discrepancies on US railroads, caused by track realignments that shortened
distances, but the milepost numbers were not changed because it would cause
too much disruption. I mentioned that "when the USA gets its act together
there will be a one-time remeasuring for kilometer posts and that will give a
chance to get everything into alignment again." This prompted the following
exchange.
From an American retired track gang supervisor:
I kind of like our system of inches, feet, yards, and miles. Everytime I
travel overseas or to Canada I just convert everything back to miles,
anyhow.
Funny thing, also, is that I notice that a majority of Canadians do the
same
thing.
And a response from a fellow in Toronto:
I think you're being misled by the infamous self-effacing politeness of
Canadians: they figure out that you're a Yank, so they convert everything
if they think you're listening. After all, we know Yanks can't add votes,
so why should we expect them to convert from kilometers to miles?
More seriously: having lived in Canada for ten years, I disagree. There are
a few areas in which the ancient units still reign supreme in everyday life
(take-out coffee is still advertised in fluid ounces; lumberyards sell
2x4s and one-inch boards, though those measures are no more accurate up
here than down there); but in most uses, metric and imperial either are
used interchangeably (distances short enough to measure with a tape;
weights of people or produce, though not mail) or metric is the undisputed
winner (highway speeds and distances; temperature).
To return the the proper topic, though, the railways are the last holdout
for long-distance measures. VIA Rail shows only kilometers in their public
timetable, but the markers and signs on the rights-of-way are still in miles
and in miles-per-hour, and there is no sign that that will change any time
soon. And, of course, the short-distance measure is still that unique-to-
rail measure, the carlength.
(end)
Some railroads still give baggage limitations in pounds as well, or, in the
case of the Algoma Central, in pounds only -- they probably figure most of
their passengers come from the USA.
Carleton
