The Night Mail

[Happy Hippo]

I have just been informed I will be going to Blist's Hill tomorrow.

 

i hope the chip shop is open.

[Erichill16]

At least now I know where you’re talking(writing about) now.  Last December we visited friends in Cardiff and stopped at a hotel at the Coryton Motorway interchange and used the station at Coryton to get into Cardiff. They live at Rhiwbina. 
Robert

[tomparryharry]

The old Coryton line has heaps of potential. The two problems I can see are the vehicular traffic flows around Junction 32 of the M4  (Coryton Interchange) and the lack of line occupation ability of the old Cardiff Railway.  Extending the line towards Radyr might become a huge no-no; this is one of the more affluent parts of Cardiff. 

 

Being double track, it would prove ideal, but it has long been a very poor relation. Re-doubling the line would also mean putting back an improved Heath Junction.  That would cost a lot of money. 

 

That said, never say never. 

 

Ian.

[Happy Hippo]

29 minutes ago, tomparryharry said:

The old Coryton line has heaps of potential. The two problems I can see are the vehicular traffic flows around Junction 32 of the M4  (Coryton Interchange) and the lack of line occupation ability of the old Cardiff Railway.  Extending the line towards Radyr might become a huge no-no; this is one of the more affluent parts of Cardiff. 

 

Being double track, it would prove ideal, but it has long been a very poor relation. Re-doubling the line would also mean putting back an improved Heath Junction.  That would cost a lot of money. 

 

That said, never say never. 

 

Ian.

I suspect if they ever wanted to reinstate the double track, then they 'new' ladder junction would be retained and a single turnout  would be installed between the junction and  the station at Heath (LL) to reinstate double track over the branch.  A similar arrangement could be installed at the Radyr end.

 

I suspect the costs would be on par with HS2!

 

Reopening the Penarth to Biglis junction line along the coast would be another project.

 

Of course, if there was a line that was deliberately run down so it could be closed, that's a prime example.

[Happy Hippo]

As I mentioned yesterday, we were scheduled to go and walk around Blist's Hill 'museum'.

 

It's raining, which might put the brakes on such an expedition.

 

Rain also means no serious working outside, so I might be forced to retreat to the garage and the workshop.

 

There are times like this when the rain is my friend!

[Dave Hunt]

Blist's Hill should now be renamed Noddy Goes To Victorian Land. Have a good day in the workshop. Despite yesterday's excursion to the shed being a failure due to me forgetting to take my mojo with me, I shall try to make another gallant effort today once a few domestic chores are completed.

 

Dave

[Compound2632]

26 minutes ago, Dave Hunt said:

Despite yesterday's excursion to the shed being a failure due to me forgetting to take my mojo with me, I shall try to make another gallant effort today once a few domestic chores are completed.

 

Motivational picture:

 

 

Millhouses Engine Shed, 27 April 1910. NRM DY 9275, released under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0) licence by the National Railway Museum.

 

Have you got a suitable site for sheer-legs? (NB - don't put "sheer legs" into Google Images until you're feeling stronger.)

Edited September 9, 2020 by Compound2632

[tomparryharry]

2 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

I suspect if they ever wanted to reinstate the double track, then they 'new' ladder junction would be retained and a single turnout  would be installed between the junction and  the station at Heath (LL) to reinstate double track over the branch.  A similar arrangement could be installed at the Radyr end.

 

I suspect the costs would be on par with HS2!

 

Reopening the Penarth to Biglis junction line along the coast would be another project.

 

Of course, if there was a line that was deliberately run down so it could be closed, that's a prime example.

 

I suspect that the new housing is right up to the boundary of the 'old' Heath Junction. Whitchurch & District Model Engineering used to have land over there. I suspect it's been entirely built over. To overcome that, you (rather, they) would install a dynamic loop from Heath Low level, up to Whitchurch. That doubles capacity at a stroke, and improves punctuality easily. 

 

There was uproar when the proposal to extend the Penarth line was announced. Nimby! Nimby! Nimby!

[Happy Hippo]

2 hours ago, Dave Hunt said:

Blist's Hill should now be renamed Noddy Goes To Victorian Land. Have a good day in the workshop. Despite yesterday's excursion to the shed being a failure due to me forgetting to take my mojo with me, I shall try to make another gallant effort today once a few domestic chores are completed.

 

Dave

We didn't get in!

 

The queue even though the tickets are all pre booked, and with staged entry slots, was out of the entrance and looped back on itself.

We reckoned on an hour to get in so drove home, via the farm shop.

