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The Night Mail


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13 hours ago, Northmoor said:

Ignore the whisky snobs who look down on blended Scotch; what do they think it's blended from?

If it's cheap: continuously distilled grain whisky. The grain distilleries dwarf the malt distilleries. If it's cheap: young but still by-definition Scotch whiskey (below).

 

The less cheap it is the more it's got better quality single malts in it and the older it is. In the limit it's all single malts.

 

To be Scotch Whiskey it must be aged in oak barrels for at least 4 years, and the only permitted additive is caramel.

 

To be good Scotch Whiskey, in general, at least 10 years old, but there are honourable exceptions. Glen Moray found their sales of 7-year increased greatly when they left the age off the label. Folks were judging by the label not the actual flavour.

 

Pretty much the same for Armagnac: it's usually pretty rough until you get to 10 years named-age or Hors d'Age (not component less than 10 years old.

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58 minutes ago, DenysW said:

If it's cheap: continuously distilled grain whisky. The grain distilleries dwarf the malt distilleries. If it's cheap: young but still by-definition Scotch whiskey (below).

 

The less cheap it is the more it's got better quality single malts in it and the older it is. In the limit it's all single malts.

 

To be Scotch Whiskey it must be aged in oak barrels for at least 4 years, and the only permitted additive is caramel.

 

To be good Scotch Whiskey, in general, at least 10 years old, but there are honourable exceptions. Glen Moray found their sales of 7-year increased greatly when they left the age off the label. Folks were judging by the label not the actual flavour.

 

Pretty much the same for Armagnac: it's usually pretty rough until you get to 10 years named-age or Hors d'Age (not component less than 10 years old.

 

Sorry to correct you Denys but Scotch has to be matured only 3 years in the cask and it is Scotch it is spelt Whisky.  No E!

 

Most of the Malts which don't give an age are blends of different years production.  Not inferior but blended for consistency.

 

Aeging is an expensive practice and no income while the spirit rests so a lot of distilleries are also making gin which can be sold the day it is distilled!

 

Ian.

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21 hours ago, Oldddudders said:

My Welsh neighbours of 40 years ago used to refer to their local brew Felin Foel, back home in Wales, as Feeling Foul. As we lived in Kent it was mainly Shepherd Neame we downed on a Friday night. 

 

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Another South Walian brew was "Vale of Neath Ales" - or more colloquially "Vale of Death Ales"

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There was a pub at the other end of Cranbook, near the station, called the Duke of Kent (or York or somewhere) which became known as the Duke of Death, due to less-than-optimum perceived hygiene standards. Nice. 

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5 minutes ago, Oldddudders said:

There was a pub at the other end of Cranbook, near the station, called the Duke of Kent (or York or somewhere) which became known as the Duke of Death, due to less-than-optimum perceived hygiene standards. Nice. 

Either York or Sussex, both of which are particularly odious.

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The Night Mail (2024 version - with apologies to WH Auden)
Extraneous matter deleted...

 

Crossing the Border
Past cotton-grass and moorland boulder
Silent miles of wind-bent grasses.
Birds turn their heads as she approaches,
In the farm she passes no one wakes,
But a jug in a bedroom gently shakes.

Dawn freshens, Her climb is done.
Down towards Glasgow she descends,
All Scotland waits for her:
In dark glens, beside pale-green lochs
Men long for news.


Without a quickening of the heart,
For who can bear to feel himself forgotten?

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So, I've just been reading an article about how people are abandoning the mainstream social media sites and apps in favour of hobby sites and apps more geared to their specific interests:

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/article/2024/sep/08/goodbye-tinder-hello-strava-have-hobby-apps-become-the-new-social-networks

In particular, mention is made of such sites replacing dating apps for people looking to hook up. Setting aside the tension lock vs. three-link debate, I have to say I can't see that happening here, much.

Edited by Compound2632
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2 hours ago, ian@stenochs said:

 

Sorry to correct you Denys but Scotch has to be matured only 3 years in the cask and it is Scotch it is spelt Whisky.  No E!

 

Most of the Malts which don't give an age are blends of different years production.  Not inferior but blended for consistency.

 

Aeging is an expensive practice and no income while the spirit rests so a lot of distilleries are also making gin which can be sold the day it is distilled!

 

Ian.

One of our local artisan Cognac producers describes any that has been aged less than 10 years as cooking brandy. There is just one problem with his 20 Yr old.  It's so smooth at that other halves tend to like it and the bottles empty twice as fast. 

