Why do circuit breakers go up for on and down for off?...

[John Larkin]

On Tue, 23 May 2023 09:32:22 GMT, Cindy Hamilton
<hamilton@invalid.com> wrote:

On 2023-05-23, rbowman <bowman@montana.com> wrote:
On Mon, 22 May 2023 21:16:29 GMT, Cindy Hamilton wrote:


Ours aren\'t very big, either. This is the one I like the best:

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Ellsworth+%2B+State/
@42.229363,-83.73813,3018m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m6!3m5!
1s0x883caf8c5de8b381:0x428862a71be1fc4a!8m2!3d42.229363!4d-83.73813!
16s%2Fg%2F1tf7st9w

In their finite wisdom, they located it at the same intersection as the
Senior Citizens\' Center.

It has improved traffic a lot though, and turned a few major accidents
into many fenderbenders.

Weed is legal in Michigan? Couldn\'t miss the Exclusive Ann Arbor Cannabis
Dispensary on Varsity.

Yes, weed is legal. Ann Arbor has a ton of dispensaries. There are at
least four in the area shown on that map, even though they\'re not called
out by name. The market is flooded, and I expect a lot of them will fail
in short order.

The price in California has collapsed. To numbers like $100 per pound
wholesale.

So many people thought they would make their fortunes growing or
selling pot. So many.

 

[Anthony William Sloman]

On Wednesday, May 24, 2023 at 1:44:33 PM UTC+10, John Larkin wrote:

On Tue, 23 May 2023 09:32:22 GMT, Cindy Hamilton <hami...@invalid.com> wrote:
On 2023-05-23, rbowman <bow...@montana.com> wrote:
On Mon, 22 May 2023 21:16:29 GMT, Cindy Hamilton wrote:

<snip>

> The price in California has collapsed. To numbers like $100 per pound wholesale.

Tobacco leaf costs about $1.87 per pond to produce. Marijuana can\'t be much more expensive to grow.

> So many people thought they would make their fortunes growing or selling pot. So many.

At $100 per pound it should still be a profitable crop, but the price is unlikely to stay that high for all that long.

Digging up fossil carbon and selling it to be burnt as fuel is probably even more anti-social, but the people who do it now use the same people that used to tell us that smoking tobacco wasn\'t bad for your lungs to tell us that more CO2 in the atmosphere isn\'t bad for the climate.

John Larkin thinks that he designs his electronic circuits. He is susceptible to flattering delusions.

--
Bill Sloman, Sydney

 

[Commander Kinsey]

On Thu, 27 Apr 2023 15:46:41 +0100, John Larkin <jlarkin@highlandsnipmetechnology.com> wrote:

On Thu, 27 Apr 2023 11:00:25 +0100, \"Commander Kinsey\"
CK1@nospam.com> wrote:

On Wed, 12 Apr 2023 11:50:22 +0100, Max Demian <max_demian@bigfoot.com> wrote:

On 12/04/2023 07:36, Commander Kinsey wrote:
On Sun, 02 Apr 2023 16:03:18 +0100, Scott Lurndal <scott@slp53.sl.home
wrote:
Cindy Hamilton <hamilton@invalid.com> writes:
On 2023-04-02, John Larkin <jlarkin@highlandSNIPMEtechnology.com> wrote:

I wonder how people survived in Nebraska in 1800, with no waterproof
parkas, no moon boots, uninsulated log cabins, no phone or internet,
no penicillin, no Safeway down the street.

A lot of them didn\'t. Old graveyards and ad hoc burial grounds
are everywhere to tell the tale.

In 1800, 46 percent of children did not reach their fifth birthday.

Which is the way it should be. Weed out the weak. Nowadays the weak
get treated, have weak kids, and so it goes on.

Dysgenics is as unpopular nowadays as eugenics.

WTF is dysgenics? Why would anyone avoid reproducing with superior beings?

How many kids and grandkids do you have? How are they doing?

Silly question which proves my point.

