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Track gauge
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===Break of gauge=== {{Main|Break of gauge|Variable gauge}} [[File:Break of gauge GWR Gloucester.jpg|thumb|A cartoon depicting the horrors of goods transfer at the break of gauge at [[Gloucester railway station|Gloucester]] in 1843]]Through operation between railway networks with different gauges was originally impossible; goods had to be transshipped and passengers had to change trains. This was obviously a major obstacle to convenient transport, and in Great Britain, led to political intervention. On narrow gauge lines, [[rollbock]]s or [[transporter wagon]]s are used: standard gauge wagons are carried on narrow gauge lines on these special vehicles, generally with rails of the wider gauge to enable those vehicles to roll on and off at transfer points. On the [[Transmongolian Railway]], Russia and Mongolia use {{Track gauge|1520mm|lk=on}} while China uses the standard gauge of 1,435 mm. At the border, each carriage is lifted and its [[Bogie exchange|bogies are changed]]. The operation can take several hours for a whole train of many carriages. Other examples include crossings into or out of the former Soviet Union: Ukraine/Slovakia border on the [[Bratislava]]–[[Lviv]] train, and the Romania/Moldova border on the [[Chișinău]]–[[Bucharest]] train.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://lukashenko.blogspot.com/2007/02/break-of-gauge.html |title = Beyond Thunderdome: Iron Curtain 2k6 |access-date = 2007-10-10 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110708051715/http://lukashenko.blogspot.com/2007/02/break-of-gauge.html |archive-date = 2011-07-08 |url-status = dead }}</ref> A system developed by [[Talgo]] and [[Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles]] (CAF) of Spain uses variable gauge [[wheelset (rail transport)|wheelsets]]; at the border between France and Spain, [[Through service|through passenger trains]] are drawn slowly through an apparatus that alters the gauge of the wheels, which slide laterally on the axles.<ref name="alvarez">Alberto García Álvarez, [http://www.vialibre-ffe.com/pdf/Track_gauge_changeover.pdf "Automatic Gauge Changeover for Trains in Spain"] (PDF), Fundación de los Ferrocarrilos Españoles, 2010.</ref> A similar system is used between China and Central Asia, and between Poland and Ukraine, using the [[SUW 2000]] and [[INTERGAUGE]] variable axle systems.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.oevg.at/aktuell/veranstaltungen/umspurung/waryn.pdf |title=Experience and results of operation the SUW 2000 system in traffic corridors |access-date=2008-12-07 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090319042706/http://www.oevg.at/aktuell/veranstaltungen/umspurung/waryn.pdf |archive-date=2009-03-19 }}</ref> China and Poland use standard gauge, while Central Asia and Ukraine use {{Track gauge|1520mm}}.
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