Post by Graeme WallI think you will find that line is being projected for political, rather than
practical reasons.
You need politics to implement international arrangements serving practical
purposes. Does this amaze you?
Post by Graeme WallSuch as? Currently Russia's commercial transport requirements with the
outside world are better served by pipelines or sea than railways.
Internally there is no advantage to them in changing the rail gauge. What
relatively small amount a of cross-border railtraffic that does exist can be
adequately handled by existing multi-gauge stock at a fraction of the cost of
rebuilding and re-equipping their whole rail network.
If you read my sentence properly, then you see that you could have saved
yourself this reply. I already said it all.
Post by Graeme WallDoes the date 21-22 May 1892 mean anything to you?
Does the date 31 May 1886 mean anything to you?
United States
Originally, various gauges were used in the United States and Canada. Some
railways, primarily in the northeast, used standard gauge; others used
gauges ranging from 4 ft (1,219 mm) to 6 ft (1,829 mm). Given the nation's
recent independence from the United Kingdom, arguments based on British
standards had little weight. Problems began as soon as lines began to meet
and in much of the north-eastern United States, standard gauge was adopted.
Most Southern states used 5 ft (1,524 mm) gauge. Following the American
Civil War, trade between the South and North grew and the break of gauge
became a major economic nuisance. Competitive pressures had forced all the
Canadian railways to convert to standard gauge by 1880, and Illinois Central
converted its south line to New Orleans to standard gauge in 1881, putting
pressure on the southern railways.
After considerable debate and planning, most of the southern rail network
was converted from 5 ft (1,524 mm) gauge to 4 ft 9 in (1,448 mm) gauge, then
the standard of the Pennsylvania Railroad, over two remarkable days
beginning on Monday, May 31, 1886. Over a period of 36 hours, tens of
thousands of workers pulled the spikes from the west rail of all the broad
gauge lines in the South, moved them 3 inches (76 mm) east and spiked them
back in place. The new gauge was close enough that standard gauge equipment
could run on it without problem. By June, 1886, all major railroads in North
America were using approximately the same gauge. The final conversion to
true standard gauge took place gradually as track was maintained. [2]
In the early days of rail transport in the United States, railroads tended
to be built out of coastal cities into the hinterland, and systems did not
connect. Each builder was free to choose its own gauge, although the
availability of British-built locomotives encouraged some railroads to be
built to standard gauge. As a general rule, southern railroads were built to
one or another broad gauge, mostly 5-foot (1.5 m), while northern railroads
that were not standard-gauge tended to be narrow-gauge. When American
railroads' track extended to the point that they began to interconnect, it
became clear that a single nationwide gauge would be a good idea. In 1886,
the southern railroads agreed to coordinate changing gauge on all their
tracks over two days, beginning May 31, 1886. They chose a 4-foot-9-inch
(1.4 m) gauge that was then used by the Pennsylvania Railroad. Those tracks
were gradually reduced the remaining half inch to standard gauge later.[3]
Now, the only broad-gauge rail systems in the United States are some city
transit systems, notably BART.
In modern uses certain isolated occurrences of non-standard gauges can still
be found, such as the 5 ft 2Œ in (1,581 mm) and 5 ft 2œ in (1,588 mm) gauge
tracks of the Philadelphia streetcars, the Philadelphia subway cars and the
New Orleans streetcars. The Bay Area Rapid Transit system in the San
Francisco Bay Area, chose 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) gauge. The San Francisco
cable cars use the cape gauge of 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broad_gauge#United_States
Post by Graeme WallCovered a very small route mileage and the motive power and rolling stock had
to replaced anyway as much of the existing stock had been destroyed in the
hostilities. The replacement stock came, initially, from the northern states
as they had built up a surplus to cope with the wartime traffic requirements.
With the simple lightweight trackage used at that period, gauge changing was
the easy option, especially as you had an excess of cheap labour available
for a short period. Hardly the situation with Russia in the 21st Century.
Again you forgot that americans then didn't dipose of the technical
possibilities the russians would dispose of today - if they only wanted to.
So: IT'S A MIND THING. The rest is just rationalising, in order to save
you - i e your group ('group dynamics') - from dealing with an issue
considered unpleasant.
