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DonB

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    Mikkel

    Posted

    I'm sure that you must have told us of your source and name of the 10mm foam board which you use to such good effect. can I ask for that information again?

    I purchased some (make unknown) from a local Hobbycraft store but the central foam was soft and sponge-like which crumbled when cut, and the exterior board needed very little finger pressure to permanently deform. 

    I do admire your ability to produce such beautiful models in such a restricted space. 

    • Thanks 1
    Mikkel

    Posted

    3 hours ago, Mikkel said:

     

    “Street sweepings - horse manure. Mr. Betts of Beccles complaining that charge for the rail journey from London to Beccles (over 100 miles) of 5/-(25p) a ton was too high.” Great Eastern Railway Locomotive, Way and Works Committee 1 September 1869.

     

    Coincidently this works out to be a FARTHING per ton per mile. 

    • Like 2
    • Funny 2
    Mikkel

    Posted

    On 16/05/2021 at 14:13, Fat Controller said:

    I remember reading a book about market gardeners in Paris in the 19th and 20th centuries. Apparently, after delivering in Central Paris, they would backload horse manure to their gardens in the outskirts. Rather than simply composting the manure, they stacked it in 'hot beds', where the heat from decomposition enable them to get a head-start with the the more cold-sensitive crops. Apparently, this meant they could harvest up to seven times in a normal year. The rotted-down manure would be used to enrich the soil.

    There was another use for horse manure; as a component of the moulds for casting. It would serve to bind the moulding sand together. More recently, molasses has been used.

    most recent use AFAIK was (is?) in the casting of bronze Bells For Churches etc.

    • Like 1
    • Informative/Useful 1
    46444

    Posted

    Derby also loaned a loco to Leys Foundry which one is not recoded in files I was able to see but it would have to have been an 0-4-0, nor did they record why the works Sentinel had failed. I'm sure that it wasn't a Free loan, again I didn't see any hiring costs listed.

    Word around the foundry was that on first entering the works yard between a couple of buildings the Derby Engine's chimney fouled the overhead electricity cables shutting down a portion of the works.  

    • Informative/Useful 1
    Mikkel

    Posted

    I think that they found that it was easier to just use one of the normal range of open wagons than to have to search for the rare and probably elusive dedicated provender wagons. I bet those  were rarely emptied immediately. Where were the provender supplies shipped from.? I don't envy the desk clerk trying to balance his/her books, regarding  (loose) hay and straw quantities.  

    Doesn't Mikkel lead us into uncharted territories !!! Fascinating stuff.. Thanks Mikkel .

    • Like 1
    • Thanks 1
    Mikkel

    Posted

    I thought that for mixed loads (eg crates ) the weighbridge would be used to ensure that the total weight of the cart or vehicle did not exceed local or UK regulations, or if the health of the horses was considered, whether the local roads and hills limited sensible demands on the beasts. 

    For bulk loads (coal, coke, sand etc.) the  total weight of the cart / vehicle less tare weight would be shown on a delivery note, and be used to calculate an invoice cost.

    On the works weighbridge, dedicated to rail supplies, which was close to my office, the wagons were recorded and weight checked on the way into the works yard and the tare of the empty wagons checked on being returned to the material supplier.

    The weighbridge office, mentioned above, had its door (opening inwards) alongside the window overlooking the weighing deck . 

    An unusual feature / cameo would be the presence of a gang checking the accuracy of the scales. Pooley & Sons had a dedicated lorry carrying several tons of weights for these checks.

       

    • Like 1
    • Informative/Useful 1
    MikeOxon

    Posted

    As a late (!) contribution to the colour debate, The Wolverhampton works were very close to Mander's paint works, a fairly big employer in the town. My mother worked there until leaving to get married in 1932. 

    I assume that they must have been a supplier to the GWR paint shop. Don't know if anyone has investigated Mander's archives for clues on the colours supplied.

    • Like 2
    Mikkel

    Posted

    On 17/04/2020 at 10:44, 5&9Models said:

     

    But we shouldn't forget their lives were utterly miserable. They were amongst the lowest of the working poor, often physically impaired and subject to the most cruel and degrading treatment. Dickens character Tom-all-alone is a sentimentally florid fictional example of one of hundreds of people whose real lives were truly grim.

     

    Hey ho! sorry to be so depressing, last thing we need at the moment! Feel free to tell me to go away and cheer up (or words to that effect) ; )

     

    My Paternal Grandfather was very fortunate to escape from that environment. My cousin, our family archivist, told me that  my great-grandfather was (almost certainly) a bigamist, apparently not uncommon in Dockland ! G-F  had  a withered leg , we think due to polio, and used a single crutch and walking stick.  There is some doubt ( we think Banardo's was involved, but can find no record), but he somehow got trained as a tailor ( could not hold a cobbler's last between his knees.) He made Officers uniforms before and during WW1, later setting up as a Bespoke tailor which he did until he was in his mid to late seventies.  He was never "well-off" because -- as he put it -- he had a wife, nine children and three bookmakers to support!

