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_at_siconic.com]
Sent: Wednesday, July 31, 2002 5:14 AM
To: cctalk_at_classiccmp.org
Subject: OT: Horse's ass
<snip>
So it is not myth.
Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer
Festival
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Received on Wed Jul 31 2002 - 15:21:00 BST