Re: [escepticos] esto pa confirmarlo o refutarlo

["J.S." <j.susaeta@...>]

Muy bueno e instructivo ese enlace...

 Copio, por aportar algo, de las págs 282 y 283 the 'Engineering in
History', Dover, 1956, 1990, ISBN 0486264122:

---------------------
'The question as to what should be the width of a railway caused in the
1840s and 1850s 'the battle of the gauges' in Britain between the
Stephensons and Isambard Kingdom Brunel (1806-1859), builder of the Great
Western Railway to the port of Bristol. The Stephensons thought that,
eventually, all the railways in Britain would become one system. Brunel
visualized regional groups, such as did come later, which might vary with
local conditions. He conceived of wider tracks, more powerful engines,
heavier trains for the transport of the future. The Stephensons built for
Brunel the locomotives with the 7-foot gauge which he desired, but they
preferred to keep the approximate width of 4 feet 8 1/2 inches between the
railheads, based on the traditional width betwen the wheels of carts. More
than any other influence, their engines made this gauge standard. Many
gauges have been tried, from 2 feet to 7. The narrower gauges had many
advocates on the score of economy; the wider gauges on the score of
capacity.Hundreds of miles of both were built, bust most of them have been
changed to standard gauge. The Erie railroad in the United States, for
instance, used a 6-foot gauge until 1878, but the Erie had more influence
upon the fine art of manipulating the finances of railroads than upon their
engineering. The Stephensons' superior engines won the battle of the gauges
in America. The desirability of an uniform gauge became obvious as the
town-to town companies merged into interstate and international railroad
systems. Only local interests such as the propietors of transfer stage
companies and lunch counters cared to have one gauge entering town and a
diferent one leaving it. As soon as the Stephenson gauge became dominant, it
was too late for any other to persist. The tread width of ancient cars of
about 5 feet survived as the standard width of successors, which would have
astounded the owners of those carts in every other respect.
 There are several unlikely theories as to the origins of the 4-foot 8
1/2-inch gauge, and the battle of the gauges still goes on in various parts
of the world as the Spaniards keep their 5-foot 6-inch gauge, Ireland its
5-foot 3-inch gauge, and the Russians move the rails in satellite countries
to met their own requirement of 5 feet. There are many narrow gauges as well
as broad gauges throughout the world (...)
-------------------------

Saludos

Javier


----- Original Message -----
From: "David de Cos" <ddecos en gmx.net>
To: <escepticos en ccdis.dis.ulpgc.es>; "Enrique Reyes" <conen en idecnet.com>;
<escepticos en ccdis.dis.ulpgc.es>
Sent: Saturday, August 31, 2002 4:55 AM
Subject: Re: [escepticos] esto pa confirmarlo o refutarlo


> Hola,
>
> el Sáb 31 Ago 2002 03:30, Enrique Reyes decía:
>
> > Hola,
> >
> > Pues ahí va eso, por petición popular y/o para ejercitar el escepticismo
> > puro y duro:
> >
> > ¿ Por qué el ancho de vía de los ferrocarriles de Estados Unidos de
> > América
> > es de 4 pies y 8,5 pulgadas ?
> >  Es un número bastante extraño.
>
> (...)
>
>
> Snopes, siempre snopes:
>
> http://www.snopes.com/history/american/gauge.htm
>
> Saludos,
>
> David de Cos
>