     

     

     

    • Like 3
    Florence Locomotive Works

    Posted

    Another UK supplier into the cane sugar industry was Fletcher & Stewart of Derby. They supplied processing equipment, I don't know what archives exist of this company. Not sure who supplied the conveyor equipment to get the cane from rail to mill. may have been Renold Chain of Manchester. or Ewart Chainbelt of Derby. I have some post-1960 Ewart catalogues, but they don't list their  sugar cane conveyor equipment.  

    • Informative/Useful 2
    Mikkel

    Posted

    20 hours ago, Simond said:

     

    There were about 3.5 million horses in the uk at the turn of the 1900’s. Assuming a twenty year life, that would suggest nigh on 500 dying each day.  That’s around 200 tons of dead horse to dispose of, daily!

     

    atb

    Simon

     

    A huge number of horses were "borrowed " for military service in 1914-on. which would rather upset the above calculation.

    • Agree 1
    Mikkel

    Posted

    Can't add anything of use to the working lives of the horses discussion, but I will ask my neighbour  (a vetinary  nurse who until recently specialised in Horse injuries when she returns from  holiday.

    ..But the driver appears to have to stand within the cart body as there is no seat or foot-rest, although he would have some protection from the weather under the tarp.

    • Thanks 1
    RedgateModels

    Posted

    I've just looked at their web site. It is vastly  more "commercial" than my last visit, probably 5 or 6 years ago. It no longer seems to be a Multi-gauge system, so the swap over mid  loop will no longer exist.

    It was, as I recall, a uni-directional loop, the swap being done without point-work, controlled by check rails. Whether such an arrangement would work on a reversable cassette , my tiny brain won't tell me!!  

    RedgateModels

    Posted · Edited by DonB

    Statfold Barn (near Tamworth) have a dual gauge out-and-back line with a reversing loop where the Shared rail swaps sides half way round the loop. My photo of the track at the swap-over position disappeared in a computer crash!

    It's a popular outfit, there must be other RMwebbers who have photographed this track feature.??

     

    It would be possible to copy the side-to-side swap at the middle of your cassette length. 

    Mikkel

    Posted

    On 05/07/2019 at 19:36, Edwardian said:

     

    Gilbert and Sullivan is a satirical gold mine. It's nowadays considered terribly old hat and the preserve of middle-brow am-drams, but it's actually extremely witty and effective satire, but never too crude or cruel.  Even the music is funny and, often as not, satirising 'serious music', like Italian Grand Opera. 

     

    If you're prepared to get to know it, it's a very funny take on 'pre-Grouping' society and culture.  

     

    Some years ago I was a member of a G&S am-dram group. We displayed our meagre talents on stage at the local Methodist  church hall. 

    One year we were within a month of staging G&S's  " The Sorcerer",  when a new , officious Minister was appointed who promptly banned the work as being  "Heathen and unsuitable for the venue"  (but not, apparently,  "old hat".)

    I agree that the operettas are funny, and are great fun to produce and participate in. 

    • Like 1
    paulprice

    Posted

    I think that expecting blood to substitute for LMS Red/Crimson paint shades is also DOOMED! (where is the "Joker" emoji !)

     

    It's been a while since I managed to inflict a personal injury on myself, but that occurred in my loft with spillage of the essential fluid onto ply boards being laid for access.

     

    There has been no painting or other covering of the affected area since the spillage … so …..I have investigated the blood-stained areas and can report that oxydation of the previously red stain has resulted in rather dirty brown colour which could perhaps be just about acceptable on a well used GWR Siphon... if you will excuse the uncalled for intrusion of a rival company's rolling stock into the discussion !!

     

    In case you were worried about my blood spillage (but why should you be?) I got down from the loft VERY quickly!, raised a neighbour to take me to the local A&E dept, where the Nurse who stitched up my wounded arm said that without looking at my records she knew that I was older than 45! .."How did you know that? " … "your arm was wrapped in a linen tea towel " … QED.

    5&9Models

    Posted

    if  you are looking again for small / tiny12V motors have a look at Technobots (http://www.technobotsonline.com ). No connection except as a paying customer. Their delivery was securely packed and rapid (3 days from order ) 

     

    Their description of the one I chose  is:-

    "The 360:1 Mini Metal Gear Motor looks much like our other mini metal gear motors, except the motor is longer. And the gearing is in an enclosed cylindrical casing!
    These also have a beefier set of mounting holes, threaded for 2-M2 metric screws.
    Even more interesting are the motor characteristics. This compact brute of a gear motor offers a measured stall torque of 7.434 kgcm at 6V - that's considerable! Of course, with something this small, we trade the increase in torque for a decrease in speed at 23RPM at 6V. A suitable mounting bracket from our Pololu range is available."
    Elsewhere in their site they describe similar motors as having "Finger-twisting Torque" !!

     

    ​Have not looked at their site for worm gears ...sorry! Didn't need them for my purposes.

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