Today's Whiskey Tango Foxtrot

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#3197654 19-Feb-2024 20:12

He's from New York, which competes with Australia, for rough language. NSFW.

Lenovo wants you to stop buying used PCs because they may have viruses on them

Louis Rossmann

Eva888

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#3197684 19-Feb-2024 22:35

Going out for dinner and being served roast pork and veg on dark coloured deep sided plate the size of a bread and butter plate. Could hardly cut the meat in it. Asked them to transfer my dinner to a dinner plate please. Wasn’t nice anyway, slab of pork drowned in very dark gravy covering everything on the plate. Black unappetising meal.

eracode

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#3197782 20-Feb-2024 09:33

I despair at NZ's ability to build and maintain infrastructure - story in NZH today. Truly pathetic.

KiwiRail cocks up gauge on newly-laid rails

Sometimes I just sit and think. Other times I just sit.

PolicyGuy

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#3197863 20-Feb-2024 12:18

eracode:

I despair at NZ's ability to build and maintain infrastructure - story in NZH today. Truly pathetic.

KiwiRail cocks up gauge on newly-laid rails

Brand-new train tracks signed off by KiwiRail just two months ago are already in need of a fix after it was discovered they had been built too narrow for the carriages that use them, meaning months of delays ahead for commuters.

The Greater Wellington Regional Council has confirmed the tracks, covering approximately 16km near South Featherston in Wairarapa, were laid 4mm narrower on average. This is technically within KiwiRail’s normal engineering tolerances.

So no, on this occasion it's not really down to KiwiRail, or not entirely.
The tracks have been laid within the technical limits that KiwiRail sets*, but the carriages - purchased I think by Greater Wellington Regional Council (GWRC) - get all antsy if the track is just a little bit narrower than the centre of the allowable range.

Should KiwiRail have constructed track that is exactly (?+/- 1mm?) the specified width? Yes, of course
Should KiwiRail have constructed track that is -4mm from the specified width? Preferably not, but it's still within specs
Should GWRC's rolling stock run happily on any track that's within the published tolerances? Yes of course, but apparently they don't.

* See https://www.kiwirail.co.nz/assets/Uploads/Who-we-are/Publications-v2/Information-released-by-KiwiRail/Rapid-Review/3-Track-Standard-Track-Geometry-T-ST-AM-5120-Redacted.pdf
I think that says in Table 13.1 on page 40 that the tolerance is 25mm (presumably +/-12.5mm), but Appendix 1.1 seems to suggest that the tolerance is 18mm or 16mm.

eracode

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#3197883 20-Feb-2024 13:09

PolicyGuy:

So no, on this occasion it's not really down to KiwiRail, or not entirely.
The tracks have been laid within the technical limits that KiwiRail sets*, but the carriages - purchased I think by Greater Wellington Regional Council (GWRC) - get all antsy if the track is just a little bit narrower than the centre of the allowable range.

Should KiwiRail have constructed track that is exactly (?+/- 1mm?) the specified width? Yes, of course
Should KiwiRail have constructed track that is -4mm from the specified width? Preferably not, but it's still within specs
Should GWRC's rolling stock run happily on any track that's within the published tolerances? Yes of course, but apparently they don't.

* See https://www.kiwirail.co.nz/assets/Uploads/Who-we-are/Publications-v2/Information-released-by-KiwiRail/Rapid-Review/3-Track-Standard-Track-Geometry-T-ST-AM-5120-Redacted.pdf
I think that says in Table 13.1 on page 40 that the tolerance is 25mm (presumably +/-12.5mm), but Appendix 1.1 seems to suggest that the tolerance is 18mm or 16mm.

Even though I said ‘KiwiRail cock-up’, I’m not particularly concerned whether KiwiRail is to blame or not. My point is ‘NZs ability to build and maintain infrastructure’.

Regardless of who’s to blame, it’s a cock-up. The rails were laid, certified and signed-off. Now it’s found they don’t work with the rolling stock that use them. They have to be fixed and cause further commuter disruption. At the end of the day, I guess it’s the taxpayer who foots the bill for the fix.

All the parameters and details to which you refer were known before the event - but weren’t taken into consideration. It’s amateur hour.

Sometimes I just sit and think. Other times I just sit.

frankv

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#3197899 20-Feb-2024 13:49

PolicyGuy:

This is technically within KiwiRail’s normal engineering tolerances.

