Let's start with a useful link to a very useful explanation of Gauges And Why We Need Them. Some of the better things that the short lived Strategic Rail Authority managed to achieve were technical papers like their Heights and widths are in milli metres. More details can be found in Railway Group Guidance Note GE/GN8573, Guidance on Gauging, and in Network Rail's Business Plan documents. The latter include maps of the British railway network showing which routes are cleared to the different gauges. They also explains the varying combinations of loading gauge and low platform wagon which can be used to move tall containers safely. Click on the following links to see a scan of the different gauges.The SRA website didn't last for ever, but I took the precaution of sticking a copy of the Gauge Policy on another part of my site: download it here. It's a pdf file, about 332KB in size.
This site attempts to explain the numerous different loading gauges which apply on Britain's railway network and on the networks of Continental Europe.
These gauges are (mainly) for freight wagons. They represent the maximum height and width to which vehicles can be constructed or loaded. They can only be used for vehicles of a certain length - vehicles which are longer must be built and loaded to slightly narrower dimensions.
This site attempts to explain the numerous different loading gauges which apply on Britain's railway network and on the networks of Continental Europe.
These gauges are (mainly) for freight wagons. They represent the maximum height and width to which vehicles can be constructed or loaded. They can only be used for vehicles of a certain length - vehicles which are longer must be built and loaded to slightly narrower dimensions.