Gaugeinrailwayengineering

Gauge in railway engineering denotes the distance apart of the rails, measured from centre to centre. The ordinary gauge in England is 4 feet 84; inches; the old Scottish gauge is 5 feet 6 inches; the Irish gauges 6 feet 2 inches, and 5 feet 3 inches; and the broad gauge employed until recently on the Great Western Railway was 7 feet. A narrow gauge railway of 1 foot 1 If inches is used for passenger and slate traffic at Ffestiniog in North Wales, and gauges of two and three feet, and one metre, are common, on "light railways," in various parts of the world. [Railways.]