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George Stephenson, around 1825. The 4' 8 1/2" gauge was used by horse drawn wagons in mines for years before and was adopted as standard across the USA, UK and most of Europe. Other gauges were tried and dropped, in favour of standardisation.

* Added - Although George was responsible for standardizing the railroad tracks and advancing railroads, he was not the inventor of the locomotive or of the railroads. The recognized locomotive inventor is Richard Trevithick in 1803, but his invention relied on inventions of many people before him as well. The first railroads date to the 1500's and many people were responsible to advance them to what they are today.

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12y ago

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