http://www.snopes.com/history/american/gauge.htm
On Mon, 11 Jul 2005 06:59:27 -0600, William Robb wrote: > Sorry for the dashes, I don't have my cleaner program on this build. > > William Robb > > >> From: Cotty > >> Subject: Re: At long last: UK photos on line > > >> Yeah, well. What did the Romans ever do for us???? > >> > > Subject: Fw: Why We Built It That Way > > > > > >> > The US Standard railroad gauge (distance between the rails) is 4 feet, > >> > 8.5 > >> > inches. That's an exceedingly odd number. Why was that gauge used? > >> > > >> > Because that's the way they built them in England, and the US railroads > >> > were > >> > built by English expatriates. > >> > > >> > Why did the English people build them like that? Because the first rail > >> > lines were built by the same people who built the pre railroad > tramways, > >> > and > >> > that's the gauge they used. > >> > > >> > Why did "they" use that gauge then? Because the people who built the > >> > tramways used the same jigs and tools that they used for building > >> > wagons, > >> > which used that wheel spacing. > >> > > >> > Okay! Why did the wagons use that odd wheel spacing? Well, if they > tried > >> > to > >> > use any other spacing the wagons would break on some of the old,long > >> > distance roads, because that's the spacing of the old wheel ruts. > >> > > >> > So who built these old rutted roads? The first long distance roads in > >> > Europe > >> > were built by Imperial Rome for the benefit of their legions. The > roads > >> > have been used ever since. > >> > > >> > And the ruts? The initial ruts, which everyone else had to match for > >> > fear of > >> > destroying their wagons, were first made by Roman war chariots. > >> > > >> > Since the chariots were made for or by Imperial Rome they were all > alike > >> > in > >> > the matter of wheel spacing. > >> > > >> > Thus, we have the answer to the original question. The United States > >> > standard railroad gauge of 4 feet, 8.5 inches derives from the original > >> > specification for an Imperial Roman army war chariot. > >> > > >> > Specs and Bureaucracies live forever. So, the next time you are handed > >> > a > >> > specification and wonder what horse's Ass came up with it, you may be > >> > exactly right. Because the Imperial Roman chariots were made to be just > >> > wide > >> > enough to accommodate the backends of two war horses. > >> > > >> > Now the twist to the story.... There's an interesting extension of the > >> > story > >> > about railroad gauge and horses' behinds. When we see a Space Shuttle > >> > sitting on the launch pad, there are two big > >> > booster rockets attached to the sides of the main fuel tank. These are > >> > the > >> > solid rocket boosters, or SRBs. The SRBs are made by Thiokol at a > >> > factory > >> > in Utah. The engineers who designed the SRBs might have preferred to > >> > make > >> > them a bit fatter, but the SRBs had to be shipped by train from the > >> > factory > >> > to the launch site. The railroad line to the factory runs through a > >> > tunnel > >> > in the mountains. The SRBs had to fit through that tunnel. > >> > > >> > The tunnel is slightly wider than a railroad track, and the railroad > >> > track > >> > is about as wide as two horses' behinds. So a major design feature of > >> > what > >> > is arguably the world's most advanced transportation system was > >> > determined > >> > by the width of a horse's Ass! > >> > > >> > >> > > > > > > > -- > No virus found in this incoming message. > Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. > Version: 7.0.323 / Virus Database: 267.8.11/45 - Release Date: 2005-07-09 > TTYL, DougF KG4LMZ
