 4'9" ga. is only within a half inch of standard gauge, so for all intents and purposes, the SRR was a standard guage road. Of course the SRR had such bad track for its first 110 years of existence that it was literally out of gauge and probably by default it was 4'9" in many places! :-) Do bear in mind that Beebe and Clegg had a propensity for humor, thus the whimsical reference.

K.R. Bell
(Conductor, Strasburg RR Co.)

To all,

For what it's worth, I have always built new track to 56-1/2" guage and I think you'll find that pretty standard today unless it's specified due to curvature considerations. The most common exception you have to consider is in sharp curves. With the advent of the steerable 6-wheel trucks on large road diesels, you still have the slewing of 2-axle trucks on freight cars to account for. In steel mills where space is a premium you can find curves in the 20 to 30 degree range and you would certainly keep that track gauged at 57" or even greater.

In most industrial settings, we find that CSX/NS/Wheeling/OC, etc. will tolerate wide gauge up to 57-3/4" or 58" and that's when they'll shut a customer down, especially when you can see high spikes or the tie plates shoving out under load.

It's also interesting to note that Glen Campbell has remarked that the Bessemer 2-10-4 #643 has been moved with no problem through No.6 turnouts in the ex-P&LE McKee's Rocks Yard on more than one occassion. I'm sure this wouldn't be a recommended practice out on the road, but the data I've seen on most large rigid base steam locomotives allow them to negotiate curves much sharper than what you would find on the main lines.

This is interesting because, in terms of the gage tolerance, you could say that any standard gage line is 4’-9” gage. But the true gage is the nominal value, not just any number within the tolerance range. In standard gage, there is a tolerance for deviation caused by wear of rail, ties, spikes, etc. There can also be intentional widening on curves. Yet the true, nominal gage for straight track is intended to be exactly 4’-8 ½”. If the track is in perfect condition, that will be what the gage measures.

My understanding is that the Strasburg was not merely called 4’-9” gage because of its relationship to other earlier railroads that were built to the true, nominal gage of 4’-9”, as has been suggested, but that Strasburg itself was truly built to 4’-9” gage. This was a common gage number.

In the era prior to interchange there were many different gages, each being selected only by the criteria of carrying capacity versus economy of construction. As a consensus for a standard gage emerged, all others were either abandoned or converted. But there was no need to convert 4’-9” to 4’-8 ½” because they were close enough to interchange between. I believe that I have heard references to one or more other southern region lines that also operated into the current era as 4’-9” gage to which they were originally built.

If I were maintaining or adding track to a railroad that was originally built to 4’-9” gage, I would build to 4’-8 ½” gage for all new work. For practical purposes, there may be no way to actually measure track at Strasburg to determine whether it was built to 4’-9” gage and never converted. Some have confirmed here that Strasburg was historically 4’-9” gage, but it is still unclear whether this was practically true or just a label due to a relationship with another line that was true 4”-9” gage. So, like the gage of most track in use, the terms of the question need to be tightened up a little.

RTK

There was a newspaper legend circulated after the PennCentral bankruptcy that claimed that among other incompatibilities like color, religion, computers, etc., that the PRR and the NYC used different track gauges! Allegedly one used 4' 8-3/4" on curved track, and theother used that "curve gauge" everywhere.

We use 4' 8 1/2" on tangent. We will widen a bit on curves over 10 degrees.