How MilSpecs Live Forever
The US standard railroad gauge (distance between the rails) is 4 ft 8 1/2
in (1.44 m). (Deutschland: 1435 mm) That's an exceedingly odd number.
Why is that gauge used? Because that's the way they built them in England,
and the US railroads were built by English ex patriots.
Why did the English build 'em 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 as they used for building wagons,
which used that wheel spacing.
OK! Why did the wagons use that wheel spacing? Well, if they tried to use
any other spacing the wagons would break on some of the old, long distance
roads, because that's the spacing of the ruts.
So who built these old rutted roads? The first long distance roads in
Europe were built by Imperial Rome for the benefit of their legions. The
roads have been used ever since.
And the ruts? The initial ruts, which everyone else had to match for fear
of breaking their wagons, were first made by Roman war chariots. Since the
chariots were made by or for Imperial Rome they were all alike in the
matter of wheel spacing (ruts again).
Thus we have the answer to the original question.
The United States standard railroad gauge of 4 ft 8 1/2 in derives from the
original military specification (MilSpec) for an Imperial Roman army war
chariot. MisSpecs (and bureaucracies) live forever!
Bliebe vielleicht anzumerken, das aus der kurzen aber ueberaus nachhaltig
wirksamen Herrschaft des Begruenders des ersten vereinigten chinesischen
Reiches, Qin Shih Huangdi, der Han-zeitliche (-220) Historiker Sima Qian
berichtet, dass der erste Kaiser in allen eroberten Laendern saemtliche
Karren zerschlagen liess und die Radmacher zwang, Karren nach der Spurweite
seines Reisewagens zu bauen. Der Mann war 14 Jahre an der Macht aber chin.
Bauernkarren halten sich heute noch an seine Norm.
dp
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The purpose of time is to keep everything from happening at once.
It's not working.
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Daniel Plänitz
8.3.98