 

[Commander Kinsey]

On Thu, 27 Apr 2023 15:45:44 +0100, John Larkin <jlarkin@highlandsnipmetechnology.com> wrote:

On Thu, 27 Apr 2023 11:00:58 +0100, \"Commander Kinsey\"
CK1@nospam.com> wrote:

On Wed, 12 Apr 2023 14:34:44 +0100, John Larkin <jjlarkin@highlandtechnology.com> wrote:

On Wed, 12 Apr 2023 11:50:22 +0100, Max Demian
max_demian@bigfoot.com> wrote:

On 12/04/2023 07:36, Commander Kinsey wrote:
On Sun, 02 Apr 2023 16:03:18 +0100, Scott Lurndal <scott@slp53.sl.home
wrote:
Cindy Hamilton <hamilton@invalid.com> writes:
On 2023-04-02, John Larkin <jlarkin@highlandSNIPMEtechnology.com> wrote:

I wonder how people survived in Nebraska in 1800, with no waterproof
parkas, no moon boots, uninsulated log cabins, no phone or internet,
no penicillin, no Safeway down the street.

A lot of them didn\'t. Old graveyards and ad hoc burial grounds
are everywhere to tell the tale.

In 1800, 46 percent of children did not reach their fifth birthday.

Which is the way it should be. Weed out the weak. Nowadays the weak
get treated, have weak kids, and so it goes on.

Dysgenics is as unpopular nowadays as eugenics.

Birth rates are below replacement in most developed countries. And
people are living longer and better.

\"Weak\" has changed from the days of plowing by hand and fighting with
spears.

Now it\'s those who die of covid. Let them die.

We had a wonderful, strong, generous female relative who got covid and
died in two weeks. She is a great loss to our family and to the world.

How did you get to be so nasty and so distorted?

Clearly she wasn\'t as strong as you thought. A human with a weak immune system is no use to us.

 

[Cursitor Doom]

On Tue, 23 May 2023 15:58:53 +0100, gareth evans
<headstone255@yahoo.com> wrote:

Surely it must be possible from the massed ranks
from all three newsgroups to do something about
the International pest identifying as Peeler,
either by getting him or her removed from the
Internet or else incarcerated in the loony bin?

Your chances would be close to zero. As nuisance posters go, Peeler is
actually not that bad as anyone who remembers \'Mike Corely\' will
surely agree.

 

[Peeler]

On Wed, 24 May 2023 18:52:07 +0100, Cursed & Dumb, yet another useless,
troll-feeding, senile asshole, blathered:

Surely it must be possible from the massed ranks
from all three newsgroups to do something about
the International pest identifying as Peeler,
either by getting him or her removed from the
Internet or else incarcerated in the loony bin?


Your chances would be close to zero. As nuisance posters go, Peeler is
actually not that bad as anyone who remembers \'Mike Corely\' will
surely agree.

Awww! Some of you endlessly blabbering and troll-feeing senile arseholes
really are hurting! GOOD! LOL

 

[Commander Kinsey]

On Thu, 27 Apr 2023 12:05:45 +0100, Bing AI <bing_ai@example.com> wrote:

On 27/04/2023 00:16, Commander Kinsey wrote:
On Thu, 13 Apr 2023 18:05:22 +0100, Bing AI <bing_ai@example.com> wrote:

On 13/04/2023 16:13, Commander Kinsey wrote:
On Tue, 04 Apr 2023 12:51:06 +0100, Max Demian <max_demian@bigfoot.com
wrote:

On 02/04/2023 22:05, Commander Kinsey wrote:
On Mon, 20 Mar 2023 12:58:33 -0000, Max Demian
max_demian@bigfoot.com
wrote:

The retention of red/green colour-blindness in some people could be
because such distinctions aren\'t all that important, or it could be
that
such colour-blindness defeats the camouflage that some predators
adopted.

How can seeing less colours possibly let you see camouflaged things
better? It\'s the other way round. Camouflage is because two things
look the same. The more things you can distinguish, the more
likely you
can see it.

The patterns of distinct colours confuse perception. If you don\'t see
the colours as distinct, you won\'t be confused.

There\'s no confusion. The pattern looks similar to the surroundings.
Colour blindness won\'t help there.

There are some evolutionary advantages to red-green colorblindness.
People with red-green color blindness can differentiate between much
more shades of khaki than unaffected people. This might help detecting
camouflaged food in a green environment [1]. Color vision deficient
people have a tendency to have better night vision and, in some
situations, they can perceive variations in luminosity that
color-sighted people could not [2]. However, it’s important to note that
colorblindness can also cause difficulties in everyday life [3].

