Tracks across Continents, Paths through History: The Economic Dynamics of Standardization in Railway Gauge

摘要

Behind this somewhat cumbersome title is hidden a gem of a book that deserves to be known in a much wider circle than that of economists. Douglas Puffert's 1991 dissertation was on the diversity of railway gauges, and since then he has had an abiding interest in the subject. The question of the origins of the "Stephenson" railway gauge of 4 feet, 8 inches (1,435 mm) has been hotly debated over the past centuries, and all sorts of so-called reasonable explanations have been put forward. Puffert examines each of them and comes to a simple but most acceptable conclusion.