http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/road-and-rail-transport/12173233/Flying-Scotsman-train-spotter-doesnt-get-view-he-imagined....html
Imagine that - railroading happens in it's own time.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
If he's British, the incident happened in The United Kingdom, and was reported in a British newspaper, why did the railfan drive 50 miles to see the train, and not 80 kilometers?
Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar.
Murphy Siding If he's British, the incident happened in The United Kingdom, and was reported in a British newspaper, why did the railfan drive 50 miles to see the train, and not 80 kilometers?
Perhaps to match the Flying Scotsman's speedometer.
A lot of the British believe God put the English Channel where it is to keep Phillip of Spain, Napoleon, Hitler, and the metric system OUT of the British Isles!
That guy is probably cursing Richard Branson right now! Funny how all my English friends hate that guy. The "bearded buffoon" they call him. What it is, the don't like the trains that Virgin runs (on the west coast main line, anyway.) They call it "plasticrap." I've ridden them, they are all plastic and have seats next to the pillars between the windows, not directly at the windows and so forth.
Anyway, I can't think of a better use for 4 million pounds and I'll be over there in May and I'll see if I can see the FS.
The Brits have the metric system, but it's sort of like here in metric Canada where you have gasoline priced by the liter, distance in kilometers, food by the kilo and your height and weight are in inches and pounds. Only in Britain, your weight is measured in "stone." 14 stone, not 14 stones. Funny, but great people!
but, have a look at this:
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-york-north-yorkshire-35653416
14 stone = 196 lbs...
At least his view wasn't blocked by some inconsiderate clod (thoughts on the Virgin train notwithstanding). That would have been inexcusable.
Edit - Almost as bad as my original spelling of the word...
Larry Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date Come ride the rails with me! There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...
wanswheel http://www.itv.com/news/calendar/update/2016-02-25/us-trip-offered-to-flying-scotsman-enthusiast-after-virgin-photobomb/
Johnny
Suspect Man-o-war as seems middle of day and the stainless baggage coach usually on MOW but who knows ?
It looks to me like the train is leaving Atlanta, since the station is behind the train. The picture could have been taken in the summer, when there was still plenty of daylight at six in the afternoon.
Victrola1 Flying Scotsman train spotter doesn't get view he imagined... Ryan Allen drove for 50 miles and waited for over an hour to see the Flying Scotsman pass by, only for his view to be obscured at the crucial moment http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/road-and-rail-transport/12173233/Flying-Scotsman-train-spotter-doesnt-get-view-he-imagined....html
I drove 100 miles to meet a girl that sounded really hot on the telephone, I should have stayed home.. It didn't make the papers..
Randy Stahl Victrola1 Flying Scotsman train spotter doesn't get view he imagined... Ryan Allen drove for 50 miles and waited for over an hour to see the Flying Scotsman pass by, only for his view to be obscured at the crucial moment http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/road-and-rail-transport/12173233/Flying-Scotsman-train-spotter-doesnt-get-view-he-imagined....html I drove 100 miles to meet a girl that sounded really hot on the telephone, I should have stayed home.. It didn't make the papers..
Regarding the metric system and its origins and applications:
I prefer the (old) English or Imperial system in which all measurements related to the human body (and scale): One foot is...approx. the length of a foot; one inch is about the size of a finger between joints; one yard about the distance from one's nose to one's thumb, etc. The metric system, however, is based on a mathematical error (the diameter of the earth was estimated, lated proven incorrect) and not human proportion.
After all, gentlemen: If God had wanted us to use the metric system, he would have had ten apostles, n'est ce pas?
Always had a heck of a time traveling through Canada and buying gas... The Imperial gallon is five US quarts...
I've lived in Canada for 21 years now and have several old cars. For the life of me, I can not figure out the Canadian method of determining gas mileage. Liters per 100 kms. The lower the liters, the better, I think. It's miles per gallon, simple! Jeez, why not use hogsheads per furlong or something like that?
Wasn't an inch the measurement of 3 grains of rice laid end-to-end? A yard was a length from a king's outstretched fingertip to the tip of his nose? Speaking of 10 apostles (nice!) what about Noah's cubit?
The metric system was invented by radical French revolutionarys who wanted to erase every vestige of the old regime, and I mean EVERYTHING, from the system of measurements to dropping the military designation of regiment in favor of "demi-brigade."
200-plus years later they're STILL causing trouble!
I think the cubit is the length of the arm from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger. Believe the Egyptians came up with that one.
Then there's the fathom, six feet, the length of an average sailors outstretched arms, very handy for measuring line.
One of my favorite writers of sailing stories, Tristan Jones, once said the reason mariners don't use the metric system is because it's based on a fallacy.
