5 gauge?

A very welcome question which I cannot answer, immediately.
Economic reasons with the aftermath of the war, most likely. The northern system passed legislation to effect it. Have you considered stability of the locomotive on wider gauge spreads?
Lubliner.
 
The South didn't agree to change their gauge untill the mid 1880's mostly due to the fact that the majority of the track in the north was standard gauge. When the CW started there were railroads in the South that had different gauges so it only stood to reason that if you are going to change gauges it would be the less gauges that were changed
 
A railroad gage is the space between the rails. The 4' 81/2" standard gage results in a 5' outside width of the track.

The 4' 8" to 9" standard gage of Roman carts was established to allow a hitch of two horses to walk inside the ruts made by cart wheels. The stepping blocks on Roman urban streets were spaced with the same animal friendly principle. This ergonomic design feature was echoed by carriage & wainwrights down the centuries not as a Roman legacy, but as a logical solution to the same problem.

The original railroads were horse drawn tram lines. The first locomotives were constructed by wainwrights, as were the carriages. It just so happens that the trucks (wheel assemblies) were made using the same jigs used to make horse drawn wagons.

It was the width of a span of mules that explains the 5' standard gage in the South (Not true but makes a great answer.)

The man credited with establishing the 4' 8 1/2" standard-gage was British locomotive manufacturer George Stephenson. Even though the cars on the original lines were U.S. made, the engines were manufactured by Stephenson. Standard-gage is the 5' outside width minus the width of the rails, resulting in the rather odd 4' 8 1/2" gage.

In 1860 there was no standard gage in the South. In fact, the RR lines that seldom exceeded 50 miles in length, were deliberately laid with different gages as way to constrain trade. The idea that rolling stock of other RR's could transit your company's rails was heresy. For the same restriction of trade, RR's did not connect at Nashville, for example.
 
I'm not posting to derail your railroad thread. I'm really not. But I clicked in because I thought you were talking about a REALLY big shotgun! Seriously! I thought you could all enjoy a short laugh at my expense.
There were 5 gauge shot guns made. I don't know there are modern ones. Roughly 1 inch diameter 3.2 oz solid shot. My guess used in commercial bird shooting with bird shot.

I enjoyed the comment.
 
I'm not posting to derail your railroad thread. I'm really not. But I clicked in because I thought you were talking about a REALLY big shotgun! Seriously! I thought you could all enjoy a short laugh at my expense.
I had the same reaction & hoped to read a posting about giant duck guns being used in the Civil War. Kind of disappointing, really.
 
@steamman man and @Rhea Cole, Yes, I was thinking of big punt guns from the era of market hunting. It seems to me that one of those could have been a pretty formidable defensive weapon against a frontal assault! Of course, the reload time would have been a bit of a problem.....
 
In 1860 there was no standard gage in the South. In fact, the RR lines that seldom exceeded 50 miles in length, were deliberately laid with different gages as way to constrain trade. The idea that rolling stock of other RR's could transit your company's rails was heresy. For the same restriction of trade, RR's did not connect at Nashville, for example.
In 1860 there was no standard gauge in the North, either. In the core South (Mississippi River to the Potomac River) there were only 2 gauges and they were found in 2 blocks of roads -- many in Virginia and North Carolina were 4' 8 1/2" and all the rest in the South were 5'. The Montgomery & West Point RR was the only 4' 8 1/2" road west of North Carolina. Texas had some 5' and 5' 6" roads, but the did not connect to the east.

Roads were not afraid of other roads running their rolling stock over their track. The concern was from the owner of the cars -- they were rarely returned and did not receive maintenance while on the foreign road. Many touching roads developed through freight agreements, but the cars only went over the one connecting road -- they were not sent over a second and third road. The government forced many cars to be taken far from home, a source for much complaint by the railroad presidents and the state governors.

Roads did not connect in cities because the towns did not want the noise, smoke and fire hazard going through town. Most depots were on the edge of town (when built) for that reason. The local business folks loved that plan, since, in conjunction with the lack of close connections with the other roads, passengers and freight had to use wagons, drays, hotels, restaurants, etc before continuing out of town. The post office forced the roads to make closer connections with their mail trains, but the rest were as the road wanted to schedule them.

During the war, the Government connected all the important roads through towns, with most connections being completed by the summer of 1862.

Much more available on my site: www.csa-railroads.com
 
It is a frequent occurrence to read about the town square during the civil war era. When raiders and expeditions etc. came through, the square provided a place for gathering citizens up and counting heads. It was not only the municipal head of the town, but the market place also. It makes a good deal of sense to place the railroads beyond the central focus point. But the idea of any width mandated in Roman times is a new one on me.
@Patrick H, did you mean Petticoat Junction?
Lubliner.
 
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