Talk:New Measurement Train

Three power cars?

A section in the article says there are 3 power cars, but only 2 can be seen in the photos. Is one a spare stored elsewhere? Wongm (talk) 13:50, 23 December 2008 (UTC)

Yes, Three power cars are allocated, of which two are in use on the train and the other is spare. Should on of those in use on the train need to be removed for maintenance/repair, the spare takes its place. Mjroots (talk) 06:48, 14 February 2011 (UTC) and it has a medium speed

Messing car?

What is a 'messing car'? I cannot find a reference for this anywhere. And why does the NMT need two of them? Blurryman (talk) 16:02, 7 June 2015 (UTC)

A car where the the train crew can make or obtain a mug or two of tea and/or a bacon sarnie etc. There are two such cars so that the crew do not have to walk more than one and a half coach lengths to get refreshments. Also, it is somewhere for the crew to sit while the train is travelling to or from the track to be measured. –LiveRail < Talk > 12:44, 17 July 2015 (UTC)

This is American usage copied straight from an article I've just read. British usage would be "mess" rather than messing or even "support" at a stretch.92.18.223.169 (talk) 15:58, 8 March 2016 (UTC)

Are you sure? Might it not be a specialized usage in British railway speak? The person who added it in 2007 sounded generally as if they knew what they were on about. Further, I was amused to find it used in Meccano Magazine in 1947 - have a look here on p18, column 2, paragraph 1, third sentence: "Two days before the date given, the new tubular steel signals arrived, complete with everything else needed, including a travelling workshop and messing car for the gang." Sure it might be a typo, and I have not done proper research on this, but there it is anyway. Best wishes to all DBaK (talk) 00:17, 9 March 2016 (UTC)