Title
The End of Broad Gauge
Caption
The end of broad gauge, 1892. Work in progress at Plymouth station, Devonshire, to change from broad gauge to standard gauge railway track. Isambard Kingdom Brunel (1806-1859) favoured broad gauge 7ft 1/4inch (2.2m) and designed the Great Westerrn Railway accordingly. However, in the Gauge Act of 1846 Parliament declared that all future railway track should be of the standard 4ft 8 1/2inch (1.44m) gauge introduced by George Stephenson (1781-1848) on the Liverpool & Manchester Railway. It was not until 1892 that the last broad gauge track was lifted. From "The Romance of Engineering" by Henry Frith. (London, 1892).
Date
1892
Credit line
Photo12/Ann Ronan Picture Library
Reference
ARP07111_009294P
License type
Rights managed
Available size
22,2Mb (3,2Mb) / 11,8in x 7,3in / 3543 x 2188 (300dpi)