[1]
https://biology.stackexchange.com/questions/44140/what-is-the-evolutionary-advantage-of-red-green-color-blindness
[2]
https://www.colorblindguide.com/post/the-advantage-of-being-colorblind
[3] https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/colour-vision-deficiency/

You shouldn\'t be allowed to drive. Traffic lights anyone?

As an AI large language model I currently don\'t have a licence, but, in
the future, when self driving vehicles are perfected, humans will be
banned from driving due to their emotional instability.

AI should eventually be able to drive way better than us. In fact they already can. So they should have higher speed limits.

 

[Commander Kinsey]

On Fri, 05 May 2023 20:57:42 +0100, Carlos E.R. <robin_listas@es.invalid> wrote:

On 2023-02-28 08:40, Commander Kinsey wrote:
On Sat, 18 Feb 2023 21:44:51 -0000, Carlos E.R.
robin_listas@es.invalid> wrote:

On 2023-02-18 14:14, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
On 18/02/2023 12:43, Max Demian wrote:
On 18/02/2023 00:29, Commander Kinsey wrote:
On Mon, 13 Feb 2023 13:58:47 -0000, micky <NONONOmisc07@fmguy.com
wrote:
In alt.home.repair, on Mon, 13 Feb 2023 13:33:36 +0000, Max Demian
max_demian@bigfoot.com> wrote:
On 13/02/2023 03:59, micky wrote:
In alt.home.repair, on Mon, 13 Feb 2023 00:08:57 +0100, \"Carlos
E.R.\" <robin_listas@es.invalid> wrote:

Radios of that era had a setting named \"phone\". And a socket. You
connected the output of the \"electric gramophone\" pickup to the
phone

Every mains valve radio had a \"Gram\" or \"PU\" socket with switching,
usually combined with the waveband switch.

Every AC tube radio....

Mains was always AC wasn\'t it?

If course it wasn\'t (in the UK). Mains was AC or DC, and 120V (or so)
to 250V (or so).


Mains was always AC post WWII and probably post the advent of consumer
tube radios and IIRC was always 240VAC post WWII.

\"The Electricity (Supply) Act 1919 merged the 600-odd local generating
companies into area boards, who in turn were centralised into the
Central Electricity Board by the Electricity Supply Act 1925. That is
when the voltage was standardised at 240V, and the National Grid
created.

(But DC persisted, in some areas as late as the mid 60s. Refrigerators,
Vacuum Cleaners, Sewing Machines, Electric Drills, Radios and TVs were
available with universal input. They would all work on AC or DC 240V
(one or two DC areas were only 180V, like Dundee or Exeter))\"

how easy or dificult was it to obtain things to work on it? A different
voltage on a city would mean a bulb factory dedicated to that city, no?

No more difficult than a factory which makes 40/60/100/150 watt bulbs.

Keeping stock is expensive.

Did you read what I just said? They have no problem with 4 different wattages.

I remember in the late sixties visiting my mother village (Spain). They
had _some_ electricity, and paid by the number of bulbs in the house. It
was not metered.

Surely you could add more bulbs without them knowing? And what about
non-bulb things?

What would they do with more bulbs? Nowhere to connect them. They didn\'t
know how.

It\'s not rocket science.

They did not have non-bulb things. Too poor. When people started getting
things, the company started installing meters. Yes, they easily found out.

How did they find out?

It was also expensive for the company to install meters if all they were
using was a bulb or two per house. Not worth it.

It should be flat rate like internet.

 

[Commander Kinsey]

On Wed, 10 May 2023 09:04:15 +0100, Xeno <xenolith@optusnet.com.au> wrote:

On 12/2/2023 5:30 am, Carlos E.R. wrote:
On 2023-02-11 13:23, Commander Kinsey wrote:
On Sat, 11 Feb 2023 11:58:23 -0000, Carlos E.R.
robin_listas@es.invalid> wrote:

On 2023-02-11 10:00, Commander Kinsey wrote:
On Sat, 11 Feb 2023 08:48:06 -0000, Colin Bignell
cpb@bignellremovethis.me.uk> wrote:

On 11/02/2023 08:16, Commander Kinsey wrote:


But reverse screws do exist.

