7j43kAnd one final thing: note that the metric people TOTALLY wimped out, and didn't do time. They did distance. And they did weight. But not time. In France, there's still days, weeks, months, years. ALL non-metric.
I wonder what Elon Musk would have to say about that?
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
One of my favorite "conversion disasters":
By Kathy SawyerWashington Post Staff WriterFriday, October 1, 1999; Page A1
NASA's Mars Climate Orbiter was lost in space last week because engineers failed to make a simple conversion from English units to metric, an embarrassing lapse that sent the $125 million craft fatally close to the Martian surface, investigators said yesterday.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Climate_Orbiter
Track.
Back in 1995 when I was building my current layout I had visited several layouts in my area. At that time there were a few fellows using the Shinohara code 83. I don't believe the Atlas code 83 had been available yet.
The Shinohara product had the best looking ties and were speced closer to a scale distance. By comparison the Atlas code 100 just didn't have the same visual effect.
I didn't care if each stick was a meter or a yard. When I came to the end I added another piece.
The Shinohara Code 83 turnout selection was rather extensive at the time as well. Number 10 turnouts! Of course it is no longer made so really shouldn't be considered a viable option today. There's no way to really determine how large of a selection Walthers will offer or if availability will be an issue with their new line of code 83.
Good Luck, Ed
7j43kThen the big fail: SOME gas stations started fielding metric gas pumps.
This was an interesting series of events.
When gasoline exceeded 99.9 cents per gallon, the majority of gas pumps did not have the ability to ring a dollar amount.
It was much less expensinve to convert a pump to liters, than convert the pricing arrangement for dollars.
I remember quite vividly many people speculating that this was the push that would put America on the metric system.
Nope.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
SeeYou190When gasoline exceeded 99.9 cents per gallon, the majority of gas pumps did not have the ability to ring a dollar amount.
I remember buying gas at 59.9¢ per half gallon in '73.
Gas_pump-1973 by Edmund, on Flickr
($1.20 in 1973, adjusted for inflation, would be $7.16 today)
Around here it was the Royal Dutch Shell stations that (briefly) switched to ¢/liter pricing.
Locking gas caps were the hot ticket in the J.C. Whitney catalog, too
Cheers, Ed
richhotrain Metric? We don't need no stinkin' metric. Unless, of course, I am comparing Tanqueray 10 - - - 750ml to 1.75L. If 750ml costs $36.99 and 1.75L costs $64.99, I'm going with the 1.75L. Rich
Metric?
We don't need no stinkin' metric.
Unless, of course, I am comparing Tanqueray 10 - - - 750ml to 1.75L.
If 750ml costs $36.99 and 1.75L costs $64.99, I'm going with the 1.75L.
Rich
Clearly a man of great intelligence and taste!
I will be quaffing a glass of that stuff in about two hours. With a dash of vermouth, of course. It just wouldn't be right to leave it totally out.
Ed
selectorThe only reason metric is disliked is because we keep harkening back to the imperial measurements
Not the only reason.
0 C is freezing, 37 is body temperature and 100 is boiling but if it's 10 C do I need a fleece or a really warm coat. If it's 28 C do I need to turn on the air conditioner? No idea.
If I want an 8 oz steak or or a 12 oz steak, what is that in grams? 224 and 340 with a calculator.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
BATMAN Bayfield Transfer Railway If you're that bored, my lawn needs mowing. You got beer? Be right over.
Bayfield Transfer Railway If you're that bored, my lawn needs mowing.
You got beer? Be right over.
OF COURSE I have beer.
Disclaimer: This post may contain humor, sarcasm, and/or flatulence.
Michael Mornard
Bringing the North Woods to South Dakota!
7j43kWith a dash of vermouth, of course.
Of course for a proper dry martini that measurement is in nanoliters...
Bayfield Transfer RailwayOF COURSE I have beer.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=TMK0egDFX0w
The real reason we are not metric is americans don't like to be told what to do, period. It has to do with our independence.
Lest we all forget, America has been on a metric system since we became a country. Our money is a metric system. Start with a penny or cent (.01) 10 cents is 1 dime (.1). 10 dimes or 100 cents is 1 dollar. 10 dollar bills or 100 dimes or 1000 cents can be exchanged for one 10 dollar bill. 10-10 dollar bills or 1000 dimes or 10000 cents give you $100, etc.
Until the advent of the euro, many of the European countries' monitary systems were metric. They all had wacky conversions. The British were on a decimal system after 1971. (Had to look that up. Before my time.)
For aesthetic and reliability I dont piece flex track together normally and given the amount of chopping that is normally involved to accommodate turnouts for a non giant sized layout i can't see it making much difference to me whether it comes in 36 or 39 inch lengths. I buy boxes of Peco code 83 -25 lengths and just accept i will have leftovers for the future. The boxes are £75 here and around the same in the US. Always seems like one of the best buys in the modelling world.
