FW: Business Process Reengineering - Is it possible? - (OFF TOPI C OF RP)

From: Hurley, Lynda J (lynda.j.hurley@lmco.com)
Date: Wed Sep 08 1999 - 16:05:49 EEST


> > The US Standard railroad gauge (distance between the rails) is 4
> > feet,
> > 8.5 inches. That's an exceedingly odd number. Why was that gauge
> > used?
> >
> > Because that's the way they built them in England and the US
> > railroads
> > were built by English expatriates. Why did the English people build
> > them
> > like that? Because the first rail lines were built by the same people
> > who built the pre-railroad tramways, and that's the gauge they used.
> > Why did
> > "they"
> > use that gauge then? Because the people who built the tramways used
> > the
> > same jigs and tools that they used for building wagons, which used
> > that
> > wheel spacing.
> >
> > Okay! Why did the wagons use that odd wheel spacing? Well, if they
> > tried
> > to use any other spacing the wagons would break on some of the old,
> > long
> > distance roads, because that's the spacing of the old wheel ruts. So
> > who
> > built these old rutted roads?
> >
> > The first long distance roads in Europe were built by Imperial Rome
> > for
> > the benefit of their legions. The roads have been used ever since.
> > And
> > the ruts? The initial ruts, which everyone else had to match for fear
> > of
> > destroying their wagons, were first made by Roman war chariots. Since
> > the chariots were made for or by Imperial Rome they were all alike in
> > the matter of wheel spacing.
> >
> > Thus, we have the answer to the original questions. The United States
> > standard railroad gauge of 4 feet, 8.5 inches derives from the
> > original
> > specification for an Imperial Roman army war chariot. Specs and
> > Bureaucracies live forever. So, the next time you are handed a
> > specification and wonder what horse's ass came up with it, you may be
> > exactly right. Because the Imperial Roman chariots were made to be
> > just
> > wide enough to accommodate the back-ends of two war horses. (Whose
> > specs were laid down by GOD!)
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >

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