They shouldn\'t.

Disassemble a house fan, and you will see one such reverse bolt, and
understand why they exist

Frankly, I doubt he will understand anything.

The fan could just rotate the other way. With a normal screw.

 

[Commander Kinsey]

On Wed, 10 May 2023 09:07:37 +0100, Xeno <xenolith@optusnet.com.au> wrote:

On 17/2/2023 1:35 am, Commander Kinsey wrote:
On Sun, 12 Feb 2023 14:27:41 -0000, Max Demian <max_demian@bigfoot.com
wrote:

On 12/02/2023 11:54, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
On 11/02/2023 18:30, Carlos E.R. wrote:
On 2023-02-11 13:23, Commander Kinsey wrote:
On Sat, 11 Feb 2023 11:58:23 -0000, Carlos E.R.
robin_listas@es.invalid> wrote:
On 2023-02-11 10:00, Commander Kinsey wrote:
On Sat, 11 Feb 2023 08:48:06 -0000, Colin Bignell
cpb@bignellremovethis.me.uk> wrote:
On 11/02/2023 08:16, Commander Kinsey wrote:


But reverse screws do exist.

They shouldn\'t.

Disassemble a house fan, and you will see one such reverse bolt, and
understand why they exist


Reverse screws are used in traditional taps to lift the washer assembly
off the seating to make it seem like you are unscrewing a traditional
tap when the head of the tap is not actually moving upward.

Reverse screws are used on steering links so you can adjust the
effective length by turning the link rod.

Reverse screws are used on quadcopter rotor shafts for two of the motors
that are turning clockwise
etc etc.

In short there are dozens of places you need a reverse screw,

And sports cars with knock off hubs and wire wheels where a left hand
thread is used on one side (forget which) so it doesn\'t some undone if
the cap (or whatever) rubs against something.

Funny how most cars don\'t seem to need that.

And the pressure reducers used on LPG cylinders: propane is the opposite
way to butane so you can\'t connect the wrong one.

What\'s wrong with different sized connectors?

Thinking you\'re tightening a gas pipe and you\'re actually undoing it is
dangerous.

The people who know what they are doing don\'t seem to have an issue.

That doesn\'t mean it\'s right. Making something more complicated so only those who\'ve taken courses in it is a bad thing.

 

[Commander Kinsey]

On Wed, 10 May 2023 09:25:55 +0100, Xeno <xenolith@optusnet.com.au> wrote:

On 16/2/2023 1:48 am, Commander Kinsey wrote:
On Sun, 12 Feb 2023 13:33:03 -0000, Carlos E.R.
robin_listas@es.invalid> wrote:

On 2023-02-12 01:54, NY wrote:
On 11/02/2023 15:45, Commander Kinsey wrote:
e.g. UK railways signals were always horizontal for stop, but in the
days of broken cables they moved from down=go (lower quadrant) to
up=go
(upper quadrant)...as this required less weight to unbalance them to
failsafe.

Why are there four lights? They add blue I think.

The lights are (and I might have got the order upside down)

red
yellow
green
yellow

Red = Stop
Green = Go
Single Yellow = next signal is red, so prepare to stop at it
Double Yellow = next but one signal is red (used where linespeed is
higher and stopping distances are greater than spacing of signal posts)

That last one is interesting. The other three match what I see here
(Spain), the last I don\'t know. Could be.

Maybe it\'s for shit drivers.

Mind you the whole idea of metal wheels on metal tracks is crazy. If I
drive my car with bald tyres, I\'m breaking the law.

Metal wheels on metal tracks equals reduced friction (rolling
resistance). You sure don\'t sound like you\'ve ever done any engineering
since most engineering niceties have you knackered!

Yeah nevermind the people the train runs down.

