The Night Mail

[Dave Hunt]

Dave

6 hours ago, Compound2632 said:

The chairman of the model railway club I'm in is a Dave, as are two of the principal officers of the line society of which I'm a member.

 

Some months ago the Midland Railway Society chairman, secretary and collections committee chairman had a meeting with three officers of the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway; only one of those present was not called Dave.

 

Dave (who was one of those in the majority)

[jamie92208]

54 minutes ago, J. S. Bach said:

Yes, but it sounds sooooooo much better on the pipe organ:

 

 

We had a magnificent Willis organ in our school chapel.  Hugh Stalker our Music master and organist used to play that brilliantly.  However boys who misbehaved in his lessons would find themselves hand pumping the organ while Hugh played the Toccata and Fugue.  Before anyone starts sniggering on the back row The hand pump was at one end of the case and the keyboard 20 plus feet away at thevother end of the organ loft.

 

https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1131724

 

The chapel was a miniature of St Pauls given by an eccentric  old boy in honour of Victorias diamond jubilee.

 

Jamie

[AndyID]

1 hour ago, J. S. Bach said:

Yes, but it sounds sooooooo much better on the pipe organ:

 

Not to say that the organ version isn't magnificent but I think the "axe" version brings out something that appeals to me even more. Of course musical preferences are always highly subjective 😀

 

[Dave John]

Many years ago one of my more obscure jobs was to restore a blower for a Willis organ.

 

Four foot diameter centrifugal fan powered by a monster of an open frame motor, dated 1905. You could put your hand in and adjust the brush gear while it was running. The whole thing was stripped  in situ, taken down 80 foot of spiral stairs. All the bits refurbed, motor rebuilt, then taken back up and reassembled in situ.

 

Runs like a dream now. 

[J. S. Bach]

40 minutes ago, jamie92208 said:

 ...snip... However boys who misbehaved in his lessons would find themselves hand pumping the organ while Hugh played the Toccata and Fugue. ...snip...

Jamie

Who or what supplied air if there were no miscreants?Was there also a mechanical blower?

[Dave John]

Well, the electric organ blower I described replaced a water engine, dated I think mid 1880s. Very little engineering data exists, though it appears to have been a water turbine driving a fan situated 120 foot up in the church tower. What I know for sure is the supply pipe was 3 inch cast iron. 

 

Now, if you went to a water company these days and suggested connecting a 3 inch pipe to a water main , letting the water flow up, round a turbine and then down to drain they would kinda have a fit. Can you imagine how much water /hour that would need? 

 

One thing that I regret, I have seen so much historic engineering over the years and digital cameras came too late to record it all. 

[BR60103]

Today I was required to disable my ad blocker in order to log in.  I now see what everyone has been talking about.

 

I must talk to SWMBO about upgrading.

 

At one show, the demonstration bench was staffed by 3 Davids and a Dave and possibly some commoner.

 

[jamie92208]

13 hours ago, J. S. Bach said:

Who or what supplied air if there were no miscreants?Was there also a mechanical blower?

Yes there was an electric blower that was used normally.  I remember that there was a sort of pressure gsuge on the organ console with a small weight on the end of a piece of string. The lower the weight the better the pressure. Thus, the organist could see how hard the miscreants were working.

 

Jamie

Edited November 22, 2022 by jamie92208

[polybear]

3 hours ago, BR60103 said:

Today I was required to disable my ad blocker in order to log in.  I now see what everyone has been talking about.

 

 

What happens if you re-enable the ad blocker once you're logged in?

 

 

[New Haven Neil]

2 hours ago, polybear said:

 

What happens if you re-enable the ad blocker once you're logged in?

 

 

 

[Happy Hippo]

10 hours ago, Dave John said:

Four foot diameter centrifugal fan powered by a monster of an open frame motor, dated 1905. You could put your hand in and adjust the brush gear while it was running.

Sounds like just the job for Pinky, Ring, Stumpy, Lucky and Thumb.

 

 

[DenysW]

9 hours ago, Dave John said:

Now, if you went to a water company these days and suggested connecting a 3 inch pipe to a water main , letting the water flow up, round a turbine and then down to drain they would kinda have a fit.

No. Merely tell you the cost per m3 of water, and that you were responsible for discharging the waste to the environment, and for providing the extra 30-50 m hydraulic head you'd need to get to that height and drive a turbine. The EA would (almost certainly) tell you to dechlorinate the wastewater as a minimum standard.

 

Are you sure that pipe wasn't an air pipe? Air costs a lot less to lift 40m than water.

[Happy Hippo]

I had a long and tiresome trip back from Margam yesterday.

 

It rained continuously, IKEA in Cardiff epitomised all that is bad about the company with indifferent staff and a check out that required us to use three  separate express tills until we got one that worked:  Having passed your stuff through the scanner and then finding it was broke was not fun.  Perhaps it was me that did the breaking, but the crowd behind us was not happy as the Hippo Squadron appeared to destroy one till after another.

 

By the time we left Ikea to head north.  York Place was flooded (probably with complaints about Ad blocker notices) and the usually pleasant drive up over the Brecon Beacons was back to the dreary rain lashed and wind thrashed area I recall from my time in the Army.

 

The one bright spot was stopping off at Monkland at the Cheese Dairy for afternoon tea, always a pleasure.

 

And for those concerned about the fate of the Dalwhinnie Winter Gold after the Friday evening meeting with my brother?

 

It was humanely destroyed.

