Show RAILROAD QUIZ was wa s 4 feet avi 81 2 indies always alway the standard gauge in the file united S sates ates in 1871 no fewer than 19 diff different er gauges ranging from 3 feet to 6 feet existed on the railroads of the united states making it impossible for freight or passenger cars to be freely interchange interchanged the conversion of the baci pacific c railroad of missouri now the missouri pacific from 5 feet 6 inches to 4 feet 8 inches in 1868 and of the ohio mississippi now the baltimore ohio from 6 feet to 4 feet 8 al inches in 1871 gave impetus to the standardization movement by 1887 practically every important broad gauge railroad in the united states had changed to 4 feet 8 inches which by that time had come to be known as the standard gauge |