Post by ss on Apr 19, 2009 21:12:51 GMT
I'm not sure of the truthfullness of this or whether or not it should go in the comedy post, but I think it is interesting.. ;D
INTERESTING HISTORY LESSON
Railroad tracks ........
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 wag ons 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 (andEngland ) 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, the twist to the story:
W hen 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 eng ineers 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? Ancient horse's asses control
almost everything... and
CURRENT Horses Asses are controlling everything els
INTERESTING HISTORY LESSON
Railroad tracks ........
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 wag ons 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 (andEngland ) 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, the twist to the story:
W hen 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 eng ineers 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? Ancient horse's asses control
almost everything... and
CURRENT Horses Asses are controlling everything els