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MtMan-List: "Steve Anderson" <blkpowdr@htc.net>: How Specs Live Forever (http://www.students.uiuc.edu/~mdbrown2/specs.htm)
just got this in from a friend of mine that knew i liked historical
background and thought i would share it---
it is a bit of historical information on why a waggon and a train are the
same gage---in reality the us standard gage is 54 3/4 in and is larger
than the european gage----some good information to store in your files
for future reference---this may cause the same palaber as the bit on the
upstream and the downstream of a river---
let the discussion begin----
HAWK
MICHAEL PIERCE
1-813-771-1815
E-MAIL ADDRESS==hawknest4@juno.com
--------- Begin forwarded message ----------
From: "Steve Anderson" <blkpowdr@htc.net>
To: "Mike Pierce" <HAWKNEST4@juno.com>
Subject: How Specs Live Forever
(http://www.students.uiuc.edu/~mdbrown2/specs.htm)
Date: Sat, 21 Nov 1998 21:47:21 -0600
Message-ID: <003c01be15d3$722babe0$0ac0a5d0@blkpowdr>
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How Specs Live Forever
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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 U.S. =
railroads were built by English expatriates. 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.=20
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. 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.=20
So who built these old rutted roads? The first long distance roads in =
Europe were built by 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 =
made by Roman war chariots and they all had identical wheel spacings.=20
Thus, we have the answer to the original questions. The United States =
standard railroad gauge of 4 feet 8.5 inches derives from the original =
specification for a Roman war chariot. Specs and bureaucracies seem to =
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 =
Roman chariots were made to be just wide enough to accommodate the =
ass-ends of two war horses.=20
-Unknown=20
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Thought you might enjoy this...Steve
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=20
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<HEAD>
<META content=3Dtext/html;charset=3Diso-8859-1 =
http-equiv=3DContent-Type><TITLE>How Specs Live Forever</TITLE><BASE=20
href=3Dhttp://www.students.uiuc.edu/~mdbrown2/specs.htm>
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<HR>
<P>The US Standard railroad gauge (distance between the rails) is 4 feet
=
8.5=20
inches. That's an exceedingly odd number. Why was that gauge used? =
Because=20
that's the way they built them in England, and the U.S. railroads were =
built by=20
English expatriates. Why did the English build them like that? Because =
the first=20
rail lines were built by the same people who built the pre-railroad =
tramways,=20
and that's the gauge they used.=20
<P>Why did they use that gauge then? Because the people who built the =
tramways=20
used the same jigs and tools that they used for building wagons, which =
used that=20
wheel spacing. Why did the wagons use that odd wheel spacing? Well, if =
they=20
tried to use any other spacing the wagons would break on some of the =
old, long=20
distance roads, because that's the spacing of the old wheel ruts.=20
<P>So who built these old rutted roads? The first long distance roads in
=
Europe=20
were built by Rome for the benefit of their legions. The roads have been
=
used=20
ever since. And the ruts? The initial ruts, which everyone else had to =
match for=20
fear of destroying their wagons, were made by Roman war chariots and =
they all=20
had identical wheel spacings.=20
<P>Thus, we have the answer to the original questions. The United States
=
standard railroad gauge of 4 feet 8.5 inches derives from the original=20
specification for a Roman war chariot. Specs and bureaucracies seem to =
live=20
forever, so the next time you are handed a specification and wonder what
=
horse's=20
ass came up with it, you may be exactly right, because the Roman =
chariots were=20
made to be just wide enough to accommodate the ass-ends of two war =
horses.=20
<P>-Unknown=20
<HR>
<BR><U><FONT color=3D#800080>Thought you might enjoy =
this...Steve</FONT></U>
<HR>
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