The Night Mail

[pH]

9 hours ago, rockershovel said:

That's one of the things that grabbed me by the nose on my return to UK civil engineering, after years of rigs, hotels, vessels and camps. Civil engineering changing and drying facilities might be politely described as "basic" so work clothes are rarely, if ever washed. 

Just to be clear, “kit” does not include jersey, shorts and socks - those were washed after every game. It means the padding worn for games (shoulder, elbow, knee), the reinforced gloves and the shoes. With two or three games a week, it would have been difficult to dry them out if they were washed each time.

 

About washing work clothes - that son is now an experienced mining engineer. One producing gold mine he worked in supplied work coveralls, wearing of which was mandatory. At the end of each shift, all these coveralls were taken back and washed to recover any gold dust on them.

[BSW01]

Good evening everyone 

 

Yesterday I made a start making a jig frame, to help me fit dowels to the sections of the helix on my layout. Today, I turned 2 brass drill guides on the lathe then fitted them into the jig frame I made yesterday and left the glue to set whilst I had some dinner. Once the glue had dried I then drilled and tested the jig, it works perfectly, I can now drill 2 holes in each piece, both holes are equidistant from the ends, they are exactly in the centre of the edge and the boards can be fitted together anyway round, in every case, the corners alway line up. Am I a happy bunny, yes I am 🤗.

 

Below are a couple of photos of the completed jig. 

 

This one is of the jig itself, showing the 2 brass drill guides. 

This one is of the jig in place, ready to drill a pair of holes. 

In the back can be seen a section of helix that has already got a pair of dowels fitted. 
 

The flakey plywood on the end and sides doesn’t look good, but it’s actually quite smooth and the outer edges and corners have been rounded off. However, I’m going to paint the jig, which I hope will stop bits flaking off. 

Edited October 13 by BSW01

[jamie92208]

4 hours ago, AndyID said:

 

At least Paris is a bit closer to the geographic center of France. Perhaps there would be fewer "professional" politicians if the seat of government was relocated to Manchester.

 

Sadly Paris and it's ruling classes are regarded with the same disdain by the rest of France as the professional politicos of London are.  We have two Parisians in our village of 60 they got 2 and1 votes respectively at the last council elections. 

 

4 hours ago, pH said:

Just to be clear, “kit” does not include jersey, shorts and socks - those were washed after every game. It means the padding worn for games (shoulder, elbow, knee), the reinforced gloves and the shoes. With two or three games a week, it would have been difficult to dry them out if they were washed each time.

 

About washing work clothes - that son is now an experienced mining engineer. One producing gold mine he worked in supplied work coveralls, wearing of which was mandatory. At the end of each shift, all these coveralls were taken back and washed to recover any gold dust on them.

Similar to Johnson Mathay. Apparently their foundry floor is paved with wood blocks.  Every few months the floor is renewed and the old blocks burned to recover precious metals. 

 

Jamie 

Edited October 13 by jamie92208

[Chris Snowdon]

10 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

Having a full understanding of spatial awareness, personal hygiene and common decency when it comes to dress might prevent model railway expeditions being frequented by the malodorous who block aisles with their rucksacks and cameras in order to yodel to their friends, whilst wearing a pizza or curry splattered T-shirt and Lederhosen.

Well, quite.  The same applies to the workplace.  And Whitehall in November (and I say that as a civilian).

[Chris Snowdon]

1 hour ago, pH said:

Just to be clear, “kit” does not include jersey, shorts and socks - those were washed after every game. It means the padding worn for games (shoulder, elbow, knee), the reinforced gloves and the shoes. With two or three games a week, it would have been difficult to dry them out if they were washed each time.

 

About washing work clothes - that son is now an experienced mining engineer. One producing gold mine he worked in supplied work coveralls, wearing of which was mandatory. At the end of each shift, all these coveralls were taken back and washed to recover any gold dust on them.

When we all started going back to the office again after the "intermission", I rocked-up in what I still believed to be "proper business attire".  By then, many of my colleagues either weren't sure whether I was actually real, or had even heard of me.  So by wearing a suit and tie (admittedly, with a tunic and separate collar, rather than a simple shirt, so I couldn't do the open-collar corporate thing), some assumed I was a client rather than a colleague, which was most odd.

 

Later, explaining that my "work suit" might look OK but is made from recycled pop-bottles, made some people think instead that I was most odd, but you can pop it in the washer, dry it, press it, and it's good to go again, so what's not to like?

[Chris Snowdon]

1 hour ago, jamie92208 said:

 

Sadly Paris and it's ruling classes are regarded with the same disdain by the rest of France as the professional politicos of London are.  We have two Paris Ians in our village of 60 they got 2 and1 votes respectively at the last council elections. 

