Fun_People Archive
10 Feb
Followups to "How MilSpecs Live Forever"

Date: Thu, 10 Feb 94 18:00:58 PST
To: Fun_People
Subject: Followups to "How MilSpecs Live Forever"

 From: tooch@auspex.com (Mike Tuciarone)
 Subject: Re: How MilSpecs Live Forever

Fascinating. I showed this to my wife, medieval studies major and
horsewoman, who points out that the spacing of wheels on the Roman
chariot was like as not dictated by the width of the yoke that attached
the chariot to the horse, and the need to keep the wheel ruts well out
of the path of the loose earth the hooves are kicking up.

Thus, the gauge of the Iron Horse might be in fact derived from the
width of the standard Roman warhorse.

 From: claude@espresso.rt.cs.boeing.com (Claude Ginsburg)
 Subject: Rail Gauge (continued)

...when Napoleon marched on Russia, his army made much slower time than
planned once they reached eastern Europe because the ruts weren't to
Roman gauge.  Because they made slower time than planned ...
they got caught in the field in the Russian winter rather than on the
outskirts of Moscow. And then, of course, they lost the war.

© 1994 Peter Langston