Weekend Update 11/16/14

[nkalanaga]

Aikorob:  I've never seen that anywhere in the US, but it's a good idea.  I wonder if it could also be used to make buildings handicap-compliable without completely rebuilding the entrances?

[James Costello]

standard in steps from Soviet times--for prams, buggies and wheeled bags

Also common in Japan for bicycles

[sirenwerks]

Aikorob:  I've never seen that anywhere in the US, but it's a good idea.  I wonder if it could also be used to make buildings handicap-compliable without completely rebuilding the entrances?

Generally, the grade of stairwells exceeds a safely navigable grade for wheelchairs.  Maybe someone in a wheelchair could get up/down that Soviet contraption with assistance, but what if there's no assistance available?  How would you like to be in a chair on wheels and try to go down something that steep on your own?  The whole point of handicap accessibility is to provide individual freedom.  It may be an inconvenience to the A&E crowd and civil bean counters or those in the general public who think it's a waste of funds, but it means a great deal to those who have to use it.

Besides, I don't think those sharp steel channels on a stairwell would make it past the risk management and liability insurance crowd; serious trip & fall just waiting to happen.

[bnsfdash8]

I couldn't resist this new release from Athearn.

[nkalanaga]

Sirenwerks:  I agree that it wouldn't work for unassisted wheelchair users, but there are buildings where replacing the stairs with ramps isn't practical.  In some cases there simply isn't enough room for a long enough ramp, in others the building can't, for whatever reason, be altered.

I'll also agree that, in most cases, a ramp is preferable, and even though I'm not disabled, I prefer ramps to stairs.

[Bsklarski]

I couldn't resist this new release from Athearn.

I need that. Not my era but that customer is on my line. And I live two towns away

[Kisatchie]

I couldn't resist this new release from Athearn.

Hmm... a load of scrap
coal...

[peteski]

Hmm... a load of scrap
coal...

Funny Ms. Dee - it is as if you read my mind.

[wm3798]

Installed new LED street lights this week.  They are a little bright, so the plan is to get an adjustable Power Supply - then adjust to the correct brightness.

Just put a lot of cop cars on the street.  People will figure it to be a bad neighborhood!

[nkalanaga]

Dee:  Years ago, not long after moving to Kentucky, we bought a load of coal for the stove in our house.  It really was "scrap coal", being mostly oil shale, and leaving clinkers the size and shape of the lumps.  The funny (sad?) thing is that my father bought the coal, and he used to work in coal mines and fired coal-burning locomotives.  He should have been able to tell shale from coal...