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Distance Indicators Alongside Train Lines
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21-04-2009 10:09pm#1
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The mile posts appear every quarter mile. The reason they exist is because on the old steam trains there was no speedometer so the train driver hadn't a clue how fast he was going.
I can’t remember how to do it but by taking note of the amount of time (seconds) between the posts you can work out the average speed that you are travailing at (my dad used to do this all the time).
You also know how many miles are left in your journey and when to slow down as you approach. Let’s say that Charlavile is 80 miles from Dublin. When you see that you are 84 miles from Dublin then you start to slow down.
Its an old system and its outdated now but it’s a bit of fun for the enthusiast and I don’t see anything wrong with that.
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The milepost you saw being painted is an important piece of the railway infrastructure - the whole railway system is mileposted into quarter mile sections. These mileposts are important for maintenance purposes, speed restrictions etc.etc. many of them are in place for well over 100 years and need/receive little in the way of maintenance.
If you are seriously worried about the cost of having somebody paint them once in a blue moon you need to get back on your medication!! There are very, very serious problems within CIE/IE and a few euros spent on painting mileposts is a complete red herring.
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Because the original mileposting was carried out by the various private railway companies some interesting abnormalities occur such as all mileposts on the Connolly/Rosslare line start from Pearse as far as the site of Shanganagh Junction (I think) and from there the mileposts are measured from Harcourt Street which was regarded as the mainline. Between Rosslare Strand and Rosslare Harbour the mileposts are measured from Waterford (in fact from Mallow via the closed line by way of Lismore and Fermoy). On the former MGWR Galway line between Athlone and Galway the mileposts refer to the distance from the long closed Dublin (Broadstone Station)..There are are plenty of other strange ones but only of interest to nerdy ex.railway enthusiasts like myself.
www.irishrailways.blogspot.com0 -
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Judgement Day wrote: »Because the original mileposting was carried out by the various private railway companies some interesting abnormalities occur such as all mileposts on the Connolly/Rosslare line start from Pearse as far as the site of Shanganagh Junction (I think) and from there the mileposts are measured from Harcourt Street which was regarded as the mainline. Between Rosslare Strand and Rosslare Harbour the mileposts are measured from Waterford (in fact from Mallow via the closed line by way of Lismore and Fermoy). On the former MGWR Galway line between Athlone and Galway the mileposts refer to the distance from the long closed Dublin (Broadstone Station)..There are are plenty of other strange ones but only of interest to nerdy ex.railway enthusiasts like myself.
www.irishrailways.blogspot.com
If they're used for safety reasons, should these not be moderised, considering they're wrong?0 -
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was on the Cork-Dublin train on Monday. I was looking out the window at the thirty one and a half miles from Dublin mark. The reason I know this was distance exactly was because as we were passing someone was painting the distance stone marker in black and white, which struck me as a complete and utter waste of time. I was wondering if there was any legitmate reason for these stone markers or was the employee just wasting their time?Navigation systems fail, new-ish drivers don't know local landmarks should they break down between stations...
Similar markers are being added to all UK motorways and our toll motorways at the moment as it happens. Same reason.The mile posts appear every quarter mile. The reason they exist is because on the old steam trains there was no speedometer so the train driver hadn't a clue how fast he was going.
I can’t remember how to do it but by taking note of the amount of time (seconds) between the posts you can work out the average speed that you are travailing at (my dad used to do this all the time).
You also know how many miles are left in your journey and when to slow down as you approach. Let’s say that Charlavile is 80 miles from Dublin. When you see that you are 84 miles from Dublin then you start to slow down.
Its an old system and its outdated now but it’s a bit of fun for the enthusiast and I don’t see anything wrong with that.
If they're used for safety reasons, should these not be moderised, considering they're wrong?At least change them to show kilometres though. Miles are dead and old fashioned.
Isn't this thread fascinating, in demonstrating how so much drivel can be posted on the internet as factual knowledge, by people who have no idea what they are talking about?0 -
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Nearly right. Wexford - Rosslare (whatever that junction is called) is on its own again.Judgement Day wrote: »Because the original mileposting was carried out by the various private railway companies some interesting abnormalities occur such as all mileposts on the Connolly/Rosslare line start from Pearse as far as the site of Shanganagh Junction (I think) and from there the mileposts are measured from Harcourt Street which was regarded as the mainline. Between Rosslare Strand and Rosslare Harbour the mileposts are measured from Waterford (in fact from Mallow via the closed line by way of Lismore and Fermoy).
What are these, where are they?kingshankly wrote: »Not to be confused with gradient boards
They are indicating the mileage, not the number of whole miles.
Wha...?green_jesus wrote: »The mile posts appear every quarter mile.
Showing your ageA chain is 22 yards long.
10 chains make 1 furlong, 8 furlongs make 1 mile, so there would be 20 chains between mile posts.
A "chain" would often be measure with an actual metal chain - made of bars, not links.
Ehhhhhh, if we knew they were 15 minutes late consistently we would then know what time to expect the train. The problem is variability.D'Peoples Voice wrote: »Spot on - Sat Nav wouldn be too accurate for a company that thinks being 15 mins late is on time!:D
If nothing else -they're consistent and we love for that:)0 -
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At least change them to show kilometres though. Miles are dead and old fashioned.
