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<p>[QUOTE="John Conduitt, post: 5568669, member: 109923"]The standard gauge was set by George Stephenson in England (who, after all, established the train as a popular mode of transport). But he still had to fight against the Great Western Railway to get it adopted - their gauge was 7 feet (so not linked to ruts in roads).</p><p><br /></p><p>Stephenson's original gauge was a little narrower, designed to replace the existing horse-drawn systems used to carry coal from mines in the north-east of England (which brings the link to horses a lot closer than the Romans). He had to widen it a little to allow the engines more slack to get around corners (hence the half inch). The Great Western also widened theirs by 1/4 inch.</p><p><br /></p><p>Britain adopted Stephenson's gauge in 1845 on account of it being more widely used. Eventually all railways were converted after the operating companies amalgamated. The US used it because they got their trains from Britain.</p><p><br /></p><p>George Stephenson does have a numismatic link - he appeared on the British £5 note in the 1990s <a href="https://en.numista.com/catalogue/note203696.html" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.numista.com/catalogue/note203696.html" rel="nofollow">https://en.numista.com/catalogue/note203696.html</a></p><p><br /></p><p>As does Isambard Kingdom Brunel, his rival at the Great Western Railway, who features on the £2 coin <a href="https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces6849.html" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces6849.html" rel="nofollow">https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces6849.html</a>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="John Conduitt, post: 5568669, member: 109923"]The standard gauge was set by George Stephenson in England (who, after all, established the train as a popular mode of transport). But he still had to fight against the Great Western Railway to get it adopted - their gauge was 7 feet (so not linked to ruts in roads). Stephenson's original gauge was a little narrower, designed to replace the existing horse-drawn systems used to carry coal from mines in the north-east of England (which brings the link to horses a lot closer than the Romans). He had to widen it a little to allow the engines more slack to get around corners (hence the half inch). The Great Western also widened theirs by 1/4 inch. Britain adopted Stephenson's gauge in 1845 on account of it being more widely used. Eventually all railways were converted after the operating companies amalgamated. The US used it because they got their trains from Britain. George Stephenson does have a numismatic link - he appeared on the British £5 note in the 1990s [URL]https://en.numista.com/catalogue/note203696.html[/URL] As does Isambard Kingdom Brunel, his rival at the Great Western Railway, who features on the £2 coin [URL]https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces6849.html[/URL][/QUOTE]
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