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Track gauge origins
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<p><span style="font-family:verdana,geneva;font-size:small;">Having the gage evolve generally from wagon tracks seems entirely plausible. Standard gage became standard because it was generally deemed adequate and the more it was used, the more attractive it became. It really does not require a specific plot to explain the width of standard gage. The dimension of 56 ½” might seem odd and in need of an explanation, but there is nothing odd about 56”. The extra ½” seem a little quirky, but the explanation that it was added for flange clearance seems entirely plausible. </span></p> <p><span style="font-family:verdana,geneva;font-size:small;">However, this does get into some bewildering issues as to whether you add the ½” to the track gage or deduct it from the wheel gage. To achieve more flange clearance, they could have made the wheel gage 4’-7 ½”. I guess it depended on whether it was more work to change the wheels or the track.</span></p> <p><span style="font-family:verdana,geneva;font-size:small;">Track gage is objective because it is measured inside the rail head sides. Whereas wheel gage is a measured between arbitrarily established vertical planes in space. </span></p>
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