Why waste money when they continue to serve the purpose for which they were installed? Does the phrase 'a fetish with modernity' sound familiar. Mileposts and, indeed, miles are no more outdated than slips of paper for voting on.
P.S. Given that the country outside Ireland that Irish drivers are most likely to drive in is probably the UK which, even under the poxy Labour Govt is unlikely ever to switch over to kilometres, it would have made sense for Ireland to have stuck to miles too. Why do we have to do everything the European bureaucrats tell us? We always seem do the stupid things and ignore important things like protecting the environment. Sorry for, yet again, wandering off topic. 0 -
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Judgement Day wrote: »Still off topic but this Wikipedia link says it all about metrication in the UK.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metrication_in_the_United_Kingdom
I have to say the whole metric thing really gets my goat - quite apart from km/miles who the hell would know what the weather forecaster meant if they said that there had been 50.8mm of rainfall in an hour but they sure would know there had been a downpour if they were told 2 inches of rain had fallen.
Anyone my age *should* be able to know what 50.8mm is straight off. We were taught solely through metric after all.
I've a feeling I'm going to find out you're actually younger than me now though
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Certainly!Explain what's wrong with every one of those posts, in turn, please.I was on the Cork-Dublin train on Monday. I was looking out the window at the thirty one and a half miles from Dublin mark. The reason I know this was distance exactly was because as we were passing someone was painting the distance stone marker in black and white, which struck me as a complete and utter waste of time. I was wondering if there was any legitmate reason for these stone markers or was the employee just wasting their time?
The original poster saw something that he didn't understand but was immediately willing to ascribe the action as a futile waste of time. As explained at length in the responses, mile posts are a fundamental part of the railway architecture, maintenance of them is not a complete and utter waste of timeNavigation systems fail, new-ish drivers don't know local landmarks should they break down between stations...
Similar markers are being added to all UK motorways and our toll motorways at the moment as it happens. Same reason.
This is your quote, you state as a fact that newly qualified drivers are not conversant with the required route knowledge, by your rationale they would be completely lost at night or in fog without straining to see which milepost they are passing. By the same token do you expect drivers to report an incident as having occurred between the big red barn and the church outside Charleville. A qualified driver will know every yard of track that's he's passed to drive, that's his jobThe mile posts appear every quarter mile. The reason they exist is because on the old steam trains there was no speedometer so the train driver hadn't a clue how fast he was going.
I can’t remember how to do it but by taking note of the amount of time (seconds) between the posts you can work out the average speed that you are travailing at (my dad used to do this all the time).
You also know how many miles are left in your journey and when to slow down as you approach. Let’s say that Charlavile is 80 miles from Dublin. When you see that you are 84 miles from Dublin then you start to slow down.
Its an old system and its outdated now but it’s a bit of fun for the enthusiast and I don’t see anything wrong with that.
So steam loco drivers drove with a stopwatch in their hand did they! That must have been interesting at night with mileposts on the other side of the cab:rolleyes:
No, enthusiasts can do this behind a engine as described above , but GPS has made it fairly redundant now
Mileposts have nothing to do with braking distances, that depends on the speed of the train, its weight, its braking capability., gradient weather, signal position etcIf they're used for safety reasons, should these not be moderised, considering they're wrong?
As already explained by others, they're not wrong.
.At least change them to show kilometres though. Miles are dead and old fashioned
I'll let Judgement Day answer that one, frankly it doesn't matter what distances they record as long as the people concerned in the railway, know and understand what they represent.
BTW, there's 662 Mp's between Dublin-Cork alone, I'd love to hear the whinging at the complete and utter waste of money if Irish Rail decided to change tham to km's to keep some internet warriors happy.
PS, My initial point wasn't really to do about mileposts, it's about how some people seems to be instant experts on things they know nothing about.0 -
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By changing from imperial or as I as a nationalist like to say US measurement system of miles and inches to metric system, there's a risk of rounding numbers.Judgement Day wrote: »Why waste money when they continue to serve the purpose for which they were installed? Does the phrase 'a fetish with modernity' sound familiar. Mileposts and, indeed, miles are no more outdated than slips of paper for voting on.
P.S. Given that the country outside Ireland that Irish drivers are most likely to drive in is probably the UK which, even under the poxy Labour Govt is unlikely ever to switch over to kilometres, it would have made sense for Ireland to have stuck to miles too. Why do we have to do everything the European bureaucrats tell us? We always seem do the stupid things and ignore important things like protecting the environment. Sorry for, yet again, wandering off topic.
The was one of the main causes of the Mars climate Orbitor to fail in 1999, where a mix of the two systems were used. A similar confusion as a result of a change over in measuring systems was also responsible, in the main, for the Air Canda Flight 143 (Gimli Glider) incident, where a 767 ran out of fuel and became a glider.
A change over for no reason, is not worth the risk of an incident occuring. The international airline industry uses feet for flight levels, and inchs/mercury for altitude air pressure measurements, they don't plan on changing.0 -
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