The Night Mail

[Winslow Boy]

5 hours ago, polybear said:

 

Up at 5am; start work at 6am?  Middle of the day.......

Get dropped at Pit Head: molly coddling. It's what feet are for.

[iL Dottore]

1 hour ago, jjb1970 said:

I have an important health and safety announcement,  after literally minutes of thought I hypothesise that contact with plastic models causes finger cancer. These musings prove beyond any doubt the terrible link, supported by my proprietary model using an algorithm I made up. Yes friends, for safety sake you should immediately destroy any plastic models and stick with brass and white metal, act now before it's too late!

Typical Tabloid Nonsense!

 

You have one case of finger cancer (digitalhorrendoma) in ONE railway modeller and suddenly it's a pandemic and lots of (clickbait) scare stories.

 

As it happens, I am familiar with that case (it was written up in the BMJ) and it was a railway modeller who was also a HoC politician who triggered his finger cancer by sticking his finger in where fingers should not be stuck.

 

Hardly an epidemic or applicable to the average bloke.

[iL Dottore]

33 minutes ago, jjb1970 said:

 

That's why I ear asbestos gloves, nothing is more wholesome and healthy than asbestos (well, maybe smoking 60 a day), dom't believe any scurrilous rumours and half truths that I am employed by the asbestos marketing board and own a tobacco wholesale business.

Well THAT explains a lot...

[Hroth]

16 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

As a Medical Professional Dave, in this regard my informed opinion (having met you last at Warley) is...- how can I put it? - Aah, yes. "Elvis Has Just Left The Building"....

 

Harsh!

 

[Winslow Boy]

4 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

I want serviceable crockery at the end of their visit, not a series of jigsaw puzzles

Couldn't that be something for the grand children 'look forward' to doing in order to 'help' Granpee.

[Happy Hippo]

We went to Hoo Zoo Dinosaur World this afternoon.  We got in for nothing as we had  a free return admission from our visit last Easter.

 

I whispered cake, and guess who popped up?

 

 

 

[BSW01]

4 hours ago, New Haven Neil said:

Mercury-arc rectifiers 

 

Jeez, that takes me back to the steelworks, where I served my apprenticeship. I used to maintain 2 of these. 

[Winslow Boy]

11 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

We went to Hoo Zoo Dinosaur World this afternoon.  We got in for nothing as we had  a free return admission from our visit last Easter.

 

I whispered cake, and guess who popped up?

 

 

 

That diet worked wonders for him.

[Hroth]

13 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

We went to Hoo Zoo Dinosaur World this afternoon.  We got in for nothing as we had  a free return admission from our visit last Easter.

 

I whispered cake, and guess who popped up?

 

 

 

 

Looks malnourished, good thing it isn't autumn!

 

[Tony_S]

4 hours ago, SteveyDee68 said:

can I just say that it has been an absolute pleasure not to have to constantly delete the video adverts that appear multiple times every time I open a new thread page!

Have you considered a Patreon or JustGiving account so you can raise the 25p a week to avoid the adverts?

Edited May 28 by Tony_S

[Tony_S]

6 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

Following on from Dave's comment, could I please have some sensible suggestions on the sort of gradient I can get 009 locos to climb, without either spinning to a stop or emitting smoke and sparks from the non functioning chimney?

 

Ideally, I'd want the line to cross over itself in a figure of eight style arrangement on a radius of around 12".

 

 

I will test a few locos for you. The computer with the test track attached is doing a very slow map update now (and probably for some hours), so unlikely to be today. I have a few Bachmann quarry Hunslets,ex WD Baldwin. and some other 009 locos. What sort of load (number of wagons or coaches were you thinking of). Most 009 locos will cope with 12” radius. One of the Heljan L&B is supposed to be fussy. The Bachmann Baldwin is fine. 

[Happy Hippo]

The only 009 loco I have at my disposal is a Quarry Hunslet.

 

The layout is not for me but I should imagine that 2-3 bogie coaches and maybee 8-10 wagons would be sufficient.

[SM42]

It's still raining 

 

The electric effects  not so much. 

 

I have a free pass tomorrow. 

 

I'm heading north towards Walcz

 

Weather forecast is drier. 

 

Andy

[TheQ]

7 hours ago, New Haven Neil said:

 

Ah, they'd never be able to control themselves, thyristors weren't invented in 1893.

