Retreating German troops using a Schwellenpflug rail plow - GIF

[mklotz]

I don't know where the "sleeper plow" was invented but they were used in the Confederate states by the Union Army during the Civil War.

[grabcat1212]

Marv, thank you for your comment as it reminded me of a point my high school history teacher made. He said the South had various sized gaged railroads before the Civil War. After the war, during reconstruction, someone decided it would benefit all to remake the railroads one standard gauge. If the Union Army had not destroyed the southern rails, the South would most likely still have different gauges, which hinders commerce.

[mklotz]

Marv, thank you for your comment as it reminded me of a point my high school history teacher made. He said the South had various sized gaged railroads before the Civil War. After the war, during reconstruction, someone decided it would benefit all to remake the railroads one standard gauge. If the Union Army had not destroyed the southern rails, the South would most likely still have different gauges, which hinders commerce.

Usonians seem to think that any form of standards are evil devices meant to deny them their freedom. They seem incapable of distinguishing between the genuinely dangerous forms of standards, as in thought or behavior, and standards of inanimate nature such as RR gauge, overpass height, and measurement systems, all of which benefit trade and safety.

Wire and sheet gauges based on manufacturing repetitions are a classic example...

Not only are sheet metal gauge numbers meaningless, but there are a prolific number of standards to further muddy the waters. Perhaps the USA is finally waking up to the nonsense it's created. In a recent statement, the ASTM has said,

"The use of gauge number is discouraged as being an archaic term of limited usefulness not having general agreement on meaning." (Specification ASTM A480-10a)