DLR track gauge
 

As I was sitting on the DLR the other day with the train squeeling its
way round
yet another sharp curve, it suddenly struck me - why did they use
standard gauge
track? Surely a narrow gauge would be far better suited to the tight
curves on the line?
Its not as if they'd have had any trouble procuring equipment for
narrow gauge
since plenty of light rail narrow gauge systems operate in europe. And
the DLR
is completely self contained with no physical links to any other
railway so thats
not a concern. Anyone know why they didn't use say metre gauge?

B2003

DLR track gauge
 

"Boltar" wrote:

As I was sitting on the DLR the other day with the train squeeling its
way round
yet another sharp curve, it suddenly struck me - why did they use
standard gauge
track? Surely a narrow gauge would be far better suited to the tight
curves on the line?
Its not as if they'd have had any trouble procuring equipment for
narrow gauge
since plenty of light rail narrow gauge systems operate in europe. And
the DLR
is completely self contained with no physical links to any other
railway so thats
not a concern. Anyone know why they didn't use say metre gauge?


Because metre gauge was "not invented here".

DLR track gauge
 

On Sat, 29 Jul 2006 20:14:30 +0100, Tony Polson
wrote:

"Boltar" wrote:

As I was sitting on the DLR the other day with the train squeeling its
way round
yet another sharp curve, it suddenly struck me - why did they use
standard gauge
track? Surely a narrow gauge would be far better suited to the tight
curves on the line?
Its not as if they'd have had any trouble procuring equipment for
narrow gauge
since plenty of light rail narrow gauge systems operate in europe. And
the DLR
is completely self contained with no physical links to any other
railway so thats
not a concern. Anyone know why they didn't use say metre gauge?

Because metre gauge was "not invented here".

... and would also make it difficult for any kind of mixed running on
or off the DLR which might occur in the future.
--
_______
+---------------------------------------------------+ |\\ //|
| Charles Ellson: | | \\ // |
+---------------------------------------------------+ | |
| // \\ |
Alba gu brath |//___\\|

DLR track gauge
 

"Charles Ellson" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 29 Jul 2006 20:14:30 +0100, Tony Polson
wrote:

"Boltar" wrote:

As I was sitting on the DLR the other day with the train squeeling its
way round
yet another sharp curve, it suddenly struck me - why did they use
standard gauge
track? Surely a narrow gauge would be far better suited to the tight
curves on the line?
Its not as if they'd have had any trouble procuring equipment for
narrow gauge
since plenty of light rail narrow gauge systems operate in europe. And
the DLR
is completely self contained with no physical links to any other
railway so thats
not a concern. Anyone know why they didn't use say metre gauge?

Because metre gauge was "not invented here".

.. and would also make it difficult for any kind of mixed running on
or off the DLR which might occur in the future.

The Blackwall Railway, whose viaduct is used by the DLR, was originally
constructed with a 5 foot gauge. It had to narrow this to standard when it
wanted to connect with other railways.

Peter

DLR track gauge
 

"Boltar" wrote in message
oups.com...
As I was sitting on the DLR the other day with the train squeeling its
way round
yet another sharp curve, it suddenly struck me - why did they use
standard gauge
track? Surely a narrow gauge would be far better suited to the tight
curves on the line?
Its not as if they'd have had any trouble procuring equipment for
narrow gauge
since plenty of light rail narrow gauge systems operate in europe. And
the DLR
is completely self contained with no physical links to any other
railway so thats
not a concern. Anyone know why they didn't use say metre gauge?

B2003

Sharp curves have been on standard gauge for years - trams in British
systems were mostly of standard gauge, and they went around very sharp
curves as they turned from one street to another. The new light rail
systems are also of standard gauge.

Have you noticed that most narrow gauge rolling stock is narrow, whereas DLR
is quite wide. If you have wide stock on narrow gauge tracks, there is a
potential problem with stability.

If there is squealing on curves, this could be addressed by flange
lubricators. I took quite a few trips on DLR a couple of months back, and I
didn't notice that occurring.

Regards

David Bennetts
Australia

DLR track gauge
 

Charles Ellson wrote:
On Sat, 29 Jul 2006 20:14:30 +0100, Tony Polson
wrote:

"Boltar" wrote:

As I was sitting on the DLR the other day with the train squeeling its
way round
yet another sharp curve, it suddenly struck me - why did they use
standard gauge
track? Surely a narrow gauge would be far better suited to the tight
curves on the line?
Its not as if they'd have had any trouble procuring equipment for
narrow gauge
since plenty of light rail narrow gauge systems operate in europe. And
the DLR
is completely self contained with no physical links to any other
railway so thats
not a concern. Anyone know why they didn't use say metre gauge?

