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"The ten-hundred hours service to..."

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Mojo

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Twenty four oh seven is not proper time though. Do you ever see 24:07 on clocks, computers, anywhere?
It's printed on London Underground tickets purchased after midnight but before the next day starts.
 

AlterEgo

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Try telling that to the many guards who insist on using the 12 hour clock or, worse, a mixture of 24 & 12 hour times. I have been tempted to ask those who says that a train booked to arrive at, say, 18.10 is expected to arrive at 6.10 why there is going to be a 12 hour delay but expect it would go way over their heads.

Once at VTWC, I got a letter of complaint (yes, a paper letter) from an idiot who complained that we were using the 24 hour clock and why the hell were we using this confusing system?

I had great pleasure in explaining in detail how the 24 hour clock was actually adopted in the Western world precisely because Sandford Fleming had once missed a train in Ireland.

That complaint was 7/10 on the Idiot Scale. To give you an example of a 10/10 complaint, there was one where a man complained (by phone) about the new (as it was then) footbridge at Wolverhampton. He said it was stupid, and inconvenient, because you had to spend time going up the stairs and down the other side...and demanded to know why we hadn't built a subway (!). The mind boggles.
 

Lockwood

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He said it was stupid, and inconvenient, because you had to spend time going up the stairs and down the other side...and demanded to know why we hadn't built a subway (!). The mind boggles.

Never thought about this until now...
Would you have to go up more on a bridge than down on a subway?
 

roversfan2001

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That complaint was 7/10 on the Idiot Scale. To give you an example of a 10/10 complaint, there was one where a man complained (by phone) about the new (as it was then) footbridge at Wolverhampton. He said it was stupid, and inconvenient, because you had to spend time going up the stairs and down the other side...and demanded to know why we hadn't built a subway (!). The mind boggles.
I'd quite like some more examples of 10/10 complaints, that's amazingly stupid! :lol:o_O
 

Busaholic

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I'd quite like some more examples of 10/10 complaints, that's amazingly stupid! :lol:o_O

Not a direct comparison, but in the bookshop I owned that sold books, books and nothing but books an apparently sane-looking woman came in, walked around staring for about five minutes, then asked me 'where is your wine ?'. I pondered this for a couple of seconds thinking this must be a wind-up, then replied that we didn't sell wine. She immediately fired back with 'well, why don't you?', expressed with high dudgeon. I directed her to the Co-Op a minute's walk away!
 

quarella

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I don't like it when guards announce arrival times etc in the 12 hour format. Even worse is when the mix the two together e.g."this is 13.30 from Reading due to arrive at London Paddington at two o'clock."

I used to give the 2211 in both formats. It was then retimed to 2212 which was worse as the last train on that route was at 2307. Before I finished it had moved on to 2213 which reduced the potential for confusion.
 

Peter Mugridge

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Never thought about this until now...
Would you have to go up more on a bridge than down on a subway?

Yes - for a subway you only really need to go about 10 - 15 feet down compared to about 20 - 25 feet up for a bridge ( wire clearances... ).
 

mark-h

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I have encountered overseas operators who for the last services of the day get up to the likes of 2430 or even 2515 etc, to ensure they are collated correctly on the computer. These are on internal documents only where users get used to it.

That makes sense in a non-24 hour industry as there will be a time where the previous day's activity has ceased and the clock can reset. I work in the entertainment industry and an early morning finish is usually thought of as part of the previous day (the next day being when you wake up in the morning).
 

142blue

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My own thoughts is it is down to the individual making the announcements, as long as it is correct then does it really matter?
 

Chris M

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My own thoughts is it is down to the individual making the announcements, as long as it is correct then does it really matter?
Correct is important, but correctly understood is more important. Thus being unambiguous when there is a potential for confusion is best, and there is nothing wrong with being unambiguous at other times as well.
 

robbeech

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I do the same. Using that along with “fife” for five, “tree” for three, “fo-wer” for four you can end up getting some funny looks.
Around this time of year we end up doing a few fireworks related shows. Various entertainment in the form of bands and local radio presenters, the usual debacle, followed by fireworks, generally to music. Most of the professional outfits use time code which we connect on a data link but others do it manually and give us a CD or a file on a laptop. either way as the guys firing the stuff are situated away from us there has to be communication. I often find myself relaying a manual countdown (they sometimes can't hear 20,000 people counting down) and i have always been in the habit of omitting the number 5 from my radio count down as it common practise in various military situations.
 

142blue

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As long as the fact its the 10:00 train is announced then the language isn't that important. If they gave the wrong time or stops I'd understand

Let's not all be sheep
 

Chris M

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73b5f69fa623b288f13212dc5276418f.png
 

Crossover

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I was at Keighley a little while ago where I heard the announcement of the "10 o'clock Northern service to Leeds" which took me by surprise. It looks like this particular service is now the 10:01 however!
 

142blue

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I think variation, change and use of regional language is lovely personally
 

Wilts Wanderer

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In the office I work in there are quite a few 'old hands' and the old-school omission of the 'oh' from single-digit times is still common.

For instance the 0704 departure would be the 'seven-four', the 1201 would be the 'twelve-one', etc. Slightly strange thinking about it, guess it goes back to the 12-hour clock?
 
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Not a direct comparison, but in the bookshop I owned that sold books, books and nothing but books an apparently sane-looking woman came in, walked around staring for about five minutes, then asked me 'where is your wine ?'. I pondered this for a couple of seconds thinking this must be a wind-up, then replied that we didn't sell wine. She immediately fired back with 'well, why don't you?', expressed with high dudgeon. I directed her to the Co-Op a minute's walk away!

Presumably, she had already imbibed a certain amount of wine...
 
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