A History Lesson

[bri21]

Meanwhile you might enjoy reading this history lesson from a friend at
Southampton University.

The USA 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.

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. 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 it?' You may be exactly right.
Imperial Roman army chariots were made just wide enough to accommodate
the rear ends of two war horses. (Two horse's 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?

So what horse's ass decided to build the SRBs inland in Utah, when a
logical site would have been coastal, allowing a fatter, technically
better SRB to be floated on a barge to the launch site? Why it's
politics man! American Pork-Barrel Politics determined that the SRBs
should be built in Utah to keep Utah's Senators and Congressmen
onside.

Let no one in the future ever say that the "technical details"
are "nothing to do with politics".

Accreditation for the history lesson should go to:
Zimbler J.F. and Sue Berger at the University of Southampton.

 

[Silencer1]

Hi!

Nice article. Thanks for it

I think, there were not any bad, to Rome (and other horse owners) to use wheels' tread, based on the doubled horse width. As far as I knew, first places in England where railways have been established were coal mines - perhpas two horses again drove wagon (I'm not shure).

By the way - nice article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rail_gauge

Although, there was such big country as Russia, where rail gauge has been (according to legend) marked by Emperor - 1524 mm (1520 - later), to prevent an ability of European countries use rrailways during the war. Could be also treated like bureacracy.

And thing, more related to SRB. All components of Soviet mosts succsessful launcer R-7 (Soyuz) have been transported to Baikonur by railway. This was a terminal condition at the start of rocket's design, which forced ddesigners to use four-pieces first stage scheme in combination with 1 piece second stage. Actually, the scheme is more complex, although all this blocks have railroad transportation capability.

 

[TomS]

Cute story. It's a pity it's not particularly true:

http://www.snopes.com/history/american/gauge.asp

 

[Abraham Gubler]

Cute story. It's a pity it's not particularly true:

http://www.snopes.com/history/american/gauge.asp

Yeah, everyone knows that the US standard rail gauge was chosen because it aligns to the separation between feet and neck of a typical damsel allowing the guy in a black cape to tie her to the tracks.

Of course the horse’s arse 'solution' doesn’t explain the British narrow gauge (3’6”) or broad gauges (7’0.25”) unless the Romans in Briton had roads for small, medium and big horses…

 

[Orionblamblam]

Of course the horse’s arse 'solution' doesn’t explain the British narrow gauge (3’6”) or broad gauges (7’0.25”) unless the Romans in Briton had roads for small, medium and big horses…

It was due to some German influence. You know, the Königshorse.

 

[Abraham Gubler]

LOL ;D

 

[Orionblamblam]

Remember, in German it's spelled "Königshorse," but in English it's "Throat Warbler Mangrove."

 

[TinWing]

I will now attempt to educate a number of rocket scientists on the relationship between railways and Roman ruins.

First of all, there might be a very tenuous relationship between the gauge of 4' 8.5" and the ancient Romans:

http://www.trains.com/trn/default.aspx?c=a&id=234

However, I should note that the word "rut" is entirely incorrect. It should be very clear that the term "rut" denotes wear arising from use. In the case of Pompeii, it is inconceivable that the grooves in question were anything but deliberately cut "trackways," since it would have taken thousands of years for iron rimmed wagon wheels to have worn through inches of stone. In many cases, the paving stones were only a few decades old at the time of the eruption, so it is clear that the ruts are intentionally cut trackways. Looking at the evidence, it is clear that the Romans were operating carts using trackways, and that they must have operated in only a single direction, following fixed routes, since there was no means of turning a cart on the city streets. It's unclear whether this system was unique to Pompeii, although Pompeii itself was a rather unremarkable town in its era, so it seems likely that the practice might have been widespread, perhaps even universal in the Roman world.

So, it is conceivable that 18th century English mining engineers came into contact with abandoned Roman mine workings and perhaps even reused Roman trackways? There's absolutely no proof of that theory, but it is worth stating that Romans indeed mined coal in Britain.

I'm not suggesting that the Romans invented railways, or even that the street trackway was original to the Romans. What I do support is the notion that there might be a vague, circumstantial relationship between standard railway gauge and ancient Roman trackways. It has nothing to do with ruts on roads. Actually, scholars still don't know precisely how the Romans used their roadways.

 

[TinWing]

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.

Strictly speaking, railway clearances, or loading gauges, are independent of the gauge of the track. For instance, in the UK, the maximum allowable width for a railway carriage is sometimes less than 9 feet, whereas a North American railroad car is up to 10.5 feet wide, despite both countries have the same standard gauge of 4' 8.5"

Incidentally, those SRBs would have been much smaller in diameter if Abraham Lincoln's funeral train hadn't utilized an exceptional wide railroad car, which required dozens of railroad companies along the route to move trackside structures.