RAILROADS

Does
the statement, "We've always done it like that" ring any bells?




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 used for building wagons, which used that wheel spacing.

Okay! 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.