Need to Know ????

[sgser]

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 US railroads were built by English expatriates. Why did the English people 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 used for building wagons, which used that wheel spacing.

Okay! 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.

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 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 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. Specs 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.

[soberbyker]

In case you're truly interested .....

http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/r/railwidth.htm

[sgser]

In case you're truly interested .....

http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/r/railwidth.htm

I guess I should have used five questions marks.

It's good to have a fact checker on board though. Keeps the BS to a minimum.

[soberbyker]

I guess I should have used five questions marks.

It's good to have a fact checker on board though. Keeps the BS to a minimum.

Nothing personal, sgser. I had read that very story a few years ago.

Back when I first found the net I fell for all kinds of stuff, I had a guy regularly chastise me for the BS I would blindly forward to "everyone I know", I am now the opposite, I look everything up and if I can't verify it I let it go.

Now that doesn't mean I never pass on bad info, sometimes I get lazy and if sounds like it could like it could be true, well ... you know.

I've even read a lot of good tear jerker & thought provoking stuff, not true but if the message is a good one, and I may pass that on, mentioning the lack of truth to it.

Anyway, again, nothing personal. Here are a few of my favorite "fact checking" sites .....

http://urbanlegends.about.com/

http://www.truthorfiction.com/

http://www.snopes.com/

http://www.f-secure.com/virus-info/hoax/

http://www.vmyths.com/

Sometimes I check more than one of these sites because they don't always have the same hoaxes listed.

Be well,
Bill

[sgser]

[QUOTE=soberbyker;268980][FONT="Comic Sans MS"][SIZE="4"][COLOR="Teal"]Nothing personal, sgser. I had read that very story a few years ago.

No offense taken. I really wasn't looking at the truth of the matter so much as I was at the opinion about the writers of certain specs. Probably belongs in the joke thread. Good "talking" with you

Steve