译文：
美国标准铁路轨距（钢轨之间的距离）为4英尺8.5英寸。这是一个非常奇怪的数字。为什么要用那个量表？
嗯，因为这是他们在英国建造铁路的方式，英国工程师设计了第一条美国铁路。为什么英国人要这样建造它们？
因为第一条铁路线是由建造有轨电车的人建造的，这就是他们使用的轨距。那么，“他们”当时为什么要用那个量表呢？
因为建造电车的人使用的夹具和工具与他们建造货车时使用的夹具和工具相同，而货车使用的车轮间距也相同。为什么四轮马车的轮距如此奇怪？
嗯，如果他们尝试使用任何其他间距，在英格兰的一些旧的长途公路上，车轮会更频繁地断裂。你看，这就是车辙的间距。那么，是谁修筑了那些布满车辙的老路呢？
罗马帝国为他们的军团修建了欧洲（包括英国）第一条长途公路。从那以后，这些道路一直在使用。
那路上的车辙呢？
罗马战车形成了最初的车辙，其他所有人都必须与之匹配，否则就要冒着摧毁车轮的风险。由于战车是为罗马帝国制造的，因此它们在车轮间距方面都很相似。因此，美国标准铁路轨距为4英尺8.5英寸，源自罗马帝国战车的原始规格。官僚主义永远存在。
因此，下次当你收到一份规范/程序/流程，并想知道“这是什么马屁精想出的？”时，你可能是完全正确的。罗马帝国战车的宽度刚好能容纳两匹战马的尾部(两匹马的屁股。）
现在，故事的转折点是：
当你看到一架航天飞机坐在它的发射台上时，有两个大的助推火箭连接在主燃料箱的两侧。这些是固体火箭助推器，或SRB。SRB由Thiokol在犹他州的工厂制造。设计SRB的工程师们本想让它们更胖一点，但SRB必须通过火车从工厂运到发射场。从工厂出来的铁路线正好穿过山里的一条隧道，SRB必须穿过这条隧道。隧道比铁轨略宽，而铁轨，如你所知，大约有两匹马的屁股那么宽。
所以，航天飞机的一个主要设计特点，可以说是世界上最先进的运输系统，是在两千多年前由马屁股的宽度决定的。你认为马屁股并不重要吗？古马的屁股几乎控制着一切。。。作者不详。
原文：
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?
Well, because that's the way they built them in England, and English engineers designed the first US railroads. Why did the English build them like that?
Because the first rail lines were built by the same people who built the wagon tramways, and that's the gauge they used. So, why did 'they' use that gauge then?
Because the people who built the tramways used the same jigs and tools that they had used for building wagons, which used that same wheel spacing. Why did the wagons have that particular odd wheel spacing?
Well, if they tried to use any other spacing, the wagon wheels would break more often on some of the old, long distance roads in England . You see, that's the spacing of the wheel ruts. So who built those old rutted roads?
Imperial Rome built the first long distance roads in Europe (including England ) for their legions. Those roads have been used ever since.
And what about the ruts in the roads?
Roman war chariots formed the initial ruts, which everyone else had to match or run the risk of destroying their wagon wheels. Since the chariots were made for Imperial Rome , they were all alike in the matter of wheel spacing. Therefore the United States standard railroad gauge of 4 feet, 8.5 inches is derived from the original specifications for an Imperial Roman war chariot. Bureaucracies live forever.
So the next time you are handed a specification/procedure/process and wonder 'What horse's ass came up with this?', you may be exactly right. Imperial Roman army chariots were made just wide enough to accommodate the rear ends of two war horses. (Two horses' asses.)
Now, the twist to the story:
When you see a Space Shuttle sitting on its launch pad, there are two big booster rockets attached to the sides of the main fuel tank. These are solid rocket boosters, or SRBs. The SRBs are made by Thiokol at their factory in Utah . The engineers who designed the SRBs would have preferred to make them a bit fatter, but the SRBs had to be shipped by train from the factory to the launch site. The railroad line from the factory happens to run through a tunnel in the mountains, and the SRBs had to fit through that tunnel. The tunnel is slightly wider than the railroad track, and the railroad track, as you now know, is about as wide as two horses' behinds.
So, a major Space Shuttle design feature, of what is arguably the world's most advanced transportation system, was determined over two thousand years ago by the width of a horse's ass. And you thought being a horse's ass wasn't important? Ancient horse's asses control almost everything... Author unknown.
