Glenagalt

WARNING: Interest and Topic du Jour may change without notice. Topics include (but not limited to), all things on rails, wheels, wings or rocket flames. He/him.

[XBradTC @xbradtc]

Can't remember if I shared this or not:

Red Arrows in the Mach Loop.

[Glenagalt @glenagalt]

@djpisar1984 @goodmeister @lukaszgry0 @sknerus_ ...care of a Lot of other people's lives- and if something bad happens and people ask why (as they are entitled to), saying "it was the other guy's fault because he was a f*****g dumbass" isn't good enough. The system has to be dumbass-proof because dumbasses are a fact of life.

[Glenagalt @glenagalt]

@djpisar1984 @goodmeister @lukaszgry0 @sknerus_ ...but that still leaves a big mess to clean up, and a lot of paperwork. Anyone who's ever driven a car knows that The Other Guy may do something dumb at any time, and you learn to be ready for it. Railway people are in the rather more difficult position of having to take...

[Glenagalt @glenagalt]

@anon_opin Yeah, that explains why Cowes Week is overrun by crusties trying to to foul the lines of very expensive racing yachts.

[Glenagalt @glenagalt]

@djpisar1984 @goodmeister @lukaszgry0 @sknerus_ A well-designed AHB system will include a "Hold-down" point (which will keep a crossing closed) 30 seconds' travel on the approach side of the "strike-in" point specifically to eliminate the risk of a second train piling into the slow-moving traffic that waited for the first.

[Glenagalt @glenagalt]

@anon_opin Because giving operators of heavy machinery more real-time screens to watch/while travelling at road speeds/ seems like an excellent idea with no possible adverse consequences...

[Glenagalt @glenagalt]

@nickabrooks KPIs are a mug’s game. As soon as you pick An Important Thing to measure performance- especially when financial incentives are involved- the ink is barely dry on the contract before someone figures out how to game the system.

[Glenagalt @glenagalt]

Yes, this was preschool entertainment. It explains a lot. (I still remember the theme music)

[Pulp Librarian @PulpLibrarian]

Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, played on kids TV show Animal Kwackers in 1975.

Yorkshire TV had a big hit with the Kwackers, four musical animals who flew in a UFO and played psychedelia or glam rock, before reading you a story. It's all the kids really wanted!

[Gareth Dennis @GarethDennis]

I hate this more than I hate the hot day. Inescapable.

[Glenagalt @glenagalt]

@RAF_Luton I literally believe the 800.85km claim for a flight which is a 12-15 mile drive. The rest of the distance was circling due to caravans blocking the approach, and waiting for rental boats to move clear of the touchdown buoys.

[Glenagalt @glenagalt]

@JontySh @philatrail Depends on speed. Slowest are red "stepping up" to yellow on close approach. Otherwise yellow "stepping up" on approach, preceded by flashing yellow (single and optionally double) to give a braking-distance warning of the route set.

[Glenagalt @glenagalt]

@Captain_Deltic @salingergregor The Ontological Fallacy in action, as usual....

We must Do (or be seen to Do) SOMETHING.

This is something.

Therefore We Must Do THIS.

[Glenagalt @glenagalt]

@worstall Incorrect. "Most of the expense" was interfering politicians. In normal countries.
1) Design it
2) Build it.
Here
1) Design it
2) Trivial objections
3) Design the whole thing again
4) Cut scope to offset costs of redesign.
5) Repeat steps 1-4

Design is quite expensive, even once

[Glenagalt @glenagalt]

@Captain_Deltic @RhysBenjamin Simple: it failed to conform to his publicly avowed ideology so was therefore a "bad thing", and outliers like Literally All The Data can be safely ignored.

[Glenagalt @glenagalt]

@xym11336600 Spun the van round ASAP and straight on the phone to the signaller in something of a rush. Fortunately there was nothing "in section", and the tractor driver noticed and came back to shove it out of the way shortly afterwards, so no consequences beyond a lot of paperwork. 2/2

[Glenagalt @glenagalt]

@xym11336600 Obviously not. The shock of the change of grade over the crossing made the trailer bounce hard enough to break the towbar. I've actually seen it happen once, passing on the main road and just caught a glimpse of a trailer alone on the crossing deck of an adjacent side road... 1/2