Firelock76 The metric system was invented by radical French revolutionarys who wanted to erase every vestige of the old regime, and I mean EVERYTHING, from the system of measurements to dropping the military designation of regiment in favor of "demi-brigade." 200-plus years later they're STILL causing trouble! I think the cubit is the length of the arm from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger. Believe the Egyptians came up with that one. Then there's the fathom, six feet, the length of an average sailors outstretched arms, very handy for measuring line. One of my favorite writers of sailing stories, Tristan Jones, once said the reason mariners don't use the metric system is because it's based on a fallacy.
Remember back when the length of a mile depended upon which country you were in?
Why is a league six miles?
Remember pounds, shillings, and pence? And guineas (doctors charged poorer people in pounds, and charged the rich in guineas)?
Perhaps I should have explained for the benefit of the young, that 12 pence made a shilling, 20 shillings made a pound, and 21 shillings made a guinea. A crown was 5 shillings, a half-crown (there was such a coin) was 2 1/2 shillings, a farthing was 1/4 penny, and so on.
I'll wager thruppence that someone will note how, years ago, everyone in the UK took L.s.d.
By the way, in the 1840' s there was enough poverty to make a half-farthing coin necessary.
Murphy Siding Randy Stahl Victrola1 Flying Scotsman train spotter doesn't get view he imagined... Ryan Allen drove for 50 miles and waited for over an hour to see the Flying Scotsman pass by, only for his view to be obscured at the crucial moment http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/road-and-rail-transport/12173233/Flying-Scotsman-train-spotter-doesnt-get-view-he-imagined....html I drove 100 miles to meet a girl that sounded really hot on the telephone, I should have stayed home.. It didn't make the papers.. Perhaps that's just because she wasn't old, fast, Scottish, and smoking.
Perhaps that's just because she wasn't old, fast, Scottish, and smoking.
The English Press does come up with some strange tales. THis is probably not the first one written aboput an Englishman who was upset because some fast, sleek Virgin, despoiled his fun. He was all out of sorts because of his efforts to watch an elderly, 93 year old, run down the line.
Remember the brew-ha-ha stired up when the Flying Scotsman was in the USA in the late 1960's? The English fans got all stirred up because they hung the 'cow catcher' on her, and then planted that Janey knuckle coupler in the middle of it; and they were absolutely insensed when that honkin-great, Pyle headligh was put top center of her smokebox. Then the injustice of that big, shiney silver bell was mounted on her front area? ( the story was that the bell was loaned by Southern Rwy; when the Flying Scotsman ran in their original Steam Program in the late 1960's.)
There used to be videos of the Flying Scotsman on tour in the USA on YouTube.. Somehow most of that tour documentation, seems to have disappeared (?). Not many people remember that tour over in North Carolina, or in Georgia and Alabama... or that Southern Rwy Steam tour in the USA.
I believe the bell and headlight were hung on the "Scotsman" during its American visit to make it "street legal," for lack of a better term, for operation on American railroads.
The Janney coupler was probably added for convenience. I can't account for the cowcatcher, plenty of American locomotives operated without them.
Murphy: LOL - good one !
On metrics: For linear measurements in building and heavy/ highway civil construction (including rail), the metric system is far less useful than the English units. Why ?
English units are common and comfortably achieved at precisions of 1/8" ~ 0.01' as the smallest practical unit of measure in outdoor rough terrain conditions.
Metric is either 1 centimeter ~ 3/8" or 0.03' - 3 times as coarse; or, 1 millimeter ~ halfway between 1/32" and 1/16", about 0.004'. Those are way too fine /small to be useable. For example, try to find and hold a plumb bob or prism pole in windy condition to mark a point at 2 mm vs. 3 mm = straddling 1/4" ~ 0.02'. So the useful increment is either 2 or 3 mm. But that implies a precision that just isn't there.
Area is similar. In metric, 1 hectare is about 2.47 acres, so again a considerable of precision in lost for any particular number of decimal places to the right of the decimal point. For example, 0.01 ha ~ 0.025 ac; but 0.01 ac ~ 0.004 ha.
- Paul North.
1939 English Tour in USA vs. B&O's Royal Blue Limited - note headlight & bell
BaltACD 1939 English Tour in USA vs. B&O's Royal Blue Limited - note headlight & bell
This is a surprise, I didn't know a British steamliner was here in 1939. Was that in conjunction with the 1939 World's Fair in New York?
Firelock76 BaltACD 1939 English Tour in USA vs. B&O's Royal Blue Limited - note headlight & bell This is a surprise, I didn't know a British steamliner was here in 1939. Was that in conjunction with the 1939 World's Fair in New York?
That would be my guess - but I don't know for sure. I think the train is the 'Coronation Scot'.
When I saw the Scotsman in the museum at York in 2004, it had a fold-down Janney coupler on the rear of the tender. The guy said it was from the USA trip and they never felt a need to remove it and it was used again in Australia. I well remember the cowcatcher when it was at NYP in 1969. I have a DVD set regarding it and on one it shows the FS being towed into Penn by a GG1.
But, wasn't there another Brit brought over for the Chicago World's Fair in the early 30s?
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