5 ft and 1520 mm gauge railways

Railways with a railway track gauge of were first constructed in the United Kingdom and the United States. This gauge is also commonly called Russian gauge because this gauge was later chosen as the common track gauge for the Russian Empire and its neighbouring countries. The gauge was redefined by Soviet Railways to be 1,520 mm.
The primary region where Russian gauge is used is the former Soviet Union, Mongolia and Finland, with about of track. Russian gauge is the second most common gauge in the world, after.

History

Great Britain, 1748

In 1748, the Wylam waggonway was built to a gauge for the shipment of coal from Wylam to Lemington down the River Tyne.
In 1839, the Eastern Counties Railway was constructed; and in 1840, the Northern and Eastern Railway was built. In 1844, both lines were converted to. In 1903, the East Hill Cliff Railway, a funicular, was opened.

United States, 1827

In 1827, Horatio Allen, the chief engineer of the South Carolina Canal and Rail Road Company, prescribed the usage of gauge and many other railroads in Southern United States adopted this gauge. The presence of several distinct gauges was a major disadvantage to the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War. In 1886, when around of gauge track existed in the United States, almost all of the railroads using that gauge were converted to, the gauge then used by the Pennsylvania Railroad.

Russian Empire, 1842

The first railway built in Russia was built in 1837 to gauge for a 17 km long "experimental" line connecting Saint Petersburg with Tsarskoye Selo and Pavlovsk; the choice of gauge was influenced by Brunel's Great Western Railway which used. While of almost no practical importance the railway did demonstrate that this gauge was viable. The second railway in the Russian Empire was the Warsaw–Vienna railway which was built to and commenced construction in 1840.
For the building of Russia's first major railway, the Moscow – Saint Petersburg Railway, engineer Pavel Melnikov hired as consultant George Washington Whistler, a prominent American railway engineer. Whistler recommended on the basis that it was cheaper to construct than while still offering the same advantages over and that there was no need to worry about a break-of-gauge since it would never be connected to the Western European railways. Colonel P.P. Melnikov, of the Construction Commission overseeing the railway, recommended following the example of the first railway and his study of US Railways. Following a report sent by Whistler the head of the Main Administration of Transport and Buildings recommended and it was approved for the railway by Tsar Nicholas I on February 14, 1843. The next lines built were also approved with this gauge but it was not until March 1860 that a Government decree stated all major railways in Russia would be gauge.

Not selected for military purposes

It is widely and incorrectly believed that Imperial Russia chose a gauge broader than standard gauge for military reasons, namely to prevent potential invaders from using the rail system. In 1841 a Russian army engineer wrote a paper stating that such a danger did not exist since railways could be made dysfunctional by retreating or diverting forces. Also the construction of the Warsaw–Vienna railway in was precisely so it could be connected to the Western European network, in that case to reduce Poland's dependence on Prussia for transport. Finally for the Moscow – Saint Petersburg Railway, which became the benchmark, the choice of track gauge was between and the wider, not standard gauge. However, it was just not selected with that in mind. When a railway has wooden sleepers, it is fairly easy to make the gauge narrower by removing the nails and placing them back at a narrower position, something Germany did during WWII. Destroying river bridges had a larger effect.

Expansion

The 5-foot gauge became the standard in the whole Russian Empire, and its successor Soviet Union and Finland and in the once Soviet-influenced Mongolia. That area is now the Baltic states, Ukraine, Georgia, and the CIS states.
Russian engineers used it also on the Chinese Eastern Railway, built in the closing years of the 19th century across the Northeastern China entry to provide a shortcut for the Transsiberian Railway to Vladivostok. The railway's southern branch, from Harbin via Changchun to Lüshun, used the Russian gauge, but as a result of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905 its southernmost section was lost to the Japanese, who promptly regauged it to standard gauge. This formed a break of gauge between Changchun and Kuancheng,
until the rest of the former Chinese Eastern Railway was converted to standard gauge, too.
Unlike in South Manchuria, the Soviet Union's reconquest of southern Sakhalin from Japan did not result in regauging of the railway system. Southern Sakhalin has continued with the original Japanese gauge simultaneously with the Russian gauge railway, constructed in the northern part of the island in 1930-1932. The railway has no fixed connection with the mainland, and rail cars coming from the mainland port of Vanino on the Vanino-Kholmsk train ferry have their bogies changed in the Sakhalin port of Kholmsk. In 2004 and 2008 plans were put forward to convert it to Russian gauge. The estimated completion date now is 2020.
There were proposals in 2013 for north-south and east-west lines in Afghanistan, with construction to commence in 2013.

