The Night Mail

[Happy Hippo]

If you really want to splash out on a live steam loco kit, Just the Ticket  all provide you with the bits to build a Bullied 'Charlie' in 10 mm scale.

[BoD]

2 hours ago, simontaylor484 said:

@Florence Locomotive Works don't let your maths ability put you off doing anything you will regret it ask me how i know.

@Florence Locomotive Works  … and there are a few hereabouts who can do this maths thingy.  Don’t hesitate to ask and I’m sure there will be plenty of help via PMs.
 

As has been said you will probably end up surprising yourself…  but you will never know if you don’t give it a go.

[simontaylor484]

This beauty dropped onto my You Tube feed 

 

[Erichill16]

14 hours ago, AndyID said:

 

You might be surprised. Mathematics tends towards the abstract.

Square root of -1 springs to mind, j or is it i.

Did remember reading about its usefulness in a book on quantum mechanics but I thinks also used in AC electrical theory.

[Happy Hippo]

3 hours ago, simontaylor484 said:

@Florence Locomotive Works don't let your maths ability put you off doing anything you will regret it ask me how i know.

I was useless at maths, because I was not well taught. In truth I probable was asleep or designing a model railway when they explained about the BDMAS methodology. 

 

Yet I really got into Physics and really enjoyed the lessons. 

[Happy Hippo]

29 minutes ago, Erichill16 said:

Square root of -1 springs to mind, j or is it i.

Did remember reading about its usefulness in a book on quantum mechanics but I thinks also used in AC electrical theory.

I though Quantum mechanics was a Haynes manual found between Porsche 911 and Range Rover

[Winslow Boy]

8 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

I though Quantum mechanics was a Haynes manual found between Porsche 911 and Range Rover

Don't forget Relatively as well. Nice little motor but had a big impact on ........ Have to get back to you on that.

 

Remembered what it was Theoretical Physics.

Edited February 21, 2022 by Winslow Boy

[SM42]

Breakfast was a long drawn out affair this morning, as is often the case in these parts. 

This was pudding 

 

These came before the chocolate covered wafers. 

 

Of course, these are practice for Thursday,  aka Tlusty Czwartek.

 

Lots of doughnuts still to eat this week 

 

Andy

Who's forgotten his diet

 

[SM42]

17 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

I was useless at maths, because I was not well taught. In truth I probable was asleep or designing a model railway when they explained about the BDMAS methodology. 

 

Yet I really got into Physics and really enjoyed the lessons. 

 

I was lucky to get a very good maths teacher when I was 14. He got me from mediocre to an A level. 

 

The application of maths to Physics can involve  a bit of off the wall mathematic acrobatics. 

 

On one occasion, (possibly to do with light, I forget the exact subject,) that to work the equation you had to multiply by 1. 

However in this case 1 was shown as h/h  and suddenly it all worked. 

 

Now why anyone would think of such a seemingly illogical somersault I don't know. 

 

Andy

[BoD]

21 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

I though Quantum mechanics was a Haynes manual found between Porsche 911 and Range Rover

No.  it took a leap and it’s on the next shelf up.

[Winslow Boy]

9 minutes ago, SM42 said:

 

I was lucky to get a very good maths teacher when I was 14. He got me from mediocre to an A level. 

 

The application of maths to Physics can involve  a bit of off the wall mathematic acrobatics. 

 

On one occasion, (possibly to do with light, I forget the exact subject,) that to work the equation you had to multiply by 1. 

However in this case 1 was shown as h/h  and suddenly it all worked. 

 

Now why anyone would think of such a seemingly illogical somersault I don't know. 

 

Andy

 

That's the 'theoretical' bit.

[polybear]

1 hour ago, simontaylor484 said:

This beauty dropped onto my You Tube feed 

 

 

Dribble Dribble........

 

1 hour ago, Erichill16 said:

Square root of -1 springs to mind, j or is it i.

Did remember reading about its usefulness in a book on quantum mechanics but I thinks also used in AC electrical theory.

 

Apparently it's "i" (for "imaginary") - or so Google tells Bear

 

34 minutes ago, SM42 said:

Breakfast was a long drawn out affair this morning, as is often the case in these parts. 

This was pudding 

 

 

These came before the chocolate covered wafers. 

