This is long but hang in there,it's worth it.😀
The US standard railroad gauge (the distance between the rails) is 4 feet,8.5 inches.A rather odd number.
Why was that gauge used? Because that's the way they built them in England,and English expatriates built 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? Because the people who bulit the tramways used the same jigs and tools that they used for building wagons,which used that wheel spacing.
Why did the wagons have that particular 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 (and England) for their legions.The 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 US standard railroad gauge specifications of 4 feet,8.5 inches is derived from the original specifications of a Roman war chariot.Bureaucraries live forever.
Roman war chariots were made just wide enough to accomodate the rear ends of two war horses.(Two horse's asses.)
The next time you are handed a Specification/Procedure/Process and wonder 'What horse's ass came up with this'? you now have your answer.
The US standard railroad gauge (the distance between the rails) is 4 feet,8.5 inches.A rather odd number.
Why was that gauge used? Because that's the way they built them in England,and English expatriates built 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? Because the people who bulit the tramways used the same jigs and tools that they used for building wagons,which used that wheel spacing.
Why did the wagons have that particular 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 (and England) for their legions.The 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 US standard railroad gauge specifications of 4 feet,8.5 inches is derived from the original specifications of a Roman war chariot.Bureaucraries live forever.
Roman war chariots were made just wide enough to accomodate the rear ends of two war horses.(Two horse's asses.)
The next time you are handed a Specification/Procedure/Process and wonder 'What horse's ass came up with this'? you now have your answer.
