End of the line for the mile, the chain and the yard

[whole diary]

[bobm]

Ah the halfpenny was very useful. I could got to the tobacconist and get my dad's cigarettes for 54 and a half pence and then charge him an extra halfpenny for getting them!  For a long time he thought they cost 55p.

[Btline]

Imperial is miles better.

The change is never going to happen, it is part of British culture and language. Even young people who have been educated in metric state their hight in feet and their weight in stone. Why would they use metric? No-one would know what they are on about!

This is only happening as part of the EU^» (European Union - about) superstate. High Speed One should have been laid out in miles from the start to stop any of this nonsense spreading from Europe.

If EMRTS can only cope with metres then so be it, stick convert speeds to mph and put stickers over!

The mixture of metric and imperial at St Pancras is a mess and dangerous.

[ellendune]

I am glad, as an engineer, that I never had to do engineering calculations in imperial units.

I am also glad I never had to work out 17.5% VAT^▸ (Value Added Tax) on ^ s d.

As for the stone.  I know my weight in both measures and the medical profession quote it in kg.  I suspect it will change with time.  I also am quite happy talking in metres or feet and inches, but then when I started work I had to read the drawings in metric convert the units in my head and tell the 60 year old kerb layer in inches. 

As for the mile - I think you are correct - the change would be very difficult. 

But just as industry changed to metric long before the general public I see no reason why railways should not change.  As you say both units at St Pancras are dangerous. If we do not change you only move the danger point somewhere else.

[JayMac]

My 7 year old nephew didn't have a clue what I was talking about when I said I was x stone in weight. He knew his weight and height in metric units only. That's all he's been taught thus far in school. I believe that imperial isn't actively taught at any age any more, except for the anachronisms of the pint and the mile.

Having watched a Driver's Eve View video last night of Eurostar from Brussels-Midi to London St Pancras I can say there is no mixture of imperial or metric. It's metric all the way, buffer stop to buffer stop.

As for SouthEastern's Javelins, yes there are both imperial and metric speeds used, but I see no issue with this. Drivers are trained to deal with the difference through their route and traction knowledge. Speed boards are black on white for mph and white on black for km/h. Javelins have full overspeed protection on HS1^▸ (High Speed line 1 - St Pancras to Channel Tunnel) via the TVM^▸ (Ticket Vending Machine) (Transmission Voie-Machine - track to train communication) system and for classic lines TPWS^▸ (Train Protection and Warning System) is fitted. Even if a driver were to mistake a mph sign for km/h when on classic lines he'd be going slower than permitted anyway.

[Chris from Nailsea]

My 7 year old nephew didn't have a clue what I was talking about when I said I was x stone in weight. He knew his weight and height in metric units only. That's all he's been taught thus far in school. I believe that imperial isn't actively taught at any age any more, except for the anachronisms of the pint and the mile.

Interestingly, a few minutes ago, I tried a similar (unscientific / unrehearsed) test on my 17-year-old son: when asked his height, he replied in feet and inches - while offering his view that 'metric was much more logical'! 

[trainer]

Even young people who have been educated in metric state their hight in feet and their weight in stone. Why would they use metric? No-one would know what they are on about!

No-one?  Not even all those who have been educated in metric units?  I fear you are merely talking about my (our?) generation.  I remember my grandparents being in denial over decimalisation of UK^▸ (United Kingdom) currency and my parents fighting centigrade (as then known).  We will go the way of all flesh and in due time the stone and the yard will become as quaint as the perch the ducat is today.

Meanwhile, in the same way as I can buy my petrol in litres and measure consumption in miles per gallon, we will live with split personalities over measurement.  The one thing I want to be sure of when I am on a train is that those who are maintaining and operating the equipment are highly educated in whatever measurements they choose to use so I am safely delivered to my destination.

[Chris from Nailsea]

Indeed - you wouldn't want to escape disaster by a hairs-breadth! 

[bobm]

In my experience women still prefer their cloth measurements in inches - particularly when the centimetre equivalent reaches three figures!!

[stuving]

Ah, it's all coming back to me ...

A "new pound" of ten shillings was considered, and looked more likely at one stage, so it was rather a surprise that Halsbury recommended keeping the pound. That meant a half new penny was needed to counter the "decimalisation causes price hikes" headlines. Of course massive inflation happened very soon for other reasons, so the "half p" only had a short life.

I thought it was obvious that making 1 shilling=10p was a good idea, as most transactions were for sums of that size - shillings and pence rather than pounds. Exchange markets ought to be able to cope with a factor of two change surely? - but Halsbury thought not. I remember a rather surreal TV^▸ (Thames Valley, or TeleVision, depending on context) interview where Jim Callaghan managed to go through an example (obviously carefully learned) showing "how simple it was" to convert some odd amount (say 17/4) into new pence. In fact, the easiest way to do the conversion is to a 10s unit and then halve the answer. (Try it - you can do 1.73 just by looking at it, then convert to 86.5p).