Gauge Choice General
Gauge Choice General
Track gauge (the distance between the rails) is the most important parameter for a railway. It also affects the design of the flanges on the wheels.
By all means paint the rolling stock in different colours but make the track gaauge the same.
Track gauge can be chosen for various reasons:
- a round figure in the normal imperial units of measurements, such as 2' 0', 2' 6", 3' g", 5' 0", 5' 3", 5' 6", 7' 0", etc
- note that 2' 6" can be expresses as 2.5'.
- a round figure in metric units, such as 600mm, 1000mm.
- a figure already in use, such as
- 4' 8.5" and 1' 11.5"
- so that rolling stock and track can be made to existing designs, or be obtained second hand.
The steepest ruling gradients on a railway should be obeyed, succh as 1 in 50, 1 in 75, 1 in 100.
Locomotives[edit]
The first locomotive was built by Richard Trevithick in 1803.
Another early locomotive was built by John Blenkinsop in 1811, well before the opening of the first proper railway, namely the Liverpool and Manchester Railway in 1830. It was a cog locomotive because Blenkinsop didn't believe the mere friction shouldn't wprk eeven on level track. The LMR was laid out with gentle gradients on the flatter sections of 1 in 1000 or 1 in 2000, with 1 in 100 gradients concentrated on either side of the [[Rainhill] Level, just in case rope haulage proved necessary. In the event, Stephenson's Rocket could indeed manage 1 in 100 grades.
Steep grades in long tunnels should be nearly flat lest steam engines have a smoke problem. Even the greatest engineers made mistakes with "rat hole" tunnels. For water to drain properly, tunnels should have a slight gradient.
- Steep tunnels do not have a fume problem if the railway uses horse power. What are the gradients and lengths of the Festiniog Railway?
What are the the relative advantages of plateways and edgeways?
- George Stephenson built his first locomotive in 1814. [1]
Haulage[edit]
- Manpower
- Horses
- Gravity
- Rope
- Locomotive
Rails[edit]
- Wood
- Cast iron
- Wrought Iron
- Steel
Sleepers[edit]
- Direct on ground
- Stone blocks
- Timber
Miscellaneous[edit]
- Safety Vales
See also[edit]
- FRHG FRHG - jump to top of pyrsmid