If you register, you can do a lot more. And become an active part of our growing community. You'll have access to hidden forums, and enjoy the ability of replying and starting conversations.

The genie in the railway lamp

Discussion in 'Steam Traction' started by Monkey Magic, Jul 18, 2018.

  1. Charles Parry

    Charles Parry Member

    Joined:
    Aug 2, 2013
    Messages:
    325
    Likes Received:
    275
    Gender:
    Male
    Mine would be to settle all heritage railway disputes. Think if it. The WHR & WHHR getting along, the WSR back to its old strength, no missing steaming fees or loco owning groups asking for suprious steaming fees etc.
     
  2. 30854

    30854 Resident of Nat Pres

    Joined:
    Mar 8, 2017
    Messages:
    12,172
    Likes Received:
    11,493
    Gender:
    Male
    Occupation:
    Retired
    Location:
    Brighton&Hove
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    Irrespective of how genies do what they do, I suspect the outcome, at least, has to conform with the laws of nature .... but Hey! I'm never one to knock ambition ..... :D
     
    Charles Parry likes this.
  3. Jimc

    Jimc Part of the furniture

    Joined:
    Sep 8, 2005
    Messages:
    4,052
    Likes Received:
    4,665
    Occupation:
    Once computers, now part time writer I suppose.
    Location:
    SE England
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    OK Genie. Your mission is to go back in time and tell George Stephenson his structure gauge is far too small and get him to make it about a foot bigger all round, maybe 18 inches taller...
     
  4. CH 19

    CH 19 Well-Known Member Friend

    Joined:
    Dec 30, 2013
    Messages:
    1,255
    Likes Received:
    632
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    W14
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    If said genie could have prevented WW2 it would have been a very interesting period of loco developement, and probably not the headlong rush to dieselisation or rationalisation.
     
  5. Forestpines

    Forestpines Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jun 5, 2009
    Messages:
    1,681
    Likes Received:
    2,438
    Gender:
    Female
    Location:
    Somewhere in the UK
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    If the genie's powers can remove any law that stops railway projects, does that extend to the Second Law of Thermodynamics?
     
    andrewshimmin, johnofwessex and MattA like this.
  6. 30854

    30854 Resident of Nat Pres

    Joined:
    Mar 8, 2017
    Messages:
    12,172
    Likes Received:
    11,493
    Gender:
    Male
    Occupation:
    Retired
    Location:
    Brighton&Hove
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    .... and while you're about it Mr.Genie, the distance between the rails could do with being bigger too. Whoa! Nobody said anything remotely like 'Breitspurbahn', just 2'-33/4" bigger ought to do it.... :)
     
  7. jwr4472

    jwr4472 New Member

    Joined:
    Oct 27, 2014
    Messages:
    41
    Likes Received:
    25
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Woking
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    Baised as I work on her, but 75079 restored so all Southern Region 75000 can meet.
     
  8. Smokestack Lightning

    Smokestack Lightning Member

    Joined:
    Oct 14, 2013
    Messages:
    262
    Likes Received:
    91
    Gender:
    Male
    If that happened I would disappear, because my mum and dad only met as a result of WW2. :(

    Dave
     
    Johnb and paullad1984 like this.
  9. paulhitch

    paulhitch Guest

    Road commercial transport was developing at a great rate before 1939 both for passengers and freight. WW2 put it "on hold" and post-war austerity held it back for a further period. It is arguable that sheer economics would have brought about something like the Beeching era upheaval a good deal earlier had the war not happened.

    PH
     
  10. johnofwessex

    johnofwessex Resident of Nat Pres

    Joined:
    Apr 6, 2015
    Messages:
    9,185
    Likes Received:
    7,226
    Gender:
    Male
    Occupation:
    Thorn in my managers side
    Location:
    72
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    Prior to WW2 the UK was the most 'motorised' nation in the world after the USA
     
  11. Monkey Magic

    Monkey Magic Part of the furniture

    Joined:
    Jan 6, 2018
    Messages:
    3,498
    Likes Received:
    6,845
    Location:
    Here, there, everywhere
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    Trying to derail a thread again? The wish was to see what would have happened with steam locomotive development and musing that it may have led to different paths being taken (as have most wishes - they are about paths not taken).
     
  12. flying scotsman123

    flying scotsman123 Resident of Nat Pres

    Joined:
    Sep 9, 2013
    Messages:
    10,440
    Likes Received:
    17,941
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Cheltenham
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    Add to that a number of locos now preserved were about to be scrapped before the War broke out and they were required after all and I think, on balance, the heritage railway world is better off with WW2 having occured, which in itself is a slightly daft statement in isolation!!
     
    johnofwessex and paullad1984 like this.
  13. Johnb

    Johnb Nat Pres stalwart

    Joined:
    Dec 3, 2014
    Messages:
    14,317
    Likes Received:
    16,393
    Gender:
    Male
    Occupation:
    Retired, best job I've ever had
    Location:
    Buckinghamshire
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    You're not the only one!
     
