"We've always done it that way"

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[WilliamWallace1999]

Does the statement, "We've always done it that way" ring any bells... ?

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 U.S. 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.

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 war 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 ass.

... and you thought being a HORSE'S ASS wasn't important!

[WilliamWallace1999]

Makes you wonder.

[Boxsford]

haha, it works with women and their funky traditional recipes too. We truly are creatures of habit. Thanks for the fun post.

[Armando Guerra]

Fun post and it does make you think. I only wonder how true it is because I know there were competing railroad gauges in the early days before it was standardized. I'll let my fellow freepers more knowledgeable on the matter verify it.

[untenured]

I recall reading once about an economic phenomenon called "path dependence" that used this example. Path dependence happens when a first mover has obtained widespread market share, so that entry costs prohibit a superior alternative from being adopted. Microsoft Windows is often cited as an example, although people dispute whether it really qualifies. Ditto for the QWERTY typewriter.

[Henrietta]

ping

[nhoward14]

As an engineer, I can appreciate how horse rear ends can affect the design process... Thanks!

[elbucko]

"world's most advanced transportation system was determined over two thousand years ago by the width of a horse's ass.

As a horse lover and owner I have seen this humorous "dis" of the horse and its influence before. May I offer the following in good natured rebuttal.

Look back at our struggle for freedom,
Trace our present days strength to its source,
And you'll find that man's pathway to glory
Is strewn with the bones of the horse.

Or:

Memorial at the church of St. Jude, Hampstead, England.

"In grateful and reverent memory to the Empire horses (some 375,000) who fell in the Great War (1914-1918). Most obediently, and often most painfully, they died

"Faithful unto death not one of them is forgotten before God".

Or:

"I pity the man or woman that mistreats a horse in front of me. They will be more sorry than they think they made the horse"......"elBUCKo".

[Our man in washington]

Cecil Adams, the answerman columnist, wrote a column explaining the facts behind this article. This article has been bouncing around the Internet for a while.

Cecil basically said the article was one part fact to two parts fiction.

[elbucko]

"Cecil basically said the article was one part fact to two parts fiction."

I agree. As one that has driven a team of horses, I can refute the idea that it was determined by the horses butt. More acurately, the hoofs and the harness distance between two horses. Too close is unsuitable to various horses, too far apart impractical.

The horse not only set the gauge of railroad tracks, but by the necessity of leather harness they taught us chemistry used in tanning, metal crafts used in biting and harness making. In short, we would not, IMHO, reached the moon by 1969 C.E., had it not been for the horse.

[Slainte]

Snopes talks about it-
http://www.snopes2.com/history/american/gauge.htm

[elbucko]

"Snopes talks about it-"

Thanks for the link. Good read. I think one of the missing variables in this "discussion" in general is engineering tolerances. A horse can walk in a path plus/minus 12in. to the center of a path. It is doubtful that a trains wheel "trucks" have any tolerance beyond an inch or two either way.

Cheers, Buck

[metesky]

I read a couple of books about Civil War General N.B. Forrest and an interesting point that was made was that although the tracks in the North were standardized, in the South there were many competing "short" lines and the guage could differ on one track to another within the same state.

This caused the Confederacy no end of trouble as it was so time consuming to shift entire loads of men, munitions, horses, food or whatever and contributed greatly to the Southern defeat.

[WilliamWallace1999]

Thanks for the snopes reference. I just posted this as a break from the bombings and the shootings. Brain candy is what I call it. I read the snopes article. Says its an untrue story and then goes on to point how much of it is right. I love urban legends.