53-521: The 1,520 mm ( 4 ft 11 + 27 ⁄ 32 in ) broad gauge Trans-Aral Railway (also known as the Tashkent Railway ) was built in 1906 connecting Kinel and Tashkent , then both in the Russian Empire . For the first part of the 20th century it was the only railway connection between European Russia and Central Asia . An extensive description of the newly built railway
106-454: A cyclepath . That cyclepath forms part of National Cycle Network Route 72 and starts at Tyne Riverside Country Park at Low Prudhoe. After Wylam it keeps to the north side of the River Tyne, linking Wylam with Newcastle and the coast at Tynemouth . There is another cyclepath on the south side of the river which starts in the car park at Wylam railway station and links Wylam to Gateshead and
159-479: A bridge with four spans resting on three piers on the river bed. This was rejected by the local coal companies who feared that the construction of the piers on the river bed would disturb the shallow mine workings below, which already suffered from flooding. The designers found the solution in designing a single-span bridge carrying a double track, without the need for piers. The bridge consists of three parallel wrought iron arches resting on abutments on each bank, with
212-627: A committee to recommend technical standards for the building of Russia's first major railway. The team included devotees of Franz Anton von Gerstner , who pushed to continue the Tsarskoye Selo gauge, and engineer Pavel Melnikov and his consultant George Washington Whistler , a prominent American railway engineer. Whistler recommended 5 ft ( 1,524 mm ) on the basis that it was cheaper to construct than 6 ft ( 1,829 mm ) and cheaper to maintain than 1,435 mm ( 4 ft 8 + 1 ⁄ 2 in ). His advice won over
265-725: A degree of autonomy from Moscow during the period immediately following the Bolshevik takeover, which resulted in atrocities like the Kokand Massacre , in which between 5,000 and 14,000 people were killed. The line passes through several notable cities in Kazakhstan , including Aktobe , Aral , Qyzylorda , Turkistan , and Shymkent . It connects at Arys with the Turkestan–Siberia rail line toward Almaty , eastern Kazakhstan, and south Siberia . Russian gauge Railways with
318-783: A few out of more than sixty tram systems in Russia are not broad gauge: 1,000 mm in Kaliningrad and Pyatigorsk , 1,435 mm ( 4 ft 8 + 1 ⁄ 2 in ) in Rostov-on-Don . There are two tram systems in and around Yevpatoria that use 1,000 mm ( 3 ft 3 + 3 ⁄ 8 in ) gauge. Finland's Helsinki trams and Latvia's Liepāja trams use 1,000 mm ( 3 ft 3 + 3 ⁄ 8 in ). Estonia's Tallinn trams use similar 1,067 mm ( 3 ft 6 in ). Warsaw's tramway system, constructed with 1525 mm gauge,
371-685: A railway track gauge of 5 ft ( 1,524 mm ) first appeared in the United Kingdom and the United States. This gauge became commonly known as " Russian gauge ", because the government of the Russian Empire chose it in 1843. Former areas and states of the Empire (such as Finland ) have inherited this standard. However in 1970, Soviet Railways re-defined the gauge as 1,520 mm ( 4 ft 11 + 27 ⁄ 32 in ). With about 225,000 km (140,000 mi) of track, 1,520 mm
424-567: A short time during the war. This formed a break of gauge between Changchun and Kuancheng , the station just to the north of Changchun, still in Russian hands, until the rest of the former Chinese Eastern Railway was converted to standard gauge, probably in the 1930s. Unlike in South Manchuria , the Soviet Union's reconquest of southern Sakhalin from Japan did not result in regauging of
477-584: A shortcut for the Trans-Siberian Railway to Vladivostok . The railway's southern branch, from Harbin via Changchun to Lüshun , used Russian gauge. As a result of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905, its southernmost section from Changchun to Lüshun was lost to the Japanese, who promptly regauged it to standard gauge , after using the narrow 3 ft 6 in ( 1,067 mm ) for
530-406: A unique track gauge of 1,522 mm, falls between the Russian gauge ( 1,520 mm ) and broad gauge 1,524 mm . These gauges cannot make 3-rail dual gauge with Russian gauge. These gauges are within tolerance. Dual gauge between Russian gauge and another similar gauge can make these bonus gauges. Wylam Wylam / ˈ w aɪ l ə m / is a village and civil parish in
583-615: Is the second-most common gauge in the world, after 1,435 mm ( 4 ft 8 + 1 ⁄ 2 in ) standard gauge . In 1748, the Wylam waggonway was built to a 5 ft ( 1,524 mm ) gauge for the shipment of coal from Wylam to Lemington down the River Tyne . In 1839, the Eastern Counties Railway was constructed. In 1840, the Northern and Eastern Railway