 

 

Pudding with Brekkies - and donuts followed by choccy wafers...

Bear must pay a visit to Poland before much longer - do the steam locos still run into Poznan?

[br2975]

15 hours ago, AndyID said:

We unearthed this bit of archeology from the garage. Our daughter, being an architect, had to build it

 

 

It was my elder brother's set. A few pieces were broken but superglue soon took care of that.

 

I had Minibrix but it's all long gone.

 

My father nurtured my alleged creativity with both Meccano and Bayko..................  all those vertical metal rods, sliding the brick sections down and the odd thin metal jointing strip proved very therapeutic

[SM42]

20 minutes ago, polybear said:

 

Pudding with Brekkies - and donuts followed by choccy wafers...

Bear must pay a visit to Poland before much longer - do the steam locos still run into Poznan?

 

Yes but Saturdays only to Poznan and then only till 15th March

The line is then under repair till 5th November. 

The weekday service  to Leszno is still running as far as I know.

Timetable at www.parawozy.com.pl

 

Look under Rozklad Jazdy.

 

Andy

Edited February 21, 2022 by SM42

[Tony_S]

1 hour ago, Erichill16 said:

Square root of -1 springs to mind, j or is it i.

Did remember reading about its usefulness in a book on quantum mechanics but I thinks also used in AC electrical theory.

“i”  was the usual representation for the square root of -1 when I was a student except in lectures given by Electronics lecturers where they used “j”. 

[SM42]

The usual performer on the steam service is Ol49 59

 

This is a picture I took on a Saturday morning in August 2020 ( posted elsewhere on RMWeb too) of the service leaving Szreniawa. 

 

It was still in action  in October last

 

 

A 2 cylinder 2-6-2  I believe

 

Andy

Edited February 21, 2022 by SM42

[Florence Locomotive Works]

Evening all,

 

Another interesting day was had today but for completely different reason.

 

 

The morning started out with me making a one final major component for Brunel in the form of the smokebox door and accompanying gubbins. Initially I made the engine without one as its hidden under the shroud but it was eating away at me so I went ahead and made one. 
 

I then went to lunch with the grandmother (drives me and sister around whilst parents at work) and she gave me this.

 

 

 

 

A Kodak “No. 2 Folding Autographic Brownie.” She found it going through some drawers. 
 

Now I know very little about cameras, but thankfully my grandfather who she thinks it belonged to, kept the original instruction booklet and half the box. This should be very helpful. I also talked with a guy at school I know who shoots in film and he told me where to find film for it. He also managed to find out it was made sometime between 1915 and 1926. 
 

 

I think it will find a job producing period correct official works photos…

 

 

Douglas

Edited February 22, 2022 by Florence Locomotive Works

[SM42]

I like the idea of works photos of models one has made.

 

The smoke box door is one of those things. 

No-one can see it but you know it's there and it doesn't seem right without it. 

I'm sure this sort of thing bugs a lot of us. 

 

I look at my early wagon builds and regret not adding a bit more detail of the brake gear.

I don't upgrade them now as life is too short and there are many others to build.

It bugs me but I have to grin and bear it. 

No-one else the notices the details unless pointed but I know.

 

I am now trying to overcome the urge to make the next batch more detailed down there, simply because it will consign all the others down a grade.

 

I have reached a level I am happyish with, would like to try more to push my limits maybe once, but am afraid of the consequences for what went before smandcwhat is to come.

One day perhaps, one day 

 

Then again, some days I regret going down the rabbit hole in the first place as  another drill bit snaps. 

 

My latest endeavour is to try and paint convincing bare wood effects. I may make a start one day.

 

Andy

Edited February 22, 2022 by SM42
Big fingers and here's me talking about detail.

[iL Dottore]

12 hours ago, Oldddudders said:

I have been a bit involved with medics over the last couple of weeks. Nothing too serious - osteoporosis isn't nice…

Indeed not, you certainly have my sympathies (I am a fellow degenerative disease sufferer [arthrosis]). Unhappily, the alternative to this is pushing up the daisies.

