DEFENDER2.NET - View topic

↓ Advertise on Defender2 ↓

Home · FAQ · New Posts · My Posts · PMs · Search · Members · Map · Calendar · Profile · Donate · Register · Log In

Home > Off Topic > History Lesson

Page 1 of 1

Print this entire topic ·

pom

Member Since: 01 Jun 2010
Location: Worcester
Posts: 1343

History Lesson

Railroad tracks.

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 English expatriates designed the US railroads.

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.

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

Why did the wagons have that particular
odd wheel spacing?
Well, if they tried to use any other spacing, the wagon wheels would break on some of the old, long distance roads in England , because that's the spacing of the wheel ruts.

So who built those old rutted roads?
Imperial Rome built the first long distance roads in Europe (including England ) for their legions. Those roads have been used ever since.

And the ruts in the roads? Roman war chariots formed the initial ruts, which everyone else had to match for fear of destroying their wagon wheels.

Since the chariots were made for Imperial Rome , they were all alike in the matter of wheel spacing. Therefore, the United States standard railroad gauge of 4 feet, 8.5 inches is derived from the original specifications for an Imperial Roman war chariot. In other words, bureaucracies live forever.

So the next time you are handed a specification/procedure/process, and wonder, 'What horse's ass came up with this?' , you may be exactly right.
Imperial Roman army chariots were made just wide enough to accommodate the rear ends of two war horses.

Now, the twist to the story:

When you see a Space Shuttle sitting on its launch pad, you will notice that there are two big booster rockets attached to the sides of the main fuel tank. These are solid rocket boosters, or SRBs. The SRBs are made by Thiokol at their factory in Utah ..

The engineers who designed the SRBs would have preferred to make them a bit larger, but the SRBs had to be shipped by train from the factory to the launch site. The railroad line from the factory happens to run through a tunnel in the mountains, and the SRBs had to fit through that tunnel. The tunnel is slightly wider than the railroad track, and the railroad track, as you now know, is about as wide as two horses' behinds.

So, a major Space Shuttle design feature
of what is argu

29th Apr 2011 1:41pm

cinstone

Member Since: 29 Nov 2010
Location: Stourbridge
Posts: 375

2015 Defender 90 Puma 2.2 XS CSW Keswick Green

You're out of date mate! Ever heard of a bloke called Brunel

?

Chris.

1st May 2011 7:30pm

spudfan

Member Since: 10 Sep 2007
Location: Co Donegal
Posts: 4730

Over here the railway gauge is 5' 3''. Probably because the Romans did not get this far. 1982 88" 2.25 diesel
1992 110 200tdi csw -Zikali
2008 110 2.4 tdci csw-Zulu
2011 110 2.4 tdci csw-Masai

2nd May 2011 9:04pm

Eduardo

Member Since: 28 Aug 2008
Location: Región Metropolitana
Posts: 2110

2007 Defender 110 Puma 2.4 SW Stornoway Grey

For sure the Romans was not here at the end of the world!
Mostly railways are 1676 mm (almost 66 inch also used in India) or 1 mt (39.4 inch) gauge.

Cheers Eduardo

MY 2007 110 SW PUMA 2.4: Big Fog of 64'
MY 1994 Jayco 1207 Folding camper: "El Tremendo"

Click image to enlarge

3rd May 2011 12:13am

Page 1 of 1

All times are GMT

Jump to

< Previous Topic | Next Topic >

Posting Rules

You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum