User:FarleyBrook2/sandbox

Queensland Gauges

Railways in the huge Australian state of Queensland was newly separated from the state of [[N S Wales|New South Wales]] and there was a clear need for cheap railways. The choice was between narrow gauge railways or no railways. Cheap railways meant 3 feet 6 inches, rather than 4 feet 8.5 inches of [[NSW]]. The narrower gauge narrowly wun a vote in the new parliament of Queensland.

Later on there was a proposal to build 2 feet 9 inches and save nore money but introducing an undesirable [[break of gauge]] though this was defeated.

Still later on 2 feet 0 inches was adopted for sugar cane railways, which eventually amounted to about 3000 route-miles connecting about 15 mills. Since there was little need for through traffic and this break of gauge caused no harm.

In the 1880s the Queensland and New South Wales railway system met at the break of gauge station of Wallangarra where a new township was established. Building this break of gauge at nearby Tenterfield would have made more sense as this was a small but established town, as land at Wallangarra already had been subdivided.

== National Library of Australia ==

The earliest mention of the [[Festiniog Railway]] in the NLA newspaper archives is dated 1872, well after the introduction of steam power on the FR. This article also reports the FR gauge as being 2 feet or 24 inches, not the more accurate 2 feet 11.5 inches or 23.5 inches. The sharpest curve is said to be 6 chains which is widely inaccurate.

The FR route is said to be about 12 miles, tiny compared to the narrow gauges in Queensland.

New South Wales

The original state of NSW started with 4 feet 8.5 inches, changed to 5 feet 3 inches before any railways were opened, then changed back to 4 feet 8.5 inches.