Deliberately Old-Fashioned 0 Scale - Chapter 1

[Metropolitan H]

My memories of STEF vans are the evening refrigerated vans train south from La Rochelle - past the campsite where we stayed - circa 1973. The train was hauled by an oil-fired 141R every evening and announced time for a "Ricard" before dinner!

 

What it was to be young - we drove there and back in a Renault 6! Nowadays I would want a bit more comfort and performance.

 

Regards

Chris H

Edited July 14, 2021 by Metropolitan H

[St Enodoc]

2 hours ago, Metropolitan H said:

My memories of STEF vans are the evening refrigerated vans train south from La Rochelle - past the campsite where we stayed - circa 1973. The train was hauled by an oil-fired 141R every evening and announced time for a "Ricard" before dinner!

 

What it was to be young - we drove there and back in a Renault 6! Nowadays I would want a bit more comfort and performance.

 

Regards

Chris H

Could've been worse - a Renault 4?

[Metropolitan H]

9 hours ago, St Enodoc said:

Could've been worse - a Renault 4?

Just! - the Renaults 4 and 6 were basically the same except for a smarter body shell (a bit more weight to lug around) and more upholstered seats, the front being a bench seat which was a bit slippery!

 

Regards

Chris H

[Nearholmer]

Rather off-topic, but we went to a really good rally today, majoring on old ‘planes, but including a smattering of almost every form of old-fashioned transport that you can think of, except trains (oh, and no boats either), so here are two gratuitous photos of Rapides, because I like them.

 

 

[Edwardian]

That takes me back.  Last time I was at Old Warden it was the day they totalled their Tripehound

[Nearholmer]

Very good day, once the heavy downpours thinned out, and they even flew two of their "Edwardians" right at the end, added to which I got to try the astonishing 1905 Dursley-Pedersen bicycle, a very weird machine to look at, but it weighs-in at only 8kg, which is pretty respectable for a road racing bike now, and is surprisingly comfortable, given that it has a woven hammock for a seat. Like this https://onlinebicyclemuseum.co.uk/1904-dursley-pedersen-gentlemans-royal-roadster/1905_dursley_pedersen_01-2/

 

PS: The Tripehound is well again, and did a good demo mid-afternoon.

 

 

Edited August 1, 2021 by Nearholmer

[St Enodoc]

2 hours ago, Nearholmer said:

Rather off-topic, but we went to a really good rally today, majoring on old ‘planes, but including a smattering of almost every form of old-fashioned transport that you can think of, except trains (oh, and no boats either), so here are two gratuitous photos of Rapides, because I like them.

 

 

You could post those here, Kevin:

 

 

[Nearholmer]

Probably not, because that thread is full of pictures of the sort of planes that I really hate. I'm actually pretty much phobic about flying, and have to be dragged (or drugged) aboard a modern airliner, but, perversely, find old piston-engined aircraft fascinating, both technically and aesthetically.

 

On the technical point, I was looking at "horsepower per cylinder" and "horsepower per pound weight" of engines in the museum today, and the progress in those areas from, say, 1905-1920 was astonishing. I'm used to looking at figures for stationary and locomotive engines, and sometimes automotive, and the aeroplane chaps were beating those by miles - mind you, their engine maintenance regimes and lifespans wouldn't have stood up at all well in other applications, they were bordering on "thrash and throw away". 

[Northroader]

On the subject of old planes, a long time back, I used to take my son out to airports and shows, mainly trying to build up a “father - son” thing, he learnt his alphabet using “T W A” or “B O A C” (it was some time ago) and I used to make him model airliners, mainly 1/144 Airfix kits. Anyhow, there was a model show in Cardiff Sophia gardens, all disciplines, and I was invited to take the planes along. There was a live steam line running the far end of the hall, and I remember when we came away all the planes had a fine oily film on them. Anyway, one kit you couldn’t get back then was the DC-3, and we had seen one at Staverton (Cheltenham) it was about the last DC-3 service operating in the British Isles, to Jersey. So I carved the fuselage out of a lump of gurjun, with plastikard wings and fins, and this was on display with the jets and turboprops at Cardiff.  Me, with son standing proudly by the stand, when I’m accosted by the most glamorous blonde lady, fading rose type, highly attractive: “ look at that! Do you know, I was a stewardess on that service, I’d give anything for that model!”  Me: “gulp!”. It’s still in a tea chest somewhere up in the loft.