So no, on this occasion it's not really down to KiwiRail, or not entirely.
The tracks have been laid within the technical limits that KiwiRail sets*, but the carriages - purchased I think by Greater Wellington Regional Council (GWRC) - get all antsy if the track is just a little bit narrower than the centre of the allowable range.

Hmmm... I say this is entirely down to KiwiRail. Either they didn't specify the tolerances of the rail gauge correctly, or they didn't specify the tolerances of the carriage gauge correctly.

Unless of course the GWRC ignored the specified tolerances on the carriages.

sir1963

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#3197903 20-Feb-2024 13:57

frankv:

Hmmm... I say this is entirely down to KiwiRail. Either they didn't specify the tolerances of the rail gauge correctly, or they didn't specify the tolerances of the carriage gauge correctly.

Unless of course the GWRC ignored the specified tolerances on the carriages.

Either way, someone at the bottom will get the blame and someone at the top who actually made the decision will get a raise.

eracode

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#3197905 20-Feb-2024 14:03

sir1963:

frankv:

Hmmm... I say this is entirely down to KiwiRail. Either they didn't specify the tolerances of the rail gauge correctly, or they didn't specify the tolerances of the carriage gauge correctly.

Unless of course the GWRC ignored the specified tolerances on the carriages.

Either way, someone at the bottom will get the blame and someone at the top who actually made the decision will get a raise.

…. or there’s no repercussions and no-one is held accountable.

Sometimes I just sit and think. Other times I just sit.

ANglEAUT

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#3197906 20-Feb-2024 14:14

Can install Windows 11 on a 7th Gen i5, but not on an 8th Gen i5

Please keep this GZ community vibrant by contributing in a constructive & respectful manner.

neb

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#3197937 20-Feb-2024 15:10

eracode:
Regardless of who’s to blame, it’s a cock-up. The rails were laid, certified and signed-off. Now it’s found they don’t work with the rolling stock that use them. They have to be fixed and cause further commuter disruption. At the end of the day, I guess it’s the taxpayer who foots the bill for the fix.

All the parameters and details to which you refer were known before the event - but weren’t taken into consideration. It’s amateur hour.

It's amateur hour, but for a different reason, if you want to do it properly how about a USD 20 billion screw-up?

Transport Minister Frederic Cuvillier blamed an "absurd rail system" for the problems.

"When you separate the rail operator from the train company," he said, "this is what happens."

Hmm, that sounds kind of familiar...

Edited to add: And another quote:

Apparently, it's the sort of thing that occurs when you separate the rail operators from train companies, so will probably be happening soon at a platform near you.

Yup, sure did.

gzt

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#3197950 20-Feb-2024 15:33

ANglEAUT: Can install Windows 11 on a 7th Gen i5, but not on an 8th Gen i5

I have use the registry override on other CPUs. Most of the cpu restrictions are related to CPU security features if I remember correctly. I wonder why in this case.

cddt

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#3197988 20-Feb-2024 17:00

eracode:

At the end of the day, I guess it’s the taxpayer who foots the bill for the fix.

If there's any fairness it'll be the Wellington ratepayer. Yes, I am referring to the fact that Wellington has a larger proportion of its public transport infrastructure funded by central government than Auckland does.

sir1963

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#3197990 20-Feb-2024 17:03

cddt:

eracode:

At the end of the day, I guess it’s the taxpayer who foots the bill for the fix.

If there's any fairness it'll be the Wellington ratepayer. Yes, I am referring to the fact that Wellington has a larger proportion of its public transport infrastructure funded by central government than Auckland does.

Yeah, but just think how much the rest of NZ has contributed to things like yachting, etc etc etc etc etc

cddt

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#3198025 20-Feb-2024 20:22

sir1963:

Yeah, but just think how much the rest of NZ has contributed to things like yachting, etc etc etc etc etc

That's another thing we can agree shouldn't be funded by taxpayers (or ratepayers).

ANglEAUT

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#3198140 21-Feb-2024 09:13

gzt:
ANglEAUT: Can install Windows 11 on a 7th Gen i5, but not on an 8th Gen i5

I have use the registry override on other CPUs. Most of the cpu restrictions are related to CPU security features if I remember correctly. I wonder why in this case.

Had to install Win10 to run the PC Health Check to discover that Secure Boot was not configured correctly.

Please keep this GZ community vibrant by contributing in a constructive & respectful manner.

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