tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508346572086151757.post2243655863810543605..comments2024-01-09T00:39:13.955+00:00Comments on Oh what NOW!: Monday meanderingUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508346572086151757.post-66986820781837976882011-04-11T20:53:27.538+01:002011-04-11T20:53:27.538+01:00What figure would Snopes give to the existence of ...What figure would Snopes give to the existence of that place in England, between London & Birmingham, where a busy stretch of the M1 runs alongside a main railway track, which runs alongside a main canal, and the canal runs alongside an old major road which almost certainly started out in life as a horse track and before that a footpath. Thousands of years of really useful transport jammed close together within a few hundred yards of each other. <br /> And how would Snopes rate this story? The British Government is proposing a high speed train, trailing a long way after the Japanese and French. As the Government knows perfectly well, these countries pour taxpayers money heavily subsidising their systems. The Government is cheerfully going to levy taxes in order to pay for the construction of the new line. And then it is going to levy taxes forever more to subsidise the continued operation of the new railway. <br /> So forgetting Snopes for now, isn’t it time to pause and consider a really creative alternative, a broad-gauge railway line? Not just any broad-gauge (usually taken, in the UK, as about 7 feet) but a gauge capable of supporting a train wide enough to carry containers two or three or more side by side, and similarly stacked high? <br /> Why? <br /> Because the standard container is now the worlds choice of cargo system. So the size and proportions of containers, and their multiples, dictate, and will continue to dictate, the shape of transport in the future. <br /> Brunel invented large ships, and thereby transformed marine transport.<br /> Boeing invented the Jumbo jet, and transformed aviation. <br /> Now might be the time for some Virgin type to “invent” wide trains, and so transform the world’s railways.<br />Brgds<br />Peter MeliaAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508346572086151757.post-79209659163751420182011-04-11T15:15:49.574+01:002011-04-11T15:15:49.574+01:00Joe.
Makes a good story though.Joe.<br /><br />Makes a good story though.The Filthy Engineerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07584236558282159183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508346572086151757.post-41965730570789072372011-04-11T14:52:26.732+01:002011-04-11T14:52:26.732+01:00Superb! A pair of horses asses are still trying to...Superb! A pair of horses asses are still trying to pull us into the Holy Roman Empire. Nothing changes.A K Haarthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05897490979828603179noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3508346572086151757.post-63795780373859039382011-04-11T14:14:02.417+01:002011-04-11T14:14:02.417+01:00Lovely story.
But...............
Snopes gives it...Lovely story.<br /><br />But...............<br /><br />Snopes gives it 1/5. Maybe.<br /><br />http://www.snopes.com/history/american/gauge.aspJoe Publichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07829909061904690380noreply@blogger.com