Great Western Main Line electrification - ongoing discussion

[whole diary]

[JayMac]

Mods, is there any way this recent discussion about the bridge bash can be moved to the relevant thread?

Technobabble is fine here if its about OLE^▸ (Overhead Line Equipment, more often "OHLE") and associated subjects. But road signage?

[Red Squirrel]

Mods, is there any way this recent discussion about the bridge bash can be moved to the relevant thread?

Technobabble is fine here if its about OLE^▸ (Overhead Line Equipment, more often "OHLE") and associated subjects. But road signage?

I must take the blame - but in mitigation, how was I to know that a photo of new OHLE that just happened to have a broken bus in the foreground would lead to all this?

[grahame]

Mods, is there any way this recent discussion about the bridge bash can be moved to the relevant thread?

Technobabble is fine here if its about OLE^▸ (Overhead Line Equipment, more often "OHLE") and associated subjects. But road signage?

I must take the blame - but in mitigation, how was I to know that a photo of new OHLE that just happened to have a broken bus in the foreground would lead to all this?

This is the "Coffee Shop".  Start a discussion on the stickiness of Custard and you'll get a report on "Adhesion in Foods: Fundamental Principles and Applications"

[JayMac]

Oh well, I guess I'll just have to continue off topic. 

Ahh, custard. That's more like it. I know more about its properties than I do about road signage regulations.

In powdered form it can be pretty explosive, as seen at the General Foods (the then makers of Bird's brand custard) factory in Banbury in 1981. C₆H₁₂O₆(s) + 6O₂(g) (with a heat or ignition source) -> 6CO₂(g) + 6H₂O(g).

And in runny form, thanks to it being a non-Newtonian liquid, it's possible to walk on. https://youtu.be/BN2D5y-AxIY It can also be bulletproof. https://youtu.be/xNUcO-gnbeQ

Ultimately, I prefer it this way:

That's my homemade apple and blackberry crumble, made a few days ago, with Ambrosia Custard. It were lush.

(My custard knowledge hasn't come from book learning and years of study. Mainly just one episode of QI. I look forward to Sandy Toksvig explaining road signage/marking regulation, in a more amusing and engaging way than here, in a future episode)

[Bus Queen]

Must agree with Graham custard is more yummy on a good crumble my favourite is apple with a touch of Cinnamon

[Lee]

Custard is only eaten in this household if it's part of a trifle.

Should we not instead consider the benefits of cold ice cream on a hot crumble or maybe even an apple pie?

[Red Squirrel]

Here's all I have to add on this subject: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZ6PDPwpJxg

[Bmblbzzz]

There are lines on the carriageway when approaching from the north as well, but no arrows or writing on the road surface, so it might not be obvious what the line is for.
https://goo.gl/maps/xLfoexZwk892

I had a piece of toffee apple bread pudding (I think that was what it was called) with custard at Scarlet's in Clevedon today. Yumm!

[stuving]

There are lines on the carriageway when approaching from the north as well, but no arrows or writing on the road surface, so it might not be obvious what the line is for.
https://goo.gl/maps/xLfoexZwk892

I'm not sure your north and south are right there - but I see now that there is no dashed line on the west because the pavement is wider, so no need for an arrow and words from the south to warn you not to drive on he pavement. From the north there is little time after the roundabout to see and react to the dashed line on the east side before you go into shadow, so the arrow would certainly help. And that asymmetry is even worse than that - if you drove north without having to move over, you would be preconditioned to come back south without doing so too.

Never eat the stuff.

[TonyK]

Incidentally, I can't help noticing that this is another bridge where the height warning is given in US Customary units only - is there a pattern emerging here? https://goo.gl/maps/uEs1mQrrHaC2

That bus is probably a bit old for metric, and may even have a pre-decimal ticket machine. 1993 was really just the start of the decimal and metric conversion period of about three millennia (which is a lot of fortnights).

I wonder how many involuntary bus converters have tried to persuade a court that the accident only happened because they miscalculated the metric equivalent of a Henry VIII units sign?

[ellendune]

Incidentally, I can't help noticing that this is another bridge where the height warning is given in US Customary units only - is there a pattern emerging here? https://goo.gl/maps/uEs1mQrrHaC2

That bus is probably a bit old for metric, and may even have a pre-decimal ticket machine. 1993 was really just the start of the decimal and metric conversion period of about three millennia (which is a lot of fortnights).

Umm...

Industry officially changed over in 1970, and we had decimal currency in 1971.  That was a long time before 1993.

[TonyK]

Umm...

Industry officially changed over in 1970, and we had decimal currency in 1971.  That was a long time before 1993.

Decimal currency was the exception to the slow evolution rule, simply because the coins themselves eventually ceased to legal tender. But however industry measured it in manufacturing, it was still a 15-foot tall busto a lot of the people driving them for a lot longer.

Eventually, bridge height signs on new bridges will be only in metric units. Then for about 500 years, we will have three standards in use.

[1st fan]

Oh well, I guess I'll just have to continue off topic. 

Ahh, custard. That's more like it. I know more about its properties than I do about road signage regulations.

And in runny form, thanks to it being a non-Newtonian liquid, it's possible to walk on. https://youtu.be/BN2D5y-AxIY

Cool fact......My friend was the scientist who set up that experiment on Braniac.

[grahame]

Decimal currency was the exception to the slow evolution rule, simply because the coins themselves eventually ceased to legal tender. ...

Not sure that was the reason.  As I recall (and I am old enough to recall!) there was supposed to be a six month overlap to allow people time to change, but in practise nearly every business owner wanted to be seen to be moderns and with the times and it certainly felt like 99% plus changed on day one.

Same thing in Innsbruck when Austria switched to the Euro on 1st January (2002?) ... happened to be there on a holiday and it took no more than - I think - 24 hours to switch.

Dagen H (H day) was the day on 3 September 1967, on which the traffic in Sweden switched from driving on the left hand side of the road to the right.   I don't think any period was offered where you could drive on either side.

[martyjon]

.... but in practice nearly every business owner wanted to be seen to be moderns and with the times and it certainly felt like 99% plus changed on day one.

The 1% that didn't, if I recall, was British Rail(ways), who were given dispensation to change on day zero cos their accounting week started on a Sunday.