# Romans and Railroads **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 9, 1999, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romans-and-railroads/4603 "1999-11-09T02:56:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![capybara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/capybara/32/202_2.png) [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 1999, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romans-and-railroads/4603/1 "1999-11-09T02:56:00Z")
I just got a silly e-mail about standard widths or rail lines being based on the old Roman chariot wheel tracks, etc etc. Has anyone heard this line? Does anyone have any specific proof for/against this? I know rail width in US is different from Europe, and Spain I believe differs from the rest of Europe, even. Actually, I can’t imagine that chariots were as wide as train cars…Anyone know about this? Urban legend/ false factoid? ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 1999, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romans-and-railroads/4603/2 "1999-11-09T03:33:00Z")
We debunked this one before… umm… use the search engine cause I ain’t got the addy 😉 * * * “I guess it is possible for one person to make a difference, although most of the time they probably shouldn’t.” ---
**Author:** ![Nickrz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbce88/32.png) [@Nickrz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nickrz)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 1999, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romans-and-railroads/4603/3 "1999-11-09T20:01:00Z")
I’d like to kill the sumbitch responsible for that UL. The fact he/she/it put the power of spam behind it should be punishable by death. ## I’m closing this thread even though I cannot point to the old ones - you’ll have to look through the thread list, since the search engine is totally useless. Sorry. Nickrz GQ Mod ---
**Author:** ![Nickrz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbce88/32.png) [@Nickrz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nickrz)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 1999, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romans-and-railroads/4603/4 "1999-11-09T20:04:00Z")
Geesh, on second thought, go at it if you’ve a mind. But please be nice, because I’m not looking in here again. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Alphagene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Alphagene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alphagene)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 1999, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romans-and-railroads/4603/5 "1999-11-09T20:23:00Z")
Yeah, Im not too enthused about finding an old thread, but here’s a good place to start your debunking: [http://www.urbanlegends.com/misc/railroad\_gauge.html](http://www.urbanlegends.com/misc/railroad_gauge.html) * * * Back off, man. I’m a scientist. ---
**Author:** ![UncleBeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 1999, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romans-and-railroads/4603/6 "1999-11-09T21:04:00Z")
Hey Nickrz and gang. Here they are. Not a heck of a lot of info but better’n nuttin. [http://www.straightdope.com/ubb/Forum3/HTML/002425.html](http://www.straightdope.com/ubb/Forum3/HTML/002425.html) [http://www.straightdope.com/ubb/Forum3/HTML/002437.html](http://www.straightdope.com/ubb/Forum3/HTML/002437.html) ## My sources at Norfolk & Southern and The Ann Arbor Railroad have also struck out. **Dopeler effect:** The tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter when they come at you rapidly. ---
**Author:** ![UncleBeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 1999, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romans-and-railroads/4603/7 "1999-11-09T21:05:00Z")
You guys obviously don’t lead the charmed life that I do. 🙂