six foot

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English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From the nominal distance of six feet between two adjacent railway lines in Great Britain.

Noun

six foot (uncountable)

  1. (rail transport, colloquial) the area between the closest rails of two parallel standard gauge railway lines, regardless of the actual distance.
    • 1882, George P. Neele, Atlantic and American Notes, M'Corquodale & co., limited, Page 54
      Cattle are of course liable to stray on the line at these level crossings, but to prevent this, barriers are placed on each side of the crossing, and a deep trench is made in the four-foot and six-foot spaces,
    • 1950 January, David L. Smith, “A Runaway at Beattock”, in Railway Magazine, page 54:
      Richardson dropped into the six-foot between the two engines, ran for a few yards, grabbed Mitchell's engine, and swung himself up. Mitchell had got to his feet by this time, but he made no move. Richardson shut off steam, reversed her, and brought her to a stand.
    • 1981, Ludovic Henry, Coverly Kennedy, A Book of Raliway Journeys, Fontana, Page 21
      He fell wildly, his head struck the carriage footboard with tremdous force, and he bounded into the six-foot, where he rolled over and over
    • 2007 September 5, Rail Accident Investigation Branch, Rail Accident Report 33/2007: Fatal collision between a Super Voyager train and a car on the line at Copmanthorpe 25 September 2006, Rail Accident Investigation Branch, Deptarment for Transport, Page 20
      As a result, all three wheelsets derails to the six foot side.

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