 

 

Edited November 22, 2022 by Happy Hippo

[Winslow Boy]

3 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

I had a long and tiresome trip back from Margam yesterday.

 

It rained continuously, IKEA in Cardiff epitomised all that is bad about the company with indifferent staff and a check out that required us to use three  separate express tills until we got one that worked:  Having passed your stuff through the scanner and then finding it was broke was not fun.  Perhaps it was me that did the breaking, but the crowd behind us was not happy as the Hippo Squadron appeared to destroy one till after another.

 

By the time we left Ikea to head north.  York Place was flooded (probably with complaints about Ad blocker notices) and the usually pleasant drive up over the Brecon Beacons was back to the dreary rain lashed and wind thrashed area I recall from my time in the Army.

 

The one bright spot was stopping off at Monkland at the Cheese Dairy for afternoon tea, always a pleasure.

 

And for those concerned about the fate of the Dalwhinnie Winter Gold after the Friday evening meeting with my brother?

 

It was humanely destroyed.

 

 

 

Nice to know your keeping your end up with the recycling Big H.

 

I have the same effect with tills in that there always seems to be queue after me. I can't for the life of me think why.

[Happy Hippo]

Nyda is off to not so sunny Gogledd tomorrow; so I was required to make sure one of the cars was spick and span and loaded with boots, blankets and all the other paraphernalia she insists on dragging around in the car.

 

Whilst I was allegedly cleaning up, I was able to spend a few moments filling the PN No 2 siding which was provided on Friday's exchange of goodies near Aberflyarff which I have previously mentioned.

 

I suspect that a few days of railway related activity is on the cards during her absence.

[AndyID]

3 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

Nyda is off to not so sunny Gogledd tomorrow;

 

 

 

Up at 4:30 AM to run Lorna to the airport (one hour from here). She's having Thanksgiving with our daughter in California. The other daughter if flying over from New Jersey. They are dining at some posh establishment in San Diego then off to another place (casino!) for a girl's spa and stuff (assuming they don't get kicked out for excessive raucous laughing).

 

Shona and I are left in charge. Fortunately it has warmed up a bit. It's all the way up to 4C now. Tomorrow I might head for the hills and do a little skiing but we'll see how it goes. The roads could be a bit sketchy.

[Dave Hunt]

Yesterday I took my car in for its MOT, annual service and a new cam belt. It failed its MOT due to a split trackrod bush then when the cambelt was being changed it was discovered that the water pump was on its last legs so it has to be replaced. How much?????? I only wanted the bl**dy car fixed, not buy a new one!! Well, that's a large handful of modelling tokens gone west.

 

Today Jill and I went to see Bob Essery's widow, Wynne, as it is Bob's birthday and tomorrow is the anniversary of his death so we set out to cheer her up. We went to a rather nice Italian restaurant and after two glasses of Chianti and a limoncello the world seemed a rosier place. 

 

Tomorrow I go to pick my car up then we have to empty our bedroom pending new carpet being fitted on Thursday. More modelling tokens down the tubes. Ah, well, grin and bear it as they say.

 

Dave 

Edited November 22, 2022 by Dave Hunt

[NHY 581]

12 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

I had a long and tiresome trip back from Margam yesterday.

 

It rained continuously, IKEA in Cardiff epitomised all that is bad about the company with indifferent staff and a check out that required us to use three  separate express tills until we got one that worked:  Having passed your stuff through the scanner and then finding it was broke was not fun.  Perhaps it was me that did the breaking, but the crowd behind us was not happy as the Hippo Squadron appeared to destroy one till after another.

 

By the time we left Ikea to head north.  York Place was flooded (probably with complaints about Ad blocker notices) and the usually pleasant drive up over the Brecon Beacons was back to the dreary rain lashed and wind thrashed area I recall from my time in the Army.

 

The one bright spot was stopping off at Monkland at the Cheese Dairy for afternoon tea, always a pleasure.

 

And for those concerned about the fate of the Dalwhinnie Winter Gold after the Friday evening meeting with my brother?

 

It was humanely destroyed.

 

 

 

 

Ahem...........

 

Your excursion is noted. As is your failure to parade at Lord and Butler.............

 

Outraged of Cardiff. 

 

 

[Happy Hippo]

1 hour ago, NHY 581 said:

 

 

Ahem...........

 

Your excursion is noted. As is your failure to parade at Lord and Butler.............

 

Outraged of Cardiff. 

 

 

Probably just as well we didn't visit after our destruction of all things electronic at IKEA.

 

A Hippo in a cake shop and the ensuing feeding frenzy is bad enough, but can you not imagine what the  over excitement of seeing ewe in a model railway environment would generate?

Edited November 22, 2022 by Happy Hippo

[SM42]

I'm still painting. 

 

Andy

[polybear]

6 hours ago, SM42 said:

I'm still painting. 

 

Andy

 

Bear's still sanding.  Wanna swap?

 

Bear.

[jamie92208]

I've finally finished pulling out the roots of some bushes.

 

Jamie

[Winslow Boy]

 

22 minutes ago, jamie92208 said:

I've finally finished pulling out the roots of some bushes.

 

Jamie

 

So finished pulling then.

[rockershovel]

On 20/11/2022 at 09:44, Tony_S said:

If their GFOCWYEO QEFOT how do they smell?

Terrible! [FX RIMSHOT]

[Happy Hippo]

I see over in the T*rd and Po-juice thread, the self stimulated froth frenzy has stated over the announcement of a new loco today.