Feet and inches

[Annie Bynnol]

The vast majority of measurements in the OS records were made using imperial units.

 

...and have all been supeseeded by a modern accurate standardiszed database from which an infinite number of maps, scales, images, 3D, movies, land use, focus, etc. can be derived. Never has the OS had as much data than that collected since the eighties. Think billions of bits of three dimentional items.

 

It is much easier to improve accuracy* by using appropriate units. Imperial does not lend itself easily to this kind of data interpretation and manipulation.

 

The 5 mile base line on the original Roy London-Paris triangulation did not become the UK standard and not until the 1950s did the UK get a standard map. This survey superseeded all the interepreted collections of maps by the Army, Navy, Railway, Tolls, Waterways, Harbours, Urban, Rates, Estates and partial OS surveys.

 

*accuracy is not just down to the skills of the surveyor and their equipment, you have to factor in to conversions of units.

Edited December 13, 2017 by Annie Bynnol

[altus]

The railways still work in chains yards and inchs the gap between the rails is also called the four foot ,reguarding the live overhead cables the 9 foot rule applies when working some things never change

From UK Metric Association:

Network Rail confirms that the progressive installation of the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS) on selected routes over a twenty year period will see the end of the mile, chain and yard on much of the British railway network.

[Annie Bynnol]

The railways still work in chains yards and inchs the gap between the rails is also called the four foot ,reguarding the live overhead cables the 9 foot rule applies when working some things never change

 

Yes and I have already so:

"In the UK iron horse distances are still measured in chains while organic ones run in furlongs."

 

These are examples of isolated systems which have no need for critical accuracy.

[dutch]

Imperial has no units for electricity or magnetism. It stopped developing long time ago.

[Annie Bynnol]

Question:

What is the standard guage of railway track in the Great Britain?

Answer at the end.

When railways started being buit there was no standard,or was one needed, for the distance between the rails as each railway was isolated.

As systems became connected and surveyors, engineers and manufactures saw the benefit of standards, George Stephensons gauge of 4' 8½" became widely used and later became standard by Act of Parliament. This was copied throught most of western Europe which they enentually translated into 1435mm.

Advances in technology and measurement have provided a better understanding of wear and ride quality with more accuracy required.

British Rail introduced the standard gauge as 1435 mm.

[Annie Bynnol]

We are chatting about imperial measure here not the railways and as of now have finished with this thread .....ps open a thread about dr Beeching if you want to chat railways !

 

Railway gauge is an example of how accuracy and tranferrability are making imperial units increasingly redundant. Terminology like "four foot", "six foot" refer to places across the track. Miles an chains decribe positions along the track so both are useful for that purpose. Being isolated from other systems there is no need to change these. Tram Train excepted.

 

You can sell a pint of beer in a marked glass but you can only sell milk in pint returnable pint containers.

In the shop the plastic milk containers will have "568 ml 1 pint" or only "568 ml" marked on them.

For all other products anything sold as "pint" will have the metric unit as the primary legal measurement.

Edited December 13, 2017 by Annie Bynnol

[Harrystottle]

Metric is scientific.

 

Pity they could agree what length a metre actually was for some years then.

Metric was at least as much about rejecting the ancien regime as it was about science.

 

The ten day week didn't work out too well, did it?

[Annie Bynnol]

Pity they could agree what length a metre actually was for some years then.

Metric was at least as much about rejecting the ancien regime as it was about science.

 

The ten day week didn't work out too well, did it?

 

"Pity they could agree what length a metre actually was for some years then."

 

The world is full of mechants and individuals who would cheat.

Science and technology also needed a more accurate standard length which would be the same everywhere. The search was on to find a definition as independent as possible.

From the very beginning there was a standard which was periodically improved by international agreement.

 

The Peace Gardens has very good examples of why the Imperial system is not accurate and open to abuse.

 

The beginning of metrification in the USA predate that of France.

[Geo-atkinson]

My Grandad said it best, when decimalisation came in. Well its a bit of a bugger,we used to get 240 pennies to a quid, now we only get a bloody 100, somebody is on the fiddle here.

 

 

Did your grandad moan when his wages more than doubled overnight?

[Ontarian1981]

Did your grandad moan when his wages more than doubled overnight?

 

He had already retired and it did not increase his pension hardly at all. However I was kind of joking in a loving, mocking way as to how older people dealt with decimalisation, at that time.

 

---------- Post added 14-12-2017 at 16:20 ----------

 

Railway gauge is an example of how accuracy and tranferrability are making imperial units increasingly redundant. Terminology like "four foot", "six foot" refer to places across the track. Miles an chains decribe positions along the track so both are useful for that purpose. Being isolated from other systems there is no need to change these. Tram Train excepted.

 

You can sell a pint of beer in a marked glass but you can only sell milk in pint returnable pint containers.

In the shop the plastic milk containers will have "568 ml 1 pint" or only "568 ml" marked on them.

For all other products anything sold as "pint" will have the metric unit as the primary legal measurement.

 

What was the gauge on the Hornby Dublo and Triang railway tracks? It used to say 0-0 gauge on the box. Wonder if that was metric or imperial.