Thank you Cathy for the amusing account of railroad tracks and Roman chariots, not to mention the rear ends of horses. Some of you may be unaware that although the 4ft 8.5inch track became standard, it was not always the case in England. The Great Western Railway (GWR) was designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel and he decided that it would be better to use a broad gauge of 7 ft. which he felt would be more comfortable and allow faster travel. Of course, when the government decided in 1846 that all new lines should be built to the narrower standard, this meant that passengers had to change trains when their journey involved other parts of England and the West. Here is what Daniel Gooch, who designed the carriages and locomotives for the GWR, said in his diary. "Were the whole question now open to be decided, the broad gauge is safer, cheaper, more comfortable, and attains a much higher speed than the narrow, and would be best for the national gauge. But as the proportion of broad to narrow is small, there is no doubt the country must submit to a gradual displacement of the broad, and the day will come when it will cease. The fight has been of great benefit to the public; it has pricked on all parties to exertion; the competition of the gauges has introduced high speeds and great improvements to engines, and was of great practical use to all those who were actively mixed in the contest, as they were forced to think and experiment" The best does not always win out. Vernon Smith