The Derailed Train

[joggerjayne]

So there's this train ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-32325940

Nothing dramatic. It just sort of ... fell off the track. No, really.

The only real disaster is the bit about ... a "bus replacement to Haywards Heath"

Seriously? A bus to Haywards Heath?

You'd rather walk to Scotland !!

[Svejk]

It's all uphill to Scotland. ;-(

[joggerjayne]

I thing, technically, it's downhill.

The magnetic pull of the Poles mean that the Earth is a bit squished from top to bottom. In other words, it's not quite a sphere. The Poles are, therefore, closer to each other that any opposite points of the Equator would be to each other. So the Poles are closer to the centre of the Earth that the Equator.

Therefore ... in the Northern hemisphere, if you walk away from the Equator, and towards the North Pole (ie northwards!) you are getting closer to the centre of the Earth.

So, if you walk from Brighton to Scotland, you are walking downhill.

[Jackdaw33]

If you walk from anywhere to Scotland you are going 'downhill'.

[SirOracle]

LOL Jackdaw.

[Gromit]

Not sure why this is in news?

Brighton to Haywoods Heath is 34 minutes by road. Does not seem unreasonable. Better than leaving commuters stranded. If you have a pre-paid ticket, your journey will be paid for rather than paying a 15 mile cab fare.

[mushroom25]

it was news because the power switch-off it occasioned stopped all traffic to and from brighton for 2 hours, and kept the brighton main line blocked for a further two, with only 1 platform available for london trains after that. 227 trains cancelled or part cancelled to an accrued delay of over 2000 minutes. difficulties re-railing the train overnight means that the line is still blocked and may not re-open until at least 10h30 this morning, with obvious knock-on effect to the morning rush hour. for something that was "nothing dramatic", the knock-on effects have been staggering.

[murraymints]

EEK !