The Hold Of The Past...

Stay with me on this, because there is a point.

The U.S. standard railroad gauge, the distance between the rails, is 4 feet 8.5 inches.  That's odd to me.  Why would we choose that measurement?  Here's what I found out.

• That's what England used.  Why?
• That's what they used for the pre-railroad tramways.  Why?
• Those who built the tramways used the same tools and jigs to build wagons, and they spaced the wheels to those measurements.  Why?
• They tried other measurements and the wagon wheels would break on some of the old, long distance roads with worn-in ruts in England.  Who built those rutted roads?
• Imperial Rome built the first long distance roads in Europe (and England) for their armies.  Those same roads have been used ever since.  And where did those ruts come from in those roads?
• The Roman war chariots, which where designed so 2 horses' backsides could fit close to the driver and wheel base.  And then everyone else had to match those measurements for fear of destryoing their own wagon wheels when they traveled.

So, the United States standard railroad measurement of 4 feet and 8.5 inches, that we still use today, is derived from the original specifications of an Imperial Roman war chariot that fit the backsides of 2 of their horses.  And how does that affect us today?

Yesterday, NASA launched another space shuttle.  Did you see the 2 big booster rockets attached to the sides of the main fuel tank?  Those solid rocket boosters (SRBs) are made in a factory in Utah.  The engineers would have perferred to make them wider (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 they had to fit through that tunnel.  That tunnel is slightly wider than the 4' 8.5" railroad track, which is as you now know, about as wide as 2 horses' backsides.

So, think about it.  A major Space Shuttle design-feature of what is arguably the worlds most powerful and advanced transportation system was determined over 2,000 years ago by the width of horses.

That's why I am so glad that the Bible gives us freedom in expressing an incredible message that never changes.  The design of the church mentioned in the Book of Acts gives us princples to follow, but not cultural measurements to adhere to.  Which I am so glad.  God shared His design of the church as the early believers followed the principles of...

• Community Worship  "...they met in the temple courts."
• Community Groups  "...they met in people's homes."
• Community Ministry  "...they met each other's needs."
• Community Outreach  "...they found favor with the people and God added to their number daily."

Hopefully, the man-made traditions of yesteryear are not pre-determining the delivery of God's life-changing, hope-embracing, and heart-moving message. 

Comments

[Shellie]

I think you might be a better writer than speaker. :)

This was really interesting. And it even had a point. Ha!

[Bob Hicks]

That's good! Thanks for the vote of confidence. I think. Makes you wonder why we do the things we do today.

[Jasper]

Well like much we see today, this plays on emotion/misrepresentation and it's not due to facts.

Despite commonality of equipment, well into the 19th century the U.S. still did not have one "standard" railroad gauge. At the time of the Civil War, even though nearly all of the Confederacy's railroad equipment had come from the North or from Britain (of the 470 locomotives built in the U.S. in 1860, for example, only 19 were manufactured in the South), 113 different railroad companies in the Confederacy operated on three different gauges of track. This lack of standardization was, as historian James McPherson points out, one of the many reasons the Union was able to finally vanquish the Confederacy militarily.

The eventual standardization of railroad gauge in the U.S. was due far less to a slavish devotion to a gauge inherited from England than to the simple fact that the North won the Civil War and, in the process, rebuilt much of the Southern railway system to match its own. In other words, there was nothing inevitable about a railroad gauge supposedly traceable to the size of wheel ruts in Imperial Rome. Had the Civil War taken a different course, the eventual standard railroad gauge used throughout North America might well have been different than the current one.

Now, as for that Space Shuttle addendum . . . When Thiokol was building the solid rocket boosters (SRB) for the space shuttle, they had to keep shipping considerations in mind, but they didn't necessarily have to alter their design because any particular tunnel that lay between their plant and the Florida launch site wasn't large enough. (The original article implies that one specific railroad tunnel was a cause for concern, but since the location of the tunnel isn't identified, it's difficult to evaluate that claim.) In any case, railroads don't run through tunnels only "slightly wider than the railroad track" unless every one of their engines and all their rolling stock is also only "slightly wider than the railroad track." (And unless the tunnels encompass only a single set of tracks, of course). Data from the U.S. Army's Rail Transport in a Theater of Operations document, for example, makes it fairly clear that one would be hard-pressed to find railroad equipment anywhere only "slightly wider" than 4 feet, 8.5 inches. Measure the next train that goes by to verify the falicy of this statement alone. My car is wider than 4'8".

Over and above our love of odd facts, this tale about railroad gauges succeeds because of the imagery of its play on words: space shuttle technology was designed not by a horse's rear (figuratively, some overpaid government know-it-all) but because of a horse's rear (literally, the width of that particular portion of equine anatomy). People find this notion amusing, feeding the story's popularity as charmed readers to pass it along to others in a cascade of forwards.

Check out
Black, Robert C. The Railroads of the Confederacy.,

Turner, George E. Victory Rode the Rails: The Strategic Place of the Railroads in the Civil War.,

Weber, Thomas. The Northern Railroads in the Civil War, 1861-1865.

Just thought you might like to know the truth.

[Bob Hicks]

Jasper,
Thanks for the update on the railroad gauge measurements. While you make some great points, the fact remains that when the golden spike was laid connecting the east to the west, the tracks had to match. Laying new tracks that wouldn't match the 4 foot 8.5 inch track would cause major problems, as you have stated. Obviously, the tunnel and the sides of mountians would be larger than the track and the train on the track. If you check the measurements of the SRBs you will also see that they are wider than 4 foot 8.5 inches as well.
While my initial post was shortened with bullet points, you are correct that this story was used for a point: not for a statement on our present day space technology, but on how much the past can dictate our future and we need to be aware of that as we seek to reach out with a message of hope.
Thanks again for your input.

[Jasper]

I guess I misunderstood. You statements came accross as facts due to your wording as you ask "Why?" and then present an "answer". The answer comes accross as factual even though they are not. In fact, you state "So, the United States standard railroad measurement of 4 feet and 8.5 inches, that we still use today, is derived from the original specifications of an Imperial Roman war chariot that fit the backsides of 2 of their horses." So I'm not sure what other conclusion people could come to.

Anyway, just trying to clear up more misinformation on the internet...we sure don't need more of it. ;-)

Thanks.