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| How Specifications Live Forever | The US Standard railroad gauge (distance between the rails) is 4 feet, 8.5 inches.
Since this is a very odd number, why was it used? - It was used because that is how railroads were built in Britain, and the US. railroads were build by British expatriates.
WHY DID THE BRITISH USE THAT GAUGE - Because the first rail lines were built by the same people who built the pre-railroad Tramways, and the Tramways used that gauge.
WHY DID "THEY" USE THAT GAUGE TO BUILD THE TRAMWAYS? -Because the people who built the Tramways used the same jigs and tools that they used for building wagons, which used that particular wheel spacing.
WHY DID WAGONS USE THAT OF WHEEL SPACING? - If they tried to use nay other spacing, the wheel would break on some of the old long-distance roads because that was the spacing of the old wheel ruts.
WHO BUILT THESE OLD RUTTED ROADS? - The first long distance roads were built by Imperial Rome fro the benefit of their Legions. These roads have been used ever since.
WHY 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 all had the same wheel spacing.
Therefore, we have the answer to the original question. The US. standard railway gauge of 4 feet, 8.5 inches derives from the original specification for an Imperial Roman was chariot.
The next time you are handed a "specification" and wonder what "horse's ass" came up with it, you may be absolutely correct, because the Imperial Roman was chariots were made to be just wide enough to accommodate the back ends of two war horses. |
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