 

Now it's a Cooper's sausage roll for lunch, and in the garden as well, because the weather has really bucked up.

[Tony_S]

I am not sure what our first non medical appointment day out since March will be. I suspect I am going to be encouraged to walk about. I will still need to avoid people. I suppose I could try and follow the route of the Canvey Monorail, no hills to worry about. However rather than try and find some ancient railway stuff I think walks round the bird reserve would be more sensible. We might even remember to take our binoculars, we have usually forgotten them. 

[Dave Hunt]

3 hours ago, Compound2632 said:

 

Motivational picture:

 

 

Millhouses Engine Shed, 27 April 1910. NRM DY 9275, released under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0) licence by the National Railway Museum.

 

Have you got a suitable site for sheer-legs? (NB - don't put "sheer legs" into Google Images until you're feeling stronger.)

 

Thanks Stephen. I'm just about to go into the shed so I'll see if it's worked. I haven't seen that photograph before and it's got some valuable detail in it so double thanks. Yes, there is a spur off the turntable where I'm planning to have sheer legs and Jamie is going to see whether the chap who 3D printed the top casting for him for the sheer legs on LGA can do one for me.

 

This morning I managed to strim the edges of the grass in the garden before having to pack it in and sit down, so my strength is improving albeit still far from 100%. At least for this afternoon's modelling I'll be sitting.

 

Ta ta for now all.

 

Dave

[Compound2632]

19 minutes ago, Dave Hunt said:

I haven't seen that photograph before and it's got some valuable detail in it so double thanks.

 

I've just spotted, bottom right, how the ground fill is dug away to reveal the fishplate.

[Happy Hippo]

To aid in Dave's recuperation, I thought I would take him my entire collection of The Pannier Papers.

 

Something to while away a few hours Sir?

[Dave Hunt]

Well, Stephen's motivational picture worked and I managed a couple of hours' modelling without making a complete hash of things, albeit the pace of production was a bit glacial. 

 

Thanks for the offer of the reading material HH; are The Pannier Papers a sequel to Dickens' earlier comedy with Serjeant Buzfuz working for the GWR?

 

And did the Cooper's sausage roll al fresco presage the G word or did you escape that too?

 

Will The Night Mail become the next unmissable soap opera and will it keep Bill entertained throughout his next shift? 

 

Watch this space.

 

Night night everyone.

 

Dave

[newbryford]

On 06/09/2020 at 02:54, BR60103 said:

There is a town called Paradise in Pennsylvania where the Strasburg RR meets what used to be the Pennsylvania. Te souvenir book of the SRR is called The Road to Paradise.  If you look for it on maps, check out other nearby towns for interesting names.

 

 

And is available via Virtual Railcam. (Click on the switch camera icon in the lower right menu to see Paradise - where it meets the Amtrak line)

 

 

[newbryford]

On 06/09/2020 at 11:05, Happy Hippo said:

 

 

I've just had to renew my Girlguiding 'Safe Space' Level 1 training.  I'm not quite sure why as I hold a current Level 3. Level 1 lays down the principles which are reinforced and amplified as you advance up the levels.  

 

 

 

Somewhere in my emails is a reminder to renew my Girlguiding UK safe space stuff as an "occasional unit helper"

(The joys of being married to a County Commissioner....)

 

Speaking of which:

 

Mrs and Junior NB are currently running their Guide unit via a weekly Zoom call, but last Sunday, they had an outdoor socially distanced meet to collect blackberries and apples - in readiness for a cooking/baking session via the weekly Zoom on Monday evening.

This was the result in the NB household.

 

 

 

[newbryford]

On 06/09/2020 at 15:08, Happy Hippo said:

 

 

If I were using 4 mm scale I'd probably opt for rtp in code 75.  I like the new Peco bullhead points and track, but I'm not a fan of their uni frog they've opted for.  I prefer a traditional micro switch to effect the crossing nose polarity.  I might be being pedantic, but there seems too much of a risk of a short using a unifrog due to the minute clearances that seem to be involved.  Much better to have gone with the tried and tested method where a much larger section of track switches polarity as required.  I believe some modellers have taken to painting the insides of the rails to prevent shorting out.

 

The other disadvantages  of the current Peco bullhead points is the price, and the lack of variety in the range.  They desperately need to get slips and diamonds.

 

Whilst I'm having a Peco bash, I cannot understand why they've never bitten the bullet and produced  UK points to the same switch angles as their American trackwork.

 

 

You can still use a switch to power a unifrog.

 

The issue is with cr&p/old wheels with wide treads that can potentially short between polarities.

