Track gauge
By transport mode
Rapid transit Tram Miniature Scale model
By size (list)
Minimum   Fifteen inch 381 mm (1 ft 3 in)   Narrow   600 mm 600 mm (1 ft11+5⁄8 in) Two foot 610 mm (2 ft) Two foot three inch 686 mm (2 ft 3 in)   750 mm 750 mm (2 ft5+1⁄2 in) Bosnian gauge 760 mm (2 ft5+15⁄16 in) Two foot six inch 762 mm (2 ft 6 in)   Swedish three-foot 891 mm (2 ft11+3⁄32 in) 900 mm 900 mm (2 ft11+7⁄16 in) Three-foot 914 mm (3 ft) Italian metre 950 mm (3 ft1+13⁄32 in)   Metre 1,000 mm (3 ft3+3⁄8 in)   Three foot six inch 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)   Four foot 1,219 mm (4 ft)   Four foot six inch 1,372 mm (4 ft 6 in)   1432 mm 1,432 mm (4 ft8+3⁄8 in)   Standard 1,435 mm (4 ft8+1⁄2 in)   Broad   Italian broad gauge 1,445 mm (4 ft8+7⁄8 in) Dresden gauge 1,450 mm (4 ft9+3⁄32 in)   Leipzig gauge 1,458 mm (4 ft9+13⁄32 in)   Toronto gauge 1,495 mm (4 ft10+7⁄8 in)   1520 mm 1,520 mm (4 ft11+27⁄32 in) Five foot 1,524 mm (5 ft)   Pennsylvania gauge 1,581 mm (5 ft2+1⁄4 in) Pennsylvania gauge 1,588 mm (5 ft2+1⁄2 in) Five foot three inch 1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in)   Baltimore gauge 1,638 mm (5 ft4+1⁄2 in)   Iberian gauge 1,668 mm (5 ft5+21⁄32 in) Five foot six inch 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in)   Six foot 1,829 mm (6 ft)   Brunel 2,140 mm (7 ft1⁄4 in)   Breitspurbahn 3,000 mm (9 ft 101⁄8 in)
Change of gauge
Bogie exchange Break of gauge Dual gauge Conversion list Variable gauge
By location
North America South America Europe Australia

Railways with a track gauge of 3 feet 6 inches (1,067 mm) were first constructed as horse-drawnwagonways. The first intercity passenger railway to use the 3 ft 6 in gauge was constructed in Norway byCarl Abraham Pihl. From the mid-nineteenth century, thegauge became widespread in theBritish Empire. In Africa it became known as theCape gauge as it was adopted as the standard gauge for theCape Government Railways in 1873, even though it had already been established in Australia and New Zealand before that. It was adopted as a standard inNew Zealand,South Africa,Indonesia,Japan, thePhilippines,Taiwan, andQueensland (which has the second largest narrow gauge network in the world) in Australia.

There are approximately 112,000 kilometres (70,000 mi) of1,067 mm gauge track in the world, which are classified asnarrow-gauge railways.

1795

One of the first railways to use3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) gauge was theLittle Eaton Gangway in England, constructed as a horse-drawnwagonway in 1795. Other3 ft 6 in gauge wagonways inEngland andWales were also built in the early nineteenth century.

1809

TheSilkstone Waggonway was opened, connecting theBarnsley Canal to collieries including theHuskar Pit.

1860

TheSevern and Wye Railway introduces a steam locomotive on its3 ft 6 in gaugeplateway.^[1]

1862

The Norwegian engineerCarl Abraham Pihl constructed the first3 ft 6 in gauge railway inNorway, theRøros Line.

1865

TheQueensland Railways were constructed. Its3 ft 6 in gauge was promoted by the Irish engineerAbraham Fitzgibbon and consulting engineerCharles Fox.

1867

The construction of the railroad from the Castillo de Buitrón mine to the pier of San Juan del Puerto, Huelva, Spain, began. The width was3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm).

1868

In 1868Charles Fox asked civil engineerEdmund Wragge to survey a3 ft 6 in railway in Costa Rica.

1870

The3 ft 6 in was adopted by New Zealand to expedite the development of transport underJulius Vogel'sGreat Public Works Policy; seeThe Vogel Era.

