The Night Mail

[Happy Hippo]

19 hours ago, newbryford said:

 

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.

 

The Ranger meeting on Tuesday evening (again via Zoom) was making Zombie traps!

 

There are some young ladies out there with either warped minds or devilish senses of humour.

[Happy Hippo]

Having chopped up the various bits of Elder that the tree fairy removed on Wed, I now need to find some use for it all. It will turn well, and I suspect it could be planked and then converted into modelling materiel. One thing I won't be doing is burning it.

 

Call me superstitious but it's said that an Elder tree is a witch, and bad luck will befall anyone who burns one.

 

More practically it doesn't burn well unless mixed with other wood. One of the best timbers for burning is Ash.

 

I shall begins the work day by clearing the pile of Laurel that remains on the lawn.

 

Possible workshop or garage action may be permitted this afternoon.

 

[Stubby47]

29 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

Call me superstitious but it's said that an Elder tree is a witch, and bad luck will befall anyone who burns one.

 

...but it's ok to chop it into bits and turn it on a lathe... I'd watch out for black cats if I were you...

[Happy Hippo]

A bit of nostalgia before the day gets much older.

 

A bridge test on the now slumbering South Horton Irrigation Tramway.

 

 

 

From a technical viewpoint this bridge was made from  strips of 5.5 mm ply.  It was my first attempt at creating a curved baseboard, and it a box section with the upper sides extended to create a parapet just in case a train decided to jump off the bridge!  Rail is flat bottomed Peco Code 250 nickel silver, spiked directly to the top deck with 0 .5" dog spikes.

 

The bridge lasted about 2 years without any major problems before the line was placed in storage.

 

 

This picture shows a 4 mm scale 64xx pannier tank sitting on the engine mount for my 7.25" Listeresque P/E loco 'Crusty'.

 

A slight variation is scales, as in full size, the Lister would be dwarfed by the pannier.

 

The Frames of  'Crusty' are a fine example of laser cut slot and tab construction, held together by M 6 bolts.

[Dave Hunt]

Pannier tanks seem to be a bit like wasps on a summer's afternoon; there you are enjoying yourself and suddenly one of the little bu**ers turns up from nowhere.

 

Not a lot of note happening in North Hipposhire at the moment.

 

Dave

[Oldddudders]

14 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

The Ranger meeting on Tuesday evening (again via Zoom) was making Zombie traps!

 

There are some young ladies out there with either warped minds or devilish senses of humour.

Holes in the pavement to trap those who wander moronically around staring at their phone? Bring them on!

[Happy Hippo]

The difference between track laying indoors and outdoors:

 

[jamie92208]

Lots of good oak bought this morning from the barrel stave sawmill that's closing down. Offcuts in 1m lengths bundled up into stears weighing well over half a ton. Loaded on by forklift but hand balled off at this end. A friend and I bought a stear apiece. It is so dry and well seasoned, I think I'm going to go back next week for another 2 stears.

 

We are burning quite a bit that we've harvested from the garden. Ash and sycamore burn well. The two fir trees that came down burnt well but we have to make sure the chimney is swept each year. The barrel wood does have quite a lot of thin pieces but at €20 per stear as oposed to the market price of around €55 per stear from the farmers it's a no brainer. 

 

I wonder if Beth is OK.  I mentioned the Merchant Navy to her the other day and she didn't say no.  Should I be worried.

 

 

Now, once the bins are emptied the new Modern Railways awaits.  At least I can be fairly sure that there will be no mention of panniers in that publication.

 

Jamie

 

 

Edited September 11, 2020 by jamie92208

[bbishop]

31 minutes ago, jamie92208 said:

 

 

I wonder if Beth is OK.  I mentioned the Merchant Navy to her the other day and she didn't say no.  Should I be worried.

Jamie

 

 

 

Bulleid or Jarvis?  B

[jamie92208]

29 minutes ago, bbishop said:

 

Bulleid or Jarvis?  B

Jarvis, Bill.  I worked on Clan line at Longmoor in 1968 so rather like them in that style though they were magnificent machines in either form.

