Non-political post...sans any mention of a certain pissant of a president.
I read this on Facebook. It was taken from something called, Aviation Humor. Is it fact or factoid? I don't know, but I enjoyed reading it. What do you think?
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 engineers designed the first US railroads.
Why did the English build them like that?
Because the first rail lines were built by the same people who built the wagon 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 had used for building wagons, which used that same 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 more often on some of the old, long distance roads in England . You see, that's the spacing of the wheel ruts.
Who built those old rutted roads?
Imperial Rome built the first long distance roads in Europe (including England ) for their legions. Those roads have been used ever since.
And what about the ruts in the roads?
Roman war chariots formed the initial ruts, which everyone else had to match or run the risk 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.
So the next time you are handed a specification/procedure/process and wonder, 'What horse's ass came up with this?', you may be exactly right. Imperial Roman army chariots were made just wide enough to accommodate the rear ends of two war horses.
More horse's ass influence:
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 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, and 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? Ancient horse's asses controlled almost everything. The tradition continues to this day.
12 comments:
interesting shit there! two horses asses; who knew!
anne marie - I'm also wondering if that is the origin of the term, "we're in a rut". I see a connection...political rut...horses asses...horse manure. Hmmmmm.
I have enjoyed reading this and would like to think it is true. I have always thought that some of the narrow roads through northern New England and even in Boston were their width because they were originally built during horse and buggy days and there was no room for expansion.
Great Post
the Ol'Buzzard
Ol'B - Thanks, but I can't really take credit for it.
Oh, yeah...the roads in New England. I always thought they didn't have the manpower, or even need, since there probably wasn't that much traffic (maybe not so much so in Boston). Your theory works for me, too.
And now we have US policy set by a horse’s ass.
Hahahahaha, if it's not true, it should be!
Jerry - a horse's ass who is as full of it as a constipated elephant.
Debra - I'm thinking this holds true for Canada, as well.
Adding to the Solid Rocket Booster info, from what I understand there were several attempts by NASA to get rid of them. Being solid rockets, once ignited there is not way to turn them off. NASA wanted to use liquid-fueled boosters which could be throttled back or even shut down. But a combination of shorted-sighted politicians and corporate suits pushed NASA to keep the SRB's.
So the deaths of the Challenger crew pretty much rest on them.
the only thing I know about horses assess is there are more of them than horses.
Beach Bum - Wow! I didn't know that.
JACKIESUE - Hahahahahahahahahahaha!
As the occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue proves, some horses' asses take up waaaaaaay more room than others.
intell - Yes, related to the famous Buttweiser Draught horses. Unfortunately, they are mentally deficient due to their extensive inbreeding.
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