When
George Stephenson was building the
Stockton & Darlington Railway he
decided the rail gauge should be just over 4 ft 8 ins (1.44m). The
reason for this was that was the width of the wagonway at Killingworth
Colliery. However, after Stephenson had made this decision, other
railway chief engineers followed his example and used the same rail
gauge.
When Isambard Brunel was building the London
to Bristol line in 1838 he decided to
use what became known as the broad gauge (2.2 m) instead of the standard
gauge (1.44m) on the line. Brunel argued that by using a wider track,
he could provide larger and faster locomotives. It was also pointed
out by Brunel that the broad gauge was safer and that locomotives
would be less likely to leave the rails on sharp bends.
By 1844 the Great Western Railway had opened
a new line from Bristol to Exeter
and from Bristol to Gloucester where it
met the standard gauge of the Birmingham & Gloucester line. This
created problems as passengers and goods had to be transferred from
one train to another.
In 1845 a Royal Commission looked into the subject of the railway
gauge. After a long investigation that included committee members
asking railway engineers over 6,500 questions, it was decided to recommend
the use of the standard gauge. The Gauge Act passed by Parliament
in 1846 made the standard gauge compulsory for all new railways. However,
the Great Western Railway retained its broad
gauge until 1892, when it was converted to the standard gauge.
A print showing the problems of having to change trains at Gloucester.
Available from Amazon Books
(order below)
