I work for a UK company...At the moment it's snowing there and I've gotten reports a whopping 3mm is on the ground already. They are in a panic that the train service will shortly be shut down in and out of London, so they are all scrambling to go home. Being from New England this makes me chuckle. Any UK GRM'ers know why this is the case?
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Jan. 13, 2010 11:36 a.m. Rustfinger New Reader
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Jan. 13, 2010 11:39 a.m. John Brown SuperDork
Christ, Thomas the tank engine can travel through more than that! That hardass Sir Topham Hat doen't even flinch come winter time.
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Jan. 13, 2010 11:42 a.m. BoxheadTim HalfDork
According to my local train company's explanation, it's mainly due to the way they get the electricity to the trains. They use a system called the third rail. Unfortunately if water/snow settles on said rail and freezes on, you've got an insulator that the pick-up can't break.
I have to get back home from London tonight but I can fortunately use a new high speed service that uses an overhead wires for power supply instead. That one seems to be running on time. At least for now.
SE England doesn't seem to cope well with anything but an overcast day or a little drizzle - autumn? Wrong kind of leaves on the line. Warmer than 30C? The rails are bending out of shape and the tarmac is melting. And so on...
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Jan. 13, 2010 11:50 a.m. Rustfinger New Reader
Right...So the solution is...STEAM! Bring back the Peppercorns. Clarkson can stoke, he knows how, and should have the time now that this season of TG is finished.
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Jan. 13, 2010 12:07 p.m. Wally SuperDork
We have a third rail system in NY, they put a little rubber boot over it and as long as the train can push throuigh the snow on the trackbed they go. We almost never have a problem with a frozen third rail.
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Jan. 13, 2010 12:13 p.m. Jensenman SuperDork
Ya don't reckon Lucas won the bids for the system, do ya?
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Jan. 13, 2010 12:41 p.m. mel_horn Dork
Jensenman wrote:
Ya don't reckon Lucas won the bids for the system, do ya?
"+" 400 million...
3mm? WTF? Do ya think they might mean 3 cm?
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Jan. 13, 2010 12:50 p.m. WilD Reader
mel_horn wrote:
Jensenman wrote:
Ya don't reckon Lucas won the bids for the system, do ya?
"+" 400 million...
3mm? WTF? Do ya think they might mean 3 cm?
Nah, a light frost is too much for them to handle. :p
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Jan. 13, 2010 12:54 p.m. akamcfly Reader
short the rail and melt the snow off?
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Jan. 13, 2010 1:16 p.m. aeronca65t HalfDork
My Dad worked for British Railways and London Transit (Tubes). He did a lot of steam work with BR. Of course the Tubes were electric....they actually used a fourth rail back then.
I remember as a kid seeing the Mallard on the Flying Scotsman line.
It's hard to imagine an inch of snow causing them that much trouble, but who knows?
When we emigrated to Canada, Dad worked on the big Canadian National diesels including those super-long logging trains. He told us the Brit stuff seemed like "little toys" after seeing the Canadian trains.
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Jan. 13, 2010 1:43 p.m. Keith SuperDork
Yeah, the Canadian trains don't let a bit of snow bother them. I'd love to see one of these pounding across the Prairies.
Of course, the UK system wasn't designed for this sort of weather because the UK doesn't see it.
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Jan. 13, 2010 1:47 p.m. Keith SuperDork
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Jan. 13, 2010 1:49 p.m. Adrian_Thompson Reader
Keith wrote:
Video!
Multiple doses of awesome in that Vid.
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Jan. 13, 2010 1:50 p.m. Adrian_Thompson Reader
There is always the famouse trains delayed "due to the wrong kind of snow on the tracks" Unfortunatly that's not a joke.
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Jan. 13, 2010 2:03 p.m. Dr. Hess SuperDork
Don't y'all know? England is a magic place where the temperature never gets colder than about 40F or hotter than about 80F. I know this to be true because that's the temp range that English cars' climate control systems function at and that the engine will operate in.
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Jan. 13, 2010 2:05 p.m. Jensenman SuperDork
Wally wrote:
We have a third rail system in NY, they put a little rubber boot over it and as long as the train can push throuigh the snow on the trackbed they go. We almost never have a problem with a frozen third rail.
I put a little rubber boot on my third rail and I didn't like it. Had nothing to do with snow, either.
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Jan. 13, 2010 2:18 p.m. Wally SuperDork
You may think different if you were having a problem with ice building up on it
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Jan. 13, 2010 2:29 p.m. Rustfinger New Reader
Rubber boots...warming lubricants...there might be a solution after all. Don't panic London.
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Jan. 13, 2010 2:36 p.m. Jensenman SuperDork
Wally wrote:
You may think different if you were having a problem with ice building up on it
(involuntary twitch)
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Jan. 13, 2010 3:03 p.m. John Brown SuperDork
They wouldn't have this problem if their cops carried real weapons.
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Jan. 13, 2010 3:30 p.m. BoxheadTim HalfDork
Adrian_Thompson wrote:
There is always the famouse trains delayed "due to the wrong kind of snow on the tracks" Unfortunatly that's not a joke.
... and the wrong kind of leaves on the line (had that from time to time in autumn), the wrong kind of rain etc blah blah.
Dr. Hess wrote:
Don't y'all know? England is a magic place where the temperature never gets colder than about 40F or hotter than about 80F. I know this to be true because that's the temp range that English cars' climate control systems function at and that the engine will operate in.
I'd call 80F rather generous but it's roughly the temperature range that my central heating can cope with.
John Brown wrote:
They wouldn't have this problem if their cops carried real weapons.
Some of them do, otherwise they couldn't go and shoot unarmed Brazilian electricians or people carrying a table leg in a plastic bag.
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Jan. 13, 2010 5:27 p.m. oldsaw HalfDork
BoxheadTim wrote:
Some of them do, otherwise they couldn't go and shoot unarmed Brazilian electricians or people carrying a table leg in a plastic bag.
If there isn't a UK law against table mutiliaition, there should be. Those poor, defenseless tables have rights, too..........