Panama, 1850

The Panama Railway, first constructed in ca. 1850, was built in gauge. During canal construction, this same gauge was chosen for both construction traffic, canal operating services along the quays, and the newly routed commercial cross-isthmus railway. In 2000 the gauge for the commercial parallel railway was changed to to use standard gauge equipment. The original gauge was chosen under the influence of the pre-conversion southern United States railway companies. Nowadays, the electric manoeuvering locomotives along the locks still use the gauge that was laid during canal construction.

Finland, 1862

The first rail line in Finland was opened on January 31, 1862. As Finland was then the Grand Duchy of Finland; a region of Imperial Russia, railways were built to the then Russian track gauge of, although the railway systems were not connected until the bridge over River Neva was built in 1913. Russian trains could not have run in the Finnish tracks, because the Finnish loading gauge was narrower until the connection was made, and the Finnish structure gauge was widened.
Currently, there are two passenger services between Finland and Russia: Allegro, a Pendolino service on the Helsinki-St. Petersburg route, which crosses the border at Vainikkala, and Tolstoi, an overnight daily service between Helsinki and Moscow. For cargo traffic, there are four border crossings in active use.

Technical

Redefinitions

In the late 1960s the gauge was redefined to in the Soviet Union. At the same time the tolerances were tightened. As the running gear of the rolling stock remained unaltered, the result was an increased speed and stability. The conversion took place between 1970 and the beginning of the 1990s.
In Finland Finnish State Railways kept the original definition of, even though they also have tightened the tolerances in a similar way.
Estonia after independence redefined its track gauge to to match Finland's. The redefinitions did not mean that a lot of railways were changed. It was more a rule change regarding new and renovated tracks. See: Track gauge in Estonia.

Tolerances

Finland allows its gauge to be 1,520–1,529 mm on first class lines.
If the gauge of the rolling stock is kept within certain limits, through running between railways and Finnish railways is allowed. Since both 1,520 and 1,524 mm are within tolerances, the difference is tolerable. However, certain Finnish rolling stock do have a tendency to get stuck in Russian railyards due to too narrow gauge.
The international high-speed train Allegro between Helsinki and St. Petersburg is specified as 1,522 mm gauge. High-speed trains have less tolerance against gauge error, but this way through running works well.

Loading gauge

The loading gauge, that is permitted height and width of trains, is larger for Russian gauge. This means that if a standard gauge railway shall be adapted for dual gauge, bridges must be rebuilt, double tracks must be placed further apart and the overhead wire must be raised. Or there must be restrictions on permitted rolling stock, which would restrict the benefit of such a railway. Dual gauge needs more width than single gauge.

Current status

Network

Short sections of Russian gauge extend into Poland, eastern Slovakia, Sweden, and northern Afghanistan.
There is an approximately 150 km long section in Hungary in the Záhony logistics area close to the Ukrainian border. During the recent renovation a 32 km section of dual Standard/Russian gauge was installed between Tumangang and Rajin stations in the DPRK.
The most western gauge railway is the Polish LHS from the Ukrainian border to the eastern end of the Silesian conurbation.

Use in rapid transit and light rail systems

Although broad gauge is quite rare on lighter railways and street tramways worldwide, almost all tramways in ex-USSR are broad gauge. Many tramway networks initially built to narrow gauges were converted to broad gauge. As of 2015, only a few out of more than sixty tram systems in Russia are not broad gauge: in Kaliningrad and Pyatigorsk, in Rostov-on-Don; there are also two tram systems in and around Yevpatoria that use gauge. The Helsinki trams and Liepāja trams also use, and the Tallinn trams use.
Underground urban rapid transit systems in former USSR and Finland, like the Moscow Metro, Saint Petersburg Metro, Kiev Metro and the Helsinki Metro use Russian gauge or gauge.

Similar gauges

These gauges cannot make 3-rail dual gauge with Russian gauge.

Summary

Imperial

That is.

Country/territory	Railway
China	China Eastern Railway ; Rail North China
Estonia	Rail transport in Estonia
Finland	Rail transport in Finland
Former Soviet Union	Prior to narrowing the gauge on the paper by 4 mm to and narrowing the tolerances; the railways adjusted only when needed or upgraded.
Japan	Sakhalin-Hokkaido tunnel, with the break-of-gauge facilities between and in Northern Hokkaido.
Norway	Proposed for Kolari-Skibotn-Tromsø and Nikel-Kirkenes-Rovaniemi lines.
Panama	Panama Railway prior to conversion to standard gauge in 2000 to suit off-the-shelf supply.
Sweden	Only a small freight yard in Haparanda. Used for exchanging cargo with Finnish trains.
United States	The South, such as the Cartersville and Van Wert Railroad, the Cherokee Railroad, and the Western & Atlantic Railroad, until May 31, 1886. The Duquesne Incline and Monongahela Incline in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Metric