Castle Aching

[wagonman]

4 hours ago, Regularity said:

Ironically, Annie, these were introduced as an intended precursor to decimalisation, being 1/10 of a pound.

 

As Hroth has hinted, the Florin was re-introduced as a silver coin worth 2/- in 1848 – the original British florin being a gold coin worth rather more. The Ur-Florin was from Florence of course. If you want coins with a bit of history the penny is as good as it gets dating from the eighth century and was a continuation of the officially defunct Roman Denarius (hence the 'd'). The concept of one pound being divided into 240 pennies derives from King Pepin the Short, founder of the Carolingian dynasty, and was in use throughout western Europe; for instance the pre-revolutionary French Livre was divided into 20 Sous and each Sou into 12 Deniers. The Roman Denarius dated back to before the First Punic War and the name, if not the value, survives with modern currencies like the Dinar.

[Edwardian]

29 minutes ago, sem34090 said:

That thing is signposted for miles around and is very underwhelming once reached, in my opinion.

 

It is an odd thing to have done and an odd thing to do; most people seem to be content with gnomes.

 

What is odder, as you say, is the way it became a tourist attraction, which, I think, lead to the signs, to help all those trying to find it; pretty bloody hard to miss, though it is.

 

 

[RedGemAlchemist]

2 hours ago, Nearholmer said:

What do you think that's telling you?

Haven't the foggiest, mate.

 

2 hours ago, Annie said:

Must be a big pond.

Thank you, that picture is now my computer wallpaper.

And it is. My home is an old farmhouse, and the pond is the old millpond. It's actually big enough that you can row a boat around it quite comfortably. Not that I would as I don't want to disturb the ducks.

 

34 minutes ago, Edwardian said:

Meanwhile, in a field near Darlington ...

 

Seen it (drove past it on the way to Darlington for a school trip back in the day.)

 

33 minutes ago, sem34090 said:

That thing is signposted for miles around and is very underwhelming once reached, in my opinion.

And that it is.

 

3 minutes ago, Edwardian said:

It is an odd thing to have done and an odd thing to do; most people seem to be content with gnomes.

 

What is odder, as you say, is the way it became a tourist attraction, which, I think, lead to the signs, to help all those trying to find it; pretty bloody hard to miss, though it is.

Agreed.

[wagonman]

To get back to wagons (shock!), the MSWJR which might be considered to be of comparable size to the WNR – or even a bit bigger – numbered its wagons in the order they were purchased, later re-using numbers where the vehicle was scrapped or rebuilt (mostly after 1910). They did have the odd idea of having separate number schemes for horse boxes, carriage trucks and milk vans; but not for service stock. As Stephen/Compound has said, rails could be carried on 3 or 4 single bolster wagons and would in any case probably be carried on wagons originating near the steel rolling mill. Ballast came from their own quarry at Foss Cross and could be carried in 3 plank dropsides of which they had 50 (20 of them to MR D305) plus 24 others bought secondhand in 1899-1900.

[Northroader]

I’ve got a train to catch.

[Annie]

1 hour ago, RedGemAlchemist said:

Thank you, that picture is now my computer wallpaper.

I'm flattered.  I knocked that image up in Paint.Net without taking any particularly great care over it.

[brack]

2 hours ago, Edwardian said:

 

Meanwhile, in a field near Darlington ...

 

 

 

The lack of flanges on wide wheel treads bothers me somehow.

[Hroth]

10 minutes ago, brack said:

The lack of flanges on wide wheel treads bothers me somehow.

 

Obviously modelled on the Triang Flying Scotsman chassis..... 

[jcredfer]

3 hours ago, Edwardian said:

 

Meanwhile, in a field near Darlington ...

 

 

 

 

Pah!!  Rubbish!!  Not a single rivet in sight...   and as for the colour???

 

A sad example of modern architectural Affordable Housing design.....

 

Julian

 

[Hroth]

 

 

4 minutes ago, jcredfer said:

Pah!!  Rubbish!!  Not a single rivet in sight...   and as for the colour???

 

No worse than the birthday card I once got (pre Harry Potter) depicting a RED painted Castle class loco passing through Sydney Gardens, Bath.

 

Red did not suit it.

 

AT ALL!!!

(Red still doesn't suit GWR locos...)

 

[jcredfer]

1 hour ago, Hroth said:

 

 

 

No worse than the birthday card I once got (pre Harry Potter) depicting a RED painted Castle class loco passing through Sydney Gardens, Bath.

 

Red did not suit it.

 

AT ALL!!!

(Red still doesn't suit GWR locos...)

