Learning from Toys

I was almost finished with my working hours when I started watching the video below. I was working from home and my wife asked whether the video counts as working hours.

https://youtu.be/CsGELduKK1U?si=WwZ90dEc6Mi4H3-Z

Well I was almost finished but the video is surprisingly quite related to work. I have a vague idea about toy or model train but I didn’t expect it to be quite realistic. For example point 3 where the tracks will bend in high temperature, happens too in real railway. A common method is to pre-stress the track by pulling them but that requires them to be welded together, I think. It seems like the model railway just connect like a jigsaw so leaving a gap is easier.

Point 5 where the tracks need to be cleaned is also similar to real railway, where for example the track needs to be cleaned from leaves, which creates a slimy paste that prevents train braking and accelerating. instead of vacuuming and rubbing with the special cleaner, works train with special equipment go over the tracks and spray sands to ‘clean’ the tracks and increase adhesion between them and the train wheels.

Last point is even more relevant, but I have seen less in the UK, as compared to my time in Malaysia. There are gatekeepers who dislike newcomers, and also people who are stubborn in their ways and think it’s the best. “This is how we have been doing it,” some of them said. Fortunately there are also people who are very accommodating and open to help, whom I am very thankful of.

And here’s hoping that I become one of them.

Thank you for reading.