The Night Mail

[SM42]

Somewhere in SM42 Towers I have kit for a Hurricane that is a very similar idea

 

You make the plane out of anything to hand that you can fashion into a Hurricane shape and then stick the stickers on to make it look like what it should be.

 

Absolute genius

 

Andy

 

Edited October 23, 2020 by SM42

[bbishop]

Might be of interest to someone .....

 

Bill

[Happy Hippo]

Robert Masterman passed on another three pictures to me and gave permission for them to be reproduced here. Again they feature 9600 at Merthyr Vale Colliery.

 

The photos were taken in July 1966, and a few months later on 21 Oct 66, Merthyr Vale was to gain notoriety as the NCB colliery responsible for the waste tip that fell onto Aberfan village killing 116 children and 28 adults as the slurry engulfed Pantglas Junior School and the surrounding area.

 

I remember coming out of school in Rhiwbina to be met by a wall of parents who had come to take their children home.  Usually we walked home unaccompanied:  But not on that day.

 

Any way back to a happier time earlier in the year at Merthyr Vale:

 

All three photographs by Robert Masterman and reproduced with permission.

 

Close observation of the pictures reveals some anomalies which I'll point out.  In the first picture, 9600 is shown with neither steam heat and vacuum brake pipes on the front buffer beam. The screw link coupling is also missing.

 

In the second picture 9600 is shewn with the front vacuum bag removed, whilst the third picture shows both the vacuum and steam heating pipes complete.

 

I suspect the first picture, and the one I showed a few posts back may have been taken at a later date:  I'll check with Robert on that.

 

The second picture was taken outside the shed and is looking south east.  somewhere up amongst the houses is the A470 which travels from Cardiff through to Llandudno (truly a coast to coast road).  Note the mixture of 16 ton steel mineral wagons, both with and without top flap doors.  By this date  what was left of the wooden mineral (ex PO) wagons, were for internal use only.

 

In the third picture it looks as if 9600 has recently had her ashpan cleaned judging by the glowing embers between the track.  The left hand pannier tank filler is open and the fireman's shovel is stowed in typical  fashion.

 

Robert's pictures capture a bygone era, and I do hope he will let me share some more with you at a later date. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Chris116]

26 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

The photos were taken in July 1966, and a few months later on 21 Oct 66, Merthyr Vale was to gain notoriety as the NCB colliery responsible for the waste tip that fell onto Aberfan village killing 116 children and 28 adults as the slurry engulfed Pantglas Junior School and the surrounding area.

 

My father remembered that day in October 1966 for the rest of his life! He was a BBC Radio Producer and was in the studio when a phone call came through to say that they wanted to do a 30 second news flash at the end of the next record. Not a problem so when the record ended they went to the news flash. Half way through my father decided to switch from his headphones playing studio output to playing station output only to find to his dismay what was being announced with the next record due to play being Lee Dorsey - Working down a coal mine! My father just knocked the record of the deck and put something else on much to the surprise of everyone else in the studio as they had all been listening to studio output and therefore did not know why my father gone into such a state of panic until he told them about what the news had been! I understand that a few days later a message went round to say that live studios should always listen to station and not studio output.

[jamie92208]

I also remember  that day well, listening to the news at lunchtime at school. I got the Times delivered to school ( some sort of special offer) and couldn't stop reading about it next morning and looking at the awful pictures.

 

Many years later I rode the train to Merthyr for the first time and both me and my mate went quiet when we saw the cemetry across the valley.

 

Jamie

 

 

Edited October 23, 2020 by jamie92208

[SM42]

1 hour ago, Happy Hippo said:

Robert Masterman passed on another three pictures to me and gave permission for them to be reproduced here. Again they feature 9600 at Merthyr Vale Colliery.

 

The photos were taken in July 1966, and a few months later on 21 Oct 66, Merthyr Vale was to gain notoriety as the NCB colliery responsible for the waste tip that fell onto Aberfan village killing 116 children and 28 adults as the slurry engulfed Pantglas Junior School and the surrounding area.

