As the railways expanded across the US, several different track gauges became predominant, just as was the case in Europe (nope - the Romans nor horses bottoms had anything to do with track gauge)... #RailwaysExplained
By the 1860s, there were thousands of miles of track with gauges that didn't conform to Stephenson's original 4'8.5" - in fact only around half of the railways in the US used this gauge.
The American Civil War was the first war where railways played a crucial role, rapidly moving kit and men around where they were needed most.
Changing trains because of different gauges was no longer an annoyance - it was a matter of life or death, of winning or losing.
The predominant track gauge in the South was actually 5' gauge, so had the Confederacy won the American Civil War, the US would likely have adopted that as their standard gauge. Also other things 😬
I'll expand this thread next week, because the real explanations (yes, there are several) for where Stephenson's 4'8.5" came from are far less romantic and far more interesting than @BillHolohanSolr's horse's arse of a story #RailwaysExplained
Also... track gauge and loading gauge (see thread) are largely independent of each other.
Well, the #IntegratedRailPlan (a.k.a. #RailBetrayal) has landed. And immediately we can see that their plans are just a re-announcement of things that have already been planned (or indeed cancelled):
Actually, the proposals precisely mimic the NIC's Rail Needs Assessment from last year, despite government decrying it loudly after its publication.
My key #RailBetrayal line:
“Running faster trains on the existing network will actually result in a railway that can carry fewer passengers and less freight than it can today.”
I popped up at around 06:05 this morning on @BBC5Live if you want to hear the exasperation in my voice at the government's unbelievably cynical pronouncements on their "glorious plan".
As pointed out by @JenWilliamsMEN and others, there is a lot of confusion in the midst of this week's #RailBetrayal news over what the various legs and phases of HS2 and NPR actually refer to...
So, I created a map (click to pause):
The white lines are the existing network, in case you hadn't worked it out...
It becomes pretty obvious why the Eastern Leg is so crucial when you see the map above, but if you want another animated map then this explains things clearly:
Oh, and if you want to see Tim and I exploring inside the old Curzon Street station principal building as well as a plod around inside the roundhouse (courtesy of @HS2ltd), then you can watch this old thing:
So, our journey from Rome to Paris begins... With the 62 bus, and its total lack of suspension. My spine has popped up into my brain and is giving me a headache.
We're catching the Turin train from Tiburtina station which is a striking enough edifice... Though I must say for a ten year old station its fabric hasn't aged well.