30 / 84
There is a saying, of course, that he
who goes first wins. And sometimes,
and in some ways, that is true.
But not always, and especially not
always in the long run.
Forlorn Hope
The most obvious example of going
first being dangerous is the forlorn
hope in a military context. They
were the first people through a
breach in the castle wall or whatever.
Casualties were likely to be very
high. To make this attractive, the
rewards for survival were riches and
promotions (and glory).
London Underground
Here's a different type of example.
The London Underground (the
"tube" - or subway, in American
terms) was opened in 1863. Initially,
the tunnels were near the surface
and were built by "cut and cover"
- a big ditch is dug out, the tunnel
is created, and then the surface is
replaced. But later, the deeper lines
were built with circular tunnels.
These lines had to be built with
Victorian tunneling technology. As a
result, the tunnels are too narrow,
and they are very windy since
Victorian tunneling technology was
not up to going through hard rock,
so it had to go around. So that is
what London is stuck with. You
can't exactly widen a tunnel while
keeping service running for about
20 hours per day. This is the same
problem New York has with the
Holland rail tunnel, which was one of
the motivations for wanting to build
a second tunnel. The problem for
London with the small bore is that
the trains are very crowded. They
are very hot in summer - there is
no air conditioning and the tunnels
are too small to add it. Some of the
stations are very curved, leading
to the famous "mind the gap"
announcements (and by the way, it
is an urban legend that the guy who
voiced that message gets a royalty
each time it is said).
So the bottom line is that London
had an underground railway when
nobody else did, but it is stuck
with 150-year old decisions that
can't be changed. You know why
Beijing's subway is better? Because
they only really built it for the 2008
Olympics, so they could use modern
technology and techniques.
He Who Goes First...Loses
Paul McLellan, Cadence
30 l New-Tech Magazine Europe