But that's a well known and documented issue with insulfrogs anyway - about 1mm of extra insulation, such as varnish - works wonders. If you use decent wheel standards then there should be no problems.

(DCC will exaggerate the issue with insulfrog as the short/trip circuits of such systems are far more sensitive than older analogue/DC controllers)

 

IIRC, A slip in 00 B/H was shown in prototype form at Warley last year.

 

As it is - I've built 4 exhibition layouts using Code 75 F/B electrofrog since it was introduced in the early 1990s and never had any trouble apart from a couple of broken tiebars due to excessive use with solenoids and CDUs.

 

As for matching US geometry, I believe Peco have stated that the recent B/H introduction will match the existing Code 75/100 angles.

I guess that their new "70-line" will match the Code 83 US stuff though.

[newbryford]

On 07/09/2020 at 10:10, Happy Hippo said:

There is an enclave in Cardiff at Splott West which seems to have escaped unscathed, at they are still operating pannier tanks in 2020, although they do pretend it's about 1960.

 

Paneers in 2020?

 I hope they're eco-friendly and not burning fossil fuel.

[newbryford]

On 07/09/2020 at 20:17, Happy Hippo said:

The quandary is because I believe that either a verbal or visual signal is needed in addition to the backing signal being cleared.

 

 

 

 

"Backing signal"?

 

Is that one of these downward pointing ones?

 

 

[pH]

Somebody forgot to take their new loco out of the box:
 

https://www.railpictures.net/photo/747526/

[Happy Hippo]

8 hours ago, newbryford said:

 

"Backing signal"?

 

Is that one of these downward pointing ones?

 

 

 

Almost right, but a backing signal is more devout, and as you can see, is holier than yours.

 

 

 

Not one, but two at Uxbridge, Vine Street

 

[newbryford]

4 hours ago, pH said:

Somebody forgot to take their new loco out of the box:
 

https://www.railpictures.net/photo/747526/

 

Love the direction arrows..... some of my DCC DEMUs could do with them.

[jamie92208]

Those of you who've seen my post on ER's about watching the Tour de France Yesterday may have seen mention of being next to a railway line.  I'd chosen the spot thinking that it was the electrified main line between La Rochelle and Poitiers to give me the chance to see trains and cycling.   No such luck, it was a single track non electrified branch line.

The cutting was quite deep so the approach to the narrow bridge was heavily protected.

One straw bale wrapped in plastic. However one of the guys from De Sevre (The county) was chatty and seemed to know a bit about trains. I asked him if there was much traffic and he replied, one train a week to a quarry.

So much for trainspotting.   Anyway the race finally arrived and the Lanterne Rouge or tail ender was obviously in need of some assistance.

I suspect I might have been wanting the same.

Or I might have ended up in the minibus

There was however no broom tied to the back.

 

Jamie

[Happy Hippo]

We were visited by the tree fairy yesterday afternoon who cut back the Elder at the front of the property and various ornamental shrubs to the rear.

 

He then vanished as mysteriously as he arrived leaving me to clear the site this morning (and afternoon by the looks of it).

 

It's also given me an opportunity to get into the base of the Elder and rid it of Ivy.

 

A lot of people like Ivy as it allegedly creates nice places for birds to nest.  Unfortunately it's also a parasite and will literally strangle a tree or shrub if allowed to grow unchecked.

 

The problem is it clings to the tree so tightly, the tree bark grows around it.  as the Ivy expands as it grows, the bark is forced off the tree.  If a bough or trunk is completely 'ringed' of bark, it kills any part of the tree above this point.

 

Obviously it doesn't happen overnight, but is a rather long drawn out and insidious attack on the host.

 

It will do the same with roofing tiles on a house!

 

It's good to hear that Dave is being sensible about his recovery, and not trying to overdo it.

Edited September 10, 2020 by Happy Hippo

[Happy Hippo]

We have been productive with the tree and shrub debris fields and have only the Laurel to sort out.

 

Unfortunately the Elder of which there is quite a bit of wood is not a good wood to burn.  However, it is a good wood to turn, so any further processing of the felled timber will take this into consideration.

 

The bin men removed rather a lot of the remains of the larger scenic lumps of SG this morning.  Anything that was vaguly reuseable had been stripped off and boxed, but the closed cell foam, polystyrene, block and various lumps of plaster has all gone.  the rusty ironwork and mangled brass screws, has been consigned to the metal recycling container, which will be collected next week.  I'll probably have added more to it by then.

 

The next dedicated work session being over the weekend, when I will attempt to release some more of the turnouts from their prison.

 

 

 

Edited September 10, 2020 by Happy Hippo