 

Similar to Johnson Mathay. Apparently their foundry floor is paved with wood blocks.  Every few months the floor is renewed and the old blocks burned to recover precious metals. 

 

Jamie 

Similar to both, I once heard a story that a certain manufacturers's factory (both still going strong) achieved a huge current-account turnaround about 30 years ago, by simply asking workers to retrieve dropped fasteners, and by dropping the end-of-shift floor-sweepings through a magnetic bin-lid (as used in restaurant kitchens).  Having heard all those stories about apprentices being told to sort through a bucket of screws, that both surprised me and didn't.

[rockershovel]

19 minutes ago, Chris Snowdon said:

When we all started going back to the office again after the "intermission", I rocked-up in what I still believed to be "proper business attire".  By then, many of my colleagues either weren't sure whether I was actually real, or had even heard of me.  So by wearing a suit and tie (admittedly, with a tunic and separate collar, rather than a simple shirt, so I couldn't do the open-collar corporate thing), some assumed I was a client rather than a colleague, which was most odd.

 

Later, explaining that my "work suit" might look OK but is made from recycled pop-bottles, made some people think instead that I was most odd, but you can pop it in the washer, dry it, press it, and it's good to go again, so what's not to like?

OK, I didn't understand any part of that. What do you do, advertising mascot for Coca Cola?

[rockershovel]

1 hour ago, pH said:

Just to be clear, “kit” does not include jersey, shorts and socks - those were washed after every game. It means the padding worn for games (shoulder, elbow, knee), the reinforced gloves and the shoes. With two or three games a week, it would have been difficult to dry them out if they were washed each time.

 

About washing work clothes - that son is now an experienced mining engineer. One producing gold mine he worked in supplied work coveralls, wearing of which was mandatory. At the end of each shift, all these coveralls were taken back and washed to recover any gold dust on them.

Drillers coveralls are washed frequently because of the chemicals in the drilling fluid. 

 

That wasn't really my point. Civil engineering changing rooms mostly stink. It isn't as bad as it used to be though ... in the days when dry and change cabins were rarely provided at all, the early morning smell of damp donkey jackets and sweaty wellies around the heater overnight was quite foul. 

[DenysW]

2 hours ago, AndyID said:

Perhaps there would be fewer "professional" politicians if the seat of government was relocated to Manchester.

There's actually several choices. We could annoy the Scots, Welsh & Irish by going for the geographical centre of England (Meriden, in the middle of a public house. the pub asserts). We could annoy/perplex the rest of the English speaking world by choosing Loughborough, and making them pronounce it at the border as a condition of visa-enabled entry. Winchester was the capital (of Wessex) before 1066. And so on ...

[Chris Snowdon]

43 minutes ago, rockershovel said:

OK, I didn't understand any part of that. What do you do, advertising mascot for Coca Cola?

What:  Travelling the world, with branded Christmas-tree trainsets, whilst growling and panting "Harlidayzurcummin" to sell them, and getting paid actual money for doing so?  Chance would be a fine thing!  Very good luck to anyone who does. they deserve every penny.

[Northmoor]

24 minutes ago, DenysW said:

There's actually several choices. We could annoy the Scots, Welsh & Irish by going for the geographical centre of England (Meriden, in the middle of a public house. the pub asserts). We could annoy/perplex the rest of the English speaking world by choosing Loughborough, and making them pronounce it at the border as a condition of visa-enabled entry. Winchester was the capital (of Wessex) before 1066. And so on ...

Dad's always liked the idea of relocating our elected politicians to Lichfield.  Easily accessed by road or rail, plus those politicians who seem too enthusiastic about sending other people's children into war zones, can be sent five miles up the road to walk around the National Memorial Arboretum for a while and invited to consider the error of their ways. 

[Chris Snowdon]

15 minutes ago, DenysW said:

There's actually several choices. We could annoy the Scots, Welsh & Irish by going for the geographical centre of England (Meriden, in the middle of a public house. the pub asserts). We could annoy/perplex the rest of the English speaking world by choosing Loughborough, and making them pronounce it at the border as a condition of visa-enabled entry. Winchester was the capital (of Wessex) before 1066. And so on ...

"And so on" indeed.  I used to have, and may still, relatives in Meriden, but to include the former postal district of "North Britain" (this thread is still "The Night Mail"), then we need to look at the Scottish Borders and Tyne Gap.  Hexham (no bias, apart from my being born there) used to have a pub called "The Heart of All England" which was thoroughly geographically-questionable.  Haltwhistle had/has a stronger geodetic claim based upon OSGB36 and the 1932-36 aerial surveys (don't know how that panned out under OSGB2000).  Am not sure whether Haltwhistle still has any hostelries.  Haydon Bridge (not the one near Ambridge) used to have the General Havelock.  If you can afford it, then Langley Castle is a great place.  Once/Twice Brewed are still two hamlets each denying that the other exists, but between them can support guests.  Gilsland Spa closed as an old-folks home, reopened as a hostel, closed again, reopened again (I eventually gave up following that saga).  Former RAF members of this parish will have done a spell overflying Spadeadam, so will know these places.

