Originally, various track gauges were used in the United States. Some railways, primarily in the northeast, used standard gauge of ; others used gauges ranging from to . As a general rule, southern railroads were built to one or another broad gauge, mostly , while northern railroads that were not standard-gauge tended to be narrow-gauge. The Pacific Railroad Acts of 1863 specified standard gauge be used for the first transcontinental railroad.
Notable exceptions were the railroads that predominated in the first part of the 19th century in New York State, and the lines centered on Portland, Maine. Problems began as soon as lines began to meet, and standard gauge was adopted in much of the northeastern United States. Standard gauge had spread widely across the country by the late 19th century except in some parts of the South; it was adopted there in a two-day changeover between May 31 and June 1, 1886.
Street railways used gauges that served local conditions and were rarely intended to connect with main line railways or any other roads. This meant that many of these systems were built with varying gauges. Interurban railroads tended to adopt the gauges of local streetcars. "Worst of all, not all city systems were built to the standard American and European gauge of 4' 8 1⁄2". Pittsburgh and most other Pennsylvania cities used 5' 2 1⁄2", which became known as the Pennsylvania trolley gauge. Cincinnati used 5' 2 1⁄2", Philadelphia 5' 2 1⁄4", Columbus 5' 2", Altoona 5' 3", Louisville and Camden 5' 0", Canton and Pueblo 4' 0", Denver, Tacoma, and Los Angeles 3' 6", Toronto an odd 4' 10 7⁄8", and Baltimore a vast 5' 4 1⁄2"."
Since the conversion in the 1880s, standard gauge is used almost everywhere in the U.S. Non-standard gauges remain in use only for some municipal and regional mass transit systems not requiring interchange of equipment.
Broad gauges
gauge The New York and Erie Railroad was originally gauge, and spawned a regional network of other six foot gauge railroads within New York State. Chartered in 1832, its first section opening in 1841, the Erie's promoters and early engineers believed it would be so busy that wider gauged tracks would be required for locomotives much larger (and therefore more powerful) than usual to pull the expected very long and heavy trains. 6 ft gauge was also cited for improved stability, and the New York and Erie eventually had rolling stock with wide loading gauge. Other railroads connecting to the Erie were soon built, able to interchange freight and passenger cars, forming a true regional six foot gauged railroad network across the southern tier of New York State from the Hudson River to the shores of Lake Erie.
Major cities including Rochester, Syracuse, Utica, and Albany all were connected by six foot gauged railroads extending from Elmira and Binghamton on the New York and Erie mainline. These lines included the Avon, Genesee & Mt. Morris, the Albany and Susquehanna (later part of the Delaware and Hudson), the Elmira, Jefferson & Canandaigua (later the Northern Central, becoming part of the Pennsylvania Railroad), the Rochester & Genesee Valley, the Canandaigua and Niagara Falls (initially Erie controlled, later part of the New York Central railroad's Peanut Route along the shoreline of Lake Ontario), and even the mainline of rival, and future (1960) merger partner, the Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western (The Lackawanna also had a significant portion of its six-foot gauge trackage in Pennsylvania and New Jersey). Other 6 ft gauge lines included the Syracuse, Binghamton & New York (later part of the Lackawanna), the Walkill Valley railroad (later part of the New York Central), and the Erie's own Newburgh branch. Between 1876 and 1880, most of the 6 ft lines converted to standard gauge, some having been first dual gauged with a third running rail allowing standard gauge trains to share the track, prior to the removal of the 6 ft rails.
gauge Portland gauge of was used on the Grand Trunk Railway, Maine Central Railroad, and a system of connecting lines to funnel interior traffic through the port of Portland, Maine, in competition with the standard gauge railway system serving the port of Boston. The Portland Company was formed to build locomotives of this gauge for use on the local rail system. The gauge was known as "Texas gauge" while required by Texas law until 1875, and used by the New Orleans, Opelousas and Great Western Railroad (NOO&GW) until 1872, and by the Texas and New Orleans Railroad until 1876. The New England railways were similarly standard-gauged in the 1870s.
In the 1960s, the gauge was selected for use in the Bay Area Rapid Transit system (BART), serving the San Francisco Bay Area; it is the only place in the United States where this gauge is in use. The rapid transit segment of the system covers of double track in revenue service with additional sidings and maintenance facilities.
gauge Sometimes referred to as Baltimore gauge, due to that city's required streetcar gauge. It was utilized by the local United Railways and Electric Company in its streetcar system, which went on to see service under MTA Maryland. This gauge is preserved at the Baltimore Streetcar Museum.
