4 ft 6 in gauge railway

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Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Sidebar track gauge The Template:RailGauge track gauge, also called the Scotch gauge, was adopted by early 19th century railways mainly in the Lanarkshire area of Scotland. It differed from the gauge of Template:RailGauge that was used on some early lines in England. Early railways chose their own gauge, but later in the century interchange of equipment was facilitated by establishing a uniform rail gauge across railways: the 'standard gauge' of Template:RailGauge. In the early 1840s standard gauge lines began to be constructed in Scotland, and all the Scotch gauge lines were eventually converted to standard gauge. The building of new Scotch gauge railways was outlawed in Great Britain in 1846 by the Regulating the Gauge of Railways Act 1846. From 1903, tram lines of Tokyo adopted this gauge.

Scottish railways built to Scotch gauge

File:Scotch Gauge track at Eglinton.JPG
A section of original 1831 Scotch gauge track relaid at Eglinton Country Park in North Ayrshire.
File:Waggonway Rail.JPG
A Script error: No such module "convert". length of flat-bottomed Vignoles rail from the Scotch gauge Ardrossan and Johnstone Railway

A small number of early to mid-19th century passenger railways were built to Script error: No such module "Track gauge".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Scotch gauge including:

Name Length
Ardrossan and Johnstone Railway.[1] Script error: No such module "convert"..[2] Authorised on 20 July 1806 and opened on 6 November 1810.[3]
In 1840 the line was regauged to standard gauge.
Monkland and Kirkintilloch Railway.[4] Script error: No such module "convert"..[2] Authorised on 17 May 1824 and opened on 1 October 1826.[3] The engineer was Thomas Grainger.[4]
The M&KR altered its track gauge to standard on 26 and 27 July 1847.
Ballochney Railway.[1] Script error: No such module "convert"..[2] Incorporated on 19 May 1826 and opened on 8 August 1828.[3]
The company changed its gauge to 1435 mm on 26 July and 27 July 1847.
Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway.[1] Authorised on 26 May 1826 and opened in part on 4 July 1831.[3]
In 1846 converted to standard gauge and steam traction.
Garnkirk and Glasgow Railway.[1] Script error: No such module "convert"..[2] Incorporated on 26 May 1826 and ceremonially opened on 27 September 1831 for both passengers and goods.[3] The engineers were Thomas Grainger and John Miller from Edinburgh.[1][4]
Converted to standard gauge before 1847.
Wishaw and Coltness Railway.[4] Script error: No such module "convert"..[2] Incorporated on 21 June 1829 and partially opened on 21 March 1834.[3] The engineers were Thomas Grainger and John Miller from Edinburgh.[4]
In 1849, it became part of the standard gauge Caledonian Railway.
Slamannan Railway.[1] Script error: No such module "convert"..[1][2] Incorporated on 3 July 1835 and opened on 31 August 1840.[3]
Converted to standard gauge in 1847.
Paisley and Renfrew Railway.[1] Script error: No such module "convert"..[2] Authorised on 21 July 1835 and opened on 3 April 1837 for both passengers and goods.[3] The engineer was Thomas Grainger.[4] Converted to Standard Gauge 1866.

Robert Stephenson and Company built a Scotch gauge locomotive, the St. Rollox, for the Garnkirk and Glasgow Railway; which was later sold to the Paisley and Renfrew Railway.[1][3]

All the lines were later relaid in standard gauge.[1][3]

Other early 19th century Scottish gauges

4 ft 6½ in gauge

In addition to the above lines, there were three railways, authorised between 1822 and 1835, that were built in the Dundee area, to a gauge of Script error: No such module "Track gauge".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".. They were:

5 ft 6 in gauge

Grainger and Miller built another two railway lines in the same area to a gauge of Script error: No such module "Track gauge".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".. Thomas Grainger is said to have chosen this gauge, since he regarded Script error: No such module "Track gauge".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". as being too narrow and Isambard Kingdom Brunel's Script error: No such module "Track gauge".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". as being too wide.[1] They were:

End of Scotch gauge

The Glasgow, Paisley, Kilmarnock and Ayr Railway and the Glasgow, Paisley and Greenock Railway, which both obtained Parliamentary Approval on 15 July 1837 and were later to become part of the Glasgow and South Western Railway and the Caledonian Railway, respectively, were built to standard gauge from the start.[1]

