Why are train tracks that wide?

In the thread, Holohan contends that the standard railroad gauge in the U.S.—4 feet, 8.5 inches—derives from the way that rail lines were built in England, where engineers based the width of their railroads on the spacing of road ruts in Imperial Rome, which were in turn designed to accommodate the size of horses' rear ...



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Q: Why and when did rails get their profile? — Rails are the basic requirement for a “rail-road” and have appeared in many different shapes based on how railroads, track designers, and rail manufacturers fastened rail to the ground, kept it in gauge, or the weight of trains passing over rail heads.

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North American railroads until the mid- to late-20th century used rails 39 feet (11.9 m) long so they could be carried in gondola cars (open wagons), often 40 feet (12.2 m) long; as gondola sizes increased, so did rail lengths.

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Apart from Russia and Finland, all high-speed rail in Europe uses standard-gauge (1,435 mm ( 4 ft 8+1/2 in)) tracks.

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Generally laid perpendicular to the rails, ties transfer loads to the track ballast and subgrade, hold the rails upright and keep them spaced to the correct gauge. Wooden ties are used on many traditional railways.

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When properly maintained by a Midwest railroad contractor, a modern running track has the potential to last for almost 30 years after its construction. It may be difficult to recognize the signs of deterioration in rails because they appear to last an entire lifetime.

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Railroad ballast is a crucial component of the rail transportation system. It is a crushed stone or gravel material that is used to support and level the tracks in a railroad track bed. The primary purpose of ballast is to provide stability to the tracks, allowing trains to run smoothly and safely.

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Before the opening of the Qinghai–Tibet Railway in China, currently the highest in the world, the highest three railways were located in the Andean countries of Peru and Bolivia. In the Alps, the Jungfrau Railway has the particularity of reaching an elevation that is higher than the local snow line.

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It mandated the track gauge with a width of 1435 mm to be the standard for Great Britain. At that time, the UK was the only one capable of exporting railway rolling stock. As a result, the vast majority of railways in Europe adopted the 1435mm gauge.

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In fact, it is known as the “Iberian gauge”. This can be traced back to 1844, when a group of technicians stated that, due to the Spanish and Portuguese orography, the width of the inner sides of the tracks had to be increased.

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Track design. High-speed railway track construction in France has a few key differences from normal railway lines. The radii of curves are larger so that trains can traverse them at higher speeds without increasing the centripetal acceleration felt by passengers.

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If there are only two rails on the line (the ones the trains wheels run on) and there are no overhead lines then, yes, you're correct that the line isn't electrified. There is a very small electric current running through the running rails, used for signalling.

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Since the chariots were made for or by Imperial Rome they were all alike in the matter of wheel spacing. Thus, we have the answer to the original question. The United States standard railroad gauge of 4 feet, 8.5 inches derives from the original specification for an Imperial Roman army war chariot.

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