What is the standard gage in US?

[jmyers]

I have a basic question, we have been asked to look at a providing temporary shoring for a structure near a railway line. I have found the train loading diagrams, and have (breifly) read throught the AREMA Manual for Railway Engineering, however, I cannot seem to find the standard gage used for trains in the United States.

Your help is greatly appreciated.

 

[tstanley]

The standard gauge is 4'-8.1/2" from gaugeline to gaugeline.

Tom S.

 

[jmyers]

Thanks for the info.

Out of curiosity, is that posted anywhere in the AREMA Manual, or is it in another code or standard? Or is it just something that is "common knowledge" among engineers doing that type of work?

 

[wiktor]

Is's a common knowlege with history...

Note: the following is from

http://www.danflak.com/essays/standard.html

with small correction.

The standard United States railway gage is 4 feet 8 1/2 inches; no more no less.
Q: Why is the United States railway gage 4 feet 8 1/2 inches?
A: That's because U.S. railways were designed by British railway engineers, and their standard gage is 4 feet 8 1/2 inches.

Q: Why did the British have as their standard 4 feet 8 1/2 inches?
A: The people who built British railway cars used the jigs they used to build trams and the jigs were set up for a wheel base of 4 feet 8 1/2 inches.

Q. Why were British tram jigs set for a wheel base of 4 feet 8 1/2 inches?
A. The jigs were originally used to build road carts, and their wheel base is 4 feet 8 1/2 inches

Q: Why did British road carts have a wheelbase of 4 feet 8 1/2 inches?
A: The ruts in the long distance roads in Britain are spaced at 4 feet 8 1/2 inches.

Q: Why are the ruts on the long distance roads in Britain 4 feet 8 1/2 inches apart?
A: These roads were built by the Romans and their war chariots had a wheelbase of 4 feet 8 1/2 inches.

Q: Why did Roman war chariots have a wheel base of 4 feet 8 1/2 inches?
A: The yoke connecting the horses to the chariot had to be wide enough to accommodate two horses.


Footnote: The booster rockets for the space shuttle are built in Utah and shipped to Florida by rail. The rockets have to pass through a rail tunnel. The width of the tunnel determines how wide the rockets can be.

So man's most advanced mode of transportation has been designed, in part, by a couple of horses' asses: 2,000-year-old Roman war horses, to be specific.

 

[hgarch]

The Roman story is a well-known hoax.

http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/r/railwidth.htm

 

[Adrian2]

Its true, the Roman Story is a hoax. It's well known that the Roman Army subcontracted their war chariot yokes to bands of craftsmen along the Tigris River.

The Roman army had ordered yokes to be made 6 feet long but received parts were not up to standard. Unfortunately inspection did not not pick this up because prints had not been invented yet.

It's just as well because the Tigris river craftsmen would have been crucified by their bosses if the problem had been discovered.

Best Regards

Adrian D.
AAADrafting.com

 

[rodamala]

to answer jmyers' second question, regarding "code or standard" of standard gage, it is covered under code of federal regulations, title 49, part 213, section 53, "gage".

http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/...s.gpo.gov/cfr_2003/octqtr/pdf/49cfr213.53.pdf

rodamala