One of the interesting things which pertains to genealogy, among other things. ____________________________________ From: pete.gowdy@gmail.com To: cylgowdy@aol.com, ahgowdy@comcast.net, helpertothedevil@rocketmail.com Sent: 3/20/2009 4:57:41 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time Subj: Why some things never change Railroad tracks. This is fascinating. Be sure to read the final paragraph; your understanding of it will depend on the earlier part of the content. The US 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 use d 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 Romebuilt 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 r ear ends of two war horses. (Two horse's asses.) now, he 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 SRB's. The SRB's are made by Thiokol at their factory in Utah . The engineers who designed the SRB's would have preferred to make them a bit fatter, but the SRB's 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 SRB's 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? **************Feeling the pinch at the grocery store? Make meals for Under $10. (http://food.aol.com/frugal-feasts?ncid=emlcntusfood00000002)
This is hysterical.........................thanks.......................C. ----- Original Message ----- From: <CYLGowdy@aol.com> To: <MarinGenSoc@rootsweb.com> Sent: Friday, March 20, 2009 5:11 PM Subject: [MarinGenSoc] Fwd: Why some things never change > One of the interesting things which pertains to genealogy, among other > things. > > > > ____________________________________ > From: pete.gowdy@gmail.com > To: cylgowdy@aol.com, ahgowdy@comcast.net, > helpertothedevil@rocketmail.com > Sent: 3/20/2009 4:57:41 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time > Subj: Why some things never change > > > Railroad tracks. This is fascinating. > Be sure to read the final paragraph; your understanding of it will depend > on > the earlier part of the content. > The US 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 use d 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 Romebuilt 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 r ear ends of two war horses. (Two horse's asses.) > now, he 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 SRB's. The SRB's are made by > Thiokol at their factory in Utah . The engineers who > designed the SRB's would have preferred to make them a bit fatter, but > the > SRB's 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 SRB's 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? > > **************Feeling the pinch at the grocery store? Make meals for > Under > $10. (http://food.aol.com/frugal-feasts?ncid=emlcntusfood00000002) > ______________________________________ > > A big "THANK YOU" to all of you that give so generously of your time > volunteering for the Society. > --------------------------------- > Visit our website: http://www.maringensoc.org > > Read the meeting notices: > <http://www.maringensoc.org/News/newsletters.htm> > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > MARINGENSOC-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message >