SECTION 10
#1732847888684636-562: Is thought that Guy de Balliol , Lord of Bywell, gave Wylam to the priory in 1085. The priors of Tynemouth held lands in the village until the dissolution of the monasteries in the 16th century. The Blackett family have had a long association with the village. In 1659 Christopher Blackett acquired the Lordship of the Manor of Wylam on the death of his wife's father, Thomas Fenwick. Following Christopher's death, his second son, John Blackett, took over
689-512: The American Civil War , cotton shot up in price in the 1860s, becoming an increasingly important commodity in the region, although its cultivation was on a much lesser scale than during the Soviet period. The cotton trade led to the construction of these railroads. In the long term, the development of a cotton monoculture would render Turkestan dependent on food imports from Western Siberia, and
742-545: The River Tyne on flat bottomed boats called keels to be loaded on the large coal ships further down the river. Several famous engineers have had links with the village. George Stephenson was born at a small cottage at Wylam in June 1781. Timothy Hackworth 's father was foreman blacksmith at the colliery and his son was born in the village in December 1786. Hackworth together with William Hedley and Jonathan Forster were involved in
795-636: The Turkestan–Siberia Railway was already planned when the First World War broke out. After the revolution the line was blocked by Cossacks under the command of Ataman Dutov . Cut off from food supplies, and unable to sustain itself due to forced cotton cultivation, Russian Turkestan experienced an intense famine. The temporary loss of the Trans-Aral also allowed the Tashkent Soviet
848-471: The Anglicans of Wylam could have their own place of worship. The church has six bells with regular Sunday ringing and a practice night on Mondays. Wylam also has a Methodist chapel, located on Chapel Lane. The chapel was extended in the 1990s to extend the worship and meeting areas, and to also include a kitchen. Churches in and around Wylam, notably Horsley and Crawcrook , of different denominations have
901-572: The North Wylam railway station area now being used as a car park. Bus The bus service to and from Wylam is poor and many services have been discontinued over the years. There is an hourly service to Newcastle and Hexham provided by Go North East with the X84 service. Cyclepath After the Scotswood, Newburn and Wylam Railway line was closed the trackwork was removed and the trackbed later converted into
954-562: The River Tyne from this point. Wylam Railway Bridge (also known as Points Bridge and the Half Moon bridge) is located at Hagg Bank , approximately 1 mile (1.6 km) west of the town. It is a wrought iron bridge built by the Scotswood, Newburn and Wylam Railway Company in 1876 to link the North Wylam Loop with the Newcastle and Carlisle Railway . The original plan had been to build
1007-546: The Sakhalin port of Kholmsk . In 2004 and 2008 plans were put forward to convert it to the Russian gauge. The conversion was completed in 2019. There were proposals in 2013 for north-south and east-west lines in Afghanistan, with construction to start in 2013. The Panama Canal Railway , first constructed in ca. 1850, was built in 5 ft ( 1,524 mm ) gauge. During canal construction (1904–1914), this same gauge
1060-637: The Samara–Zlatoust line was joined to the Tashkent railway. The Kinel–Tashkent Railway was the first line to be built across the steppe , replacing the multiple routes once used by caravans with a single, steel path. It introduced the Kazakhs to industrial modernity and tied the distant Governor-Generalship of Turkestan more firmly to the Russian metropole, allowing troops to be rushed to Central Asia and raw cotton to be exported to Moscow's textile mills. Because of
1113-539: The Soviet Union in 1991, Estonia redefined its track gauge to 1,524 mm , to match Finland's gauge. The redefinition did not mean that all the railways in Estonia were changed immediately. It was more a rule change, so that all renovated old tracks and new railways would be constructed in 1,524 mm gauge from then on. (See Track gauge in Estonia .) Finland allows its gauge to be 1,520–1,529 mm on first class lines (classes 1AA and 1A, speed 220–160 km/h). If
SECTION 20
