February 08, 2007

What is the 'wrong type of snow'?


We step outside our usual Colorado/New Mexico milieu for this one.

Heavy snow (6 inches/15 cm--don't snicker) has fallen in Britain, and people are asking questions about it. The First Post online newspaper has the answers.

Here is the British take on "champagne powder:"

What's the "wrong type of snow"?

Made famous by British Rail back in February 1991, this is powdery snow that gets sucked into engines or trapped in points and electrical gear on tracks, causing short-circuits.

2 comments:

Andrew Oh-Willeke said...

I can't resist.

Snicker, snicker, snicker.

The "bitterly cold" days they have been having are lows of 26 degrees F (-3 degrees C).

They need a newspaper to tell them what snow is and where it comes from.

15 centimeters -- ha, ha, ha!

And, do British cars drive around with their engines exposed to the elements? I've driven my little Honda in every manner of snow and its never had its spark plugs give out on me.

Chas S. Clifton said...

I take your point, but I think that the "engines" reference was to electric rail engines, not to automobiles.

"Points" is British for railroad switches, not ignition points.