 

[Commander Kinsey]

On Wed, 10 May 2023 09:28:07 +0100, Xeno <xenolith@optusnet.com.au> wrote:

On 18/2/2023 8:04 am, Commander Kinsey wrote:
On Wed, 15 Feb 2023 16:57:19 -0000, Max Demian <max_demian@bigfoot.com
wrote:

On 15/02/2023 14:48, Commander Kinsey wrote:
On Sun, 12 Feb 2023 13:33:03 -0000, Carlos E.R.
robin_listas@es.invalid> wrote:
On 2023-02-12 01:54, NY wrote:
On 11/02/2023 15:45, Commander Kinsey wrote:

e.g. UK railways signals were always horizontal for stop, but in the
days of broken cables they moved from down=go (lower quadrant) to
up=go
(upper quadrant)...as this required less weight to unbalance them to
failsafe.

Why are there four lights? They add blue I think.

The lights are (and I might have got the order upside down)

red
yellow
green
yellow

Red = Stop
Green = Go
Single Yellow = next signal is red, so prepare to stop at it
Double Yellow = next but one signal is red (used where linespeed is
higher and stopping distances are greater than spacing of signal
posts)

That last one is interesting. The other three match what I see here
(Spain), the last I don\'t know. Could be.

Maybe it\'s for shit drivers.

Mind you the whole idea of metal wheels on metal tracks is crazy. If I
drive my car with bald tyres, I\'m breaking the law.

Works though; provided there are no \"leaves on the line\".

(Something to with the friction between similar metals I think.)

There\'s fuck all friction, which is why they want the cars to wait for
the train at a level crossing, and not the other way round. And why the
new tunnel the Germans are building couldn\'t go right underground and
had to be installed on the bottom of the ocean, because the pathetic toy
trains couldn\'t handle the incline. This is the 21st century, we have

You\'ve noticed! I had thought you were living in the 16th century.

No, otherwise I\'d like trains. They\'re out of date and should be removed.

>> cars. Public transport is for chavs.

 

[Anthony William Sloman]

On Friday, June 9, 2023 at 6:19:01 PM UTC+10, Commander Kinsey wrote:

On Wed, 10 May 2023 09:07:37 +0100, Xeno <xeno...@optusnet.com.au> wrote:
On 17/2/2023 1:35 am, Commander Kinsey wrote:
On Sun, 12 Feb 2023 14:27:41 -0000, Max Demian <max_d...@bigfoot.com> wrote:
On 12/02/2023 11:54, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
On 11/02/2023 18:30, Carlos E.R. wrote:
On 2023-02-11 13:23, Commander Kinsey wrote:
On Sat, 11 Feb 2023 11:58:23 -0000, Carlos E.R. <robin_...@es.invalid> wrote:
On 2023-02-11 10:00, Commander Kinsey wrote:
On Sat, 11 Feb 2023 08:48:06 -0000, Colin Bignell <c...@bignellremovethis.me.uk> wrote:
On 11/02/2023 08:16, Commander Kinsey wrote:

<snip>

And the pressure reducers used on LPG cylinders: propane is the opposite
way to butane so you can\'t connect the wrong one.

What\'s wrong with different sized connectors?

Thinking you\'re tightening a gas pipe and you\'re actually undoing it is dangerous.

The people who know what they are doing don\'t seem to have an issue.

That doesn\'t mean it\'s right. Making something more complicated so only those who\'ve taken courses in it can use is a bad thing.

Not necessarily. When something is intrinsically dangerous, you don\'t want the untrained to start playing with it.

They can kill other people - not just themselves. Having people win Darwin Awards is evolution in action, but there\'s no virtue in having them kill off innocent bystanders in the process.

--
Bill Sloman Sydney

 

[Commander Kinsey]

On Wed, 10 May 2023 09:34:06 +0100, Xeno <xenolith@optusnet.com.au> wrote:

On 19/2/2023 12:09 am, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
On 18/02/2023 12:37, Max Demian wrote:
On 17/02/2023 21:04, Commander Kinsey wrote:
On Wed, 15 Feb 2023 16:57:19 -0000, Max Demian
max_demian@bigfoot.com> wrote:
On 15/02/2023 14:48, Commander Kinsey wrote:

Mind you the whole idea of metal wheels on metal tracks is crazy.
If I
drive my car with bald tyres, I\'m breaking the law.

Works though; provided there are no \"leaves on the line\".

(Something to with the friction between similar metals I think.)