#17328478886841166-716: The Tsar. At the time, questions of continuity with the European network did not arise. By the time difficulties arose in connecting the Prussian railroads to the Russian ones in Warsaw in the 1850s, it was too late to change. A persistent myth holds that Imperial Russia chose a gauge broader than standard gauge for military reasons, namely to prevent potential invaders from using the rail system. The Russian military recognized as early as 1841 that operations to disrupt railway track did not depend on
1219-523: The bridge over the River Neva was built in 1913. Russian trains could not have run on Finnish tracks, because the Finnish loading gauge was narrower, until the connection was made and the Finnish structure gauge was widened. In the late 1960s the gauge was redefined to 1,520 mm ( 4 ft 11 + 27 ⁄ 32 in ) in the Soviet Union. At the same time the tolerances were tightened. As
1272-410: The coast at South Shields . Wylam's parish church was built in 1886 and is dedicated to St. Oswin , a Northumbrian saint. Wylam St. Oswin's has a regular Sunday and weekday services. Pre-1886 the villagers of Wylam had to walk to nearby Ovingham to attend church, George and William Hedley, sons of Frances and William, the railway engineer, contributed most of the money needed to build the church so
1325-528: The county of Northumberland , England. It is located about 10 miles (16 km) west of Newcastle upon Tyne . It is famous for the being the birthplace of George Stephenson , one of the early railway pioneers. George Stephenson's Birthplace , his cottage, can be found on the north bank of the Tyne 1 mile (1.6 km) east of the village. It is owned by the National Trust . Wylam has further connections with
1378-467: The course of the River Tyne through Northumberland . Passenger services on the line are operated by Northern . The line is also heavily used for goods . The railway station is on the south bank of the River Tyne . There used to be another railway station in Wylam on the north bank of the river, which was part of the Scotswood, Newburn and Wylam Railway . The line has now closed and the tracks removed, with
1431-651: The development of the locomotive engine at the colliery. Perhaps the most famous of the engines to be developed was the Puffing Billy , which is now housed at The Science Museum in London, followed closely by Wylam Dilly which is on display at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh. Wylam Railway Museum has lots more information on the village's unique place in railway history and is co-located with Wylam Library and has
1484-399: The early railway pioneers. The steam locomotive engineer Timothy Hackworth , who worked with Stephenson, was also born here. William Hedley who was born in the nearby village of Newburn attended the village school. He later went on to design and manufacture Puffing Billy in 1813, two years before George Stephenson produced his first locomotive Blücher . Christopher Blackett as lord of
1537-600: The estate and purchased additional land in the area, including two farms at Wylam bought in 1685. These farms formed a modest estate and residence for the Blackett family until the third quarter of the 20th century. The Lordship also included mineral rights within the township. This allowed the family to develop the colliery and further increase their prosperity. An article in the Newcastle Courant of 17 January 1874 entitled "Our Colliery Villages" paints an unattractive image of
1590-581: The gauge of 5 ft or 1,520 mm, include: Short sections of Russian or 5 ft gauge extend into Poland , eastern Slovakia , Sweden (at the Finnish border at Haparanda ), and northern Afghanistan . There is an approximately 150 km long section in Hungary in the Záhony logistics area close to the Ukrainian border. Following renovations in 2014, a 32 km section of dual Standard /Russian gauge
1643-557: The gauge, and should instead focus on destroying bridges and tunnels . However, in both World Wars the break of gauge did pose some amount of obstacle to the invading Germans. The 5-foot gauge became the standard in the Russian Empire and later the Soviet Union. Russian engineers used it on the Chinese Eastern Railway , built in the closing years of the 19th century across the Northeastern China entry to provide
Trans-Aral Railway - Misplaced Pages Continue
1696-583: The locks ( mules ) still use the 5 ft gauge that was laid during canal construction. The first rail line in Finland was opened in January 1862. As Finland was then the Grand Duchy of Finland , an autonomous state ruled in personal union by Imperial Russia where railways were also built to the (5 ft) broad track gauge of 1,524 mm ( 5 ft ). However the railway systems were not connected until
