On Mon, 28 Jan 2008 15:23:01 GMT, WingedMessenger <Boy@FlyingHigh.com>
wrote:
>"::darkshadows::" <blood@thirsty.net> wrote in
>news:pksrp3lhed1kvc1fi3dj5vdmqd9aajq8nc@4ax.com:
>
>> On Mon, 28 Jan 2008 14:01:06 GMT, "Rolex" <rolex@astraweb.com> wrote:
>>
>>>Railroads and Transportation
>>>
>>>Does the statement, "We've always done it that way" ring any bells?
>>>... read to the end... it was a new one for me.
>>>
>>>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 built 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 used for building wagons, which used that wheel spacing.
>>>
>>>Okay! 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 (and
>>>England) for their legions. The 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...
>>>
>>>The United States standard railroad gauge of 4 feet, 8.5 inches is
>>>derived from the original specifications for an Imperial Roman war
>>>chariot. 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 army chariots were made
>>>just wide enough to accommodate the back ends of two war horses.
>>>
>>>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 at 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. 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 rear.
>>>
>>>
>>>..... and you thought being a HORSE'S ASS wasn't important!
>>
>>
>>
>> Yes, I have read this before.
>>
>
>Assume the original was chipped out in granite LOL.
>
>Mercury.
Don't you remember?
lol,
darkshadows
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