There\'s fuck all friction, which is why they want the cars to wait
for the train at a level crossing, and not the other way round. And
why the new tunnel the Germans are building couldn\'t go right
underground and had to be installed on the bottom of the ocean,
because the pathetic toy trains couldn\'t handle the incline. This is
the 21st century, we have cars. Public transport is for chavs.

If there were no friction between train wheels and track acceleration
and braking wouldn\'t happen.

The reason railway tracks are so level is so that the engines can have
the minimum power to pull the train. Very steep inclines would require
extra locomotives to be put on to get up the hills.

Steam locos were not rated in horsepower, but \'tractive effort\' . How
many tons of pull they could generate before the wheels slipped.

That\'s why they had a lot of driving wheels - at least four, generally 6
and up to 8.

At a given slope even the loco alone cant get up it which is where rack
and pinion railways come in.

Ever thought about why roads tend to go over hills and railways tend to
go straight through? It\'s all about efficiency

No, for trains it\'s all about being possible to get there, they just can\'t go uphill.

For battery cars, up and down ain\'t inefficient anymore.

and is one of the reasons
why motorways, freeways and the like tend to also run the most level
path practicable.

No, it allows for faster safer driving.

 

[Commander Kinsey]

On Wed, 10 May 2023 09:55:47 +0100, Xeno <xenolith@optusnet.com.au> wrote:

On 17/4/2023 8:47 pm, Carlos E.R. wrote:
On 2023-03-16 04:37, Commander Kinsey wrote:
On Thu, 02 Mar 2023 20:49:37 -0000, Carlos E.R.
robin_listas@es.invalid> wrote:

On 2023-03-01 16:07, Commander Kinsey wrote:
On Sun, 19 Feb 2023 18:37:18 -0000, rbowman <bowman@montana.com> wrote:

On Sun, 19 Feb 2023 12:38:00 +0000, The Natural Philosopher wrote:


In practice the railroads were built to run steam trains with up to 8
close spaced driving wheels, and if that made life difficult, tough.

The big 8 wheelers were more suited to the USA with bigger steeper
inclines but seldom tight curves.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geared_steam_locomotive

https://fortmissoulamuseum.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Brief-History-
of-Engine-7.pdf

The Mount Ranier museum has a working Willamette but they shut down
during
the covid panic.

ROFL, there\'s still people wearing masks here. I went to hospital with
a suspected broken thumb and everyone had a mask on. They glared at me
sternly when I refused.

It is mandatory here in hospitals.

I make fun of snowflakes scared of a bad cold.

And it is to protect other patients from YOU.

Yeah, because masks are magical and only work one way. Here\'s a tip -
put your mask on backwards, then the virus can\'t get in.


Oh, my, how dumb you are...

I\'d have said *pig ignorant* but dumb will suffice.

Would you look at that, neither of you produced a reason why you think the masks work one way only.

 

[Commander Kinsey]

On Wed, 10 May 2023 09:56:44 +0100, Xeno <xenolith@optusnet.com.au> wrote:

On 2/3/2023 2:05 am, Commander Kinsey wrote:
On Sat, 18 Feb 2023 20:10:09 -0000, Carlos E.R.
robin_listas@es.invalid> wrote:

On 2023-02-18 14:09, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
On 18/02/2023 12:37, Max Demian wrote:
On 17/02/2023 21:04, Commander Kinsey wrote:
On Wed, 15 Feb 2023 16:57:19 -0000, Max Demian
max_demian@bigfoot.com> wrote:
On 15/02/2023 14:48, Commander Kinsey wrote:

Mind you the whole idea of metal wheels on metal tracks is crazy.
If I
drive my car with bald tyres, I\'m breaking the law.

Works though; provided there are no \"leaves on the line\".

(Something to with the friction between similar metals I think.)

There\'s fuck all friction, which is why they want the cars to wait
for the train at a level crossing, and not the other way round. And
why the new tunnel the Germans are building couldn\'t go right
underground and had to be installed on the bottom of the ocean,
because the pathetic toy trains couldn\'t handle the incline. This is
the 21st century, we have cars. Public transport is for chavs.

If there were no friction between train wheels and track acceleration
and braking wouldn\'t happen.

The reason railway tracks are so level is so that the engines can have
the minimum power to pull the train. Very steep inclines would require
extra locomotives to be put on to get up the hills.

