What is ironclad?

What Does ironclad Mean

Before proceeding to discover the meaning of the term iron, we are going to know its etymological origin. In this case, we can establish that it comes from Latin, exactly from the word “ferreus”, which is the result of the sum of two lexical components of that language:

-The noun “ferrum”, which means “iron”.

-The suffix “-ea”, which indicates “relationship”.

The first meaning of the term mentioned in the dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy ( RAE ) refers to that which is made of iron or that has the characteristics of this material.
In this sense, the road built from iron rails that are arranged in parallel, on which the trains circulate , is known as a railway line or railroad . The railroad, therefore, constitutes a key infrastructure for rail transport.

The development of a railroad requires various jobs . On the one hand, the floor must be prepared for the correct installation of the rails. On the other hand, drains, bridges and other necessary elements must be manufactured so that the trains can advance without risks.
Rails are generally spaced based on how far apart the train wheels are. At that distance, which constitutes the width of the railroad, it is known as the gauge .
It is interesting to know that not all over the world there are the same railway gauges. Thus, for example, while in the United States it is 1,676 millimeters, in Spain and Portugal it is 1,668 millimeters and in Japan it is only 1,000 millimeters.
This measure has a long history behind it, which begins in the 19th century when the mine wagons were in operation and had a gauge of between 1.40 and 1.50 meters. And that was the one that was used when the railway steam engines were put into operation. However, shortly afterwards it was decided to change that width in order to take the curves much better.
In addition to everything indicated, we cannot ignore that other reasons for modifying this measure are the orography of the place where the train in question circulates and what are economic reasons. But it is not all, because it is also considered that there are military criteria, specifically defense. Yes, because it is believed that since there are different railway gauges it is more difficult for a country to attack another that has a different measure than its own through trains where weapons are transported, for example.
By analogy to the properties of iron, the idea of ​​iron is used to describe something that stands out for its toughness , its rigidity or its hardness . For example: "Despite their efforts, the local team did not manage to overcome the strong defense of the visiting team and the match ended evenly" , "Each project presented by the government runs into fierce opposition from the rest of the political parties" , " The controversial statements of the actor provoked a fierce reaction from the associations that defend animal rights ” .