Broader Gauges
Some applications require broader gauges, including:
- Large telescopes and telescope arrays.
- Rocket launchers—The European Space Agency, Russian Federal Space Agency, NASA and SpaceX use double-track railroad to move rockets and supporting equipment at launch sites. (The U.S. Apollo program and Space Shuttles used caterpillar tracks on a river stone roadbed because other solutions could not support the loads required.)
- Dockside cranes for unloading cargo from ships and for constructing ships
- The Kockums Crane, now in Ulsan, South Korea, has 175 m gauge.
- Ship railways
- Railway guns
These applications might use double track of the country's usual gauge to provide the necessary stability and axle load. These applications may also use much heavier than normal rails, the heaviest rails for trains being about 70 kg/m (141 lb/yd).
Vehicles on these gauges generally operate at very low speeds.
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