[bbishop]

Sorry Jamie,  confused. If one comes from Paris you are named Ian?

[New Haven Neil]

9 minutes ago, Chris Snowdon said:

"And so on" indeed.  I used to have, and may still, relatives in Meriden, but to include the former postal district of "North Britain" (this thread is still "The Night Mail"), then we need to look at the Scottish Borders and Tyne Gap.  Hexham (no bias, apart from my being born there) used to have a pub called "The Heart of All England" which was thoroughly geographically-questionable.  Haltwhistle had/has a stronger geodetic claim based upon OSGB36 and the 1932-36 aerial surveys (don't know how that panned out under OSGB2000).  Am not sure whether Haltwhistle still has any hostelries.  Haydon Bridge (not the one near Ambridge) used to have the General Havelock.  If you can afford it, then Langley Castle is a great place.  Once/Twice Brewed are still two hamlets each denying that the other exists, but between them can support guests.  Gilsland Spa closed as an old-folks home, reopened as a hostel, closed again, reopened again (I eventually gave up following that saga).  Former RAF members of this parish will have done a spell overflying Spadeadam, so will know these places.

 

The Rat at Anick?  ;-)

[jamie92208]

1 hour ago, bbishop said:

Sorry Jamie,  confused. If one comes from Paris you are named Ian?

Thanks Bill, now corrected. 

 

Jamie

[Winslow Boy]

18 minutes ago, jamie92208 said:

Thanks Bill, now corrected. 

 

Jamie

That could have some advantages going for it.

[Not Jeremy]

On 12/10/2024 at 15:04, PhilJ W said:

The train 'crashed' in the Titfield Thunderbolt was an 0 gauge model.

 

Yes, it was a model, but much bigger than "O" - 1/6 scale.

[J. S. Bach]

4 hours ago, Chris Snowdon said:

 ...snip... Having heard all those stories about apprentices being told to sort through a bucket of screws, that both surprised me and didn't.

I once worked as a temporary and was sent to an aviation supplier to count small parts going to the production line. It seemed that the storeroom was not sending the correct amounts to the line. My second day involved counting rivets! So, I guess that. for a time, I was a professional river counter! 🙄

[J. S. Bach]

Night Owl from the Piedmont.

[BR60103]

Could you make the capital the centre of the kingdom by reducing the borders?  My quick work with the calipers suggests a northern boundary just north of Cambridge and a western edge somewhere in Wiltshire.

 

 

[iL Dottore]

8 hours ago, BSW01 said:

 Below are a couple of photos of the completed jig. 

 

This one is of the jig in place, ready to drill a pair of holes. 

 

How do you fix the jig in place? Is there a slot on the side we don't see that fits over the end of the plywood sheet?

[Chris Snowdon]

6 hours ago, New Haven Neil said:

 

The Rat at Anick?  ;-)

Too far east for our geopolitical purposes, but one of the best pubs there is (and possibly, more relevant for other historical political purposes, if any Jacobites are present).  Other contenders include the Dipton Mill and the Dyvels, to pick only a couple out of a very healthy barrel... =8-)

[Chris Snowdon]

2 hours ago, BR60103 said:

Could you make the capital the centre of the kingdom by reducing the borders?  My quick work with the calipers suggests a northern boundary just north of Cambridge and a western edge somewhere in Wiltshire.

 

 

Or by expanding them.  Oh hang on, we've already tried that a couple of times...

[DenysW]

11 hours ago, bbishop said:

Sorry Jamie,  confused. If one comes from Paris you are named Ian?

I thought it was Paris-ites?

[iL Dottore]

Gods, I just LOVE JR. I (slighty) indulged travelling Gran Class on the Hayabusa Shinkansen  https://www.jreast.co.jp/granclass/en/seat.html

Gran Class is incredibly comfortable, and the Hyabusa (はやぶさ, "Peregrine falcon") is fast, regularly hitting 320kph. It really sets the standard for "every day" luxury (I say "every day" because although Japan has even more luxurious train services, the various Gran Class services [there are a number] are regularly scheduled services).

 

A light snack and drinks with an at seat service, the WCML (or any other UK TOC) has nothing even remotely comparable.

 

And what's astonishing is that you don't feel that you are travelling fast. It's only when you try and clock the OHL masts that you realise how fast you are going as the masts just blur into (almost) invisibility.

What can I say, Japan has various privatised (Gasp! Schock! Horror!) JR railway entities that own ALL the railway infrastructure and rolling stock in their bailiwick, the the UK has the DfT and TOCs that rent their gear with yet another third party taking care of track etc.