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Artless Bodger

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  1. Basingstoke, junction and 2 diverging roads - squalid, pigeon poo ridden last time I walked under there.
  2. Something speed related? The black cab taxis round here seem to have a passenger door lock initiated once the cab starts to move, it routinely unlocks anytime the cab stops, at traffic lights for example.
  3. Wasn't there an issue with commutator glazing (or something) when unpowered power car motors were run for long distances at high speed too, better to power the motors to prevent this?
  4. The overbridge looks as though it was made from whatever was in the bits box. Was the stone section original for a narrow station site and the station widened later, requiring the metal extension?
  5. OT, the first reasonably complete iguanadon skeleton was found in Benstead's quarry in Maidstone. Consequently, Maidstone is unique in having a dinosaur in its coat of arms. https://museum.maidstone.gov.uk/explore/collections/geology/maidstone-and-the-iguanodon/ From this website I find that there is now a sculpture of an iguanadon outside the refurbished Maidstone East station (I haven't been back to Maidstone for a few years now, but we used to walk past the quarry some Sunday afternoons in my childhood).
  6. Did the higher speed of the engines enable a direct coupling to the generator? I think the Sulzer and EE engines had step up gears between crankshaft and generator. Another benefit of the smaller engines was supposed to be that all parts could be handled within the loco, smaller pistons, cylinder heads etc, so you did not need to have an overhead crane and take the roof off for most maintenance. If you did take the roof off, you could swap lightweight engines out as a single unit quickly as in aeroplanes (power eggs), not surprisingly considering the Germans' aeronautical background, e.g. Maybach engines in airships etc. Iirc Deltics and Westerns were known for quick engine swaps, repair by replacement, Laira was good at this, less time out of traffic. EMD E series diesels used double engines and generators, they were pretty succesful for their time.
  7. Today was a day of highs and lows. I've lost interest in my original conceit.
  8. I think the GWR railcar was delivered by rail via Robertsbridge because I remember reading that it was loaded on one side with scrap brake blocks to tilt it enough to fit through one of the narrow tunnels. I'm sure it was at Rolvenden when I first went there which was probably 1967 or 1968.
  9. A school trip to Switzerland at Easter 1970, staying in Fiesch. We travelled by coach but had a couple of short trips on the FO and BVZ and saw the one FO diesel loco. A day trip to Stresa over the Simplon Pass, saw the FO shunting tractor in Brig, a sort of red milk float, outside cranks and with a pantograph on the roof. One steam loco at t alevel crossing in Italy - from later investigation I think it was an inside cylinder 2-6-0 with outside valve gear. Angular brown articulated electric loco on a freight at Stresa station (the others went on a boat round the Boromean Islands). The old tram terminus beside the FS station.
  10. Quite possibly. The few I've seen (in more recent years), of the reinforced rubber type, are just rolled up and strapped onto pallets, much easier to handle with a fork or pallet truck than on a drum. These belt sections had a comb type interlocking connector at each end, secured with a long rod or pin.
  11. I recall something similar said about the pulverised coal N class experiment, leading to the contents of the storage bin at Eastbourne being burned off, with deleterious effects on the local air quality.
  12. That begs the question of what to use to glue it and colour it? I've sometimes thought while making a cup of coffee that the instant granules would make good ironstone loads for 2mm but again how to prevent it absorbing moisture but retain the matt appearance. I did raid Head Gardener's grit sand for ballast once (with permission), sieved to remove the grit. Would represent beach as used by the SER.
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