 

[Edwardian]

It may depend on one's idea of what an "old" 'plane is.

 

Pre-Grouping and Grouping eras for me!

 

 

[Northroader]

[Nearholmer]

I’m pretty sure I saw that flying yesterday, or if not that exact one, then the slightly earlier model.

[St Enodoc]

7 minutes ago, Northroader said:

Anyone know what happened to the one that used to be in the Merrion Centre, Leeds? Or is that it?

[Adrian Stevenson]

I had a flight in a DH Rapide some years ago now at IWM  Duxford. Lovely looking aircraft.

[Northroader]

Funnily enough, Saint, there’s a show on there currently, so jump on a Jumbo:

https://merrioncentre.co.uk/promotions-events/emett-machine-exhibition

I think the one that’s not there is “Cloud Cuckoo Valley” and I gather that’s now at the NRM Shildon:

https://www.nrmfriends.org.uk/post/a-quiet-afternoon-in-the-cloud-cuckoo-valley

[Edwardian]

13 hours ago, Nearholmer said:

 

 

PS: The Tripehound is well again, and did a good demo mid-afternoon.

 

 

 

I am glad to learn that. It was not a great landing but, nevertheless, and particularly for a 'plane of the era it represented, it was a good landing.

 

I refer here, of course, to the adage that a good landing is one you can walk away from. A great landing is one where they can re-use the 'plane.

[St Enodoc]

23 minutes ago, Northroader said:

jump on a Jumbo

If only...

[St Enodoc]

2 minutes ago, Edwardian said:

 

I am glad to learn that. It was not a great landing but, nevertheless, and particularly for a 'plane of the era it represented, it was a good landing.

 

I refer here, of course, to the adage that a good landing is one you can walk away from. A great landing is one where they can re-use the 'plane.

A good pilot is one with the same number of take-offs as landings.

[sncf231e]

15 hours ago, Nearholmer said:

Rather off-topic

Back on topic but with a propeller:

Regards

Fred

[Simond]

I had the TriAng Battle Space version.

[Metropolitan H]

Regarding the DH Dragon Rapide, I had a flight in one over London in October 2015. It were rather good.

 

We flew over a number of bits of London that Nearholmer will recognise.

 

 

 

 

I have flown to the Isle of Man, from London City Airport, and back with Nearholmer - his knuckles did turn white at times, but it was a great ride especially flying over "Our" house on the way there.

 

Regards

Chris H

 

 

 

 

Edited August 2, 2021 by Metropolitan H
"Our"!

[Nearholmer]

I thought that might surface some good pictures.

 

Anyway, Fred has tried hard to get us back to railways, so here’s a further attempt.

 

The Baron takes a chance. France, 1917.

 

 

[Florence Locomotive Works]

Slightly on topic, this is made by the German firm Tucher & Walther, and uses a Wilesco vertical engine and boiler.

 

 

Re the flying on modern airliners. I really can’t stand it, and only last night I hustled myself off an aging 737-900 from Denver, having been stuck in Denver overnight from Spokane. 
 

 

Douglas

[Metropolitan H]

23 minutes ago, Nearholmer said:

I thought that might surface some good pictures.

 

Anyway, Fred has tried hard to get us back to railways, so here’s a further attempt.

 

The Baron takes a chance. France, 1917.

 

 

Very good.

 

By the way did you notice that one of my pictures showed the "London and Greenwich Railway" - sat on top of its arches out from London Bridge - and another included the "London and Birmingham Railway" (and successors) route up Camden Bank out of Euston.

 

Regards

Chris H

[Nearholmer]

I did. And, is that the water tower at Mursley?

 

PS: I think you might have The London & Blackwall in there too, so three London early railways, two of which were the first sites of practical application of Cooke & Wheatstone's telegraph, both to signal stationary-engine haulage of cable railways.

 

No, its below the 'plane and to the bottom of the view. Sitting on the wrong side.

 

Edited August 2, 2021 by Nearholmer