Any ideas?

"Gary Stoltman" <stopan@optonline.net> schrieb:

Wilfried:

Thank you very much for this lead. At this time in the USA, there were many
small independently owned railroads that used different gauge track. This
wasn't corrected until the country's Civil War. 1. Are any list members
aware if that sort of gauge problem existed in the NW German states
and/or between that area and the Netherlands & Belgium.
2. Were the railroads state owned? I have seen the French railroads of that
time referred to as, "the state railroads," therefore leading me to
believe that all French railroads operated with one gauge of track.

Hallo Gary,

there was no gauge problem in that area, neither in Germany, nor in/between the Netherlands, Belgium and France. All have the Standard-gauge of 1435 mm.

But at that time there existed numerous railroad companies, most of them private and not state owned. And between the different companys often were no direct connections (there were for example different stations in many cities). Also one could not buy a through ticket. So it was quite difficult to travel over a long distance.

Regards
Wilfried

<< But at that time there existed numerous railroad companies, most of them
private and not state owned. And between the different companys often were
no direct connections (there were for example different stations in many

Wilfried:

This was also the problem faced in this country at that time but
additionally, there were different gauge tracks which meant off loading the
railcars and people. Some lines were as short as 45 km.

I've read that a competition between Bremen-Hamburg and Le Havre developed
when the shippers in Havre demanded aid from the French government. The
state railways granted reduced fares to emigrants, ranging from one-third to
one-half of the customary charge, and ran "special trains" during the
"spring season".

Thanks again!

Gary