1749-474: The manor in the first 30 years of the 19th century provided the entrepreneurial drive that encouraged these engineers. Once an industrial workplace with collieries and an ironworks, it is now a commuting village for Newcastle upon Tyne and Hexham , served by the Tyne Valley line . The earliest reference to Wylam is in a record of 1158 that records that the settlement belonged to the priory at Tynemouth . It
1802-1332: The maximum height and width for railway vehicles and their loads, is larger for Russian gauge. This means that if a standard gauge railway, in Europe, is 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. For double stacking on Russian gauge tracks, maximum height shall be 6.15 or 6.4 m (20 ft 2 in or 21 ft 0 in) above rails. For standard gauge railways, double stacking maximum height shall be 6.15 m (20 ft 2 in). For Indian gauge railways, double stacking maximum height shall be 7.1 m (23 ft 4 in), and minimum overhead wiring height shall be 6.5 or 6.75 m (21 ft 4 in or 22 ft 2 in) above rails. Minimum overhead wiring height for double stacking, standard gauge railways shall be 6.5 m (21 ft 4 in), and Indian gauge railways shall be 7.45 m (24 ft 5 in) above rails, respectively. This would apply to Russia and Europe (or North America), rather than to Russia and China (or Iran). The primary countries currently using
1855-526: The railway system. Southern Sakhalin has continued with the original Japanese 1,067 mm ( 3 ft 6 in ) gauge simultaneously with the Russian gauge railway, constructed in the northern part of the island in 1930-1932 (Moskalvo-Okha). The railway has no fixed connection with the mainland. Before 2019, rail cars coming from the mainland port of Vanino on the Vanino-Kholmsk train ferry , operating since 1973, had to have their bogies changed in
1908-462: The rolling stock's tolerance is kept within certain limits, through running between 1,520 mm ( 4 ft 11 + 27 ⁄ 32 in ) railways and Finnish 1,524 mm ( 5 ft ) railways is allowed. Since both 1,520 and 1,524 mm tolerances overlap, the difference is negligible. The international high-speed Allegro 's gauge between Helsinki and St. Petersburg was specified as 1,522 mm. The loading gauge , which defines
1961-488: The running gear ( wheelsets ) 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, the Finnish State Railways kept the original definition of 1,524 mm ( 5 ft ), even though they also have tightened the tolerances in a similar way, but to a higher level. After its independence from
2014-404: The same opening hours. The late 18th century was a period of prosperity for the village – the colliery was thriving and an ironworks, a leadshot manufactury and a brewery were all established in the village. In 1864 the ironworks closed. Four years later the colliery was closed. The brewery ceased to operate sometime in the 1870s. This decline in the industry led to a change in the character of
2067-587: The second railway in the Russian Empire , the Warsaw–Vienna railway in Congress Poland . It was a 1,435 mm ( 4 ft 8 + 1 ⁄ 2 in ) standard gauge , with the express intention of allowing through-freight trains into Austria-Hungary . The modern Russian railway network solidified around the Saint Petersburg–Moscow railway , built in 1842. There, the Tsar established
2120-438: The twin rail decks suspended by 14 wrought iron drop bars. It cost £16,000 to build. The bridge paved the way for new developments in bridge building – Newcastle's Tyne Bridge in 1928 and Sydney Harbour Bridge in 1932, being direct descendants of the design and construction of Hagg's Bridge. Many of the trains which used the bridge carried coal from the collieries at Newburn and Walbottle westwards to Carlisle . The line
2173-434: The view of Wylam Bridge from Wylam Wood Road towards the southwest is especially dramatic. To the east of Wylam railway station is the mouth of the small brook known as Stanley Burn, which originates in the southern Prudhoe area and also forms the regional border between Northumberland to the west and the borough of Gateshead ( Tyne and Wear ). The traditional boundary between Northumberland and County Durham follows
Trans-Aral Railway - Misplaced Pages Continue
2226-523: The village every January/February. It features a week of varied events including music, storytelling, film, crafts and history at venues throughout the village. It is funded through small grants, donations and ticket sales and is run by volunteers. Wylam is located on the north and south sides of the River Tyne , in Northumberland, England. The riverside walks and country trails surrounding the village are popular for cyclists, runners and walkers alike and
