We've always done it that way

jim phillips

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
May 11, 2003
Messages
504
Does the statement, "We've always done it that way"<br />ring any bells...?<br /><br />The US standard railroad gauge (distance between the<br />rails) is 4 feet, 8.5 inches. That's an exceedingly<br />odd number.<br /><br />Why was that gauge used?<br /><br />Because that's the way they built them in England, and<br />English expatriates built the US Railroads.<br /><br />Why did the English build them like that?<br /><br />Because the first rail lines were built by the same<br />people who built the pre-railroad tramways, and that's<br />the gauge they used.<br /><br />Why did "they" use that gauge then?<br /><br />Because the people who built the tramways used the<br />same jigs and tools that they used for building<br />wagons, which used that wheel spacing.<br /><br />Okay! Why did the wagons have that particular odd<br />wheel spacing?<br /><br />Well, if they tried to use any other spacing, the<br />wagon wheels would break on some of the old, long<br />distance roads in England, because that's the spacing<br />of the wheel ruts.<br /><br />So who built those old rutted roads?<br /><br />Imperial Rome built the first long distance roads in<br />Europe (and England) for their legions. The roads have<br />been used ever since.<br /><br />And the ruts in the roads?<br /><br />Roman war chariots formed the initial ruts, which<br />everyone else had to match for fear of destroying<br />their wagon wheels. Since the chariots were made for<br />Imperial Rome, they were all alike in the matter of<br />wheel spacing.<br /><br />The United States standard railroad gauge of 4 feet,<br />8.5 inches is derived from the original specifications<br />for an Imperial Roman war chariot. And bureaucracies<br />live forever.<br /><br />So the next time you are handed a spec and told we<br />have always done it that way and wonder what horse's<br />azz came up with that, you may be exactly right,<br />because the Imperial Roman war chariots were made just<br />wide enough to accommodate the back ends of two war<br />horses.<br /><br />Now the twist to the story...<br /><br />When you see a Space Shuttle sitting on its launch<br />pad, there are two big booster rockets attached to the<br />sides of the main fuel tank. These are solid rocket<br />boosters, or SRBs. The SRBs are made by Thiokol at<br />their factory in Utah. The engineers who designed the<br />SRBs would have preferred to make them a bit fatter,<br />but the SRBs had to be shipped by train from the<br />factory to the launch site.<br /><br />The railroad line from the factory happens to run<br />through a tunnel in the mountains. The SRBs had to fit<br />through that tunnel. The tunnel is slightly wider than<br />the railroad track, and the railroad track, as you now<br />know, is about as wide as two horses' behinds.<br /><br />So, a major Space Shuttle design feature of what is<br />arguably the world's most advanced transportation<br />system was determined over two thousand years ago by<br />the width of a Horse's azz.<br /><br />And you thought being a horse's azz wasn't important ??<br /> <br /><br />--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 

KennyKenCan

Commander
Joined
Aug 26, 2002
Messages
2,501
Re: We've always done it that way

:D :) :cool: :D <br /><br />Funny and educational.<br /><br />Kinda like killing 2 horses with one stone!
 

JB

Honorary Moderator Emeritus
Joined
Mar 25, 2001
Messages
45,907
Re: We've always done it that way

Interesting, Jim.<br /><br />I have always thought that, "We've always done it that way." was a sure sign that there is a better way. :)
 
D

DJ

Guest
Re: We've always done it that way

If you keep doing what you've done, you're always going to get what you've got.<br /><br />"Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results is the definition of insanity."--Albert Einstein
 

GodsBeast

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Jul 12, 2003
Messages
502
Re: We've always done it that way

Can you imagine the comfort of one Astronaut telling the other, The rockets we made it here (being on the moon or in space) were designed over a scale of two horses azz?<br /><br /> UNBELIEVEABLE!!!! :rolleyes: :confused: :D
 

neumanns

Lieutenant Commander
Joined
Mar 1, 2003
Messages
1,926
Re: We've always done it that way

ub ah dud but hu WOW I dont know what to say!!! I love it.
 

Link

Rear Admiral
Joined
Apr 13, 2003
Messages
4,221
Re: We've always done it that way

Thanks Lucky Jim<br /><br />I was just telling the story about that this weekend.... but lost the email on it a couple years ago.. now I have another copy that wont get lost!
 

JGREGORY

Lieutenant
Joined
Jun 1, 2003
Messages
1,412
Re: We've always done it that way

I love it! Being in G'ment I hear that all the time. When I ask why the reply is "Well, we've always done it that way." Even though there is a cheaper and eaiser way to do it. :mad: :mad: :mad: <br /><br />Some of these Drones drive me crazy.
 
Top