1877, William Edward Langdon,The Application of Electricity to Railway Working, Page 230
When placed in thefour foot it should be so arranged that a loose carraige coupling shall not strike the box, as such a blow might possibly break it.
1882, George P. Neele,Atlantic and American Notes, M'Corquodale & co., limited, Page 54
Cattle are of course liable to stray on the line at these level crossings, but to prevent this, barriers are placed on each side of the crossing, and adeep trench is made in thefour-foot and six-foot spaces, [...]
1922, J. Thomas Lee, William Hepworth,Railway Permanent Way: Dimensional Theory and Practice, C. Sever, Page 224
In this case, the third crossingi.e., where one turnout crosses the other, is in thefour foot of the main
1943, C. L. Heeler and Ronald Albert Hamnett,British Railway Track: Design, Construction and Maintenance, Permanent Way Institution
Page 19
The reason for this is, that as in these cases there are obstructions in thefour foot which might become foul of wheels of stock [...]
Page 48
For ‘ E ’ and ‘ F ’ switches the key jaw is provided on the inside of thefour-foot in the 1.P. and 2.P. chairs, as in these chairs there is not room between the switch and stock rails [...]
2007 September 5, Rail Accident Investigation Branch,Rail Accident Report 33/2007: Fatal collision between a Super Voyager train and a car on the line at Copmanthorpe 25 September 2006, Rail Accident Investigation Branch, Department for Transport, Page 8[1]
The car came to rest with its front wheels in thefour foot of the nearest railway line, the down Leeds line.
2024 June 26, “Network News: RAIB stresses importance of road-rail vehicle vehicle safety procedures”, inRAIL, number1012, page17:
The importance of track workers obeying site rules has been stressed after a man was hospitalised after being hit by a moving road-rail vehicle (RRV) and falling into the 'four foot' between the rails.
