I’ll cripple your ass for this! All that shit in the car is yours! You understand that?
Sorry if you've seen this before, but I HAD to share this...
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Bureaucracies and old standards never die...
The US Standard railroad gauge (distance between the rails)
is 4 feet, 8.5 inches. That's an exceedingly odd number.
Because that's the way they built them in England, and the
US railroads were built by English expatriates.
Because the first rail lines were built by the same people
who built the pre-railroad tramways, and that's the gauge
they used.
Because the people who built the tramways used the same jigs
and tools that they used for building wagons, which used
that wheel spacing.
Because 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.
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.
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.
Specifications 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 back-ends of two war Horses
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=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Bureaucracies and old standards never die...
The US Standard railroad gauge (distance between the rails)
is 4 feet, 8.5 inches. That's an exceedingly odd number.
Because that's the way they built them in England, and the
US railroads were built by English expatriates.
Because the first rail lines were built by the same people
who built the pre-railroad tramways, and that's the gauge
they used.
Because the people who built the tramways used the same jigs
and tools that they used for building wagons, which used
that wheel spacing.
Because 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.
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.
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.
Specifications 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 back-ends of two war Horses
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