(erielack) Abe Lincoln and the Lackawanna

["MDelvec952_@_aol.com"]

In a message dated 1/15/00 10:02:54 PM Eastern Standard Time, 
"sgl2_@_ix.netcom.com" writes:

>   As I said before in another post, it was Lincoln's selection
>  of 56.5" as the gauge for the Transcontinental that really set the 
Standard.
>  

I hate to nit pick, but Lincoln specified 5-foot gage on the transcon, which 
was the common gauge in the South.  Remember, Lincoln was an attorney for the 
IC, which was 56.5 in the North, and five-foot in the South, so he knew what 
he was doing. The gauge, and the northern vs. southern routing of the 
transontinental railroad, were all hotly debated in Congress.

It was the Civil War that finally set 56-5 as standard.  The northern and 
eastern roads were 56.5, and when the southern states (and congressmen) 
pulled out to fight the war, there was no one left to debate 5-foot gauge, so 
the North built the transon inthe North, to the gauge of the North.  Congress 
would have argued over the transcontinental railroad for years, maybe a 
decade, if it weren't for the Civil War.

It was also the Civil War that showed the railroad industry and government 
that railcars had to be able to freely travel on any and every major 
railroad.  Committees were formed to set the standard after the War -- since 
the southern roads had to rebuild anyway, most rebuilt to standard.

I'm one of those who feels that Lincoln, the Lackawanna and the Erie were 
correct.  Wide gauge was the way to go, and that six foot should have been 
standard.  Imagine how much wider and how much more volume could be moved in 
a freight car if it were two feet wider.  Imagine a nice aisle in a passenger 
car, or a sleeping car big enough to really sleep in.  If the six-foot 
decision was made then, we'd have never known the difference today.

                              ....Mike

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