The track gauge adopted by the mainline railways in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

is . This unusually broad

track gauge In rail transport, track gauge (in American English, alternatively track gage) is the distance between the two rails of a railway track. All vehicles on a rail network must have wheelsets that are compatible with the track gauge. Since many ...

is otherwise found only in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

(where it was introduced by the Irish railway engineer F. W. Sheilds), in the states of Victoria, southern

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

(via some extensions of the Victorian rail network) and

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest o ...

, as well as in

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. The Grand Duchy of Baden State Railway used this gauge between 1840 and 1855, as did the Canterbury Provincial Railways in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

, until

conversion Conversion or convert may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * "Conversion" (''Doctor Who'' audio), an episode of the audio drama ''Cyberman'' * "Conversion" (''Stargate Atlantis''), an episode of the television series * "The Conversion" ...

to the gauge in the 1860s. The

Launceston and Western Railway The Tasmanian Government Railways (TGR) was the former operator of the mainline railways in Tasmania, Australia. Formed in 1872, the railway company was managed by the Government of Tasmania, and existed until absorption into the Australian Na ...

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

also used this gauge from 1871, until conversion to gauge in 1888.

Different gauges

's first railway, the Dublin and Kingstown, was built to (later known as standard gauge). The Ulster Railway (UR), taking the Irish Railway Commission's advice, used . The Dublin and Drogheda Railway was proposed to be built to gauge on the grounds of lower costs. The two broader gauges were not used anywhere else. Following complaints from the UR the Board of Trade investigated the matter, and in 1843 decreed the use of . This gauge was given legal status by the

Regulating the Gauge of Railways Act 1846 The Railway Regulation (Gauge) Act 1846 (9 & 10 Vic. c.57) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, that was designed to standardise railway tracks. It achieved royal assent on 18 August 1846, during the reign of Queen Victoria of ...

, which specified 4 feet inches for Great Britain, 5 feet 3 inches for Ireland. In 1846 the UR was re-gauged at a cost of £19,000 (about £ today) and the Dublin and Kingstown Railway in 1857 for £38,000 (about £ today). The Hill of Howth Tramway and the

Dublin and Blessington Steam Tramway The Dublin and Blessington Steam Tramway (DBST), later the Blessington and Poulaphouca Steam Tramway, operated steam-powered trams between Terenure in Dublin and Blessington in Co. Wicklow from 1888 until 1932. History On Wednesday, August 1, 188 ...

adopted the gauge. Dublin's Luas tram system, opened in 2004, uses .

Narrow gauge

Numerous narrow-gauge systems were built, usually as three foot gauge railways (). Most are now closed, including one of the largest narrow-gauge systems, that of the '' County Donegal Railways Joint Committee''. The Irish narrow gauge today survives as heritage railways in both the Republic and in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is #Descriptions, variously described as ...

. Bord na Móna uses narrow gauge in the Midlands bogs as part of its peat transport network. There is also a private peat railway on the southern shores of Lough Neagh in Northern Ireland, operated by the Sunshine Peat Company.

References

{{Navbox track gauge

Different gauges

Narrow gauge

See also

References