Button wrote:Trains that don't fit are not unique to the UK:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-27497727
Actually, I think I'm right in saying that it is not known what (loading?) gauge our network actually is, since 'gauge' includes clearance at axle level and this means surveying all bridgeworks - a daunting task. It is also possible to argue that the loading gauge has shrunk over the years as ballast beds have increased in height - leading to ex-GWR King class locomotives having to be modified to allow mainline running.
Collett designed the "King" class to the maximum dimensions of the original GWR 7 ft 1⁄4 in (2,140 mm) broad-gauge engineering used to develop its mainline,[1] resulting in the largest loading gauge of all the pre-nationalisation railways in the UK, with a maximum height allowance of 13 feet 5 inches (4.09 m).[1] Consequently, this restricted them as to where they could operate under both GWR and British Railways ownership.
Not my specialist subject but I believe the above explains problem with King Class which has been there since Nationalisation and has nothing to do with ballast beds?
As I wrote above this time they have managed to build trains which do not fit the stations they were designed for. Epic fail.