 

Jamie

[bbishop]

So my decision for this afternoon is either a walk, lay some point motors in the garage or fall asleep in front of the TdF.  

 

A few years ago I cycled to Greenwich to watch it go past.  As it was less than ten miles from the start, it was one man, then five seconds later the whole field flashed by.  And that was that!

 

Tomorrow, Monday and Tuesday at Waterloo.  Keep me amused.  Bill

Edited September 11, 2020 by bbishop

[Oldddudders]

I see the Mayor of Lyon, who has good green credentials, has come out and said the TdF is macho and a major polluter. Bikes, polluting? Yes, but the huge army of cars supporting them, and the enormous amount of trash it creates rather negates the blokes on bikes. Then there's the mobility of spectators seeking to follow the event. He also rails against the lack of a comparable event for women. 

 

In 1994 the Tour passed my house in Kent. Road reconstruction - a new roundabout nearby, and much resurfacing - preceded it by some months. And the spectacle was extremely brief!

[Joseph_Pestell]

59 minutes ago, Oldddudders said:

I see the Mayor of Lyon, who has good green credentials, has come out and said the TdF is macho and a major polluter. Bikes, polluting? Yes, but the huge army of cars supporting them, and the enormous amount of trash it creates rather negates the blokes on bikes. Then there's the mobility of spectators seeking to follow the event. He also rails against the lack of a comparable event for women. 

 

In 1994 the Tour passed my house in Kent. Road reconstruction - a new roundabout nearby, and much resurfacing - preceded it by some months. And the spectacle was extremely brief!

There certainly used to be a TdF for women.

 

He is right of course that TdF causes a lot of pollution. But so do people travelling to other sports events, theatre, etc. Are we to have no pleasures in life?

[Happy Hippo]

28 minutes ago, Joseph_Pestell said:

There certainly used to be a TdF for women.

 

He is right of course that TdF causes a lot of pollution. But so do people travelling to other sports events, theatre, etc. Are we to have no pleasures in life?

Absolutely not, pleasure is forbidden.

 

My model railway exploits and my subservience to cake and alcohol are penances which I must endure.

 

 

[Happy Hippo]

I see there's now a groan button.

 

How do we get it activated?

 

Should I mention pannier tanks?

[AndrewC]

Howdy all. Another week over. Thank fork. 

In muddling news I've bought a layout. Well, a set of Freemo modules that has been exhibited as a layout as well. The reasoning is,

it saves a rather nice layout from being recycled

I get the components I need for the Whitefish roundhouse that forms part of my master plan all in one place without having to hunt about

It is already 90% of the track plan.

Being Freemo it is ready to clamp to existing parts with no mucking about or rewiring. 

It fits the allocated space. 

Winner winner chicken dinner as they say. Now all I have to do is make storage space while I finish off the shed renovations. 

[Oldddudders]

5 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

Should I mention pannier tanks?

You don't need to. A significant % of RMweb talks of little else, especially with a new model on the distant horizon from Model Rail. People are grumping that they still haven't been told numbers and liveries. The desperate and dreadful effects of Covid, and world famine, are as nothing compared to knowing the number on the side of a bit of plastic and brass.....

[Happy Hippo]

15 minutes ago, AndrewC said:

Howdy all. Another week over. Thank fork. 

In muddling news I've bought a layout. Well, a set of Freemo modules that has been exhibited as a layout as well. The reasoning is,

it saves a rather nice layout from being recycled

I get the components I need for the Whitefish roundhouse that forms part of my master plan all in one place without having to hunt about

It is already 90% of the track plan.

Being Freemo it is ready to clamp to existing parts with no mucking about or rewiring. 

It fits the allocated space. 

Winner winner chicken dinner as they say. Now all I have to do is make storage space while I finish off the shed renovations. 

Cut the crap, where's the pictures? (Please)

 

3 minutes ago, Oldddudders said:

You don't need to. A significant % of RMweb talks of little else, especially with a new model on the distant horizon from Model Rail. People are grumping that they still haven't been told numbers and liveries. The desperate and dreadful effects of Covid, and world famine, are as nothing compared to knowing the number on the side of a bit of plastic and brass.....

