Fishyinu t1_iyjaw55 wrote
Reply to comment by Vikkly in TIL that the southern United States converted all 11,500+ miles of its railroads from broad gauge (5 ft/1.524 m) to nearly-standard gauge (4 ft 9 in/1.448 m) in just 36 hours, starting on May 31, 1886 by 1859
How many times has that come up since WW2?
project_apex t1_iyjmrrd wrote
February 2022 would've been nice.
Maswimelleu t1_iyk9a5v wrote
If Ukraine had switched to standard gauge after they gained their independence, they would have made Russian invasion quite a bit harder. Might have slowed down their advance and saved lives. Russians are totally dependent on railways for supply logistics and can barely function when they're forced to rely on roads only.
Pjpjpjpjpj t1_iyky94k wrote
Russia use of railroads to bring troops and supplies into Georgia, Chechnya, Ukraine.
Soviet operations to maintain control of its soviet republics during independence movements (eg Hungary in the 50s).
Challenges with supplying Ukraine currently due to rail standards. Also challenges with exporting grain by land from Ukraine. All giving Russia an advantage.
Lack of a rail connection between Iran and Iraq during their war.
India and Pakistan rail connections during the split and their conflicts.
Lack of interconnecting rail slowing resupply of Vietnam and Cambodia. Differing rail gauges slowing train movement between some Northern Vietnam systems and the south and to certain cities (meter gauge, standard gauge, mixed gauge). Vietnam’s biggest lines used a different gauge than lines running to China.
Hell, even within China affected their various revolutions after WWII.
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