Not really. According to http://www.railway.org/railroadgauge.htm, one of several railroad gauges used in England by George Stephenson, and the one that became popular in the US (over the objection, in a way, of President Lincoln, who proposed a 5' gauge), was based on a 5 foot spacing of cart wheels. Subtracting 2 inches for each rail gave 4'8". Stevenson later widened the spacing by 1/2" because (for unspecified reasons), that worked better. See also A.W. Worth's reported comments in http://www.spikesys.com/Trains/st_gauge.html; and http://www.straightdope.com/columns/000218.html -----Original Message----- From: Sellam Ismail [mailto:foo@siconic.com] Sent: Wednesday, July 31, 2002 5:14 AM To: cctalk(a)classiccmp.org Subject: OT: Horse's ass <snip> So it is not myth. Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- International Man of Intrigue and Danger http://www.vintage.org * Old computing resources for business and academia at www.VintageTech.com *