Steam locos were not rated in horsepower, but \'tractive effort\' . How
many tons of pull they could generate before the wheels slipped.

That\'s why they had a lot of driving wheels - at least four, generally 6
and up to 8.

I suppose this assumes that the tracks do not bend, vertically or
horizontally, or some of the wheels could loose pressure, as there are
no springs on the loco wheels (but the wagons do have them, so there
must be imperfections on the tracks).

Why were they never made of something more grippy than highly polished
steel?

That settles it - you have never studied engineering - in any form.

I studied engineering as part of my combined degree. Electrical and building construction.

We put grippy wheels on cars, we could put them on trains too.

 

[Commander Kinsey]

On Wed, 10 May 2023 10:03:55 +0100, Xeno <xenolith@optusnet.com.au> wrote:

On 17/3/2023 5:21 am, Commander Kinsey wrote:
On Mon, 13 Mar 2023 05:45:10 -0000, rbowman <bowman@montana.com> wrote:

On Sun, 12 Mar 2023 22:43:31 -0400, 😎 Mighty Wannabe ✅ wrote:

rbowman wrote on 3/12/2023 10:05 PM:
On Mon, 13 Mar 2023 00:30:39 -0000, Commander Kinsey wrote:

On Thu, 02 Mar 2023 03:09:14 -0000, rbowman <bowman@montana.com
wrote:

On Wed, 01 Mar 2023 15:05:31 -0000, Commander Kinsey wrote:


Why were they never made of something more grippy than highly
polished steel?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Washington_Cog_Railway
Should be used on all tracks, then perhaps trains could stop in the
distance my car is required to by law.
Do the math. A fully laden coal car weighs about 140 tons. I\'ve never
been bored enough to count cars when I stopped at a crossing but there
are a lot of them. Let\'s say 30 for the sake of argument, 4200 tons
plus the weight of the engines. Let\'s say 4 at 200 tons each. So,
roughly 5000 tons traveling at 50 mph. That\'s quite a bit of kinetic
energy to dump in 300\'.
I can hear snapping axles and see flying wheels.


The wheels and the rails are steel. A train can never have enough
friction to stop at a short distance. The brakes can lock all the wheels
but the train will still move forward due to inertia.

The reference was to the Mt. Washington Cog Railway. The wheels are for
guidance but the motive power is a rack and pinion.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rack_railway

At least on Mt Washington it\'s only the engine and a small passenger car
operating at less than 10 mph. They\'re not feasible for general use.

Surely cogs can go over 10mph. Your car gearbox is full of them turning
at very high speed.

A sealed environment where clearances are controlled, lubrication is
assured and contaminants excluded, not a problem. Now, think how that
differs from the cogs in a rack railway system. And that\'s just for
starters.

You just need a big supply of oil, and some way to collect it to reuse it.

 

[Commander Kinsey]

On Wed, 10 May 2023 10:10:23 +0100, Xeno <xenolith@optusnet.com.au> wrote:

On 17/3/2023 5:21 am, Commander Kinsey wrote:
On Mon, 13 Mar 2023 02:43:31 -0000, 😎 Mighty Wannabe ✅ <.> wrote:

rbowman wrote on 3/12/2023 10:05 PM:
On Mon, 13 Mar 2023 00:30:39 -0000, Commander Kinsey wrote:

On Thu, 02 Mar 2023 03:09:14 -0000, rbowman <bowman@montana.com> wrote:

On Wed, 01 Mar 2023 15:05:31 -0000, Commander Kinsey wrote:


Why were they never made of something more grippy than highly
polished
steel?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Washington_Cog_Railway
Should be used on all tracks, then perhaps trains could stop in the
distance my car is required to by law.
Do the math. A fully laden coal car weighs about 140 tons. I\'ve never
been
bored enough to count cars when I stopped at a crossing but there are a
lot of them. Let\'s say 30 for the sake of argument, 4200 tons plus the
weight of the engines. Let\'s say 4 at 200 tons each. So, roughly 5000
tons
traveling at 50 mph. That\'s quite a bit of kinetic energy to dump in
300\'.
I can hear snapping axles and see flying wheels.