Because metre gauge was "not invented here".

.. and would also make it difficult for any kind of mixed running on
or off the DLR which might occur in the future.



And in the steady progression towards heavy rail, where they keep
having to sell off the previous more flimsy vehicles, they are more
likely to find buyers for standard guage stuff?

DLR track gauge
 

On Sun, 30 Jul 2006 07:40:29 +1000, "David Bennetts"
wrote:


"Boltar" wrote in message
roups.com...
As I was sitting on the DLR the other day with the train squeeling its
way round
yet another sharp curve, it suddenly struck me - why did they use
standard gauge
track? Surely a narrow gauge would be far better suited to the tight
curves on the line?
Its not as if they'd have had any trouble procuring equipment for
narrow gauge
since plenty of light rail narrow gauge systems operate in europe. And
the DLR
is completely self contained with no physical links to any other
railway so thats
not a concern. Anyone know why they didn't use say metre gauge?

B2003

Sharp curves have been on standard gauge for years - trams in British
systems were mostly of standard gauge, and they went around very sharp
curves as they turned from one street to another. The new light rail
systems are also of standard gauge.

Have you noticed that most narrow gauge rolling stock is narrow, whereas DLR
is quite wide. If you have wide stock on narrow gauge tracks, there is a
potential problem with stability.

Like with 25NCs ?
It depends how low you go in terms of gauge and what you do with the
centre of gravity.
snip
--
_______
+---------------------------------------------------+ |\\ //|
| Charles Ellson: | | \\ // |
+---------------------------------------------------+ | |
| // \\ |
Alba gu brath |//___\\|

DLR track gauge
 

Charles Ellson wrote:

Like with 25NCs ?

It does look rather odd to see something that size on such a narrow
track gauge.

How common is modern narrow gauge light rail equipment elsewhere in the
World? I would have thought that there would be more people building
standard guage equipment, which might actually make it cheaper.

DLR track gauge
 

On 29 Jul 2006 15:32:45 -0700, "MIG"
wrote:


Charles Ellson wrote:
On Sat, 29 Jul 2006 20:14:30 +0100, Tony Polson
wrote:

"Boltar" wrote:

As I was sitting on the DLR the other day with the train squeeling its
way round
yet another sharp curve, it suddenly struck me - why did they use
standard gauge
track? Surely a narrow gauge would be far better suited to the tight
curves on the line?
Its not as if they'd have had any trouble procuring equipment for
narrow gauge
since plenty of light rail narrow gauge systems operate in europe. And
the DLR
is completely self contained with no physical links to any other
railway so thats
not a concern. Anyone know why they didn't use say metre gauge?

Because metre gauge was "not invented here".

.. and would also make it difficult for any kind of mixed running on
or off the DLR which might occur in the future.

And in the steady progression towards heavy rail, where they keep
having to sell off the previous more flimsy vehicles, they are more
likely to find buyers for standard guage stuff?

Or going in the other direction, the DLR stuff possibly doesn't need
much modification to tram standard for venturing out onto any local
tramways that might be built (oink, oink, flap, flap) which would
probably also be standard gauge.
--
_______
+---------------------------------------------------+ |\\ //|
| Charles Ellson: | | \\ // |
+---------------------------------------------------+ | |
| // \\ |
Alba gu brath |//___\\|

DLR track gauge
 

On 29 Jul 2006 16:36:00 -0700, "Stephen Furley"
wrote:


Charles Ellson wrote:

Like with 25NCs ?

It does look rather odd to see something that size on such a narrow
track gauge.

How common is modern narrow gauge light rail equipment elsewhere in the
World? I would have thought that there would be more people building
standard guage equipment, which might actually make it cheaper.

OTMH you've got various bits of metre-gauge around Europe (a lot in
Switzerland ?) which does in general seem to scale down the size of
the bodywork while in Africa 3' 6" gauge seems to be "normal-sized"
bodies running a bit closer to the ground. In both cases the trackwork
is generally going to be cheaper while in the latter case the main
difference is the bogies on the rolling stock which won't necessarily
cost more while the locomotives in the past possibly had less "off the
shelf" nature than now so the difference between standard and the
larger narrow-gauges also might not have been significant or even
extra.
--
_______
+---------------------------------------------------+ |\\ //|
| Charles Ellson: | | \\ // |
+---------------------------------------------------+ | |
| // \\ |
Alba gu brath |//___\\|