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----- Original Message ----- From: Sheila Chapman <[log in to unmask]> To: susan <[log in to unmask]>; Carole Menser <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Wednesday, September 15, 1999 11:17 AM Subject: Fw: Specifications > >> An interesting tidbit: > >> > >> The US Standard railroad gauge (distance between the rails) is 4 feet, 8 > 1/2 > >> 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 build them like that? > >> Because the first railway 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 in England, 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 > >> their wagons use that odd wheel spacing? > >> Because, if they tried to use any other spacing the wagon wheels 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 Roman roads have been used > ever > >> since. And the ruts? > >> The original ruts, which everyone else had to match for fear of > destroying > >> their wagons, were first made by the wheels of 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 1/2 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. > >> Plus, 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 from 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 originally determined by the width of a horse's > >> ass. > >> > >> > >> > >> > >