1859 OP t1_iyjz915 wrote
Reply to comment by niversally in TIL that the southern United States converted all 11,500+ miles of its railroads from broad gauge (5 ft/1.524 m) to nearly-standard gauge (4 ft 9 in/1.448 m) in just 36 hours, starting on May 31, 1886 by 1859
I covered that elsewhere in the thread. Kinda hard to fit everything in one succinct title!
> Why did they decide on nearly-standard gauge (4' 9") instead of standard gauge (4' 8.5")? Much of the American South's rail traffic connected to the Pennsylvania Railroad, which was still using their own 4' 9" gauge. It was deemed close enough, and the South's rail lines were gradually adjusted to true standard gauge over time through regular track maintenance. Cool stuff!
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