美国标准铁路轨距（钢轨之间的距离）为4英尺8.5英寸。这是一个非常奇怪的数字。为什么要用那个量表？
嗯，因为这是他们在英国建造铁路的方式，英国工程师设计了第一条美国铁路。为什么英国人要这样建造它们？
因为第一条铁路线是由建造有轨电车的人建造的，这就是他们使用的轨距。那么，“他们”当时为什么要用那个量表呢？
因为建造电车的人使用的夹具和工具与他们建造货车时使用的夹具和工具相同，而货车使用的车轮间距也相同。为什么四轮马车的轮距如此奇怪？
嗯，如果他们尝试使用任何其他间距，在英格兰的一些旧的长途公路上，车轮会更频繁地断裂。你看，这就是车辙的间距。那么，是谁修筑了那些布满车辙的老路呢？
罗马帝国为他们的军团修建了欧洲（包括英国）第一条长途公路。从那以后，这些道路一直在使用。
那路上的车辙呢？
罗马战车形成了最初的车辙，其他所有人都必须与之匹配，否则就要冒着摧毁车轮的风险。由于战车是为罗马帝国制造的，因此它们在车轮间距方面都很相似。因此，美国标准铁路轨距为4英尺8.5英寸，源自罗马帝国战车的原始规格。官僚主义永远存在。
因此，下次当你收到一份规范/程序/流程，并想知道“这是什么马屁精想出的？”时，你可能是完全正确的。罗马帝国战车的宽度刚好能容纳两匹战马的尾部(两匹马的屁股。）
现在，故事的转折点是：
当你看到一架航天飞机坐在它的发射台上时，有两个大的助推火箭连接在主燃料箱的两侧。这些是固体火箭助推器，或SRB。SRB由Thiokol在犹他州的工厂制造。设计SRB的工程师们本想让它们更胖一点，但SRB必须通过火车从工厂运到发射场。从工厂出来的铁路线正好穿过山里的一条隧道，SRB必须穿过这条隧道。隧道比铁轨略宽，而铁轨，如你所知，大约有两匹马的屁股那么宽。
所以，航天飞机的一个主要设计特点，可以说是世界上最先进的运输系统，是在两千多年前由马屁股的宽度决定的。你认为马屁股并不重要吗？古马的屁股几乎控制着一切。。。作者不详。
原文：
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?
Well, because that's the way they built them in England, and English engineers designed the first US railroads. Why did the English build them like that?
Because the first rail lines were built by the same people who built the wagon tramways, and that's the gauge they used. So, why did 'they' use that gauge then?
Because the people who built the tramways used the same jigs and tools that they had used for building wagons, which used that same wheel spacing. Why did the wagons have that particular odd wheel spacing?
Well, if they tried to use any other spacing, the wagon wheels would break more often on some of the old, long distance roads in England . You see, that's the spacing of the wheel ruts. So who built those old rutted roads?
Imperial Rome built the first long distance roads in Europe (including England ) for their legions. Those roads have been used ever since.
And what about the ruts in the roads?
Roman war chariots formed the initial ruts, which everyone else had to match or run the risk of destroying their wagon wheels. Since the chariots were made for Imperial Rome , they were all alike in the matter of wheel spacing. Therefore the United States standard railroad gauge of 4 feet, 8.5 inches is derived from the original specifications for an Imperial Roman war chariot. Bureaucracies live forever.
So the next time you are handed a specification/procedure/process and wonder 'What horse's ass came up with this?', you may be exactly right. Imperial Roman army chariots were made just wide enough to accommodate the rear ends of two war horses. (Two horses' asses.)
Now, the twist to the story:
When you see a Space Shuttle sitting on its launch pad, there are two big booster rockets attached to the sides of the main fuel tank. These are solid rocket boosters, or SRBs. The SRBs are made by Thiokol at their factory in Utah . The engineers who designed the SRBs would have preferred to make them a bit fatter, but the SRBs had to be shipped by train from the factory to the launch site. The railroad line from the factory happens to run through a tunnel in the mountains, and the SRBs had to fit through that tunnel. The tunnel is slightly wider than the railroad track, and the railroad track, as you now know, is about as wide as two horses' behinds.
So, a major Space Shuttle design feature, of what is arguably the world's most advanced transportation system, was determined over two thousand years ago by the width of a horse's ass. And you thought being a horse's ass wasn't important? Ancient horse's asses control almost everything... Author unknown.
