57 lines
2.4 KiB
Plaintext
57 lines
2.4 KiB
Plaintext
From rssfeeds@jmason.org Wed Sep 25 10:23:59 2002
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<jm@jmason.org>; Wed, 25 Sep 2002 09:03:43 +0100
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From: boingboing <rssfeeds@example.com>
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Subject: Roman chariots responsible for Space Shuttle design constraints
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Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 08:03:43 -0000
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URL: http://boingboing.net/#85485894
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Date: Not supplied
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Ben Hammersley posts a parable about design specifications, showing the link
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between Roman Chariots and the Space Shuttle. It has the ring of something
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apocraphyl to me, but it's a good read, nevertheless.
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The U.S. standard railroad gauge (distance between the rails) is 4 feet,
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8.5 inches. That is an exceedingly odd number. Why was that gauge used?
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Because that's the way they built them in England, and the U.S. railroads
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were built by English expatriates.
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Why did the English build them that way? Because the first rail lines were
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built by the same people who built the pre-railroad tramways, and that's
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the gauge they used.
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Why did "they" use that gauge? Because the people who built the tramways
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used the same jigs and tools that they used for building wagons, which used
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that wheel spacing.
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So why did the wagons have that particular odd spacing? Well, if they tried
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to use any other spacing, the wagon wheels would break on some of the old,
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long distance roads in England, because that was the spacing of the wheel
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ruts...
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Snopes says it's false[1], but from their notes, it appears that it's actually
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largely true, albeit subject to interpretation. Link[2] Discuss[3]
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[1] http://www.snopes.com/history/american/gauge.htm
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[2] http://www.benhammersley.com/archives/001404.html#001404
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[3] http://www.quicktopic.com/boing/H/ibHLzVeWnweZ
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