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E28-
Breese RR Depot
The Breese Depot stands ready to receive
incoming and outgoing freight as well as passengers.
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? A commonly given explanation is that this
is the spacing of Roman chariot wheels. As improbable as it
sounds, that knowledge of the gauge of ancient Roman
chariots survived the fall of Rome, the dark ages and then
resurface to be applied to the new invention of
steam-powered railroads during the industrial revolution,
follow this logic.
English expatriates built the
US
railroads. Why did the English build them like that? Because
the first rail lines were built by the same people who built
wagons, which used that wheel spacing. Why did the wagons
have that particular odd wheel spacing? Because that’s the
spacing needed to hitch two horses together. And that’s how
the modern day railroad is forever connected to Roman
chariots.
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