 

It's not the same as it was DC wise either, the mercury-arc rectifiers are now out of service in Laxey, shame.

 

This is a shot of them on their last day in, err, arc.

 

 

I was never sure about emissions from those things, I know it's leaded glass, but....

 

That looks familiar,  known in the RAF unofficially as the Mekon.

I worked with them as they were fitted to the Type 80 radar ( till 1993), we have a video of one running in the Radar history room. Also used to power London underground at one time.

 

The following radar the Type 84, used a dozen Diodes each around a foot high. The type 88 radar after that used 24 silicon controlled rectifiers each an inch an a bit high.. still got some somewhere..

Edited May 28 by TheQ

[SteveyDee68]

1 hour ago, Tony_S said:

Have you considered a Patreon or JustGiving account so you can raise the 25p a week to avoid the adverts?

Actually, I have tried - twice - to sign up to RMWeb to rid myself of the adverts. I don’t want the World of Railways subscription etc, but each time I’ve tried the system has crashed out on me!

 

I have no idea why. I followed the steps as directed. No joy. I usually give it another 12 months before attempting again!

 

Back in 1989, after my first pay cheque, I went in search of a stereo system. I selected a rather snazzy looking B&O inspired CD/tape player and went home happy. Plugged it all in. Lights came on, no sound whatsoever. Following day, went back to the shop and was issued a replacement. Set up once again, turned on and there was a horrendous humming noise from the speakers. Back I went again, and tried my luck with a third example. This one, after setting up, didn’t even display any lights when the power was turned on.

 

Returning it again, I was told they were now out of stock but could order me one in. No thank you, I replied - I have experienced a 100% failure rate, why would I want another? I actually had to explain how, having had three examples and all of which were faulty, that meant I had a 100% failure rate, and therefore my expectation was that the next example would also fail!

 

So, the bargain buy £49.99 AMSTRAD system (yes, from whence Lord “You’re Fired” Sugar came from) was rejected in favour of a £600 Phillips tower system (multi changer CD, double tape, record deck, radio tuner) which I paid off over a number of months. 
 

It taught me a couple of lessons - (1) bargain price can actually mean cheap and nasty (2) quality costs (3) don’t repeat a process* exactly the same and expect a different outcome!

Steve S

 

* can also apply to products

 

[SteveyDee68]

Did anybody here see The Yorkshire Auction House yesterday on TV? Featured items being sold were a large quantity of G scale locos, carriages, wagons, track etc. There were various manufacturers, but what was on show was years of collecting by the owner and possibly/probably £1000s of investment.

 

Long and short of it all, after fees the owner got less than £1000 for selling effectively a van load of equipment!

 

I found it quite sad to see his much loved trains achieve so little at auction, when over on eBay the mendacious chisellers are overpricing everything from a banana shaped cellulose coach to a Mazak rotted loco and everything in between. I wonder how many of that chap’s collection ended up on eBay at 3x or 4x the price he was paid?

 

One upside - after watching it, my Mum turned to me and said “All that* your Dad bought - £1000s - I guess we’d get nothing from selling them?!”
 

Yes, Mum, that’s right, and so I may now keep hold of my Dad’s beloved O gauge trains and maybe one day get them running again, with her blessing!

 

HOURS OF FUN!

 

* She was referring to all his O gauge purchases

[Dave Hunt]

5 hours ago, Hroth said:

 

This then increases the incidence of serious burns caused by inept/inexperienced modellers picking their soldering irons up by the wrong end...

 

I once sat down on a chair on which I had left my (still switched on) soldering iron. It took a second or so to manage to stand leap up but by then my butt was well and truly singed. When Jill stopped laughing she dressed the burn for me but I leave it to readers to imagine the response I got from my Squadron mates (so called) when the following day I had to say, "I can't fly today because sitting down is very paiinful."

 

Dave

[Happy Hippo]

2 minutes ago, Dave Hunt said:

I once sat down on a chair on which I had left my (still switched on) soldering iron. It took a second or so to manage to stand leap up but by then my butt was well and truly singed. When Jill stopped laughing she dressed the burn for me but I leave it to readers to imagine the response I got from my Squadron mates (so called) when the following day I had to say, "I can't fly today because sitting down is very paiinful."

 

Dave

Sitting in the hot seat took on a whole new meaning.

