There is little to no truth to this and there is no "standard" railroad gauge although 60% of RRs do use the Stephenson gauge (the 1435 mm gauge) having more to do with the width of the carts removing coal for the underground mines in Engalnd. Most U.S. RR gauges were based on the John Bull engine which was purchased from England in 1831 for the construction of the Erie Canal. In the U.S. the north and south (1,524 mm gauge) railroad had totally different gauges and because the north won the civil war the gauge used in the north did get wider acceptance in the mid-1880's.
