The following appeared in the May 1957 edition of "Trains Illustrated". I've no idea if the magazine printed "April Fool" stuff in those days.
A latter-day Brunel?
A formidable railway of the future has been dreamed up by a Russian professor, who visualises a railway across the Himalayas from the Russian Kirghistan through westernmost China and Kashmir to India laid to a gauge of 4.5 metres* – or 12ft. 4 in.! Although such a line would have to be built through extremely rugged and sparsely populated country, there would be a potentially heavy traffic for it to carry. The professor therefore envisages the use of 5,000-ton atomic powered locomotives of 100,000 h.p. Hauling wagons of 1,000 tons apiece, all of which woould be feasible on the professor's super-broad gauge. The locomotives, he points out, would be ideal for the terrain, since they would need infrequent refuelling and the immense power would enable them to surmount the fierce gradients through the mountains.
* 4.5m is actually 14ft 9in