The Lee Moor Tramway operated a Scotch Gauge line from 1899 to the early 1960s,[5] with the two 0-4-0ST locomotives built by Peckett and Sons to their M4 Design. LEE MOOR No.1 (works number 783) is preserved at the Wheal Martyn Museum near St. Austell and LEE MOOR No.2 (works number 784) is preserved at the South Devon Railway, neither are operational. Both locomotives were originally preserved by the Lee Moor Tramway Preservation Group.[5]

The standard gauge of Template:RailGauge, also known as the Stephenson gauge after George Stephenson, was adopted in Great Britain after 1846 after the passing of the Regulating the Gauge of Railways Act 1846.[6] A few remnants of old lines remain, but are non functional with the exception of one example of the St Michael's Mount Tramway at St Michael's Mount in Cornwall. It is a partial underground railway that used to bring luggage up to the castle. It occasionally operates, but only for demonstration reasons and is not open to the general public, although a small stretch is visible at the harbour. It is therefore believed to be Britain's last functionally operational Scotch gauge railway.[7][8]

Use in Japan

File:Fuchu-keiba-seimon-mae-eki.2train keio.keibajyo.line.jpg
Keiō Line Script error: No such module "Track gauge".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". gauge tracks
File:Tokyo-rail-gauges-1372mm.svg
Map of railway lines with 1,372 mm gauge in Tokyo area

After the end of the Scotch gauge in Britain, the gauge was revived in Japan. Its origins date back to the Tokyo Horsecar Railway, one of former horsecar operators in Tokyo, adopted Script error: No such module "Track gauge".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". gauge in 1887.[9] Since 1903, most of the tram network in Tokyo was built with Script error: No such module "Track gauge".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". rail gauge, called Script error: No such module "Nihongo".. The use of this gauge extended to other suburban lines that through-operated onto the city tram network. Although Tokyo has abolished its major tram network (except the Arakawa Line), as of 2009 the following lines still used this gauge:

  • The Keiō Line and its branches (excluding the Inokashira Line). The reason to use 1372 mm in 1915 was to provide through service with the now-abolished Tokyo city tram.[10] Length: Script error: No such module "convert".. Commuter railways connecting Tokyo and its suburb operated by Keio Corporation.
  • The Toei Shinjuku Line.[10] Length: Script error: No such module "convert".. One of rapid transit lines in Tokyo, built to provide through service with the Keiō Line. Originally the Ministry of Transport intended the Keiō Line to convert to Script error: No such module "Track gauge".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". (so that the Shinjuku Line would have the same gauge as the Asakusa Line for maintenance convenience), but the service area as of late 20th century was too densely populated to risk a massive disruption of the Keiō service, and the Shinjuku Line was constructed in 1372 mm instead.
  • The Toden Arakawa Line.[10] Length: Script error: No such module "convert".. Only surviving line of Tokyo municipal tram.
  • The Tōkyū Setagaya Line.[10] Length: Script error: No such module "convert".. Another tram line in Tokyo operated by Tokyu Corporation.
  • The Hakodate City Tram.[10] Length: Script error: No such module "convert".. Only user of the gauge outside the Greater Tokyo Area.

See also

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References

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  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Whishaw, Francis (1842). The Railways of Great Britain and Ireland practically described and illustrated. Second Edition. London: John Weale. Reprinted and republished 1969, Newton Abbott: David & Charles. Template:ISBN.
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l Popplewell, Lawrence (1989). A Gazetteer of the Railway Contractors and Engineers of Scotland 1831–1870. (Vol. 1: 1831–1870 and Vol. 2: 1871–1914). Bournemouth: Melledgen Press. Template:ISBN.
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l Awdry, Christopher (1990). Encyclopaedia of British Railway Companies. London: Guild Publishing.
  4. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k Robertson, C.J.A. (1983). The Origins of the Scottish Railway System: 1722-1844. Edinburgh: John Donald Publishers. Template:ISBN.
  5. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  6. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  7. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  8. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  9. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  10. ↑ a b c d e Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

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