Chez Chesler

Urban Legends Reference Pages: History (Horse's Pass) There's a piece that goes around the 'net that claims that the US standard railroad gauge, 4 feet, 8.5 inches, is based on the original specification for an Imperial Roman war chariot. Snopes points out that this isn't quite true, except to note that horse-drawn stuff tends to be of the same general size, and reminding us that there was no one standard railroad gauge through the time of the Civil War. On the other hand, I've seen fire hydrants on city streets with a casting date of the late 1800s. I imagine that this means that fire trucks must have hoses today that fit the same fittings as they did more than 100 years ago.