Pennsylvania trolley gauges The and gauges are interchangeably known as Pennsylvania trolley gauge after the common application in that state. Unlike other broad gauges in the United States, it has an unbroken history of utilization in a number of urban rail transit systems.
Cincinnati (1859–1951; standard gauge 2016–present) Key West Street Car Company New Orleans Pittsburgh Light Rail West Penn Railways (1904–1952, defunct) SEPTA Metro (Philadelphia): SEPTA Metro's D line uses a slighter larger wheel profile for their cars, but the same track gauge.
gauge This was a common street railway gauge in the eastern United States. It was variously utilized on the following railways: Columbus, Ohio Columbus, New Albany and Johnstown Traction Company Columbus Railway, Power & Lighting Company Trenton and Mercer County Traction Corporation West Chester, Kennett and Wilmington Electric Railway Westmoreland County Railway
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In most of the southern states, the gauge was preferred. This configuration allowed for wider rolling stock that could more efficiently accommodate cotton bales, the most commonly transported good in the South at the time. In the U.S. this gauge was changed to in 1886. This gauge remains in use by Pittsburgh's two funicular railways, the Monongahela Incline (the oldest continuously operating funicular in the United States, having opened in 1870) and the Duquesne Incline.
gauge The 4 foot 10 inch gauge may have been the result of specifying a center-to-center spacing of tracks. This gauge was first used in New Jersey in 1832 with the Camden and Amboy Railroad. As demand for more direct travel to New York City grew, the gauge was further utilized by several connecting railroads in New Jersey. Most of the original track in Ohio was built in this gauge, so much that it would become known as Ohio gauge. This was also the gauge adopted locally for streetcars in St. Louis.
Narrow gauges
gauge The Washington Metro system in the D.C. metropolitan area was built with a gauge, but is not narrow gauge in the traditional sense and is within the tolerance of standard gauge.
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The world's first operational mountain-climbing cog railway (rack-and-pinion railway), the Mount Washington Cog Railway in Coos County, New Hampshire — in operation since its opening in 1869 — uses a 4 ft 8 inch (1,422 mm) rail gauge, as designed by Sylvester Marsh, the creator of the Marsh rack system for ensuring firm traction going up and down the slopes of the highest mountain in New England.
gauge The gauge was utilized for street railways in some cities, which would go on to be adopted by connecting interurbans. Operators utilizing this gauge included: Arkansas Valley Railway, Light and Power Company Canton and Massillon Electric Railway Honolulu Rapid Transit and Land Company San Antonio, San Jose and Medina Valley Interurban San Antonio Public Service Company
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The San Francisco cable cars use the Cape Gauge of , as did the Los Angeles Railway and the San Diego Electric Railway until 1898. Several western streetcar systems additionally adopted the gauge. The gauge is still widely used in the U.S. mining industry.
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The dominant narrow gauge throughout the United States became the gauge, largely popularized after the success of the Denver and Rio Grande Railway. The gauge would see wide adoption around the 1870s and 1880s from the Boston, Revere Beach and Lynn Railroad of Massachusetts to the Pacific Coast Railway of California. The gauge was also used by the Oahu Railway and Land Company of Hawaii, the White Pass and Yukon Route of Alaska and the East Broad Top Railroad of Pennsylvania, which operates as of 2022. Heritage railroads operate portions of the formerly extensive Colorado system as the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad and Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad.
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The Angels Flight and Court Flight funicular railways of Los Angeles used . The gauge was also used for the Yosemite Short Line Railway, the Pacific Coast Steamship Company's horse-powered tramway near Pismo Beach, California, Michigan's Harbor Springs Railway, and several Hawaiian sugar plantation railways. This became a popular gauge for heritage railways in California, Florida, Hawaii, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Oregon, and Pennsylvania.
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Several Maine railroads used gauge following demonstration on the Billerica and Bedford Railroad in 1877, including the Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes Railroad, the Wiscasset, Waterville and Farmington Railway, the Kennebec Central, the Monson Railroad, and the Bridgton and Saco River Railroad. When these railroads ceased operation in the 1930s and 1940s, much of their equipment was transferred to the Edaville Railroad, which, as of 2019, remains in operation as one of the oldest American heritage railroads. Also as of 2019, the Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad Museum; Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes Railroad; Wiscasset, Waterville and Farmington Railway; and Boothbay Railway Village also continue to operate old Maine gauge equipment.
The gauge was also used by the Mount Gretna Narrow Gauge Railway in Pennsylvania, and by some mining railways of the Rocky Mountains. Similar gauge equipment, which was originally manufactured for the trench railways of World War I, was used on United States military bases in Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, New Jersey, and Oklahoma through World War II; and sold as military surplus for earth-moving construction through the 1920s.
Towards standardization