Re: (erielack) Re: EL Mail List Digest V3 #2356

[jguthrie_@_pipeline.com]

Clydesdales?

This Bud's for you . . .

Paul Harvey of course is a great and well-known scholar of railway history.

Cheers,
Jim Guthrie

- -----Original Message-----
>From: Tim Stuy <njmidland_@_verizon.net>
>Sent: Apr 20, 2007 1:02 PM
>To: EL Mail List <erielack_@_lists.elhts.org>
>Subject: Re: (erielack) Re: EL Mail List Digest V3 #2356
>
>So then how did the Erie end up with 6 foot gauge? Big horses?
>
>Tim
>
>On 4/20/07, Bill K. <pontiac_@_dreamscape.com> wrote:
>>
>>
>> FWIW, as per a Paul Harvey "The Rest of the Story" the reason it's 4' 8
>> 1/2"
>> was simply because that's just a tad wider than the rearends of two horses
>> standing side by side.   In other words, it was more the horse's anatomy
>> that led to the dimension, than any conscious decision on any person's
>> part.
>>
>> Coincedentally, this would be a team of horses; so 4 foot 8 1/2" is
>> literally a "team track" -
>>
>> It seems reasonable that the earliest trains would be built to the gauge
>> of
>> the same cart tracks left by the Romans and still used by the people of
>> the
>> later time, both for ease in conversion of a road to rails, and to allow
>> the
>> use of standard carriages as cars.
>>
>>
>> And given the management actions of some railroads to this very day, it
>> could probably be argued you'll still find at least a couple horse's
>> rearends between the rails -
>>
>>
>>
>> Bill K.
>>
>>
>
>
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