 

I remember coming out of school in Rhiwbina to be met by a wall of parents who had come to take their children home.  Usually we walked home unaccompanied:  But not on that day.

 

Any way back to a happier time earlier in the year at Merthyr Vale:

 

All three photographs by Robert Masterman and reproduced with permission.

 

Close observation of the pictures reveals some anomalies which I'll point out.  In the first picture, 9600 is shown with neither steam heat and vacuum brake pipes on the front buffer beam. The screw link coupling is also missing.

 

In the second picture 9600 is shewn with the front vacuum bag removed, whilst the third picture shows both the vacuum and steam heating pipes complete.

 

I suspect the first picture, and the one I showed a few posts back may have been taken at a later date:  I'll check with Robert on that.

 

The second picture was taken outside the shed and is looking south east.  somewhere up amongst the houses is the A470 which travels from Cardiff through to Llandudno (truly a coast to coast road).  Note the mixture of 16 ton steel mineral wagons, both with and without top flap doors.  By this date  what was left of the wooden mineral (ex PO) wagons, were for internal use only.

 

In the third picture it looks as if 9600 has recently had her ashpan cleaned judging by the glowing embers between the track.  The left hand pannier tank filler is open and the fireman's shovel is stowed in typical  fashion.

 

Robert's pictures capture a bygone era, and I do hope he will let me share some more with you at a later date. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That left hand filler appeears to be stuck open. It's the same in all three pictures

 

Andy

 

 

[Florence Locomotive Works]

@Happy Hippo a few questions for you and a plan to inspect.

 

I have, along with my dad, decided that my Bassett Lowke live steam mogul is worth fixing. I plan to remove the currently broken lubricator, and fit another one. Said lubricator has already been unsoldered, and the boiler tested under steam. The photo below shows the outline of the pipework. The main outlet pipe is (I believe) 3/16 OD so should be readily available. Once its soldered on it will come out horizontally, and the turn downwards into a t-piece. One end of the this t-piece will go into a proper displacement lubricator. The other will go into the regulator valve. The confines of the fake smokebox are fairly generous so it should all fit. But I ask, will it work?

 

thanks,

 

Douglas

[Happy Hippo]

It might be worth making up a union of some description so you can unscrew rather than unsolder the lubricator from the boiler.

 

So, new tube from boiler turned down through 90 degrees with a hex block with a coned hole.  you could probably sleeve the outlet pipe to save removing it from the boiler.

 

Lubricator and associated pipework connected to this by a cone and gland nut.

 

If you can fit a larger lubricator between the frames.

 

If you want you could then run the steam line from the lubricator to the cylinders via a coil running through the fire space. 

 

This would give the steam a little bit of a boost!

 

If you need one I could draw up a schematic diagram tomorrow.

 

 

 

 

Edited October 24, 2020 by Happy Hippo

[Florence Locomotive Works]

31 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

It might be worth making up a union of some description so you can unscrew rather than unbolt the lubricator from the boiler.

 

So, new tube from boiler turned down through 90 degrees with a hex block with a coned hole.  you could probably sleeve the outlet pipe to save removing it from the boiler.

 

Lubricator and associated pipework connected to this by a cone and gland nut.

 

If you can fit a larger lubricator between the frames.

 

If you want you could then run the steam line from the lubricator to the cylinders via a coil running through the fire space. 

 

This would give the steam a little bit of a boost!

 

If you need one I could draw up a schematic diagram tomorrow.

 

 

 

 

Yes now that you mention it unions would be a good idea. Speaking of unions, as I believe you rebuilt one of these with unions once. That one is a very rare engine sold as a kit in IRC 1938 only. Back on topic, there isn't a massive amount of room between the frames so I dont think ill do anything down there. I plan to get almost all of the material from this site, the main Model Engineering company in the USA. https://www.pmmodelengines.com/. Oh, and yes, I would be very grateful if you could make a schematic diagram for me.

