The Night Mail

[polybear]

8 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

Is anyone else getting problems with RMWeb loading?

 

I am getting lots of 'time outs' when using my PC, yet working from the tablet and phone I seem to get reasonable connection times.

 

I don't have problems loading any of the other sites I frequent, so I'm beginning to wonder if there is something in my PC software that is reacting with the RMWeb server in a non helpful way.

 

When I do get access from the PC, submitting replies seems to take forever.

 

Same here - it's not your PC.....

[PhilJ W]

40 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

Is anyone else getting problems with RMWeb loading?

 

I am getting lots of 'time outs' when using my PC, yet working from the tablet and phone I seem to get reasonable connection times.

 

I don't have problems loading any of the other sites I frequent, so I'm beginning to wonder if there is something in my PC software that is reacting with the RMWeb server in a non helpful way.

 

When I do get access from the PC, submitting replies seems to take forever.

RMweb has been slow for the last couple of weeks but PC's seem to be the least affected. Other factors might have an effect such as bandwidth.

[Happy Hippo]

This morning a sortie was made to the garden centre at Bridgemere.

 

We snook under the Hunt Tower's MATZ at not much above ground level during outbound trip:  A feat that was repeated during the return to the Hippodrome.

 

All we could here over the early warning system was snoring.

 

Nothing plant like was purchased, although Nyda did came away with 4 china mugs adorned with some form of flowers .

 

I'm now off to do some leg work (on the cassette tables).

 

 

[PhilJ W]

Borrowed from the ER's pages.

1 hour ago, AndrewC said:

Warning. Bears of a cake addicted persuasion should look away now. 

 

https://calgary.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=2367099&jwsource=cl

 

Edit: Oh for fork sake. Bloody thing won't embed. 

 

 

I wonder if they will install one of these machines in a muddy hollow.

[PhilJ W]

How the Concordski crashed.

 

[Happy Hippo]

Seen in the Waily Expresso:

 

https://www.express.co.uk/news/science/1555143/Hippo-news-animals-study-whatsapp

 

Now, who wants to be my friend?

[polybear]

8 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

 

Now, who wants to be my friend?

 

Will there be cake?

 

[Tony_S]

1 hour ago, polybear said:

 

Will there be cake?

 

According to the newspaper you will need to make friendly wheeze honk sounds to find out. 

[Happy Hippo]

2 hours ago, polybear said:

 

Will there be cake?

 

Does the Pope live in the Vatican?

 

43 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

According to the newspaper you will need to make friendly wheeze honk sounds to find out. 

 

That'll be my late onset Asthma.

[Tony_S]

56 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

 

That'll be my late onset Asthma

Aditi got that for her fortieth birthday. I didn’t realise it allowed her to make hippo friends too.

[Florence Locomotive Works]

Evening all,

 

This may be of interest to those of us who are more crimson bent.

 

 

This is my new (to me) Carette for Bassett Lowke MR brake van, made in France in 1909, so she’s had a few owners! It’s very strange knowing when it was made the Midland was still making full size brakevans.

 

It came from a large collection up in New York (my George the Fifth came from the same) and is 2 inch gauge. And it was also in quite a state. 
 

Here’s an example of the dirt on the footboards before and after cleaning. 
 

 

I cleaned it all with some very gentle soap mixture that is easy on the paint, I have tested it before.

 

Here are some photos.

 

Its all made from tin with the exception of cast zinc wheels which were covered in muck. The buffers were worse and looked as though they had been buried in the earth for a while.

 

 

 

 

 

This acquisition is also very perplexing. From what I can find (which is very little), the BTB for 2 inch gauge is 45mm, the BTB on this 40mm, but it’s too big to be gauge 1. I attempted to move the wheels out to 45mm but this was to large for the frame. Any thoughts?

 

 

Douglas

[Happy Hippo]

Certain manufacturers were notorious for changing the gauge or scale to suit their product.

 

Some of Stewart Browne's early Archangel Models were closer to either 3/4" to the foot, or 7/8" to the foot rather than the more proper 5/8" (16 mm).

 

The back to back measurement of 40 mm of your brake van is spot on for Gauge 1.

 

I think you might find that some of the Carrette products were not as 'to scale' produced in both G1 and G2 with just a change of wheels.

 

[Florence Locomotive Works]

19 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

The back to back measurement of 40 mm of your brake van is spot on for Gauge 1.

