Hi,

I know this post will be off topic but I just had to post this to our forum
as this passage was found in the latest issue of Machine design and deals
with standards and backwards compatibility.  With that said....enjoy.....


Backward Compatibility

The U.S. Standard railroad gauge (distance between 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 U.S. railroads were
built by English expatriates.

Why did the English build them like that?  Because the first rail lines were
built by those who had built pre-railroad tramways and that the gauge they used.

Why did "they" use that gauge then?   Because the people who built tramways
used the same jigs and tools for railroads that they used for building
wagons, which used that wheel spacing.

So why did wagons use that odd wheel spacing?  Because that is the spacing
of the old wheel ruts.

And who built these old rutted toads?  The first long distance roads in
Europe were built by Imperial Rome for their legions.

And 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 all had the same wheel spacing.

Thus, we have the answer to the original questions.  The U.S. standard
railroad gauge of 4 feet 8.5 inches comes from the original specification
for an Imperial Roman army war chariot.

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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