This Is Awkward

Roadkill 22 Comments

Aware that France’s provincial stations came in various shapes and sizes, SNCF had asked RFF to work out the right measurements for the new trains.
After being advised that station widths varied by around 10 centimetres in all, SNCF concluded the new trains could be 20cm wider than their predecessors.
However, in an oversight that would cost it dearly, the operator forgot to factor in some 1,300 stations built more than 50 years ago that are far narrower than today’s norms.
“SNCF’s wise engineers forgot to verify the reality in the field,” wrote Le Canard.

h/t peterj

22 Replies to “This Is Awkward”

  2. No, no, Andre. First you measure twice, THEN you design.
    ” In the worst cases it has discovered two trains can no longer pass each other on adjacent lines.” There’s nothing so relaxing to passengers as having the cars scrape against each other.

  5. Affermative Action.
    Any bets that the “wise engineers” were not indiginous to France.

  6. Ahhh! Baby Boomer Engineers; don’t get out of your chairs just lean forward and take what is said on the computer.
    When our youngest son left for life in the University, accommodation assignment was given to the Engineering students. Their approach was to take all the numbered rooms and assign the accommodations using this set of numbers.
    Unfortunately the numbered rooms included all the little rooms at the end of the hallways which were used for the custodial sinks; equipment and supplies, plus all of the washroom/toilet rooms and shower rooms.
    Some of the anxious and nervous kids opened the door to the custodial rooms and burst into tears. Some of the smaller residential rooms had four students and some of the larger rooms provided single occupancy. Cheers;

  7. I remember a certain bridge that was built in America ,designed by engineers that failed and cost several lives when a chunk failed and fell into the river 150’below.maybe the engineers were French!! LOL.

  12. Trains are too big.
    A private company would not be able to recover from such a stupid and costly loss.
    They’d go bankrupt and a less stupid train company would form to serve train riders.
    When it’s gubment they just hire more guys to vote for them and pretend to “shave” train platforms.
    It’s a feature not a bug.

  13. I recall the county replacing a nearby small bridge/culvert.
    The county engineers opted to use pre-cast arches….the old was removed and footings for the new arches poured. Came the grand day….as the first arch was lowered it was discovered that the footings were about 9-10″ too narrow.
    Out comes the blue-prints….the arches didn’t match the blue-prints.
    Precast guy arrives waving the purchase order…..hmmmm.
    The concrete formers stepped in with the solution….Using empirical means (lowering the first arch as a template) the footings were marked with an aerosol can and the air hammer was deployed….and the arches fit….
    The crane operator thoroughly enjoyed the matter…and the overtime.
    The attending engineers not so much….

  14. Same thing happened in Montreal. Subway cars too big for the tunnels. I blame the metric system.
    http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2014/04/25/21628866.html

    Montreal’s new subway cars are so massive that city workers will have to grind down some tunnels to avoid wedges, QMI Agency has learned.

    Montreal’s STM transit agency will make a series of changes to its Metro network due to the size, weight and configuration of the $2.2-billion fleet.

    And the new cars use 30% more electricity.

  15. Ahh the keyboard ticklers strike again. Having been grist between the field and the office many times and seen thousands of dollars wasted daily by memen who don’t have the foggiest idea about the not-so technical but very consequential aspects of field applications, I know why I will never be a rich man.
    Julian] Hi Bobbie I ordered the tools for the field crew today. I went through a different supplier and saved a ton of money!!! 🙂
    Send.
    Bobbie] That’s great! That’s why they pay you the big bucks! LOL
    Send.
    Julian] Bobbie, the spread sheets are taking longer and longer to collate. Is there anything I can do to speed up the process?
    P.S. I just found “The Happy Song” on Pandora.
    Send.
    Bobbie] Just remove the location and product code data fields. That should speed it up. Listening to “The Happy Song” too!
    Send.
    Julian] Our favorite field crab is here! (LOL) He’s complaining again. This time he’s looking for some “GPS” sheets???? He’s also griping about wrenches breaking and the crew is just sitting there.
    Send
    Bobbie] Tell him all the data comes from the client and to ask them for whatever he is looking for.(does he stink again? LOL!)This is the laziest crew evah!
    Send
    Julian] OK and, yes, we need to do something about that P.U.!!!
    …. and then they blame guns.
    The Crew Chief awoke before dawn, he put his boots on
    He took a face from the ancient gallery
    And he stepped into his truck.
    He went into the room where H.R. was, and…then he
    Paid a visit to the lew, and then he
    He walked on down the hall.
    And he came to a door…and he looked inside
    Julian, Yes hon, Good morning.
    Bobbie…I need a….. R-A-i-S-e!
    Cue “Magic Bus” /semi-rant

  17. Why,in the name of all that’s unholy,would Spain need a submarine fleet?

  19. Actually, as I remember it, in hell, the Italians are the engineers and the French are the administrators, but, as somebody who has worked on his share of bicycles equipped with French components, I agree with your point.

  21. Engineers today spend too much time driving a computer and don’t do enough real world ‘reality checks’. We see these sorts of bad designs in all engineering disciplines, typically with engineers under 30. If it looks good in the computer they think it’s good-to-go.

  22. Kate,
    From scenarios like this I’ve been suggesting that we need a new word
    Empixellated
    To describe those who spend too much time looking at computer screens and not nearly enough looking at the real world

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