General Chat

[sidcow]

Remember when we used to get public information films about how to cross the road, safe swimming etc. 

I was sure they would have done one about walking on frozen lakes but I can't find anything. 

[limpid]

2 hours ago, KentVillan said:

Google suggests that in the early days of the railways, the UP line went to London and the DOWN line went from London to wherever. Something to do with it being the capital, and I guess the busiest lines tending to go into or out of London.

I don't think that's quite right. "Up" was toward the head office of the operating company. Of course, many of these were in London, but not nearly all of them, especially when they were new.

[mjmooney]

3 hours ago, sidcow said:

Remember when we used to get public information films about how to cross the road, safe swimming etc. 

I was sure they would have done one about walking on frozen lakes but I can't find anything. 

This is one of those tragedies that has been repeated somewhere in the world for millennia. Kids can't resist a frozen lake, they never could. 

 

[KentVillan]

1 hour ago, limpid said:

I don't think that's quite right. "Up" was toward the head office of the operating company. Of course, many of these were in London, but not nearly all of them, especially when they were new.

Yep, not always London, but usually.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rail_directions#Up_and_down

Quote

In British practice, railway directions are usually described as "up" and "down", with "up" being towards a major location. This convention is applied not only to the trains and the tracks, but also to items of lineside equipment and to areas near a track. Since British trains run on the left, the "up" side of a line is usually on the left when proceeding in the "up" direction.^{[citation needed]}

On most of the network, "up" is the direction towards London. In most of Scotland, with the exception of the West and East Coast Main Lines , and the Borders Railway, "up" is towards Edinburgh. The Valley Lines network around Cardiff has its own peculiar usage, relating to the literal meaning of traveling "up" and "down" the valley. On the former Midland Railway "up" was towards Derby. On the Northern Ireland Railways network, "up" generally means toward Belfast (the specific zero milepost varying from line to line); except for cross-border services to Dublin, where Belfast is "down". Mileposts normally increase in the "down" direction, but there are exceptions, such as the Trowbridge line between Bathampton Junction and Hawkeridge Junction, where mileage increases in the "up" direction.^[1]

Individual tracks will have their own names, such as Up Main or Down Loop. Trains running towards London are normally referred to as "up" trains, and those away from London as "down". Hence the down Night Riviera runs to Penzance and the up Flying Scotsman to London King's Cross.^{[citation needed]} This distinction is less meaningful for trains not travelling towards or away from London; for instance a CrossCountry train from Manchester to Bournemouth uses "up" lines as far as Reading and "down" lines thereafter.

 

[Demitri_C]

9 hours ago, mjmooney said:

This is one of those tragedies that has been repeated somewhere in the world for millennia. Kids can't resist a frozen lake, they never could. 

 

Its so sad. The big and obvious  question pending the age of the kids as all we are being told is they were kids is where were the parents?

Every parents nightmare 

Edited December 12, 2022 by Demitri_C

[Genie]

Thankfully the rumours of additional children being missing seem to be false. 4 fell in and 4 have been rescued. 

[sidcow]

8 minutes ago, Demitri_C said:

Its so sad. The big and obvious  question pending the age of the kids as all we are being told is they were kids is where were the parents?

Every parents nightmare 

I don't think there is anything at all wrong about sending your kids out to play on a Sunday in the snow unless they are really young. 

You can't live your life thinking they're out playing on thin ice. 

[Demitri_C]

13 minutes ago, sidcow said:

I don't think there is anything at all wrong about sending your kids out to play on a Sunday in the snow unless they are really young. 

You can't live your life thinking they're out playing on thin ice. 

Sadly then you will always have this kind of risk then. I personally wouldnt but as you say we dont know the age. If they were like 10-11 you would think they might be old enough to establish that its a danger to do this.

If they are really young like 4-6 questions have to be asked where the parents are

[mjmooney]

Three of the four have now died. 8, 10 and 11. 

[Genie]

3 minutes ago, mjmooney said:

Three of the four have now died. 8, 10 and 11. 

Just read that, absolutely horrendous.

[sidcow]

I thought they would be younger when they announced this morning that a local junior school was closed.

I guess the outlook for the 4th is pretty bleak too.

Hopefully reports of the other 2 are false but as they're still searching it does suggest they know something.  

[Demitri_C]

Heart breaking. Thoughts to the family 

[sidcow]

BBC just said the remaining child is 6 years old 

[PieFacE]

Horrific  

[Chindie]

They were pulled from the water in cardiac arrest - their hearts weren't doing anything. If the other recovers it's miraculous - they'll have been essentially dead when they got them out of the lake.

[sidcow]

I'm now thinking that with those ages it's surely got to be siblings involved so some family has probably lost 2 or more children in one night.

[Genie]

I remember mucking about on a local frozen lake/pond at 12/13. It wasn’t deep though, if we’d have gone through I Imagine it would have only been waist deep.

I reckon last weekend there will have been hundreds of kids doing a similar thing. 

[BOF]

16 hours ago, KentVillan said:

Someone told me ages ago that “up to London” is the correct expression wherever you are in the country, but yeah I always say “up” for north, “down” for south, and “over” for anything else.

FWIW "up to" Dublin and "down to" literally anywhere else in the country is a thing over here too and it's definitely nothing to do with a train line

[Delphinho123]

Such grim news. Genuinely heartbreaking. Completely ruined my day. I really hope the 6yr old pull through, but I'm expecting the worst. 

[sidcow]

19 minutes ago, Genie said:

I remember mucking about on a local frozen lake/pond at 12/13. It wasn’t deep though, if we’d have gone through I Imagine it would have only been waist deep.

I reckon last weekend there will have been hundreds of kids doing a similar thing. 

Was only waist deep by the sound of it (or probably shoulder deep for a 6 yr old)

Problem is trying to clamber out is impossible and the cold takes you so quick, especially at that age.

And water is always deeper than you think because of refraction.  If you reckon it's waist deep looking at it it's probably neck deep.