Path: utzoo!utgpu!watmath!clyde!att!osu-cis!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!bloom-beacon!apple!vsi1!octopus!avsd!childers
From: childers@avsd.UUCP (Richard Childers)
Newsgroups: comp.misc
Subject: Re: Russian access to usenet
Keywords: paranoia or adaptation to reality
Message-ID: <355@avsd.UUCP>
Date: 26 Dec 88 08:58:38 GMT
References: <204@imspw6.UUCP> <5141@brspyr1.BRS.Com> <920@ruuinf.UUCP>
Reply-To: childers@avsd.UUCP (Richard Childers)
Organization: die Edelstahlratte
Lines: 33

In article <920@ruuinf.UUCP> gerard@ruuinf.UUCP (Gerard Tel) writes:

>This is a common explanation of the width of Russian railways.
>However it is a typical example of Western paranoia, it is not true ...

Indeed. I can't see an engineer justifying this decision to superiors ...

>Secondly, the Russian track width was determined EARLIER that the
>track widt in the rest of Europe.  While in west europe there were many
>companies each using their own tracks, the Russian czar coordinated
>things better and decided on one width.

The real story behind that is that an engineer, Isambard Kindom Brunel,
recommended wider rails for substantial reasons, but was rebuffed by a
well-established engineering establishment. Billions of tons of freight
that could have been shipped, weren't, as a result of this 'foresight'
on the part of the decision-makers ...

>By the way did you ever have a ride in a wide-track train?  It is much
>more comfortable than ours.

Some day ...

>                                 Gerard Tel.

-- richard


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