Castle Aching

[Compound2632]

There's nothing new under the sun:

 

 

St Pancras Goods Station, 11 July 1917. NRM DY 10641, released under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0) licence by the National Railway Museum.

[Nearholmer]

Its a real pity that battery technology  made so little progress during the first wave of electric road vehicles, while i.c. rapidly overtook it, because there was brief period c1095-10 when battery-electric was a serious contender against i.c.. Indeed I think there may actually have been a very short period within that when there were more battery-electric vehicles on the road than i.c..

 

If anyone wants a history of the first wave of EVs, "The Electric Vehicle" by Gils Mom is the one to look for - a bit hard going because it seems to be a direct uplift of an MSc dissertation or PhD thesis, so it written over-formally, and is in the author's second language, but I don't think the facts are available all in one book anywhere else.

[Annie]

3 hours ago, Donw said:

It would seem to me to be quite suited to electric propulsion to have low speed vehicles. Some of you may remember the four wheeled bicycles (that's an oxymoron  quad pedal cycles? ) you could hire at holiday camps add a lightweight roof to keep the rain off and it would be ideal for a family getting about town. Minimal pollution. Not much good for a run down to cornwall I admit. 

I am convinced that this sort of thinking is necessary to deal with some of the issues we face.

 

Don

This is the kind of thing I used to mess about with before I became ill with narcolepsy and had to give up tinkering in my workshop out in the garage.  With endless amounts of old bicycles thrown away in the local dump it was a cheap way to amuse myself.

The link is to my Dropbox account and the old book the scans are taken from is French, - but I don't think anybody should have too many problems with that.  I was starting work on building a version of the wooden cyclecar using a pre-war Villiers engine and a three speed motorcycle gearbox and I've included the plans for that in a seperate folder in the Dropbox folder just in case anyone is desperate for a lockdown project.

 

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/3sozxvbz8v6frbc/AAASqrLI5rNRhEJwW2f0_Nb4a?dl=0

 

[Nearholmer]

Excellent, although I think it might struggle to obtain an MOT certificate.

 

One of my bros is into strange little cars like that, so if it is OK I will forward the link to him. He has the workshop facilities to do complete strip and rebuilds, so making a car out of old bikes and army surplus bed frames would be well within his capability.

[Annie]

28 minutes ago, Nearholmer said:

Excellent, although I think it might struggle to obtain an MOT certificate.

 

One of my bros is into strange little cars like that, so if it is OK I will forward the link to him. He has the workshop facilities to do complete strip and rebuilds, so making a car out of old bikes and army surplus bed frames would be well within his capability.

By all means pass the link on Kevin.  In my humble opinion I think the world could do with more strange little cars like the ones in that old book.  

[DonB]

My wife says she can't get to dis-associate modern electric cars from the battery powered milk delivery vehicles of her youth. (referred to as "Milk floats".)

Walking to school it was usual to overtake at least one such vehicle struggling to get back to it's depot. 

[Edwardian]

30 minutes ago, DonB said:

My wife says she can't get to dis-associate modern electric cars from the battery powered milk delivery vehicles of her youth. (referred to as "Milk floats".)

Walking to school it was usual to overtake at least one such vehicle struggling to get back to it's depot. 

 

Father Ted's take on the film Speed

 

 

[Nearholmer]

44 minutes ago, DonB said:

My wife says she can't get to dis-associate modern electric cars from the battery powered milk delivery vehicles

I think EVs would be immeasurably improved if they were fitted with devices to generate that distinctive syncopated clinking sound of empty bottles rattling in wire crates as the float went along - as it is they can sneak-up on you silently.

[petethemole]

16 minutes ago, Nearholmer said:

I think EVs would be immeasurably improved if they were fitted with devices to generate that distinctive syncopated clinking sound of empty bottles rattling in wire crates as the float went along - as it is they can sneak-up on you silently.

I believe "engine" sound effects are now fitted.  I heard one recently that sounded like a Lima GWR railcar.

[Compound2632]

11 minutes ago, petethemole said:

I believe "engine" sound effects are now fitted.  I heard one recently that sounded like a Lima GWR railcar.

 

I wonder if in the fullness of time one will be able to select one's sound effect?

 

I want Ivor!

[rocor]

16 hours ago, Donw said:

It would seem to me to be quite suited to electric propulsion to have low speed vehicles. Some of you may remember the four wheeled bicycles (that's an oxymoron  quad pedal cycles? ) you could hire at holiday camps add a lightweight roof to keep the rain off and it would be ideal for a family getting about town. Minimal polution. Not much good for a run down to cornwall I admit. 

I am convinced that this sort of thinking is necesary to deal with some of the issues we face.

 

Don

 

It seems that not everyone approves.

 

 

[Nearholmer]

Actually, thinking about it (which betrays incipient insanity), the easiest thing to do would be to fit them with rows of bells, like the ones Morris dancers wear, suspended below each bumper. I’m sure I’ve seen a picture of an Indian bus fitted with them - big elephant-bell things.

[Donw]

THere seems to be quite a few on youtube. 

Yes it will need quite a mid change to bring them in. Nodoubt which will continue our headlong rush into climate problems. I know there are hopes that Hydrogen will solve many but we need to sort out heating as well as transport.

 

Don

[Martin S-C]

On 15/06/2020 at 21:33, Donw said:

What I would suggest is building a light railway with at least three stations, two terminii and a central through station make that a junction and add a branch to a small terminus, possible another though station on the main and you have a nice system at one of the terminii provide an exchange siding .

