What would you prefer? A switch, a relay, an actuator and a bit of
wire? Why be complicated if a simple mechanism works?

You could say the same about the rest of the train control
systems. Camshafts worked , so why bother using solid state
electronics? Why bother having in cab video when the driver
is quite capable of sticking his head out the window and looking down
the platform (tho obviously this would mean
him getting off his arse for a non tea/toilet related event so its
probably banned by union rules).

B2003

On 13 Oct 2005 14:26:55 -0700, "Boltar"
wrote:

You could say the same about the rest of the train control
systems. Camshafts worked , so why bother using solid state
electronics? Why bother having in cab video when the driver
is quite capable of sticking his head out the window and looking down
the platform (tho obviously this would mean
him getting off his arse for a non tea/toilet related event so its
probably banned by union rules).

This is exactly how Hamburg U-Bahn trains were dispatched from some
stations in the evenings, when the platforms were not manned and
stations weren't all fitted with the in-cab video transmission
equipment.

There was even a removable microphone for the driver to shout the
characteristic "Zurueckbleiben bitte" with his head out!

Neil

--
Neil Williams in Milton Keynes, UK
When replying please use neil at the above domain
'wensleydale' is a spam trap and is not read.

With all this media fuss and the unions doing their usual
phoney heroic sacrifice-for-the-good-of-the-public bull****
routine , no one seems to have made the mental link that
lots of tripcock failures in service = lots of drivers going
through red lights. If they hadn't then this problem wouldn't
have been noticed. Perhaps someone should be asking why
these overpaid knuckle draggers are having so many SPADs
on this 1 line.

B2003

Boltar wrote:
With all this media fuss and the unions doing their usual
phoney heroic sacrifice-for-the-good-of-the-public bull****
routine , no one seems to have made the mental link that
lots of tripcock failures in service = lots of drivers going
through red lights.

Non-sequitur.
You've already raised this is a separate thread - see my reply.
--
Richard J.
(to e-mail me, swap uk and yon in address)

Neillw001 wrote:
Excuse my ignorance, but why in the 21st Century are saftey-critical
devices on one of the most heavily-used urban metro systems in the
World reliant on a bit of string?

Maybe you are the kind of person who would fit a complex, unknown system
to a train saying `Its the latest hi-tech system`, it is what you need,
string is so 18th century?

If a piece of string works, then what is the problem?


You could put in electronics, a button, introduce a software controlled
system and a processor.

The simple fact is that the mechanical properties of a piece of string
have been understood for centuries.

(although, according to another thread, this still means people are
silly enough to buy the wrong sized string )

Tim

"Tim Bray" wrote in message
.. .
Neillw001 wrote:
Excuse my ignorance, but why in the 21st Century are saftey-critical
devices on one of the most heavily-used urban metro systems in the
World reliant on a bit of string?

Maybe you are the kind of person who would fit a complex, unknown system
to a train saying `Its the latest hi-tech system`, it is what you need,
string is so 18th century?

If a piece of string works, then what is the problem?

Isn't the reason that the trains aren't running because the bit of string
DOESN'T work?

--
Brian

You've already raised this is a separate thread - see my repl

That message was supposed to have been cancelled. Oh well.

B2003

Boltar wrote in uk.transport.london on 14 Oct 2005 12:01:32 -0700
ups.com:

You've already raised this is a separate thread - see my repl

That message was supposed to have been cancelled. Oh well.

I think, instead of cancelling it, you inadvertently repeated the same
comment in: .com:

Besides which , just how hard is it to spot a red light?

Which is, as you'd have seen if you didn't treat Usenet as a
write-only medium, not the point at issue.

--
hike
- a walking tour or outing, esp. of the self-conscious kind
Chambers 20th Century Dictionary