 

Jamie

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Right, a serious post from me. Yes, unusual I know...

If anyone has any old BR London Midland Operating Area/Region WTTs for the late 50s/early 60s which cover the Derby area and want to dispose of them to a good home, please send me a PM.

I keep searching eBay but to no avail.

Am doing some research into passenger/freight traffic around the Midland Lines, particularly around Derby 1945 - 1965.
 

Yes, I know Kew has stuff, but I really need to have some WTTs for a longer period to consult, rather than a flying visit there. 

Anyway, I can but ask...

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3 hours ago, Compound2632 said:

Setting aside the tension lock vs. three-link debate, I have to say I can't see that happening here, much.

Perhaps not on this thread but one of the song games on Wheeltappers seemed to be used for such purposes. 

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1 hour ago, Peter Kazmierczak said:

Right, a serious post from me. Yes, unusual I know...

If anyone has any old BR London Midland Operating Area/Region WTTs for the late 50s/early 60s which cover the Derby area and want to dispose of them to a good home, please send me a PM.

I keep searching eBay but to no avail.

Am doing some research into passenger/freight traffic around the Midland Lines, particularly around Derby 1945 - 1965.
 

Yes, I know Kew has stuff, but I really need to have some WTTs for a longer period to consult, rather than a flying visit there. 

Anyway, I can but ask...

 

Check out the Midland Railway Study Centre. There is a general aim of digitising as much as possible, so if you were to offer to spend a day photographing...

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19 minutes ago, Compound2632 said:

 

Check out the Midland Railway Study Centre. There is a general aim of digitising as much as possible, so if you were to offer to spend a day photographing...

Thanks. I'll have a look. Dave H is always very helpful. He's probably fed-up with me asking about Chadd Sdgs...

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8 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

 

Yes, you're quite right.  I'm afraid my using the term copper paxolin is akin to using the word Hoover to describe a vacuum  cleaner, regardless of manufacturer.

 

The copper clad laminate I'm using is is double sided. and is cut into strips 68mm long by 25 mm wide and is 2mm thick, so is fairly substantial.

On the cassette units it is glued onto an MDF plate of the same dimensions, albeit it 3 mm thick, and this is then glued to the base of the cassette.

 

It is drilled on each side of the copper clad and screwed down into the cassette base, so I'm pretty sure that they are quite secure.

 

For the female connectors that are at each end of the scenic section, I double up on the screws.

 

For ease of manufacture, the copper clad is cut using my Proxxon table saw.

 

Once we have a large enough pile, the blade is dropped so it is just protruding from the saw bed. and is then used to cut the isolating grooves: These are staggered.  The top one being on the approximate centre line, and then the copper clad is flipped over and the fence is reset to 20 mm and two further grooves are cut, one each end.  this ensures that the fixing screws cannot pass current.  I feel using this three groove method is better/stronger than a pair of grooves  directly above/below each other.

 

 

Good that you isolated the bottom too. A lot of people have been caught out by that one. 😄

 

I use a Dremel with a grinding wheel so I don't cut into the substrate.

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6 hours ago, Oldddudders said:

There was a pub at the other end of Cranbook, near the station, called the Duke of Kent (or York or somewhere) which became known as the Duke of Death, due to less-than-optimum perceived hygiene standards. Nice. 

And whilst on the subject of unofficial nicknames for pubs: the infamous Brains Trust (made up of of assorted disreputable RMWeb types) now meets at a pub near Waterloo (London, not Belgium) called The Duke of Sussex. Inevitably it is now referred to by the GCOGs (Grumpy Curmudgeonly Old Gits) of the BT as The Ginger Whinger.

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4 hours ago, Peter Kazmierczak said:

I'll be in the third aisle of ASDA (by the lemons), wearing a MR wyvern badge...

Our local Asda did have an unofficial date night -a Thursday - a few years back.

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4 hours ago, Peter Kazmierczak said:

I'll be in the third aisle of ASDA (by the lemons), wearing a MR wyvern badge...

Wouldn't do that in Spain at the moment as there appears to be some sort of interwebby craze doing the rounds there involve pineapples of all things.

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20 minutes ago, Winslow Boy said:

Wouldn't do that in Spain at the moment as there appears to be some sort of interwebby craze doing the rounds there involve pineapples of all things.

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The wife warns me about pineapples whenever we go on a cruise.

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