Think of something that you wish Authorware could do but it doesn't? Let the our good friends at Macromedia know via the wishlist. Please let us know if you find any of the materials on this site inappropriate or offensive. Please include the url and why the material should be reviewed. Comments and questions about the site are also welcome. Please no Authorware questions, use the AWARE list. |
022 - How Specs Live Forever How
Specs Live Forever Why
did the English people 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 use that odd wheel spacing? Well, if they tried to use
any other spacing the wagons would break on some of the old, long distance
roads, because that's the spacing of the old wheel ruts.
So
who built these old rutted roads? The first long distance roads in Europe
were built by Imperial Rome for the benefit of their legions. The roads have
been used ever since. And the ruts? The initial ruts, which everyone else
had to match for fear of destroying their wagons, were first made by Roman
war chariots. Since the chariots were made for or by Imperial Rome they were
all alike in the matter of wheel spacing.
Thus,
we have the answer to the original question. The United States standard railroad
gauge of 4 feet, 8.5 inches derives from the original specification for an
Imperial Roman army war chariot. Specs and Bureaucracies live forever. So,
the next time you are handed a specification and wonder what horse's rear-end
came up with it, you may be exactly right.
Because
the Imperial Roman chariots were made to be just wide enough to accommodate
the back-ends of two war horses. |