1871

Nicolaas Henket and J.C Schölmann recommended that the DutchEast Indies government use3 ft 6 in gauge for railways in Java. The line between Batavia NIS andKoningsplein Station opened on 15 September 1871.^{[citation needed]}

1871

The CanadianToronto, Grey and Bruce Railway and theToronto and Nipissing Railway were opened, promoted by Pihl and Fitzgibbon and surveyed by Wragge as an engineer of Fox. The Canadian province of Prince Edward Island began building its3 ft 6 in network.

1872

In JanuaryRobert Fairlie advocated the use of3 ft 6 in gauge in his bookRailways Or No Railways: Narrow Gauge, Economy with Efficiency v. Broad Gauge, Costliness with Extravagance.^[2]

The first3 ft 6 in gauge railway opened inJapan. It had been proposed by the British civil engineerEdmund Morel based on his experience building railways in New Zealand.^[3]

1873

On 1 January, thefirst3 ft 6 in gauge railway was opened in New Zealand, constructed by theBritish firmJohn Brogden and Sons. Earlier built4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) and broad gauge railways were soonconverted to the narrower gauge.

TheCape Colony adopted the3 ft 6 in gauge.^[4][5] After conducting several studies in southern Europe, theMolteno Government selected the gauge as being the most economically suited for traversing steep mountain ranges.^[6] Beginning in 1873, under supervision of Railway engineer of the Colony William Brounger,^[7] theCape Government Railways rapidly expanded and the gauge became the standard for southern Africa.^[8][9]

1876

Natal alsoconverted its short 10 kilometres (6.2 miles) long Durban network from4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge prior to commencing with construction of a network across the entire colony in 1876.^[10] Other new railways in Southern Africa, notably Mozambique, Bechuanaland, the Rhodesias, Nyasaland and Angola, were also constructed in3 ft 6 in gauge during that time.

After 1876

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century numerous3 ft 6 in gaugetram systems were built in theUnited Kingdom and theNetherlands. Newfoundland began its Cape gauge network in 1881.^[11]

This gauge is sometimes calledCape gauge, named after theCape Colony in what is now South Africa, which adopted it in 1873.^[4] "Cape gauge" was used in several English-speaking countries.^[12] The equivalent ofCape gauge is used in other languages, such as theDutchkaapspoor,GermanKapspur,Norwegiankappspor andFrenchvoie cape. After metrication in the 1960s, the gauge was referred to in official South African Railways publications as1,065 mm (3 ft 5+15⁄16 in) instead of 1067 mm.^[13]

In Sweden, the gauge was nicknamedBlekinge gauge, as most of the railways in the province ofBlekinge had this gauge.^[14]

Colonial Gauge was used in New Zealand.^[15][16]

In Australia, this gauge is typically referred to asnarrow gauge in comparison to4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge or5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm) broad gauge. In some instances, simply3 foot 6 inch — or in rarer casesmedium gauge — is used to distinguish it from other narrow gauges.^[17]

In Japan the1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) gauge, along with other narrow gauges, is referred to askyōki (狭軌;lit. 'narrow gauge') to differentiate it from the standard gaugeShinkansen lines. It is also commonly referred to as36 gauge (三六軌間), which is derived from the 3 ft 6 in width.

Similar, but incompatible without wheelset adjustment, rail gauges in respect of aspects such as cost of construction, practicalminimum radius curves and themaximum physical dimensions ofrolling stock are:

• 1,100 mm (3 ft 7+5⁄16 in),
• 1,093 mm (3 ft 7 in),
• 1,055 mm (3 ft 5+1⁄2 in),
• 1,050 mm (3 ft 5+11⁄32 in), and
• 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in)metre gauge.

Dual gauge between1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) gauge and another similar gauge can make these bonus gauges.

• 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in)standard gauge,
• 1,372 mm (4 ft 6 in), (4 ft 6 in gauge railway) and
• 1,668 mm (5 ft 5+21⁄32 in)
• 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in) (The maximum bonus gauge from1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in)meter gaugegauntlet tracks).

• Cape Government Railways
• Heritage railway
• List of track gauges
• List of speed records in rail transport#Conventional wheeled – Narrow gauge

• South African Trains – A Pictorial Encyclopaedia
• Why Did Japan Choose the 3'6" Narrow Gauge?

• 3 ft 6 in gauge railways

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