Agree with others though most stuff is less for more these days.
BigDaddy selector The only reason metric is disliked is because we keep harkening back to the imperial measurements Not the only reason. 0 C is freezing, 37 is body temperature and 100 is boiling but if it's 10 C do I need a fleece or a really warm coat. If it's 28 C do I need to turn on the air conditioner? No idea.
selector The only reason metric is disliked is because we keep harkening back to the imperial measurements
I do. Wife and I will turn on our fan if the temps in the living room rises above 23 deg C. If it continues to climb to 26+, we turn on the air.
BigDaddy If I want an 8 oz steak or or a 12 oz steak, what is that in grams? 224 and 340 with a calculator.
When you eat it, it will be identical either way. But you are still stuck in imperial measures because you only think in terms of those weights for a steak. What if you wanted a 200 gm or a 300 gm steak? Can you remember those numbers? I'll bet you can.
BATMAN NorthBrit Never mind the candy and yards of track. Watering down the whiskey!!! No! No, NO!!! I wont stand for it. No! Never! NO!!! David No watered-down stuff at my house David, have a pour. It's all I have on hand right now, the expensive Irish stuff is somehow missing, not sure where it went.
NorthBrit Never mind the candy and yards of track. Watering down the whiskey!!! No! No, NO!!! I wont stand for it. No! Never! NO!!! David
Never mind the candy and yards of track.
Watering down the whiskey!!!
No! No, NO!!! I wont stand for it. No! Never! NO!!!
David
No watered-down stuff at my house David, have a pour.
It's all I have on hand right now, the expensive Irish stuff is somehow missing, not sure where it went.
Two very nice whiskies indeed.
To the world you are someone. To someone you are the world
I cannot afford the luxury of a negative thought
7j43k richhotrain Metric? We don't need no stinkin' metric. Unless, of course, I am comparing Tanqueray 10 - - - 750ml to 1.75L. If 750ml costs $36.99 and 1.75L costs $64.99, I'm going with the 1.75L. Rich Clearly a man of great intelligence and taste! I will be quaffing a glass of that stuff in about two hours. With a dash of vermouth, of course. It just wouldn't be right to leave it totally out. Ed
Alton Junction
BATMAN No watered-down stuff at my house David, have a pour. It's all I have on hand right now, the expensive Irish stuff is somehow missing, not sure where it went.
Which brings me to my favorite drink - - the Rusty Nail. Three parts Chivas and one part Drambui. Have a second, if you dare.
TheFlyingScotsmanI can't see it making much difference to me whether it comes in 36 or 39 inch lengths.
I do not either.
When I packed all my railroad stuff away last year I happened to have a 36 inch lonh box from Midwest Cork Roadbed. I cut 3 inches off of my few pieces of Shinohara flex that I had. I did not cry about it.
When I finally build the layout, I might run into a circumstance where I regret doing that, but I doubt it.
selector Wife and I will turn on our fan if the temps in the living room rises above 23 deg C.
I did not know ceiling fans could be turned off.
Lastspikemike the Earth is round after all
the Earth is round after all
maxmanThere is no such thing as "gravy". I don't believe that I have ever been on a bridge where the temporary toll has been eliminated. And I think here in Pennsylvania we are still paying a "temporary" tax to recover from the Johnstown flood.
I've never heard of another one.
Mark P.
Website: http://www.thecbandqinwyoming.comVideos: https://www.youtube.com/user/mabrunton
LastspikemikeMetric woodworking is no more difficult that "imperial".
I just bought a truckload of 12.5mm ply for underlay for my new tile floor. It butted up to the old 1/2" perfectly, was that supposed to happen? What am I missing here?
BATMAN Lastspikemike Metric woodworking is no more difficult that "imperial". I just bought a truckload of 12.5mm ply for underlay for my new tile floor. It butted up to the old 1/2" perfectly, was that supposed to happen? What am I missing here?
Lastspikemike Metric woodworking is no more difficult that "imperial".
But it is the perfect example. If 1/2" plywood had never existed, and we had always had the metric system, don't you think that would have been 12mm or 13 mm plywood?
When the guy invented plywood, he didn't think, ok, I need to made this plywood 15/32" of an inch? Nor would he said in needs to be 12.5mm.
The problem is only partly the less logical to human proportion units, it is the idea of converting at this stage of the game? To what end?
I get it regarding some things, for other things, like building buildings, it is pointless.
Sheldon
Lastspikemike0.02 mm height difference.....
So that's what the dogs have been tripping over.
Lastspikemike Metal working has been metric for ages: thousandths not fractions of an inch.
Metal working has been metric for ages: thousandths not fractions of an inch.
That is not "metric". That is "decimal".