[pH]

Looking for something else in my negatives, I came across three from a day-trip over the border to Washington State in 1986. One I have posted on RMWeb before:

 

https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/196-creative-photography-railway-related/&do=findComment&comment=603134

 

It's of Northern Pacific 0-6-0 1070 on the Lake Whatcom Railway. The railway's website says this was the last steam locomotive retired from the Northern Pacific Railway, in 1958.

 

Here's another of 1070:

 

 

And more up-to-date power on Burlington Northern in Bellingham that day:

 

 

2079 is a GP38-2, and 2076 is a GP38AC. Interesting difference in the position of the numbers - I can't see any obvious reason for it.

[Happy Hippo]

Ok Douglas, try this:

 

 

I note the drawing package has spelt too as to. 

 

 

 

Edited October 24, 2020 by Happy Hippo

[Happy Hippo]

6 hours ago, pH said:

And more up-to-date power on Burlington Northern in Bellingham that day:

 

 

2079 is a GP38-2, and 2076 is a GP38AC. Interesting difference in the position of the numbers - I can't see any obvious reason for it.

I think the GP 38 is amongst my favourite road switchers, especially in the BN paint scheme.

[Oldddudders]

1 hour ago, Happy Hippo said:

I think the GP 38 is amongst my favourite road switchers, especially in the BN paint scheme.

And the variations in similar-looking locos make EMD-spotting fun. This is a GP38-2. The paper air-filter tells you it can't be a similar-looking GP39-2, which also has two cooling fans, as that has a turbo, which is incompatible. And Blomberg M trucks suggest a -2 loco, having, with only one brake cylinder per axle, appeared in 1972 with the -2 line. You can just about discern the water-level sight gauge towards the end of the long hood, another -2 feature. And on the other side of the loco is the modular electronics cabinet, the clever bit of -2, intended to improve reliability, which we can't see!

[Florence Locomotive Works]

2 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

Ok Douglas, try this:

 

 

I note the drawing package has spelt too as to. 

 

 

 

Thank you very much Richard, I will be doing that except the Union will hopefully go where the sleeve is, so that it can removed easier. It should screw onto a commercial elbow, or maybe just the standard pipe fitting on a pipe, I’m not sure which would be better for steam flow, but I think a gently bent pipe is always preferable to an elbow. 

[jamie92208]

2 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

I think the GP 38 is amongst my favourite road switchers, especially in the BN paint scheme.

Those photos bring back memories of Portland and Seattle in 78 when I was on my trip round by train.  That leads onto Heidi but I've mislaid her photo by some strange coincidence.

 

Jamie

[Tony_S]

43 minutes ago, Florence Locomotive Works said:

but I think a gently bent pipe is always preferable to an elbow. 

The chaps who fitted our new central heating  boiler (furnace in US) a couple of years ago were not too polite about the original use of elbows in the long (water) pipe runs to and from the boiler. 

[Happy Hippo]

3 hours ago, Tony_S said:

The chaps who fitted our new central heating  boiler (furnace in US) a couple of years ago were not too polite about the original use of elbows in the long (water) pipe runs to and from the boiler. 

I agree , but the pipe run is very short in comparison and there is a significant difference between the flow of water through a system because it is incompressible, whereas steam can be compressed. (Which is where the pressure comes from!)

[Happy Hippo]

4 hours ago, Florence Locomotive Works said:

Thank you very much Richard, I will be doing that except the Union will hopefully go where the sleeve is, so that it can removed easier. It should screw onto a commercial elbow, or maybe just the standard pipe fitting on a pipe, I’m not sure which would be better for steam flow, but I think a gently bent pipe is always preferable to an elbow. 

Another way to do it would be to use a threaded block on the end of the stub from the boiler and then fit a banjo union which would give a right angled turn without having to use an elbow or a bent pipe.

 

The only issue would be whether the hollow centred and cross ported bolt would be strong enough to withstand tightening to make a steamtight joint. 