[rockershovel]

30 minutes ago, SteveyDee68 said:

Did anybody here see The Yorkshire Auction House yesterday on TV? Featured items being sold were a large quantity of G scale locos, carriages, wagons, track etc. There were various manufacturers, but what was on show was years of collecting by the owner and possibly/probably £1000s of investment.

 

Long and short of it all, after fees the owner got less than £1000 for selling effectively a van load of equipment!

 

I found it quite sad to see his much loved trains achieve so little at auction, when over on eBay the mendacious chisellers are overpricing everything from a banana shaped cellulose coach to a Mazak rotted loco and everything in between. I wonder how many of that chap’s collection ended up on eBay at 3x or 4x the price he was paid?

 

One upside - after watching it, my Mum turned to me and said “All that* your Dad bought - £1000s - I guess we’d get nothing from selling them?!”
 

Yes, Mum, that’s right, and so I may now keep hold of my Dad’s beloved O gauge trains and maybe one day get them running again, with her blessing!

 

HOURS OF FUN!

 

* She was referring to all his O gauge purchases

I was quite unhappy about that... my good wife watches this sort of thing incessantly and I happened to see it. 

 

Moral is, join a club. Two good friends of mine have passed away in recent years, leaving collections of vintage and classic motorcycles worth some tens of thousands apiece. 

 

Both were foresighted enough to make arrangements, and club friends and acquaintances realised worthwhile sums by placing them carefully and knowing their values. 

 

You can't beat good friends. 

[polybear]

8 minutes ago, Dave Hunt said:

I once sat down on a chair on which I had left my (still switched on) soldering iron. It took a second or so to manage to stand leap up but by then my butt was well and truly singed. When Jill stopped laughing she dressed the burn for me but I leave it to readers to imagine the response I got from my Squadron mates (so called) when the following day I had to say, "I can't fly today because sitting down is very paiinful."

 

Dave

 

Whilst in the RN (him, not me) a work buddy of Bear's was smokin' a fag whilst also using a soldering iron....

He got his timing wrong and somehow ended up stickin' the business-end of the iron between his lips.......

[SM42]

Couldn't you fly standing up? 

 

Keep the canopy open sort of thing. 

 

Meanwhile the puddlometer says its stopped raining. 

 

Andy

[rockershovel]

8 hours ago, Hroth said:

 

I usually do glasses, cups and mugs, followed by cutlery, then plates and bowls. Pans and greasy things, eg the rack from the airfryer, come last of all.  Whoever is drying is given ample time to perform...

 

I just stack it in, secure in the knowledge that my good wife will derive endless satisfaction from muttering, clattering about and generally changing everything. 

 

Since whatever I do will be wrong, I just do the same thing every time

 

[SM42]

1 minute ago, polybear said:

 

Whilst in the RN (him, not me) a work buddy of Bear's was smokin' a fag whilst also using a soldering iron....

He got his timing wrong and somehow ended up stickin' the business-end of the iron between his lips.......

 

An uncle of mine, in the distant past when such things were acceptable, threw his cigarette end out of the car window. 

 

However as it was moving apace at the time with him behind the wheel, it blew back in and went down his shirt.  

 

The seconds that followed were an interesting study in prioritising crucial tasks. 

 

Gentle snoring ( well actually it's like a bear's cave in winter) from the next room indicates that Mrs SM42 has had a long day. 

 

Just waiting for the neighbours to complain about the noise and rattling windows. 

 

Andy

[jamie92208]

11 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

Stop Press:

 

Lib Dems to announce official enquiry into Midland Railway Small Engine Policy in their forthcoming Election Manifesto.

I used 1 in 30 for thr Castle Branch and Locos romp up that. Even my Midland EMU romped up it as a three car set with just one motor bogie. 

 

Jamie

Edited May 28 by jamie92208

[Happy Hippo]

31 minutes ago, rockershovel said:

I was quite unhappy about that... my good wife watches this sort of thing incessantly and I happened to see it. 

 

Moral is, join a club. Two good friends of mine have passed away in recent years, leaving collections of vintage and classic motorcycles worth some tens of thousands apiece. 

 

Both were foresighted enough to make arrangements, and club friends and acquaintances realised worthwhile sums by placing them carefully and knowing their values. 

 

You can't beat good friends. 

I've already offered Jill £150 for Dave's collection.

 

She told me that I'd get change from that!