Rail

ca. 1850

In the 1830s, most railroad track in America consisted of a thin layer of flat strap-iron "facing" nailed to wooden stringers. Strap-iron track was adequate for horse-drawn railroads, but not the weight of steam locomotives.

As railroads began to move products outside local networks, the need for standardization became evident. Track gauge is the width between the inside faces of a pair of rails. There were over 20 different track gauges in use in the U.S. by the 1870s. By the end of the 19th century, most U.S. tracks used the standard gauge first proposed in 1830 by British engineer George Stephensen, who based it on the width of coal carts.

Iron. L 96.7, W 5.7, T 0.9 cm
Steamtown National Historic Site, STEA 8201