I thought this was interesting...
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 English
expatriates designed the US railroads.
Why did the English 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 had used for building wagons, which used that wheel
spacing.
Why did the wagons have that
particular odd wheel spacing?
Well, if they tried to use any other
spacing, the wagon wheels would
break on some of the old, long
distance roads in England , because
that's the spacing of the wheel ruts.
So who built those old rutted roads?
Imperial Rome built the first long
distance roads in Europe (including England) for their legions. Those
roads have been used ever since.
And the ruts in the roads?
Roman war chariots formed the
initial ruts, which everyone else had
to match for fear of destroying their
wagon wheels.
Since the chariots were made for
Imperial Rome, they were all alike in
the matter of wheel spacing.
Therefore the United States standard railroad gauge of 4 feet, 8.5 inches is derived from the original
specifications for an Imperial Roman war chariot. Bureaucracies live forever.
The next time you are handed a specification/procedure/process
and wonder 'What horse's ass
came up with this?', you may be
exactly right. Imperial Roman
army chariots were made just
wide enough to accommodate
the rear ends of two war horses.
(Two horses' butts.)
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 English
expatriates designed the US railroads.
Why did the English 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 had used for building wagons, which used that wheel
spacing.
Why did the wagons have that
particular odd wheel spacing?
Well, if they tried to use any other
spacing, the wagon wheels would
break on some of the old, long
distance roads in England , because
that's the spacing of the wheel ruts.
So who built those old rutted roads?
Imperial Rome built the first long
distance roads in Europe (including England) for their legions. Those
roads have been used ever since.
And the ruts in the roads?
Roman war chariots formed the
initial ruts, which everyone else had
to match for fear of destroying their
wagon wheels.
Since the chariots were made for
Imperial Rome, they were all alike in
the matter of wheel spacing.
Therefore the United States standard railroad gauge of 4 feet, 8.5 inches is derived from the original
specifications for an Imperial Roman war chariot. Bureaucracies live forever.
The next time you are handed a specification/procedure/process
and wonder 'What horse's ass
came up with this?', you may be
exactly right. Imperial Roman
army chariots were made just
wide enough to accommodate
the rear ends of two war horses.
(Two horses' butts.)
