Re: (erielack) The Piermont Branch/Erie Gauging

["Michael Dye" <"luxpan_@_hotmail.com">]

Actually, there were a number of reasons for the selection of the 6' gauge. 
As has been alluded to, one of the prime reasons was to keep the New York 
Legislators happy (and in a mood to approve the charter), by ensuring that 
the Erie would ONLY haul New York goods (In retrospect, this makes about as 
much sense as building the rails on pilings... Care to guess which road 
attempted this?!). Another reason was that the engines of the day were, to 
put it mildly, wimpy. So, the Erie took a page out of the book of one the 
English railways. There was an English road that had very powerful engines, 
all of which were built to 6' gauge (DO NOT assume that all of the English 
roads were built to the same gauge. They weren't). The reasoning? Wider 
footprint, larger firebox/boiler/cylinders, more powerful engine.

Of course, there was good and bad to this gauging decision. Good: The Erie 
was the preferred high/wide routing in the East, as nobody could compete 
with their clearances. Not to mention permitting the running  some of the 
largest Berkshires in the East. Bad: While the Erie was spending it's money 
regauging the track and the rolling stock, the competition was spending it's 
money on reducing grades. This was something that the Erie never was able to 
do (Remember the Eastern Ohio "roller-coaster"?).

Michael Dye



>From: Ken <"lackawanna_@_iname.com">
>
>The one good thing about the 6' gauge was that the Erie ended up with wider
>clearances side-to-side and any other east-west railroad between New York
>and Chicago.  As a result, it could handle freight wider than other lines.
>
>Ken B.
>At 06:08 AM 1/15/00 -0500, Kurt wrote:
> >The basis of the wider gauge (6 ft) had to have been the result of some
> >thought by the original planners. As Pontiac Div of GM likes to say , 
>"Wider
> >is better." A wider gage would have allowed for wider cars which would 
>have
> >improved ride quality for passengers and increased load capability for 
>frt.
> >
> >Humm, for an aditional 15-1/2", how much more frt can you carry. I won't
> >bore your with the math.
> >
> >Thanks, Kurt Thompson
> >
> >
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>Vice President
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>(317) 259-1013  Fax:  (317) 465-1004
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