I must miss those little gems.  I only stray away from a few select threads if there is mention of cake.

 

But you are so right about people's interpretations of and attitudes towards many global issues.  Couldn't give a monkeys as long as they are ok.  I've been very lucky with the Covid saga so far.  Stringent self isolation and shunning contact with others:  Military NBC style decontamination of anything coming into the house.  Some of our neighbours think I'm (we're) bonkers.  Fortunately, I don't know anyone who has caught it, and therefore nobody who has succumbed to it.  The same cannot be said of a friend (BAME) whose husband contracted it, but thankfully recovered.  But Covid has taken friends from their church group in Wolverhampton.  I think that now it's on the rise again, which was expected, a lot of people who've dropped their guard completely are going to get a big shock in the not too distant future.

 

As far as numbers and liveries of models are concerned, I think Minerva have the correct approach to their little p's.  Number them yourself!

 

 

 

 

[bbishop]

Three acquaintances have died of Covid - one of whom was an occasional attender at our GOG group.  I know a lot of people who have had it, but only four whom I would call friends.  Oddly the pair who were very vulnerable only had it mildly, whilst the pair who should have shrugged it off had a bad dose.

 

Logging off now, because I only have visitor rights tomorrow.  I will delve into a few threads in the Modelling Zone.

 

Bill

[bbishop]

9 hours ago, bbishop said:

So my decision for this afternoon is either a walk, lay some point motors in the garage or fall asleep in front of the TdF.  

 

A few years ago I cycled to Greenwich to watch it go past.  As it was less than ten miles from the start, it was one man, then five seconds later the whole field flashed by.  And that was that!

 

Tomorrow, Monday and Tuesday at Waterloo.  Keep me amused.  Bill

Walk and the last half hour of the TdF.  Bill

[AndrewC]

14 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

Cut the crap, where's the pictures? (Please)

 

I will comply once the modules are in my grubby little hands next week.  The pics I have are the current owner's and I wouldn't be comfortable posting them without his permission. However...... there are some assorted pics with the module included in this thread: 

  Just look for the roundhouse. (no not him, an actual roundhouse) 

[Stubby47]

NHS Spitfire fly past due today, should have a good view as I'll be on an astro pitch less than a mile from the hospital. 

[Happy Hippo]

The pictures of the north American railroad stuff has not helped the nasty little itch I have.

 

it keeps coming back from time to time and teases me about making an HO short line in Nebraska.

 

I blame Thomas Klimoski and his interpretation of a short line in Georgia:

 

https://www.thomasklimoski.com/

 

The only making on the cards today will be a long session of apple processing.  We have three apple trees, a Bramley, a Worcester and a Russett.  The last two now need the fruit picked and sorted.  Some will be stored for eating, the rest will be cored. peeled and sliced and put through the food dehydrator then bagged.

 

It's a great handy snack to carry around when you are out for a walk.

 

We've also  experimented with making 'leather':  A fruity version of  jerked meat. (Stop sniggering at the back.)

[AndrewC]

29 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

The pictures of the north American railroad stuff has not helped the nasty little itch I have.

 

it keeps coming back from time to time and teases me about making an HO short line in Nebraska.

 

I blame Thomas Klimoski and his interpretation of a short line in Georgia:

 

https://www.thomasklimoski.com/

 

We've also  experimented with making 'leather':  A fruity version of  jerked meat. (Stop sniggering at the back.)

Come to the dark side. We have cake. 

 

Fruit leather if done well is a great walking or hiking snack. Haven't had it in years though. Used to buy a year's supply from a chap that ran a roadside stall in Montana. mmmmmm huckleberry fruit strips. Hell, huckleberry is addictive. 

[Happy Hippo]

28 minutes ago, AndrewC said:

Come to the dark side. We have cake. 

 

Fruit leather if done well is a great walking or hiking snack. Haven't had it in years though. Used to buy a year's supply from a chap that ran a roadside stall in Montana. mmmmmm huckleberry fruit strips. Hell, huckleberry is addictive. 

I'm on my way!

 

The last leather we made was apple and blueberry.

 

It didn't last long