4 ft 8 in gauge railways

Track gauge

By transport mode

* Rapid transit
* Tram
* Miniature
* Scale model

By size (list)

* * *

| Minimum
| Fifteen inch | 381 mm | (1 ft 3 in)

* * *

| Narrow
| 600 mm | 600 mm | (1 ft 11+5⁄8 in)
Two foot | 610 mm | (2 ft)
Two foot three inch | 686 mm | (2 ft 3 in)
| 750 mm | 750 mm | (2 ft 5+1⁄2 in)
Bosnian gauge | 760 mm | (2 ft 5+15⁄16 in)
Two foot six inch | 762 mm | (2 ft 6 in)
| Swedish three-foot | 891 mm | (2 ft 11+3⁄32 in)
900 mm | 900 mm | (2 ft 11+7⁄16 in)
Three-foot | 914 mm | (3 ft)
Italian metre | 950 mm | (3 ft 1+13⁄32 in)
| Metre | 1,000 mm | (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in)
| Three foot six inch | 1,067 mm | (3 ft 6 in)
| Four foot | 1,219 mm | (4 ft)
| Four foot six inch | 1,372 mm | (4 ft 6 in)
| 1432 mm | 1,432 mm | (4 ft 8+3⁄8 in)

* * *

| Standard | 1,435 mm | (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in)

* * *

| Broad
| Italian broad gauge | 1,445 mm | (4 ft 8+7⁄8 in)
Dresden gauge | 1,450 mm | (4 ft 9+3⁄32 in)
| Leipzig gauge | 1,458 mm | (4 ft 9+13⁄32 in)
| Toronto gauge | 1,495 mm | (4 ft 10+7⁄8 in)
| 1520 mm | 1,520 mm | (4 ft 11+27⁄32 in)
Five foot | 1,524 mm | (5 ft)
| Pennsylvania gauge | 1,581 mm | (5 ft 2+1⁄4 in)
Pennsylvania gauge | 1,588 mm | (5 ft 2+1⁄2 in)
Five foot three inch | 1,600 mm | (5 ft 3 in)
| Baltimore gauge | 1,638 mm | (5 ft 4+1⁄2 in)
| Iberian gauge | 1,668 mm | (5 ft 5+21⁄32 in)
Five foot six inch | 1,676 mm | (5 ft 6 in)
| Six foot | 1,829 mm | (6 ft)
| Brunel | 2,140 mm | (7 ft 1⁄4 in)
| Breitspurbahn | 3,000 mm | (9 ft 101⁄8 in)
Change of gauge

* Bogie exchange
* Break of gauge
* Dual gauge
* Conversion
* list
* Variable gauge

By location

* North America
* South America
* Europe
* Australia

4 ft 8 in gauge railways are railways with a track gauge of 4 ft 8 in / 1,422 mm. This gauge is 1⁄2 inch (13 mm) less than 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge The first such railways were the Killingworth Railway[1][2] and the Stockton and Darlington Railway [note 1]

## Similar gauges

[edit]

* The Huddersfield Corporation Tramways, 4 ft 7+3⁄4 in (1,416 mm), the gauge is 3⁄4 inch (19 mm) less than 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
* The Glasgow Corporation Tramways, 4 ft 7+3⁄4 in (1,416 mm)
* The Washington Metro 4 ft 8+1⁄4 in (1,429 mm), the gauge is 1⁄4 inch (6 mm) less than 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
* The trams in Nuremberg for one time nominally used 1,432 mm (4 ft 8+3⁄8 in), the gauge is 1⁄8 inch (3 mm) less than 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
* The MTR uses 1,432 mm (4 ft 8+3⁄8 in) on most lines.
* The Bucharest Metro uses 1,432 mm (4 ft 8+3⁄8 in)

## Railways

[edit]

This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (March 2021)

|

Country / territory  | System / RR name  | Notes

|
|

Netherlands | Trams in Amsterdam | In operation. Converted to 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) between 1900 and 1906
New Zealand | Trams in Dunedin | Defunct
UK | Clarence Railway | Became part of the North Eastern Railway in 1865
Hetton colliery railway | Closed in 1959[5]
Killingworth Colliery railway
Killingworth Railway
Killingworth tramway
Killingworth wagonway | Four different names for the same line. Defunct
Stockton and Darlington Railway | Became part of the North Eastern Railway in 1863
USA | Centreville Military Railroad | Defunct
Green Mountain Cog Railway |
Los Angeles and Independence Railroad |
Manassas Gap Railroad |
Montgomery and West Point Railroad |
Mount Washington Cog Railway | In operation
New Orleans and Carrollton Railroad | Became the St. Charles Streetcar Line,[6] converted to 5 ft 2+1⁄2 in (1,588 mm)
North Carolina Railroad |
Pontchartrain Railroad |
Raleigh and Gaston Railroad |
Richmond, Petersburg and Carolina Railroad |
Seaboard and Roanoke Railroad |
West Feliciana Railroad |
Western North Carolina Railroad |
Wilmington and Weldon Railroad |

## See also

[edit]

* 4 ft 7 3⁄4 in gauge
* List of 4 ft 8 in gauge railways
* List of track gauges
* List of tram track gauges

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ Smiles (1904, p. 160) states that early tramroads had rails 4 ft 8 in (1,422 mm) apart, but Tomlinson (1915, pp. 82–83) challenges this, stating that the most common gauge of the early tramroads and waggonways was about 4 ft (1,219 mm), and some, such as the Wylam waggonway, had the rails 5 ft (1,524 mm) apart. The gauge of the S&DR was given in early documents as 4 ft 8 in (1,422 mm), but the distance between the rails was later measured as 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm), and this became the standard gauge used by 60 per cent of railways worldwide. The difference of 1⁄2 inch (13 mm) is a mystery.[3][4]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Allen 1974, p. 20.
2. ^ The Rocket Men, by Robin Jones, p33; Mortons Media Group.
3. ^ Davis, Hunter (1975). George Stephenson: A Biographical Study of the Father of Railways. Weidenfeld and Nicolson. p. 75\. ISBN 0-297-76934-0.
4. ^ "Robert Stephenson (1803–1859)". Network Rail. Archived from the original on 26 February 2014. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
5. ^ Allen, G. Freeman (December 1959). "Talking of trains: First mineral railway closed". Trains Illustrated. Hampton Court: Ian Allan.
6. ^ Cook 2005, p. 136.

## Sources

[edit]

* Allen, Cecil J. (1974) [1964]. The North Eastern Railway. Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-0495-1.
* Cook, Samantha (2005). New Orleans: Directions. Rough Guides. ISBN 1-84353-393-6.
* Smiles, Samuel (1904). Lives of the Engineers. The Locomotive. George and Robert Stephenson. John Murray. OCLC 220796785.
* Tomlinson, William Weaver (1915). The North Eastern Railway: Its rise and development. Andrew Reid and Company. OCLC 504251788.

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