Railroad tracks... This is = very interesting.
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. = 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. = (Two horses' asses.)
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. = 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. = (Two horses' asses.)
Now, the twist to the story:
When you see a Space = Shuttle
sitting on its launch pad, 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 fatter, 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 arguably the world's = most advanced transportation system was determined over two = thousand years ago by the width of a horse's ass. And you thought = being a horse's ass wasn't
important? Ancient horse's asses = control almost everything... and CURRENT Horses Asses are controlling = everything else.
When you see a Space = Shuttle
sitting on its launch pad, 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 fatter, 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 arguably the world's = most advanced transportation system was determined over two = thousand years ago by the width of a horse's ass. And you thought = being a horse's ass wasn't
important? Ancient horse's asses = control almost everything... and CURRENT Horses Asses are controlling = everything else.
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