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The Night Mail


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21 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

My Grandfather told me that he used to wear his boots on the wrong feet to even up the heel wear. He walked from Acocks Green to the Longbridge Austin factory. He had a cobblers last too for diy shoe repairs. It ended up in my Dad’s shed and I as a small child was somewhat curious about its purpose. 
Tony

Funnily enough my dad had a couple of lasts in the garage and I was also curious as to what they were. He used to use them when putting segs in his climbing boots. I have no idea what happenned to them.

 

Jamie

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3 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

My Great grandfather would walk from Cathays  to the Taff Vale Railway workshops at West Dock (Cardiff) to save the cost of the tram fare.

 

He would then sole his own shoes, as he didn't see the point of saving the tram fare if he was then going to have to employ a cobbler to do something he was more than capable of doing himself.

Did he sole his shoes in his own plaice.

 

My parents moved from Scousepool to Llandaff. They had moved to Cogan by the time I came into their lives. I vaguely remember seeing trains there but remembers seeing the ships in the bay.

 

The big train stuff today was watching the derailment at Santa Fe Junction in Kansas City on the YouTube live railcam.

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Train derailment in designer colours:

http://globalnews.ca/news/7334513/drone-video-massive-train-derailment-hope-bc/

 

Commercial potash can vary in colour from white to quite dark red, depending on the amount of iron salts it contains.

 

Fortunately, nobody was  injured in the derailment. The potash is being described as non-hazardous, but it is now raining there and potash is soluble. I’m not sure dumping hundreds, if not thousands, of tons into a major river (that’s the Fraser right beside the tracks) is altogether a good thing.

Edited by pH
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Evening chaps,

Not commented recently, been busy with other things not related to my hobby. But I’ve now added all the small details to WHR((Yorkshire) and am now contemplating what to do next. I’ll post a couple of pictures soon.

Really I ought to spend time building a layout rather than stock, no point having stock if you don’t have anywhere to run it. Here’s my ‘problem’, I have in my possession three layouts which to some extent have been started on.

I have a German sinlge track branch layout which can easily be worked on. The idea is to extend it and convert it from DB toDR. The layout has been exhibited at the NEC and I can do it relatively easily. This option allows me to run my N gauge DR stock.

I acquired an unfinished oo end to end layout a couple of years ago with hand made points but the issue is I’m a bit dubious of their quality. Basically there is no scenery but the track plan is of a small country terminus but it haven’t been wired up. Problems I see are, is the track upto scratch and do I want a layout in oo when I can run my oo stock on friends and club layouts?

I have started a number of years ago with a z gauge layout, basically a dog bone shaped layout with the return corners fiddle yard passing loops and the straight section was going to be scenic. The idea was was to add lengths to the centre section to extend the layout as I wished. Advantage of this is I would  be able to run my z gauge stock and have something a little different. The disadvantage is so far I’ve only got the two end boards and only a small amount of track has been layed. Also controlling  the layout would need some thinking about as in effect all I would have is a very very long sinlge track oval. Obviously sections could be installed but running would require quite a bit of concentration and automation may be the answer but I’m be electronics wizard. 

I don’t realy expect any answers, Im just thinking  aloud but I have a couple of other ideas which have got stated on yet.

I'll describe them to you next time, hopefully in the next couple of days.

Robert

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Stanley Road in Liverpool was well-known as being catholic on one side and protestant on the other. One day the Pope was visiting the city when, as his entourage was going along Stanley Road, the heel of his shoe came off. Telling his driver to stop he went in to a shoe menders on the protestant side and had the shoe repaired. After he left, the shoe repairer proudly put a notice in his shop window saying, 'Cobblers to the Pope'. Later the same day there appeared in a shop window on the catholic side, 'And bo**ocks to the Archbishop of Canterbury'. 

 

Apropos of nothing really, except that all the talk of lasts and shoe repairs reminded me of it.

 

I see that Douglas is venturing into Scaleseven.

 

Dave

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Early start tomorrow morning, as we are off to Llandudno.

 

Business not pleasure:  Well it can't be pleasure when your told we need to be on the road by 0730 at the latest.

 

This start time being dictated by somebody else's apprehension about heavy traffic.

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16 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

Georgie's Bakes is based next door but one:

 

image.png.3eb35ae3f58e25ce520f8e729a16ad20.png

 

I've been living off the scraps she leaves out since lock down began.

 

Would there happen to be any small dregs in the bottom of the bin sufficient to maintain a small Bear by any chance? :sad_mini2:

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44 minutes ago, polybear said:

 

Would there happen to be any small dregs in the bottom of the bin sufficient to maintain a small Bear by any chance? :sad_mini2:

I was wondering whether they would travel to France. I was nicknamed bear by a girlfriend  many many years ago. And of course I now live in a land where the Queen suggested that the poor could eat cake when there was a bread shortage. It didn't end well for her though.

 

Jamie

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When many of the shoe factories in Norwich closed down the lasts often became mud weights on the broads, most of the sailing clubs buoys had last mud weights. many have been lost over the years.. Anyone magnet fishing is in for a surprise..

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2 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

I declined this mortising machine as it was a bit too big to get in the carIMG_20200916_111213.jpg.c1078a41eeeeb67bd5de1361ab84fbd6.jpg

 

Yes. B&Q are doing  a special offer on these at he moment.  It's even stood on a railway pallet. How is it driven? Line shaft or motor?

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24 minutes ago, tomparryharry said:

 

Yes. B&Q are doing  a special offer on these at he moment.  It's even stood on a railway pallet. How is it driven? Line shaft or motor?

A lever off the Z axis. All brute force. The mortice chisels are just that, no drill bit on the head! 

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Sherry arrived promptly off the night boat from Portsmouth @ 09.00 Monday. She will stay until October the 5th - and will then have to quarantine in her flat in Torquay for a fortnight. Sigh. 

 

This morning cleaner Alison has been here, doing her Gertrude Jekyll role rather than Mrs Mop. We haven't had proper rain here in many months, so the lawns are basically dead, but the weeds survive as ever. It was 34 here yesterday afternoon. Between us, she and I - with some help from her long-time lover François, who really has moved in with her now - have kept our flower bed and hanging baskets looking good, and today she was applying some of her witches brew which seems to revive plants rather well. Four hazel bushes got a serious haircut - their first since the Spring, before the leaves were on them - and look a great deal more kempt. 

 

I have had a couple of HO cereal hoppers turn up today from ebay. One of the layouts I have yet to build is of a minor French station with a grain silo. It will enable me to run my large collection of French railcars, and I have a couple of diminutive shunting locos to irritate the hoppers. 

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31 minutes ago, Winslow Boy said:

One hopes that is the last of the comments about lasts as I don't think I can last much longer learning about lasts and what lasting uses that lasts have been put to.

 

So hopeful that is the last thing we hear about lasts.

 

Whilst we're conversing about things footwear, I know a chap who had a broken glass top on his cooker.  I suggested a piece of thick marine ply to make the repair.

 

"How will that work? he asked. "Use hob-nails", I replied. 

 

I guess I'm off their Christmas card list, now....

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