In fact there is no proof that the chariots, or any carts, actually had a 'standard' gauge of any type, let alone 4' 8 1/2". Indeed historians cannot prove exactly how that gauge came about, but certainly early tramways / railways were generally built on that base. When the first locomotive powered railways were built (by the way the first known railway dates to 2,245 BC in ancient Babylon!) 4' 8 1/2" was used by Trevithick and then Stevenson to name just two.
However, Isambard Kingdom Brunel decided to construct the Great Western Railway lines, which were given Royal Assent on the last day of August 1835, using the 'Broad' gauge of 7' 0", although this was amended by him to 7' 0 1/4" to allow extra clearances on turnouts. This is considered by many, including me, to be the best gauge, and if it had been nationally adopted would have allowed for faster, heavier, greater capacity, and far more stable trains. However the Royal Gauges Commission of 1845 decided that because the majority of railways had by then been built using the "standard gauge", and not least the lobbying by a certain Mr Stevenson carried more weight, it was ruled that all new railways would be built to 4' 8 1/2".
On Sunday the 22nd May 1892, the last of the broad gauge track was converted to standard gauge, ready for exclusively standard guage trains on Monday 23rd May, 1892.
This was the dump at Swindon after the end of broad gauge, with engines either awaiting dismantling or conversion to 4' 8 1/2".
A modern Gauge Measuring device:
Lizzie, you may be interested in this (little known?) fact from a former BR Director:- Interesting the high tech gauging machine shown - the recent Western Regional Civil Engineer of BR (up to 1994) still used Brunel's actual and personal gauging stick which was, when folded , standard gauge but when extended covered the broad gauge!
Yes thanks I had seen that on a television programme, and it is a simple but very effective device 8-) 8-).
I am always pleased to think that although Brunel knew after 1845 broad guage would start to disappear, that he never lived to see it's full demise in 1892. Like a kick in the teeth, and not to the eventual good for the railways in Great Britain.
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Topic: A fact that maybe only Lizzie Zoom will understand (Read 4311 times)