2279-454: The village – 'Wylam is the very worst colliery village that we have yet beheld ...'. The colliery has an important place in the history of the development of the locomotive. It is thought that the Wylam waggonway was opened in 1748 and was therefore one of the earliest waggonways in the North of England . The waggonway linked the colliery to the staiths at Lemington from where the coal was taken down
2332-402: The village. By the 20th century the village was almost entirely a residential settlement. Wylam has approximately 800 households, with a population of 2,100. Wylam, for Local Government purposes, comes under Northumberland County Council , a unitary authority . It is in the parliamentary constituency of Hexham . Wylam Winter Tales is a not-for-profit arts and culture festival held in
2385-595: The war memorial have been transcribed and published by the North East War Memorials Project. Unusually for a rural area, transport in Wylam is mainly Rail and cycle orientated. Railway The village is served by Wylam railway station on the Tyne Valley Line . The line was opened in 1838, and links the city of Newcastle upon Tyne in Northumberland with Carlisle in Cumberland . The line follows
2438-504: Was a 6 ft ( 1,829 mm ) gauge, 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 7 ft ( 2,134 mm ). The Tsarskoye Selo railway's success proved that a larger gauge could be viable for railways isolated from the extant 1,435 mm ( 4 ft 8 + 1 ⁄ 2 in ) gauge Western European network. In 1840, work started on
2491-536: Was a major disadvantage to the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War . In 1886, when around 11,500 miles (18,500 km) of 5 ft gauge track existed in the United States, almost all of the railroads using that gauge were converted to 4 ft 9 in ( 1,448 mm ), the gauge then used by the Pennsylvania Railroad . In 1837, the first railway built in Russia
2544-667: Was built. In 1844, both lines were converted to 1,435 mm ( 4 ft 8 + 1 ⁄ 2 in ) standard gauge . In 1903, the East Hill Cliff Railway , a funicular , was opened. In 1827, Horatio Allen , the chief engineer of the South Carolina Canal and Rail Road Company , prescribed the usage of 5 ft ( 1,524 mm ) gauge. Many other railroads in the Southern United States adopted this gauge. The presence of several distinct gauges
2597-467: 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 1,435 mm ( 4 ft 8 + 1 ⁄ 2 in ) to use standard gauge equipment. The original gauge was chosen under the influence of the pre-conversion southern United States railway companies. The electric manoeuvering locomotives along
2650-500: Was closed in 1968 and the bridge later purchased by Northumberland County Council . It was restored in 1997 with help from the Heritage Lottery Fund . All the old lead-based paint was removed, requiring the bridge to be wrapped in plastic to prevent polluting the river. The war memorial, which is a cross about 8 metres (26 ft) in height, stands by the roadside just to the north of Wylam Bridge. The inscriptions and names on
2703-1071: Was installed between Tumangang and Rajin stations in North Korea. The most western 1,520 mm gauge railway is the Polish LHS ( Linia Hutnicza Szerokotorowa ) from the Ukrainian border to the eastern end of the Upper Silesian Industrial Region . Although broad gauge is quite rare on lighter railways and street tramways worldwide, almost all tramways in the former USSR are broad gauge (according to terminology in use in these countries, gauges narrower than 1,520 mm ( 4 ft 11 + 27 ⁄ 32 in ) are considered to be narrow). Many tramway networks initially built to narrow gauges ( 750 mm or 2 ft 5 + 1 ⁄ 2 in or 1,000 mm or 3 ft 3 + 3 ⁄ 8 in metre gauge ) were converted to broad gauge. As of 2015, only
SECTION 50
#17328478886842756-592: Was published in 1910. There were plans to construct the Orenburg–Tashkent line as early as 1874. Construction work did not start, however, until the autumn of 1900. The railway was simultaneously built from both ends toward a common junction. It opened in January 1906, linking the existing network of Russian and European railways to the Trans-Caspian Railway . On January 1, 1905, the Kinel – Orenburg section of
2809-535: Was regauged to 1435 mm during post-WWII reconstruction. Tampere tramway , built in 2021, uses 1,435 mm ( 4 ft 8 + 1 ⁄ 2 in ). Underground urban rapid transit systems in the former USSR, like the Moscow Metro , Saint Petersburg Metro , Kyiv Metro and Yerevan Metro use Russian gauge ( 1,520 mm ). Outside the former USSR, the Helsinki Metro in Finland that utilizes
#683316