Kilometre markers

[Bedspring]

Why do they put the kilometer markers where they do, for example 301.1 km, and as 300km was over an hours walk away, are these people messing with my mind

 

[Kathy F.]

Yep.

 

[kateonthecamino]

I went past three 555km markers spread over about 20km last week. It's a mystery.

 

[OzAnnie]

Why do they put the kilometer markers where they do, for example 301.1 km, and as 300km was over an hours walk away, are these people messing with my mind

Keeping you alert & on your toes …
Good to see them though even if not spot on., especially when there is a fork in the road.

 

[Peterborough]

My question is. Which came first the marker or the distance plaque?

 

[Tincatinker]

Why do they put the kilometer markers where they do, for example 301.1 km, and as 300km was over an hours walk away, are these people messing with my mind

They are known as Mojones: not a far step in the evolution of language from Mahone as in pogue mahone. Their actual purpose escapes me but I guess they’re an excellent method of using up an embarrassing surplus of faux marble and scrap bronze while appearing to do something useful.

It’s the ones standing proudly by the side of a dead straight track from which there is no possible deviation or diversion that make me chuckle most. Especially the ones that tell me I am precisely 307.357km from nowhere in particular (not including side-trips).

 

[Philtration]

It's the Camino making you relive your experiences until you learn some important life lesson!

 

[Gringazolana]

On a related note, Strava thinks some of those markers are wrong!

 

[Camo]

They are known as Mojones: not a far step in the evolution of language from Mahone as in pogue mahone. There actual purpose escapes me but I guess they’re an excellent method of using up an embarrassing surplus of faux marble and scrap bronze while appearing to do something useful.

It’s the ones standing proudly by the side of a dead straight track from which there is no possible deviation or diversion that make me chuckle most. Especially the ones that tell me I am precisely 307.357km from nowhere in particular (not including side-trips).

However when one suggests the dead simple (and dead accurate) alternative/cross check of Google SatNav directions one is told that "you can't go wrong with the markers"

 

[El Cascayal]

example 301.1 km,

307.357km

Why they carry it out to 3 nonsensical decimal points is beyond my attention span. They are obviously so very, very, very, exquisitely accurate.

 

[WGroleau]

Why they carry it out to 3 nonsensical decimal points is beyond my attention span. They are obviously so very, very, very, exquisitely accurate.

So that if the last digit is wrong, you know someone moved it more than a meter.

 

[Pilgrim9]

It's to subtly train pilgrims to shift focus towards life's more important matters.

Type A control-freak statistics-overanalysing power-trekkers eventually either mellow out en-route, or decide that playing competitive sports is more to their liking.

 

[Jeff Crawley]

Why they carry it out to 3 nonsensical decimal points is beyond my attention span. They are obviously so very, very, very, exquisitely accurate.

Because the instrument they use has that (and more) digits in its display.
When I trained as a civil engineer at the back end of the 1960s/start of the 1970s we used slide rules and log tables (don't ask). Addition and multiplication were done with a pencil. "Near enough" was generally "good enough".

Then electronic calculators came in.

Divide 151.50 metres by 13 and you get 11.6538461538 m - I'd say 11.65m was close enough.

The trouble is that later generations have little appreciation of what a number means - they just read the display and write it down - I've seen engineers adding two digit numbers together on a calculator!

Before I retired I asked a young graduate if he really thought he needed to give a bricklayer dimensions to the nearest millimetre and, puzzled, he asked "Why not?"

Just because we can doesn't mean we should!

 

[trecile]

Walking into Santiago the other day in the Invierno/Sanabrés I passed by a rare ,000 marker.

 

[El Cascayal]

When I trained as a civil engineer at the back end of the 1960s/start of the 1970s we used slide rules and log tables (don't ask). Addition and multiplication were done with a pencil. "Near enough" was generally "good enough".

A fellow fossil here, used these as well. It is a stabbing brain pain to see this 3 decimal ridiculosity. Just round it out to one decimal and call it a good day.

 

[Jeff Crawley]

Walking into Santiago the other day in the Invierno/Sanabrés I passed by a rare ,000 marker.

View attachment 173416

I can imagine somebody not used to European standards thinking "FIVE THOUSAND Kilometres to go? What the . . . . "

 

[Tincatinker]

Yep, that’s gonna come as a bit of a shock to the shiny geared who’ve done their 30 minutes out of Sarria - only 100 thousand km to go and only 5 days to do it in… better skip that second breakfast

 

[Jeff Crawley]

A fellow fossil here, used these as well. It is a stabbing brain pain to see this 3 decimal ridiculosity. Just round it out to one decimal and call it a good day.

Reminds me of the story about Mt Everest - who was the first man to put two feet on top of Mount Everest?

It turns out it was a man named Sir Andrew Scott Waugh who was the Surveyor General of India (in 1856). From survey data Radhanath Sikdar had calculated that mountain was 29,000 ft high, Waugh thought that looked like they'd cooked the books so he announced it to be 29,002 ft!
It's recently been remeasured and is currently about 29, 031ft to the peak as it seems to physically grow by 1ft 4" a century.

 

[Jeff Crawley]

Yep, that’s gonna come as a bit of a shock to the shiny geared who’ve done their 30 minutes out of Sarria - only 100 thousand km to go and only 5 days to do it in… better skip that second breakfast

No time to get those two sellos either! Ultreia y Suseia!

 

[Rebekah Scott]

Numbers are only symbols. They only have meaning if we give it to them.... the distance between the markers is the same with or without numbers attached.
Keep walking, pilgrim!

 

[Jeff Crawley]

Numbers are only symbols. They only have meaning if we give it to them.... the distance between the markers is the same with or without numbers attached.
Keep walking, pilgrim!

And always too far!

 

[El Cascayal]

distance between the markers is the same with or without numbers attached.

Yes, of course!

Numbers are only symbols. They only have meaning if we give it to them....

No, whether we acknowledge them or not, numbers matter.

 

[Camo]

Walking into Santiago the other day in the Invierno/Sanabrés I passed by a rare ,000 marker.

View attachment 173416

Well I am an even older engineer (called a greaser in the old days) of the mechanical type and my choice would be 2 decimal places but not sure when a decimal point became a comma?

But my main gripe with this image is why does the shell not POINT to the same direction?

 

[C clearly]

not sure when a decimal point became a comma?

Google "comma vs decimal point" or something similar and you will learn that the convention varies in different countries.

why does the shell not POINT to the same direction?

It does, in one interpretation - i.e. the rays converge toward the right, like paths converging on Santiago. Read all about it here.

 

[Camo]

Google "comma vs decimal point" or something similar and you will learn that the convention varies in different countries.


It does, in one interpretation - i.e. the rays converge toward the right, like paths converging on Santiago. Read all about it here.

I meant point in the same direction as the ARROW - but never mind here is the final waymarker which IS pointing the right way

 

[BarbaraW]

Heaven?