Английская Википедия:Francis Webb Sheilds

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Francis Webb Wentworth-Sheilds (born Sheilds; 8 October 1820 – 18 January 1906)[1] was an Anglo-Irish civil engineer on the Sydney Railway Company during its construction but before its opening.

In Great Britain and Ireland, Sheilds worked on a number of railway projects, including the then Шаблон:RailGauge Dublin and Kingstown Railway. He considered himself to be a born railway engineer.[2]

City Surveyor

Sheilds was the Sydney City Surveyor in 1843 for a few years where he worked on water works. He resigned in 1849,[3] in order to take up a post with the Sydney Railway Company.

Sydney Railway Company engineer

Sheilds is mainly remembered because he persuaded the company to adopt the Шаблон:RailGauge rail gauge, rather than the English standard gauge of Шаблон:RailGauge. Sheilds had worked on railways in Ireland, which had adopted Шаблон:RailGauge as its own standard gauge. His proposal was backed by the British Board of Trade, and agreed to by all Australian colonies.

Sheilds resigned in 1850[4] when his pay was cut due to the company's financial difficulties. His replacement, Scotsman James Wallace, recommended that the track gauge be changed to the Шаблон:RailGauge, and the New South Wales government concurred. However, the construction of Шаблон:RailGauge broad gauge lines had already started in Victoria and South Australia, and the necessary rolling stock had been ordered. The two colonies strongly protested about the change and declined to follow suit.

Sheilds's recommendation, and its overturning by New South Wales, is the origin of the huge problems caused by breaks of gauge between Шаблон:RailGauge and Шаблон:RailGauge rail tracks in Australia. To add to the predicament, most other Australian colonies, including parts of South Australia, later adopted the cheaper narrow gauge of Шаблон:RailGauge. Tasmania's first railway was constructed with a Шаблон:RailGauge gauge, as per the original agreement, but it was converted to Шаблон:RailGauge in 1888.

See also

References

Шаблон:Reflist

External links

Шаблон:Authority control


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