FREAKY DEAKY FRIDAY: _E2

Does the statement: “We have always done it like that,” ring any bells? Read this post all the way through to the end and you will be enlightened.

The U.S. standard railroad gauge (distance between the rails) is 4 feet 8.5 inches. Being a rather odd number, why was that gauge used?

Because that is the way they built them in England, and English expatriates built the railroads in the U.S.

So, 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 is the gauge they used.

Okay, but why did they use that gauge then?

That is because the folks who built the tramways used the same jigs and tools that they used for building wagons, which used 4 feet 8.5 inches for the wheel spacing of the wagons.

Why did wagons have that particular odd wheel spacing?

If they had tried to use any other spacing, the wagon wheels would break on some of the old, long distance roads in England, because that is the spacing of the wheel ruts in the roads.

So who built those old rutted roads?

Imperial Rome built the first long distance roads in Europe (and 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 every one 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 for a modern twist to this story

The next time you see a Space Shuttle sitting on a 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 have made 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 the tunnel. The tunnel is only slightly wider than the railroad track, as you now know is as about as wide as two horses’ asses.

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!

NOW THIS:

Because I care about my friends and want to be sure that they are healthy and will be around for a long time to come, I have designed this secure on line Medical Test.

Taking this test is quick, easy and painless, not to mention FREE. There is absolutely no charge to you or to your health insurance provider.

First:

STARE INTO THE CAT’S EYES

FOR 10 SECONDS….

Second:

SCROLL DOWN

NOW STARE INTO THE PUPPY’S

EYES FOR 10 SECONDS

Third:

SCROLL DOWN

THANK YOU

Your

CAT SCAN

And

LAB TESTS

Are now complete

Sorry, I JUST COULDN’T resist

that

Let’s look at the positive side of life:

“Birthdays are good for you; the more you have the longer you live.”