Lastspikemike richhotrain Lastspikemike the Earth is round after all Actually, it is not round. It is closer to an ellipsoid or spheroid. According to Scientific American, it is not even a perfect oblate spheroid but, rather, a bumpy spheroid. Actually, the Earth is round. All those shapes you mention are also round. Spheres are round but they're not the only shapes that are.
richhotrain Lastspikemike the Earth is round after all Actually, it is not round. It is closer to an ellipsoid or spheroid. According to Scientific American, it is not even a perfect oblate spheroid but, rather, a bumpy spheroid.
Actually, it is not round. It is closer to an ellipsoid or spheroid. According to Scientific American, it is not even a perfect oblate spheroid but, rather, a bumpy spheroid.
Actually, the Earth is round. All those shapes you mention are also round.
Spheres are round but they're not the only shapes that are.
A statement is either right or it is wrong. In this case, the statement is wrong, and you are wrong.
The earth is not round. It is spherical, not round. There is a difference. Actually, the correct scientific term is ellipsoid. The earth's shape is an ellipsoid.
I had an ex-wife once that was one of those know-it-all people that thought she was right all the time. She couldn't stand to ever be wrong, EVER! She's on her fourth husband now and I was her first. Come to think of it, I think she used to water down my whiskey That was just wrong!
I would hate to be right all the time, nor would I even try to be. It would be pretty hard to learn things doing that.
I found some interesting art this morning that I thought you guys might enjoy.
TF
Track fiddler I had an ex-wife once that was one of those know-it-all people that thought she was right all the time. She couldn't stand to ever be wrong, EVER! She's on her fourth husband now and I was her first. Come to think of it, I think she used to water down my whiskey. That was just wrong!
I had an ex-wife once that was one of those know-it-all people that thought she was right all the time. She couldn't stand to ever be wrong, EVER! She's on her fourth husband now and I was her first. Come to think of it, I think she used to water down my whiskey. That was just wrong!
A statement is either right or it is wrong. In this case, the statement is right, and you are right.
It is absolutely wrong to water down whiskey. In fact, that is the beauty of the Rusty Nail, Scotch and Drambui, no water.
Just for the record, here on a TRAIN forum, the earth's shape is oblate...not ellipsoid. Even then, it's only a rough profile because, as someone said earlier, it has variations of 'mean elevation' due to the weight of glaciers thousands of years ago, tectonic activity, and other influences. The tides are indicative of a strong influence that makes the earth's shape anything but ellipsoid.
Lastspikemike richhotrain A statement is either right or it is wrong. In this case, the statement is wrong, and you are wrong. The earth is not round. It is spherical, not round. There is a difference. Actually, the correct scientific term is ellipsoid. The earth's shape is an ellipsoid. So, a cylinder is not round? Like a wheel is not round? I didn't correct anybody until somebody tried to correct me. It's difficult to correct me. As well as a rare event. Usually you can easily tell when I might be wrong. I will tell you. Occasionally I make mistakes. This is not one of those events.
richhotrain A statement is either right or it is wrong. In this case, the statement is wrong, and you are wrong. The earth is not round. It is spherical, not round. There is a difference. Actually, the correct scientific term is ellipsoid. The earth's shape is an ellipsoid.
So, a cylinder is not round? Like a wheel is not round?
I didn't correct anybody until somebody tried to correct me.
It's difficult to correct me.
As well as a rare event. Usually you can easily tell when I might be wrong. I will tell you.
Occasionally I make mistakes.
This is not one of those events.
selector Just for the record, here on a TRAIN forum, the earth's shape is oblate...not ellipsoid.
Just for the record, here on a TRAIN forum, the earth's shape is oblate...not ellipsoid.
Lastspikemike richhotrain Track fiddler I had an ex-wife once that was one of those know-it-all people that thought she was right all the time. She couldn't stand to ever be wrong, EVER! She's on her fourth husband now and I was her first. Come to think of it, I think she used to water down my whiskey. That was just wrong! Well, TF, You are absolutely correct. A statement is either right or it is wrong. In this case, the statement is right, and you are right. It is absolutely wrong to water down whiskey. In fact, that is the beauty of the Rusty Nail, Scotch and Drambui, no water. Rich Both the whisky and the Drambuie contain water. Whisky is generally around 50-60% water and Drambuie is even weaker.
richhotrain Track fiddler I had an ex-wife once that was one of those know-it-all people that thought she was right all the time. She couldn't stand to ever be wrong, EVER! She's on her fourth husband now and I was her first. Come to think of it, I think she used to water down my whiskey. That was just wrong! Well, TF, You are absolutely correct. A statement is either right or it is wrong. In this case, the statement is right, and you are right. It is absolutely wrong to water down whiskey. In fact, that is the beauty of the Rusty Nail, Scotch and Drambui, no water. Rich
Well, TF, You are absolutely correct.
Both the whisky and the Drambuie contain water. Whisky is generally around 50-60% water and Drambuie is even weaker.