 

Unfortunately, we are not well designed and certainly not designed to last. I don’t know if this has been studied rigourously, but I get the impression that a lot of the problems that have come to be associated with aging start around 30 to 40 - exactly around the age evolving man’s offspring would have started having offspring of their own. So, with ones genes having successfully passed down to the F2 generation (Parents -> F1 -> F2 and so on) the original parents would be - biologically - redundant. Equally interesting, is the idea that women on average live longer than men because evolutionarily females continued to be involved in helping to raise the F2 and even F3 generations of offspring, whereas males were not and therefore surplus to requirements.

 

The other thing we (humans) suffer from is that whilst we profit from advantageous traits conferred by random mutations, if it doesn’t self eliminate by preventing survival, nature never throws anything away (genetically). Which is why we have wisdom teeth, a vermiform appendix and sometimes a vestigial tail. Genetically, I would venture, it’s the equivalent of having a finescale layout with state of the art rolling stock - with a few clockwork tinplate locos parked in a siding somewhere.

 

All the above is a gross simplification, but an amusing generalisation.

 

But let me leave you with a this thought. Women (XX) are superior to men (XY) as they have two of the superior X chromosome. Why superior? a fertilised ovum with XO sex chromosomes will be viable and survive to birth (although will be a child with health problems), whereas  a fertilised ovum with YO sex chromosomes will be UNviable and NOT survive to birth.

[Winslow Boy]

8 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

Indeed not, you certainly have my sympathies (I am a fellow degenerative disease sufferer [arthrosis]). Unhappily, the alternative to this is pushing up the daisies.

 

Unfortunately, we are not well designed and certainly not designed to last. I don’t know if this has been studied rigourously, but I get the impression that a lot of the problems that have come to be associated with aging start around 30 to 40 - exactly around the age evolving man’s offspring would have started having offspring of their own. So, with ones genes having successfully passed down to the F2 generation (Parents -> F1 -> F2 and so on) the original parents would be - biologically - redundant. Equally interesting, is the idea that women on average live longer than men because evolutionarily females continued to be involved in helping to raise the F2 and even F3 generations of offspring, whereas males were not and therefore surplus to requirements.

 

The other thing we (humans) suffer from is that whilst we profit from advantageous traits conferred by random mutations, if it doesn’t self eliminate by preventing survival, nature never throws anything away (genetically). Which is why we have wisdom teeth, a vermiform appendix and sometimes a vestigial tail. Genetically, I would venture, it’s the equivalent of having a finescale layout with state of the art rolling stock - with a few clockwork tinplate locos parked in a siding somewhere.

 

All the above is a gross simplification, but an amusing generalisation.

 

But let me leave you with a this thought. Women (XX) are superior to men (XY) as they have two of the superior X chromosome. Why superior? a fertilised ovum with XO sex chromosomes will be viable and survive to birth (although will be a child with health problems), whereas  a fertilised ovum with YO sex chromosomes will be UNviable and NOT survive to birth.

 

So you could say that acquiring knowledge and in particular medical knowledge, has acquired us a new set of problems, as Mother Nature would have limited the the reproduction of the XO chromosome by reducing there lifespan.

Edited February 22, 2022 by Winslow Boy
Should have been XO not YO

[PhilJ W]

Mayhem on the Liverpool Street services this morning. OHLE down.

[iL Dottore]

33 minutes ago, Winslow Boy said:

 

So you could say that acquiring knowledge and in particular medical knowledge, has acquired us a new set of problems, as Mother Nature would have limited the the reproduction of the YO chromosome by reducing there lifespan.

Sorry, I didn’t make myself clear: fertilised ova that are missing the X chromosome (so Y chromosome alone = YO) just don’t make it through pregnancy (IIRC they spontaneously abort very early in gestation)

But you are quite right - modern medicine allows people to survive with conditions that would have killed them at birth - children born with heart defects being one good example.

This raises the unsolvable dilemma of for the good of the individual vs for the good of the species…

[Happy Hippo]

Question of the day from my 4 yo grandson:

 

Do you remember seeing Dinosaurs when you were a little boy? 

[Happy Hippo]

Finishing off my transformation into two legged stealth mode  prior to a walk around Earley. 

[polybear]

22 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

Question of the day from my 4 yo grandson:

 

Do you remember seeing Dinosaurs when you were a little boy? 

 

"Absolutely, my young Hippo - I talk to some everyday on Early Risers....."