 

I've certainly used them on  a boiler manifold to pressure gauge, and also on feeds to lubricators, but these were much larger and capable of being tightened up sufficiently.

 

The straight on connector would save the sleeve, but the use of a sleeve on the pipe would strengthen it and give more surface area to solder into the threaded block if you extended the sleeve and use it as a step up to a larger diameter into the fixing point.

[bbishop]

I'm wondering if Jamie read my post of yesterday lunchtime?  Bill

[Oldddudders]

52 minutes ago, bbishop said:

I'm wondering if Jamie read my post of yesterday lunchtime?  Bill

It certainly features a particular 9F 2-10-0. 

[Florence Locomotive Works]

Richard, here's a drawing of the modified plan. Unfortunately, there are no displacement lubricators commercially available that will fit inside the smokebox, so i've had to improvise. The new plan is to now have a 3/16 x 40 "street" elbow coming out of the t-piece. This will be filled with oil and have a blanking plug on top. I'm not sure it will work though, do you have any suggestions? Obviously it won't work as a displacement lubricator now, but I'm not sure the original did either.

 

*Apologies to all for my horrific penmanship.

 

Douglas

Edited October 24, 2020 by Florence Locomotive Works

[Tony_S]

2 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

I agree , but the pipe run is very short in comparison and there is a significant difference between the flow of water through a system because it is incompressible, whereas steam can be compressed. (Which is where the pressure comes from!)

Their criticism was after draining, the pipes were full of air and all the sharp angles seemed to cause air locks when it was refilling. Everything he and his colleague did was very neat. 

[jamie92208]

1 hour ago, bbishop said:

I'm wondering if Jamie read my post of yesterday lunchtime?  Bill

 

33 minutes ago, Oldddudders said:

It certainly features a particular 9F 2-10-0. 

Thanks very much to both of you and particularly Bill. I presume that it was taken when the loco was still allocated to the Western Region. A pring or file of the scan would be very much appreciated. I think that my modelling skills may have advanced slightly in the 25 years since I bought my first 0 Gauge loco kit. It's in the box so in due course it will run.  I just need to make 16 anhydrite hoppers for which there is no kit, but I have a drawing.

 

No modelling today but time was spent in the shed. Another 35 or so aq metres of floor were cleared and sealed. Hopefully tomorrow afternoon they will get painted.  However as the section that I've cleared contains both the door and the entrance to the modelling room I won't be able to reach the brnch till it's dry.

 

Jamie

[Happy Hippo]

39 minutes ago, Florence Locomotive Works said:

Richard, here's a drawing of the modified plan. Unfortunately, there are no displacement lubricators commercially available that will fit inside the smokebox, so i've had to improvise. The new plan is to now have a 3/16 x 40 "street" elbow coming out of the t-piece. This will be filled with oil and have a blanking plug on top. I'm not sure it will work though, do you have any suggestions? Obviously it won't work as a displacement lubricator now, but I'm not sure the original did either.

 

*Apologies to all for my horrific penmanship.

 

Douglas

I'll think about it overnight!  My initial thoughts are the lubricator as you have planned it will not be up to the job.

 

I might have a suitable lubricator in the scrap box that might fit.... Or one that could be modified.

 

Some dimensions of the inside of the smokebox and what space you have available would help.

[Happy Hippo]

I've just finished watching the Wales v France rugby match.

 

The best team won, with some excellent, typically French tries.

 

Wales would have done much better if Wayne Pivac had insisited on Dan Biggar coming off at half time.

 

Biggar is a good player, but the injury to his right leg in the first half came back with a vengeance in the second, when Biggar was incapable of kicking accurately.

 

Rhys Patchell seems to play second fiddle to a lot of Welsh players, and it's a pity he was only put on with just over 5 minutes to go. Not enough time to make a difference.

 

Looking at the game hyper-critically, I think that  Dan Biggar, Alan Wyn Jones and Taulupe Faletau are in their last season in the international squad.