There's a nice story about how the Roman Empire
created Standard Gauge because of the ruts in the roads that the Chariots travelled...
It happens to be a very popular story too...
Then, of course, there are those that beleave that the only reason that it is Standard Gauge is simply because Robert Stevenson called it
"Standard Gauge".
Let's face it...
Standard Gauge is a lot easier to say than
"four-feet-eight-and-one-half-inches-gauge."
But I have my own theory on why Standard Gauge is 4' 8 1/2".... Which makes sense as to why Robert Stevenson would want to propagate it...
Even though it wasn't Henry Ford's revolutionary assembly line... It was mass production.
If you were going to set up a factory to mass produce something, wouldn't you want to Standardize production?????
Then, it would be a case of economics. To say that your factory produces equipment according to a certain set of standards. If you want to buy something else, then you can pay extra for the re-tooling, or buy it elsewhere.
It is all about marketing. Think in terms of
Beta vs. VHS or
Mac vs. IBM...
The one who sells the most units gets to set the Standards... :thumb: :thumb: :thumb: