Why is the standard rail gauge four feet, eight and a half inches?

Answer 1

The four-foot, eight-and-a-half-inch standard rail gauge originated from a Englishman, George Stephenson who experimented with putting a steam engine on the carts so there would be propulsion to pull them along. He worked with several mines with differing gauges and chose 4-foot, eight inches wide rails for his project adding another six inches later which made it easier. He became consultant in constructing railroads and by the time broader plans for railroads in Great Britain were proposed, there were already 1200 miles of his rails so the "Stephenson gauge" became the standard (four feet, eight and a half inches rail gauge).

Te 4-foot, eight-and-a-half inch width has not always been the standard in the U.S. They got more than 20 gauges used which made difficulties in transferring goods along the way during the war ifever tracks of different gauges encounter where goods were then transfered manually.More than 4,000 miles of new track was laid during the war to standardize the process. Later, Congress decreed that the 4-foot, eight-and-a-half inch standard would be used for transcontinental railway.

Answer 2

This became standard gauge because when miners used a team ( horses) to pull a cart that was set on rails out of a mine.
This is the optimal distance to space the team apart so each animal can straddle the rail. One hoof one one side, one on the other side.

Answer 3

on the same note, why is a foot 12 inches? and a mile 5280 feet?

because people just used whatever number made them happy!

Answer 4

Well, partly because England was ahead of the United States on building steam engines, and therefore some were imported, and their standard guage was that.

Lots of discussion and speculation as to why here....

http://www.straightdope.com/columns/000218.html

Answer 5

so trains can use the same track coast to coast without changing track systems used as back in the day 1800s

Answer 6

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