Sign at Basingstoke station - what does it mean?
Discussion
onyx39 said:
Walk past this sign at Basingstoke Railway station everyday and wondered what it meant...
Any railway related peeps out there able to tell me?
Perhaps that is the length of the underpass/bridge...47 mtrs, (58 chains) plus the railway reference number for it.Any railway related peeps out there able to tell me?
http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2125909
With a little help from a well known search engine, BML1 is the name of the line - in this list http://deaves47.zxq.net/ELRs/ELRb.htm
The last line is the distance (in miles and chains) from the start - Waterloo. It's not immediately obvious what the middle line means.
The last line is the distance (in miles and chains) from the start - Waterloo. It's not immediately obvious what the middle line means.
I've noticed them too and always been surprised in this day and age of political correctness, kow-towing to brussels etc that new signs have old fashioned miles and chains on them. Had to check up on how many chains (= 22yds = 1 cricket pitch) there were to a mile. (80, if you haven't got a calculator 
)
Just following the local market stallholders I suppose. They seem to have abandoned metrication completely for weights and measures.
)Just following the local market stallholders I suppose. They seem to have abandoned metrication completely for weights and measures.
Dogwatch said:
I've noticed them too and always been surprised in this day and age of political correctness, kow-towing to brussels etc that new signs have old fashioned miles and chains on them. Had to check up on how many chains (= 22yds = 1 cricket pitch) there were to a mile. (80, if you haven't got a calculator )
Just following the local market stallholders I suppose. They seem to have abandoned metrication completely for weights and measures.
I don't usually post in here, but I was just browsing seeing if anybody had started a thread on the Midland main line proposed electrification )Just following the local market stallholders I suppose. They seem to have abandoned metrication completely for weights and measures.
All railways in the UK are measured in miles and chains (OK probably not HS1 but all the rest) and have been so since the railways were invented. Usually they measure the distance to the original company's London terminal (in the case of Basingstoke, Waterloo) but there are some, notably the old Midland Railway lines, that put the centre of the universe at Derby.
Its not unknown for these distances to be "measured" along sections of lines that have long since been closed, and its also not unknown for the distances to be measured via an old route eg. west of Taunton the mileages are measured via Bristol, the original route to the west before the more direct route via Newbury came into existence.
The distances can also be slightly out because of other changes eg. the "lawn" at Paddington is larger than it used to be, and the mileages start from the point of the old buffer stops which are now part of the concourse.
There you are - my first "sad case" post in BP&T
Dogwatch said:
I've noticed them too and always been surprised in this day and age of political correctness, kow-towing to brussels etc that new signs have old fashioned miles and chains on them.
It makes a refreshing change! Even more amazing is how 4' 8.5" became the (almost) universal gauge and still is. Crazily narrow really; Brunel's 8' gauge made much more sense!Simpo Two said:
Dogwatch said:
I've noticed them too and always been surprised in this day and age of political correctness, kow-towing to brussels etc that new signs have old fashioned miles and chains on them.
It makes a refreshing change! Even more amazing is how 4' 8.5" became the (almost) universal gauge and still is. Crazily narrow really; Brunel's 8' gauge made much more sense!In truth of course, there are very few people who notice mile posts as they pass them on a train, and even less that give a toss about what they are
They are really simply there for internal railway purposes (eg. "go and replace that broken chair on the down main line at 45 miles 18 chains")
And sorry to be pedantic, but Brunel's broad gauge was 7 feet ..... and a quarter of an inch
http://www.broadgauge.org.uk/Gah, the price for guessing. But braver than looking it up
Worrying I am starting to use metres intstead of yards. I use Fahrenheit for temperatures above freezing but Centigrade below. Inches for medium lengths and millimetres for small ones...
Metric has no character. And reminds me of Napoleon...
Worrying I am starting to use metres intstead of yards. I use Fahrenheit for temperatures above freezing but Centigrade below. Inches for medium lengths and millimetres for small ones...
Metric has no character. And reminds me of Napoleon...
HereBeMonsters said:
Just in case any train-y people see this thread - what does "Off Up" and "Off Dn" mean on the platforms?
Just to confirm my "sad case" credentials :"Off" - a signal either gives permission to proceed or it doesn't. If a signal gives permission to the driver to move, it is "off" - if it doesn't, it is "on"
"Up" and "down" refer to the direction of travel. Every double track railway has an up and a down line, and usually (subject to a number of caveats that I mentioned in an earlier post) "up" means towards London.
So, "off up" means the driver can proceed on the up line. "Off dn" means the driver can proceed on the down line.
Right, that's three posts in this forum, and each one of them is giving you a "certain" impression of me
This will confirm that impression: www.br-steam-allocations.co.uk
Wacky Racer said:
HereBeMonsters said:
Juat in case any train-y people see this thread - what does "Off Up" and "Off Dn" mean on the platforms?
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=191&t=715019Neither up nor down .....
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