page_title: Track gauge in the United States
section_title: Pennsylvania trolley gauges
hierarchical_section_title: Track gauge in the United States / Broad gauges / Pennsylvania trolley gauges
caption_attribution_description: English: Map of the main railroads of the Confederacy 1861, showing gauges Other information published as The West Point atlas of the Civil War / compiled by the Department of Military Art and Engineering, the United States Military Academy; chief editor, Vincent J. Esposito. Category:Railroad maps Category:Maps of the United States
context_page_description: Originally, various track gauges were used in the United States. Some railways, primarily in the northeast, used standard gauge of 4 ft 8 ¹⁄₂ in; others used gauges ranging from 2 ft to 6 ft. As a general rule, southern railroads were built to one or another broad gauge, mostly 5 ft, while northern railroads that were not standard-gauge tended to be narrow-gauge. The Pacific Railroad Acts of 1863 specified standard gauge.
  Notable exceptions were the 6 ft railroads that predominated in the first part of the 19th century in New York State, and the 5 ft 6 in lines centered on Portland, Maine. Problems began as soon as lines began to meet, and standard gauge was adopted in much of the northeastern U.S. Standard gauge had spread widely across the country by the late 19th century except in some parts of the South; it was adopted there in a two-day changeover on May 31-June 1, 1886.
  Today, standard gauge is used almost everywhere in the U.S. Non-standard gauges remain in use only for some municipal and regional mass transit systems not requiring interchange of equipment.
context_section_description: 5 ft 2 ¹⁄₄ in (1,581 mm) and 5 ft 2 ¹⁄₂ in (1,588 mm) are commonly known as Pennsylvania trolley gauge because it was originally used by railroad lines in the state of Pennsylvania. Unlike other broad gauges, it remains in use in a number of urban rail transit systems.
  5 ft 2 ¹⁄₄ in (1,581 mm)
  Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA)
  Market–Frankford Line
  Subway–surface trolley lines and Route 15 surface trolley line
  Routes 101 and 102 suburban light rail lines
  5 ft 2 ¹⁄₂ in (1,588 mm)
  Pittsburgh Light Rail
  New Orleans streetcars
  Streetcars in Cincinnati (1859–1951; standard gauge 2016-present)
  West Penn Railways (1904–1952 defunct)
caption: Map of rail gauges used in Confederate and border states.
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