six foot

• 6-foot
• six-foot

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

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, [...]

   • 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.

• four foot