In article ,
Ian Jelf wrote:
In message , Tony Polson
writes
Because metre gauge was "not invented here".

Er actually I think it may have been! I believe that Stephenson's
Crich Mineral Railway in Derbyshire was the first recorded use of 1m
gauge track.

(That said, I can't find a reference on line and nor can I remember
where I learned this.)

And even before that, 3'3"-and-a-bit would be right in the middle
of the range of gauges used in Shropshire-type railways (see, for example,
M.J.T. Lewis' "Early wooden railways")..

--
Andy Breen ~ Not speaking on behalf of the University of Wales, Aberystwyth
Feng Shui: an ancient oriental art for extracting
money from the gullible (Martin Sinclair)