    Smokestack Lightning likes this.
  14. Monkey Magic

    Monkey Magic Part of the furniture

    Joined:
    Jan 6, 2018
    Messages:
    3,498
    Likes Received:
    6,845
    Location:
    Here, there, everywhere
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    You could also argue that there wouldn’t have been a postwar labour shortage forcing up costs etc etc

    If you wanted to play counter-factual history then any of WW1, the Great Depression and WW2 could be seen as changing the direction of politics, society, economy and hence the development of railways. Would grouping have taken place if WW1 had not taken place? What would have happened to interwar railways if there had not been the economic crises of the period?

    It is a classical argument as to whether war accelarates or stunts transformation and change. Ie women get the vote at the end of WW1 and it is argued that this is a result of WW1, alternatively, the suffrage movement had been extracting concessions for years prior to 1914, the war itself led to splits within the suffrage movement and potentially delayed women getting the vote. You can argue the case either way for most things.
     
  15. Copper-capped

    Copper-capped Part of the furniture

    Joined:
    Apr 19, 2017
    Messages:
    2,563
    Likes Received:
    3,316
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Stanthorpe, QLD, Australia
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    The thought of a posse of genii opening a can of whoopass on these thread drifting wibbles amuses me! :D
     
    M59137 and paullad1984 like this.
  16. Johnb

    Johnb Nat Pres stalwart

    Joined:
    Dec 3, 2014
    Messages:
    14,317
    Likes Received:
    16,393
    Gender:
    Male
    Occupation:
    Retired, best job I've ever had
    Location:
    Buckinghamshire
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    If my grandmother had dangly bits .......etc
     
  17. johnofwessex

    johnofwessex Resident of Nat Pres

    Joined:
    Apr 6, 2015
    Messages:
    9,185
    Likes Received:
    7,226
    Gender:
    Male
    Occupation:
    Thorn in my managers side
    Location:
    72
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    The end of thread drift on NP??

    Seriously though one wish has led to someone making an interesting point, surely rather than decrying this it is in fact a logical part of the conversation
     
  18. Monkey Magic

    Monkey Magic Part of the furniture

    Joined:
    Jan 6, 2018
    Messages:
    3,498
    Likes Received:
    6,845
    Location:
    Here, there, everywhere
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    Then you should take her to the doctor and get her checked out.

    If you've noticed quite a few wishees have wanted to go back in time and change things. These are all counter-factual wishes and the genie is happy to accommodate them, but with a health warning attached. They can not be responsible for the alternative version of history that takes place. (As noted, various posters would not exist and we can't assess what impact no labour shortage would have had etc etc).

    In fact, because genies have a sophisticated view of history this is why they decided to reduce the number of wishes to one because they know that mono-causal explanations are a nonsense believed only by television presenters and 5 year olds. As every genie tells everyone who thinks going back and shooting Hitler will prevent WW2, 'this is a stupid idea and won't achieve your intended aim'.
     
    Last edited: Jul 22, 2018
  19. Johnb

    Johnb Nat Pres stalwart

    Joined:
    Dec 3, 2014
    Messages:
    14,317
    Likes Received:
    16,393
    Gender:
    Male
    Occupation:
    Retired, best job I've ever had
    Location:
    Buckinghamshire
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    It's all down to Hitler's parents! He was illegitimate but if his parents had got married WW2 wouldn't have happened. His surname would have been Schickelgruber, I just cna't think that the hoards at Nuremburg would stand up to chant Heil Schickelgruber!!
     
  20. Monkey Magic

    Monkey Magic Part of the furniture

    Joined:
    Jan 6, 2018
    Messages:
    3,498
    Likes Received:
    6,845
    Location:
    Here, there, everywhere
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    Except it wouldn’t have been. Hitler’s father was illegitimate with no father listed. Adolf Hitler’s grandmother was Maria Anna Schicklgruber. Hitler is a version of Hiedler (sometimes spelt Huttler or Huettler) which is the name of the man who married Hitler’s grandmother and whose name Hitler’s father adopted.

    So what you actually mean is that if Hitler’s grandmother had not married Johann Georg Hiedler, WW2 would not have happened for the reasons you claim. (But if we are going to do counter-factual we should at least get the starting point right).

    Less your granny and more Hitler’s granny.

    Given your interest in dangly bits, I can offer no evidence on allegations surrounding the number or state of Hitler’s.
     
    35B, CH 19, oddsocks and 3 others like this.

Share This Page