1||0|890|0|yes
0|0|0|||1||Civil Engineering|Strife||21:25:12|04/23/2002|[updated:LAST EDITED ON Apr-23-02 AT 09:29 PM (EDT)]%28Edited%3A Spelling is your friend%29%0D%0A%0D%0ASomething a friend picked up at work and I thought some of you would like to read this.%0D%0A%0D%0ADoes the statement%2C %22We%27ve always done it that way%22 ring any bells...%3F%0D%0A%0D%0A  The US standard railroad gauge %28distance between rails%29 is 4 feet%2C 8.5 inches.  That%27s an exceedingly odd number.  Why was that gauge used%3F--Because that%27s the way they built it them in England%2C and English expatriates built the US Railroads.  Why did the english build them like that%3F--Because the first rail lines were built  by the same people who built the pre-railroad tramways%2C and that%27s the gauge they used.  Why did %22they%22 use that gauge then%3F--Because the people who built the tramways used the same jigs and tools they used for building wagons%2C which used that wheel spacing.  Okay%21%0D%0A  Why did wagons have that particular odd wheel spacing%3F--Well%2C if they tried to use any other spacing%2C the wagon wheels would break on some of the old%2C long distance roads in England%2C because that%27s the spacing of the wheel ruts.%0D%0A  So who built those old rutted roads%3F--Imperial Rome built the first long distance in Europe %28and England%29 for their legions.  The roads have been used ever since.  And the ruts in the roads%3F--Roman war chariots formed the initial ruts%2C which everyone else had to match for fear of destroying their wagon wheels.  Since the chariots were made for Imperial Rome%2C they were alike in the matter of wheel spacing.%0D%0A  The United States standard railroad gauge of 4 feet%2C 8.5 inches is derived from the original specifications for an Imperial Rom war chariot.  And bureaucracies live forever.%0D%0A  So the next time you are handed a specification and wonder what horse%27s ass came up with it%2C you may be exactly right%2C--Because the Imperial war chariots were made juse wide enough to accomodate the back ends of two war horses.%0D%0A  Now the twist to the story...%0D%0A  When you see a Space Shuttle sitting on its launch pad%2C there are two big booster rockets attached to the sides of the main fuel tank.  These are solid rocket boosters%2C 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 them a bit fatter%2C 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 then the railroad track%2C and the railroad track%2C as you now know%2C is about as wide as two horses%27 behinds.  So%2C a major Space Shuttle design feature of what is arguably the world%27s most advanced transportation system was determined over two thousand years ago by the width of a horse%27s ass.%0D%0A  ...and you thought being a HORSE%22S ASS wasn%27t important%21%0D%0A%0D%0ASomething to think about%2C eh%3F%0D%0A%0D%0A   %7EStrife Aileron%0D%0ACurrently play in winamp...%0D%0A       %2299 red balloons%22 by Nena %28German version%2C probably the best way to listen to it%29
1|1|0|||1||RE%3A Civil Engineering|donnerjack||21:36:39|04/23/2002|You know%2C it%27s weird that you mentioned this now%2C since I%27m a Straight Dope addict%2C and I%27d just come across a column in the Straight Dope archive that was about %5Bb%5Dprecisely%5B%2Fb%5D the same story.  The article is from two years ago%2C so it%27s interesting how little stories like this distort while being passed around the net%2C as opposed to how much it would change if it was told in person.  Anyway%2C I digress%2C the article in the Straight Dope archive is %5BA HREF%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.straightdope.com%2Fcolumns%2F000218.html%22%5Dhere%5B%2FA%5D.  As always with the Straight Dope%2C it%27s an interesting read.%0D%0A%0D%0ADonnerjack%0D%0A---%0D%0Areality%40peoplearestrange.net%0D%0ABOFH of www.astralstudios.com%0D%0A%5Bi%5DCecil Adams rocks my proverbial world%5B%2Fi%5D