 

 

Sorry to hear of your disappointing Card-ashian celebration offering, no doubt well intentioned by the sender.  Post Harry Shed Potter, the loco looks an acceptable red - green....   but running through Bath Gardens is just too much to bear.  I'm sure Dave Simpson, would wonder at the wisdom of such traffic on the layout.....  on the other hand, he does have a Navy sense of humour. 

 

Julian

Edited May 6, 2020 by jcredfer

[brack]

Surely if we're discussing locomotive shaped edifices in the north east this one is more appropriately pregrouping and somewhat more loco shaped.

 

[sem34090]

And depicts a more interesting, as well as more attractive, prototype...

 

(I've got me tin 'at on already...)

Edited May 6, 2020 by sem34090

[St Enodoc]

10 hours ago, Regularity said:

Ironically, Annie, these were introduced as an intended precursor to decimalisation, being 1/10 of a pound.

That would be 1.6 ounces then...

[St Enodoc]

3 hours ago, Hroth said:

(Red still doesn't suit GWR locos...)

Blue does...

[Annie]

10 minutes ago, St Enodoc said:

That would be 1.6 ounces then...

Mine don't weigh that much.  I've been robbed!

[Edwardian]

3 hours ago, Hroth said:

 

(Red still doesn't suit GWR locos...)

 

 

Oh, I don't know ...

 

[robmcg]

Blue was used on the boiler of this engine. That's my grandfather driving it in 1919... in NZ.  

 

The end of the 1918 flu pandemic but trains didn't stop running...

 

It's an Edwardian 1904-built Baldwin 4-6-0 used by NZR until 1929, 'Ud' class. The location is Cross Creek at the base of the 1-in-15 Fell-operated Rimutaka Incline, with 50 miles of high speed track ahead, the train being the daily 'Wairarapa Mail'. Photo by Bill Stewart coloured by me. Grandad drove the Royal Pilot Train in 1927 how cool is that?  As people here would say these days,  "Dude...!"  He did dress well. 

 

Back to WMR wagons. 

 

 

I don't think it possible to be geographically much further from Norfolk, but hey, this thread has flexibility...?

[monkeysarefun]

Nothing screams "Made in the US of A"  more than a cowcatcher.

 

(Which was invented by Charles Babbage)

Edited May 6, 2020 by monkeysarefun

[sem34090]

Oh really?

Moving about as close to West Norfolk as that topic can go -

[monkeysarefun]

 

52 minutes ago, sem34090 said:

Oh really?

 

Moving about as close to West Norfolk as that topic can go -

 

But thats a garden shed!

 

For comparison the US did have a brief moment of sublime design back in the day..

 

Edited May 7, 2020 by monkeysarefun

[robmcg]

9 hours ago, Edwardian said:

 

"Nearholmus, are you saying that this will protect us from the pestilence?"

 

"Probably not, but it will make me feel better!"

 

 

 

 

Here is something to make some people feel better, in stock at Rails now, but you probably know that already.

 

 

cheers

[robmcg]

Actually, the above makes me think how attractive small engines can be, and being a colonial I could buy one for UKP92 plus shipping, and wait an indeterminate number of months for delivery, just as things used to be in the good old days when people used postal orders, and paid for things in florins and half-crowns.

 

One could even imagine, in extremis, a single-wheeler having a certain charm,   but no, that would be going too far.

[nick_bastable]

1 hour ago, monkeysarefun said:

 

 

But thats a garden shed!

 

 

actually that's a lucky man as I spy two sheds 

 

Nick B

[Malcolm 0-6-0]

14 hours ago, Annie said:

I miss the half crown, - now there's a coin to respect.  I still have some stashed away for old times sake.  And silver florins as well.

 

In Australia the silly thing was that the old pre-decimal silver coinage was worth more than its face value and vast amounts were being shipped off shore to be melted down to bullion. As I said the change to decimal was a very good thing. It also allowed the replacement of the old coinage with cupro-nickel which saved money. 

 

Personally, although I'm an archaeologist and historian, I have no illusions about the past despite the current state of the world being a bit depressing at times. But that is actually far better than what it was like before WW2. There were no adequate social services. In health terms the slightest abrasion or cut could lead to blood poisoning which before penicillin couldn't be treated - I lost an uncle aged only 14 years to blood poisoning in the early 1930's. Then there were all the endemic diseases like TB, syphilis, small pox, polio etc. with no vaccines or anti-biotics, combined with hopelessly low wages, none or scanty unemployment benefits, limited housing etc.

 

Add to to those real life threatening menaces the use of a medieval system of money and weights & measures just about summed up the glories of the past. Sitting in a class room in the 1950s learning how to calculate multiples of weights and measures or how to multiply sums of money was the pits. Especially as decimalisation swept all that way when it came in. People live in the conditions of the society of their time but that doesn't mean that things can't be improved.