Railway Gauges - Types of Railway Gauges
All rail cars and locomotives built to this specification can use any standard gauge railroad line in the world. However, not all railroads have been built to standard gauge. In the United States, gauge can vary slightly between 4 feet, 8.5 inches to 4 feet, 9.5 inches (1,460 mm). Gauge is the measure of distance between the railroad rails. The distance is usually