The wheels and the rails are steel. A train can never have enough
friction to stop at a short distance. The brakes can lock all the wheels
but the train will still move forward due to inertia.

Then the wheels should be rubber like every other vehicle. Try driving
your car without tyres.

Stick train wheels on your car, run it on rails, learn the difference.
Rolling resistance is what you need to note here.

We don\'t complain about rolling resistance on car tyres. The benefits outweigh the losses.

BTW, we in the land down under are one step ahead of you. Where we need
to run a road vehicle on rails, boy, do we have it covered!

https://ariesrail.com.au/gallery/

If it\'s that brilliant, why isn\'t every country doing it?

BTW, notice those Hi-Rail vehicles aren\'t dragging lots of wagons behind
them. Have a think about that but watch out for the wood smoke.

Presumably they could.

 

[Commander Kinsey]

On Wed, 10 May 2023 10:12:37 +0100, Xeno <xenolith@optusnet.com.au> wrote:

On 17/3/2023 5:20 am, Commander Kinsey wrote:
On Mon, 13 Mar 2023 02:05:11 -0000, rbowman <bowman@montana.com> wrote:

On Mon, 13 Mar 2023 00:30:39 -0000, Commander Kinsey wrote:

On Thu, 02 Mar 2023 03:09:14 -0000, rbowman <bowman@montana.com> wrote:

On Wed, 01 Mar 2023 15:05:31 -0000, Commander Kinsey wrote:


Why were they never made of something more grippy than highly polished
steel?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Washington_Cog_Railway

Should be used on all tracks, then perhaps trains could stop in the
distance my car is required to by law.

Do the math.

If I did the maths I\'d get a more complete answer.

Nah, there\'d be the smell of woodsmoke and the fire brigade would be called.

I am finely carved and you are jealous.

A fully laden coal car weighs about 140 tons. I\'ve never been
bored enough to count cars when I stopped at a crossing but there are a
lot of them. Let\'s say 30 for the sake of argument, 4200 tons plus the
weight of the engines. Let\'s say 4 at 200 tons each. So, roughly 5000
tons
traveling at 50 mph. That\'s quite a bit of kinetic energy to dump in
300\'.
I can hear snapping axles and see flying wheels.

But there are many wheels.

A fully laden truck/lorry/whatever you call them over there can\'t stop
as quick as a car, but it can stop in a safe distance. A train cannot,
it\'s not fit for purpose. If something unexpected happens, it just
ploughs through it. Trains are outdated technology and it\'s high time
we got rid of them. Maybe a maglev can stop quicker?

Ever heard of *friction*? Possibly a new concept for you?

Yes, were you referring to rolling resistance or grip on stopping? Trade one for the other so you don\'t run people over. It\'s why we have rules for cars and braking abilities.

 

[Commander Kinsey]

On Wed, 10 May 2023 09:53:24 +0100, Xeno <xenolith@optusnet.com.au> wrote:

On 3/3/2023 7:49 am, Carlos E.R. wrote:
On 2023-03-01 16:07, Commander Kinsey wrote:
On Sun, 19 Feb 2023 18:37:18 -0000, rbowman <bowman@montana.com> wrote:

On Sun, 19 Feb 2023 12:38:00 +0000, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

In practice the railroads were built to run steam trains with up to 8
close spaced driving wheels, and if that made life difficult, tough.

The big 8 wheelers were more suited to the USA with bigger steeper
inclines but seldom tight curves.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geared_steam_locomotive

https://fortmissoulamuseum.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Brief-History-
of-Engine-7.pdf

The Mount Ranier museum has a working Willamette but they shut down
during
the covid panic.

ROFL, there\'s still people wearing masks here. I went to hospital
with a suspected broken thumb and everyone had a mask on. They glared
at me sternly when I refused.

It is mandatory here in hospitals.

Pretty much the same here. I was discharged from hospital 2 days ago, my
4th visit in the past 2 years and I, as a patient, was also required to
wear a mask as were *all* staff and visitors. If you refuse, you get
offered the door.

Not here anymore. Was a few months ago, I ignored the rule, nobody said a thing.

And it is to protect other patients from YOU.

Most assuredly. I wear the mask out of consideration for others.

They can wear their own mask.