 

I have tried this in my current project but it was too much railway for one person to handle, or perhaps it needed a good deal more space than I had.

Even then I had a set of modelled "exchange sidings" which although fully scenic were a fiddle yard with a dummy track leading about 6" into a tunnel mouth to represent Elsewhere.

[woodenhead]

17 hours ago, Donw said:

It would seem to me to be quite suited to electric propulsion to have low speed vehicles. Some of you may remember the four wheeled bicycles (that's an oxymoron  quad pedal cycles? ) you could hire at holiday camps add a lightweight roof to keep the rain off and it would be ideal for a family getting about town. Minimal polution. Not much good for a run down to cornwall I admit. 

I am convinced that this sort of thinking is necesary to deal with some of the issues we face.

 

Don

This is one solution for getting about serenely, it's a bit ugly but if it wasn't for the cost I'd had one.

 

[rocor]

41 minutes ago, Donw said:

THere seems to be quite a few on youtube. 

Yes it will need quite a mid change to bring them in. Nodoubt which will continue our headlong rush into climate problems. I know there are hopes that Hydrogen will solve many but we need to sort out heating as well as transport.

 

Don

 

Here is yet another youtube video, advocating using renewable methods for electrical generation. This one is unusual in that it promotes the idea of  building generating capacity far in excess of immediate needs, with four times over capacity seeming to hit a sweet spot.

 

 

[Donw]

JUst think about your own consumption. Not only is there you current electric consumption but add the energy needed for your car, replacing the gas heating,  replace the mower etc. with electric ones. 4 times existing capacity make sense. Personally I think we need to be smarter too.

Don

[Annie]

10 hours ago, woodenhead said:

This is one solution for getting about serenely, it's a bit ugly but if it wasn't for the cost I'd had one.

Ugly is definitely the word, but apart from that I wouldn't have one because as someone with mobility issues I wouldn't be able to get into the thing.  And if I did manage to get into it I would need help to get out of it.  My electric tricycle I built up for myself was far more ergonomically useful and with its nice big wheels it rolled over the bumps very nicely. 

Unfortunately I can't ride my trike anymore in case I fall asleep and have myself an accident.  

[Florence Locomotive Works]

I sometimes think the electric car may have already had its day, as it’s been “tomorrow’s technology” for around a hundred years now. Perhaps hydrogen fuel cells are the way forward? Of course that would probably only work in cars.

[Regularity]

21 hours ago, Compound2632 said:

I wonder if in the fullness of time one will be able to select one's sound effect?

I saw one recently which made a sound like a Zylon in the original Battlestar Galactica.

[woodenhead]

6 hours ago, Florence Locomotive Works said:

I sometimes think the electric car may have already had its day, as it’s been “tomorrow’s technology” for around a hundred years now. Perhaps hydrogen fuel cells are the way forward? Of course that would probably only work in cars.

I think the idea of a personal car in a city has had it's day - sharing/hiring from a pool will become the norm in cities I imagine in the coming years, outside of the city of course things will evolve but not change drastically - i.e. the means of propulsion will change but you'll still need personal vehicles.

 

The big issue for all means of transport and technology in general is the consumption of precious metals - a horse and cart just needs renewable elements with a bit of steel - a electric or hydrogen fueled car requires electronics and they consume lots of metals, touch screens are an absolute nightmare as they need precious metals and we've all rushed to phones and tablets with screen based keyboards.

 

Massive rethink about how we use rare commodities - going out to space to get them is not going to be an answer in the short term

[Compound2632]

1 minute ago, woodenhead said:

touch screens

 

... have fallen out of favour lately.

 

Apart from family holidays and transporting offspring to and from university, the only car journey we make that couldn't be done by public transport (under "normal" conditions) is the weekly big supermarket shop. That could be replaced by home delivery. The fundamental reasons for making the other journeys by car are journey time, convenience, and cost. That's living in an urban area that is also a major transport hub; in rural areas the balance in favour of the car is much greater. On the cost, one has to take into account that we have already invested in the car. It remains to be seen whether the Covid crisis together with economic stagnation will result in a significant permanent change that would to the balance away from the private motor car (however powered). <rant> We're unusual round here in only having one. Most of our neighbours have the block paving so the road looks like one continuous second-hand dealer's forecourt. Alas the restrictive covenant requiring front gardens to be laid chiefly to grass seems to be a dead letter. <end rant>

[rocor]

52 minutes ago, woodenhead said:

I think the idea of a personal car in a city has had it's day - sharing/hiring from a pool will become the norm in cities I imagine in the coming years, outside of the city of course things will evolve but not change drastically - i.e. the means of propulsion will change but you'll still need personal vehicles.

 

The big issue for all means of transport and technology in general is the consumption of precious metals - a horse and cart just needs renewable elements with a bit of steel - a electric or hydrogen fueled car requires electronics and they consume lots of metals, touch screens are an absolute nightmare as they need precious metals and we've all rushed to phones and tablets with screen based keyboards.

 

Massive rethink about how we use rare commodities - going out to space to get them is not going to be an answer in the short term

 

Apart from undergoing the massive changeover to renewable energy, we (that is the collective world wide we) are going to have to get truly serious about the recycling of materials.

[LimboBrit]

1 hour ago, Compound2632 said:

... have fallen out of favour lately.

What makes you say that? I can't say I've noticed a dip in the market in favour of alternative input devices

[Compound2632]

46 minutes ago, LimboBrit said:

What makes you say that? I can't say I've noticed a dip in the market in favour of alternative input devices

 

There is, I would say, a greater reluctance to use such devices for fear of transmission of the coronavirus.