Things you always wanted to know the answer to [Vol. 4]
Discussion
captain_cynic said:
I think it's just something we consider disgusting that was arbitrarily used as a unit of measuring germ or bacteria colony sizes.
It's largely b
ks but CFU (Colony Forming Unit) means nothing to most people, it's the same form of lazy journalism that has given us "size of Wales" as a unit of area.
I think measuring areas of land using Wales as a yardstick is both helpful, sensible and practical. It's largely b
ks but CFU (Colony Forming Unit) means nothing to most people, it's the same form of lazy journalism that has given us "size of Wales" as a unit of area.
Bluedot said:
When a tree falls on a railway line how does it get 'detected' instead of the first anyone knowing about it is when a train goes hurtling into it ?
in the old days a fallen tree on the line would invariably bring down the lineside telegraph wires, so the signaller would have a telegraph and phone failure, and his first act would be to stop all trains and advise the drivers to proceed cautiously as a tree was likely to be on the line. Today, members of the public would hopefully call if they saw anything on the track that would endanger trains, we had a call the other day from a dog walker [ praise be for dog walkers, who would find the dead bodies eh ? ] who reported a small land slippage that had dislodged the ballast under the sleepers, without that call the trains would have thundered over the void at 100mph.
Einion Yrth said:
It'll probably stop 'em getting in over the top; they dig pretty well though.
Ahead of you there. Spent all day putting 2 ft slabs around the inner perimeter, and all day tomorrows job too. They'd give up digging well before 2 feet is what I've researched. And I wouldn't stop Megan breaching any territory of mine.....
glazbagun said:
Post Norman invasion, why was Rochester seen as such an important tactical position when the Medway river is so narrow further west?
Surely if you wanted to march on London you'd bypass Rochester altogether by sea or land.
Anyone who’s been there once, would try and bypass Rochester no matter where they were going, in fact I’d give most of the Medway area a miss.Surely if you wanted to march on London you'd bypass Rochester altogether by sea or land.
Fermit and Sexy Sarah said:
Bluedot said:
When a tree falls on a railway line how does it get 'detected' instead of the first anyone knowing about it is when a train goes hurtling into it ?
Surely in most instances the train driver can see it and stop the train in time?Einion Yrth said:
Fermit and Sexy Sarah said:
It'll probably stop 'em getting in over the top; they dig pretty well though.nonsequitur said:
Fermit and Sexy Sarah said:
Bluedot said:
When a tree falls on a railway line how does it get 'detected' instead of the first anyone knowing about it is when a train goes hurtling into it ?
Surely in most instances the train driver can see it and stop the train in time?
Bluedot said:
nonsequitur said:
Fermit and Sexy Sarah said:
Bluedot said:
When a tree falls on a railway line how does it get 'detected' instead of the first anyone knowing about it is when a train goes hurtling into it ?
Surely in most instances the train driver can see it and stop the train in time?glazbagun said:
Post Norman invasion, why was Rochester seen as such an important tactical position when the Medway river is so narrow further west?
Surely if you wanted to march on London you'd bypass Rochester altogether by sea or land.
I wonder how narrow it was in those days. That whole coastline has changed.Surely if you wanted to march on London you'd bypass Rochester altogether by sea or land.
Big-Bo-Beep said:
in the old days a fallen tree on the line would invariably bring down the lineside telegraph wires, so the signaller would have a telegraph and phone failure, and his first act would be to stop all trains and advise the drivers to proceed cautiously as a tree was likely to be on the line.
Today, members of the public would hopefully call if they saw anything on the track that would endanger trains, we had a call the other day from a dog walker [ praise be for dog walkers, who would find the dead bodies eh ? ] who reported a small land slippage that had dislodged the ballast under the sleepers, without that call the trains would have thundered over the void at 100mph.
That doesn't sound like it would work every time. Plenty would have fallen without hitting anything on the side. Do trains often travel faster than they have any chance of stopping if anything in front of them?Today, members of the public would hopefully call if they saw anything on the track that would endanger trains, we had a call the other day from a dog walker [ praise be for dog walkers, who would find the dead bodies eh ? ] who reported a small land slippage that had dislodged the ballast under the sleepers, without that call the trains would have thundered over the void at 100mph.
Rostfritt said:
That doesn't sound like it would work every time. Plenty would have fallen without hitting anything on the side. Do trains often travel faster than they have any chance of stopping if anything in front of them?
Well yes, one can watch dozens of you tube clips of trains hitting cars and lorries stranded on level crossings, the driver saw the obstruction 400 yds away but an 8 car train at 80 mph can take a mile to stop.Until trains have radar systems that operate the brakes on detecting an obstruction a mile away trains will continue to hit trees, cows, tractors, and other hard things that shouldn't be on the line.
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