Train Nerd Trivia-isms

[Dryfa...King]

Random fact I thought you fellow freight geeks might find interesting. So why are train rails spaced 4 ft 8 1/2 inches apart? Random number. I found out that they're build to these measurements because the English immigrants that built them, built them to their same specifications in Europe...so why the same #'s in Europe? They build the old rails over the handcart roads that were 4 ft 8 1/2. They had to build the handcart wheel width to those #'s beacause that was the only width that would allow them to ride inside the ruts. These ruts were formed by the roman charriot wheels on the old Roman roads formed by the empire. So why were the old roman charriot's built to 4 ft 8 1/2? it was the size of 2 horse's asses side by side. So in a nutshell our train rails our the width of two horses asses. Funny how history trickles down.

[CACashRefund]

Did you know that 99.9% of new threads in the third rail are locked with the hour because they are shit?

[yeaaaah baby]

hah thats a cool fact. my question to you train nerds: what are the dimensions of those autorack cars?

[Abracadabra]

Originally posted by CACashRefund@Feb 9 2005, 02:03 PM
Did you know that 99.9% of new threads in the third rail are locked with the hour because they are shit?
Quoted post


today i'll be nice and just move it to the correct section. hopefully the train nerds get a kick out of it. enjoy

[seeking]

there was a much larger, indepth posting of this fact a few years ago. i've always wanted to find it again but have been unable to. hmmmm.

[seeking]

and, just to take things one step further, the size of the engines used on the space shuttle are dictatated by the fact that they have to travel by train from the manufacturer to the launch site, which means they have to fit on the train cars and go through the tunnels. sooooooo, the engine size of a spaceship was set some thousands of years ago by a horses ass.
woo haa.

[Hermdog]

I thought it had something to do with Physics

[ghostvandal]

i obviously knew about the 2 asses width fact, since im canadian :jestor: and not an ignorant american :dazed: , but nice fact seeking, about the space shuttle engine.

[PHYNE]

Originally posted by yeaaaah baby@Feb 9 2005, 01:09 AM
hah thats a cool fact. my question to you train nerds: what are the dimensions of those autorack cars?
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100 feet long by i think 25 high :(

[krowteN]

anybody calling themselvs a train nerd knew that. also known as the standard gauage track, used by all freight passenger and commuter rails in North America.

now whos the nerd!

[ASER1NE]

Im thinking Space shuttle engines are now shipped via custom big rigs . but W/E