A Horse’s Ass IS Important
Feb 25, 2020 12:04:44 #
Why is the U.S. Standard Railroad Gauge 4 feet, 8.5 inches?
Does the statement, “We’ve always done it that way” ring any bells? The U.S. standard railroad gauge (distance between the rails) is 4 feet, 8.5 inches. That’s an odd number, don’t you think? Why was that gauge used?
- Because that’s the way they built railroads 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. Then 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 U.S. 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 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 (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. 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...
Does the statement, “We’ve always done it that way” ring any bells? The U.S. standard railroad gauge (distance between the rails) is 4 feet, 8.5 inches. That’s an odd number, don’t you think? Why was that gauge used?
- Because that’s the way they built railroads 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. Then 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 U.S. 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 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 (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. 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...
Feb 25, 2020 12:07:34 #
Feb 25, 2020 12:16:25 #
hang on sloopy
Loc: oakford,pa.bucks,co.
oldsalt , i knew about the rails but not the shuttle, thanks that is cool stuff .
Feb 25, 2020 12:35:18 #
Feb 25, 2020 12:40:59 #
Dadeaux wrote:
& now they are in congress...
And the people said AMEN
Feb 25, 2020 13:07:44 #
Feb 26, 2020 06:54:36 #
Feb 26, 2020 10:30:38 #
Feb 26, 2020 10:31:31 #
Feb 26, 2020 10:41:12 #
Feb 26, 2020 10:49:54 #
EasternOZ wrote:
I'll bet all the racers were too pooped to run?Had the turd race last night.
Feb 26, 2020 10:52:12 #
Dadeaux
Loc: Florida Panhandle
Glad someone else mentioned it...never saw so many southern ends of north bound jack asses last night. Couldn't watch it.
How can anyone that's been to a socialist country want to go back...unless your one of the few ringmasters.
How can anyone that's been to a socialist country want to go back...unless your one of the few ringmasters.
Feb 26, 2020 11:00:39 #
Graywulff wrote:
I'll bet all the racers were too pooped to run?
Probably got picked up by clown cars.
Feb 26, 2020 11:01:16 #
Dadeaux wrote:
Glad someone else mentioned it...never saw so many southern ends of north bound jack asses last night. Couldn't watch it.
How can anyone that's been to a socialist country want to go back...unless your one of the few ringmasters.
How can anyone that's been to a socialist country want to go back...unless your one of the few ringmasters.
Mentioned it carefully
Feb 26, 2020 11:12:14 #
It just amazes me that something that has been historically proven to fail has gained so much popularity in this country. The dumbing down continues and I want to cry.
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