EVER WONDER HOW THE GOVERNMENT WORKS Ever wonder where some engineering specifications come from? The US standard railroad gauge (distance between the rails) is 4 feet, 8.5 inches, an exceedingly odd number. Why was that gauge used? Because that's the way they built them in England, and the English built the first US railroads. Why did the English build them like that? Because the first rail lines were built by the people who built the pre-railroad tramways, and that is the gauge they used. Why did they use that particular gauge then? Because the people who built the tramways used...