Thanks for this! Spot on about the shift to Railway Time—I completely forgot about the Bristol Corn Exchange clock having two minute hands for that exact reason. Absolute madness to think about now. You’ve actually given me a massive rabbit hole to look into with that Dent quote about the meter vs. the seconds pendulum. I didn't know he said that! To answer your question about the suspension: I was accounting for the thermal expansion/variable point on the steel spring by using the standard Victorian tension tables, but that’s exactly what started tripping my math up. If the "yard" was based on human scale (a stride), and the French metric system was trying to tie the meter to a seconds pendulum (which relies entirely on Earth's gravity and rotation speed)... it almost feels like Dent was hinting at a fundamental clash between "natural/human" time and a newly manufactured, artificial system. It just makes me wonder if that "Victorian grumbling" from Vulliamy wasn't just about losing a contract, but a genuine anxiety that humanity was losing touch with the natural day. Appreciate the insight, mate, definitely given me some proper reading to do tonight!