 

Yes i just discovered that and its rather worrying as that is not the worlds cheapest brake van. I supposed I could regauge the engine down to G1 (its scaled to G1 not gauge 2) but I'm not sure if I should. That would enable me to stop making my own track though. That would mean unsoldering the bogie frames though.

 

Lesson learned though.

[BR60103]

Douglas:

Check the distance from the flange to the flat of the other wheel.  It may still run on gauge 2 without falling in between the rails.  But there may still be problems at points.

 

 

[jamie92208]

8 hours ago, Florence Locomotive Works said:

Evening all,

 

This may be of interest to those of us who are more crimson bent.

 

 

This is my new (to me) Carette for Bassett Lowke MR brake van, made in France in 1909, so she’s had a few owners! It’s very strange knowing when it was made the Midland was still making full size brakevans.

 

It came from a large collection up in New York (my George the Fifth came from the same) and is 2 inch gauge. And it was also in quite a state. 
 

Here’s an example of the dirt on the footboards before and after cleaning. 
 

 

I cleaned it all with some very gentle soap mixture that is easy on the paint, I have tested it before.

 

Here are some photos.

 

Its all made from tin with the exception of cast zinc wheels which were covered in muck. The buffers were worse and looked as though they had been buried in the earth for a while.

 

 

 

 

 

This acquisition is also very perplexing. From what I can find (which is very little), the BTB for 2 inch gauge is 45mm, the BTB on this 40mm, but it’s too big to be gauge 1. I attempted to move the wheels out to 45mm but this was to large for the frame. Any thoughts?

 

 

Douglas

Hi Douglas,  thst's a lovely find.  A friend of mine has a veryblsrge collection of Carette stuff and is very knowledgeable on the subject. If youbare interested I could put you in touch with him and he may well be able to advise you.  Send me a PM with your email address if you wish to progress this.

 

It looks very nice.

 

Jamie

[PhilJ W]

Hippo 'wheeze honk'.

 

 

[Happy Hippo]

This mornings leg work went well, and we are now well on the way to getting the cassette table self supporting. It's now just a case of fitting the legs to the  support block and then fitting the block into the end of the baseboard.

 

These have been made so that when the legs are retracted, everything fits inside the  frame, so no protrusions.

 

This makes stacking and carrying then so much easier.

 

Of course, the storage requirement goes up as the cassette boards will also require front and side plates in order to protect the stock and cassettes from enthusiastic fingers that are not part of the operating team.

 

With any luck we will be able to use the  cassettes and cassette tables on more than one layout.

 

 

 

[AndyID]

3 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

require front and side plates in order to protect the stock and cassettes from enthusiastic fingers that are not part of the operating team.

 

 

I can show you how to make a (nonlethal) tingly deterrent from a battery and an old GPO relay if you are interested 

[Happy Hippo]

1 hour ago, AndyID said:

 

I can show you how to make a (nonlethal) tingly deterrent from a battery and an old GPO relay if you are interested 

My father made something similar, although I believe it was around 50 v.

 

He connected it to the cables that the BBC had to run around the back of the south stand of the old Cardiff Arms Park.

 

He and his fellow outside broadcast engineers were sick to the back teeth of 'boyos' full of beer, who couldn't be bothered to go to the official lavatorial facilities when a match was being played.

 

By all accounts he waited until he had a good line up, all in full flow, before he switched it on.

 

When questioned about it, he suggested it was a spurious low voltage leak....

[Oldddudders]

"By golly, my water's strong tonight!"

[pH]

12 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

When questioned about it, he suggested it was a spurious low voltage leak....

Which one was?

[simontaylor484]

2 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

My father made something similar, although I believe it was around 50 v.

 

He connected it to the cables that the BBC had to run around the back of the south stand of the old Cardiff Arms Park.

 

He and his fellow outside broadcast engineers were sick to the back teeth of 'boyos' full of beer, who couldn't be bothered to go to the official lavatorial facilities when a match was being played.

 

By all accounts he waited until he had a good line up, all in full flow, before he switched it on.

 

When questioned about it, he suggested it was a spurious low voltage leak....

Shocking.

 

[jamie92208]

An electrifying experience for them.

 

Jamie

[laurenceb]

I am reliably informed that electric fences are also very painful if pee-ed on, in fact I suspect that the hole village found out when he screamed!

[laurenceb]

Electric fence units kick out around 3000 volts