Model Of Pluto - Riccall, UK - Made for the Millennium on Waymarking.com

The Solar System Model

The model is along the route of part of the original East Coast Mainline railway line between York and Riccall.

The opening of a new large coal mine led to fears that it could cause subsidence along this stretch of railway line so it was diverted onto another route.

After a campaign the abandoned stretch of railway was converted to a cycle and walking trail in 1987. Cycle routes have been extended throughout the UK and this is now part of National Cycle Route 65.

In 1999, the nearby York University that has an observatory, built a scale model of the Solar System along the route as part of the celebrations for the Millennium. They named the model 'Cycle the Solar System' and it was made possible by a Millennium Award to its creators Dave Coulthard, Willy Hoedeman & Peter Thompson.

Along it you can find scale models of the sun and all the planets in our solar system as well as models of the Cassini and Voyager spacecraft. The scale of the model is 575,872,239 to 1. So every 100 metres along the track corresponds to more than 57 million kilometres in space. This means that along the route the speed of light is about 1.16 mph, so it is easy to walk at around 3 times the speed of light and to cycle at about 10 times the speed of light!

The start of the route is close to the Askham Bar Park and Ride site and there is parking at the other end in the streets of Riccall.

Each of the objects stands on the top of a converted sewer pipe on which are information plaques. Nearby each one there is also a signpost pointing to the nearest object in either direction with distances in metres along the path and in millions of kilometeres in space. The two exceptions are the models at each end. The sun which due to its size and weight stands separately to the information plaques and the direction arrow only points one way to Mercury.
The model of Pluto at the other end has a signpost pointing only to Alpha Centauri, the next star.
The Model Of the former planet Pluto

Plutp was only discovered in 1930 and at the time declared to be the ninth, but tiny planet in the Solar System. However in the 1990's several objects of a similar size were discovered in the Kuiper Belt and the classification was changed to a Dwarf Planet.

This model is actually set on a small path that runs parallel with the main path at a dead end. Presumably this was done to reflect its status as a dwarf planet outside the main solar system.

The model has been damaged and under repair. Part of the metal stand is broken, but the model of pluto itself is still on the base and is 0.59 cm in diameter.

The signpost shows the following distance.
ALPHA CENTAURI  70641 km on the path 40,680,200,000,000 km in space
The next star

Note:- there isn't physically a model of Alpha Centauri, the quoted distance of 70641 km is the distance it would be on the scale of the model.

Related web site: [Web Link] Can you tell us who created the item: Dave Coulthard, Willy Hoedeman & Peter Thompson of York University Condition of the item: Fair So what did YOU do for the millennium?: Attended a party

Visit Instructions:
To record a visit to a Millennium Waymark, please:

Take a photo of the item during your visit.

Describe your visit and what you thought about the item.

Please also mention what you personally did to mark the new Millennium. Was it a night to remember?

Recent Visits/Logs:

There are no logs for this waymark yet.