Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

V6Ga t1_iykd36q wrote

Reply to comment by boysan98 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

Do you know how the gauge helps with terrain?

(Japan might be the only industrial nation that has no need to standardize train gauge with another country, being an island nation.)

2

nivlark t1_iyllk4s wrote

It's just cheaper. Smaller gauge means smaller earthworks, bridges, tunnels etc.

Mountainous regions of Europe (Switzerland, southern France, the Basque country) also have narrow gauge networks that operate alongside more extensive standard gauge networks.

2