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The Night Mail


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33 minutes ago, J. S. Bach said:

Appalachia! :yahoo_mini:

Damn, found out.

 

Of course there's a special reason it's actually in the Lackawanna mine in Poconos, Pennsylvania.

 

We can transport cake from other dimensions!

 

It's hidden under a High Castle (Not GWR).

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48 minutes ago, Dave Hunt said:

Tomorrow looks like being a reasonable day as Jill and my Dad are going to the nearby Dorothy Clive gardens and leaving me to my own devices. I'll be off to the workshop like a rat up a drainpipe as they leave the drive.

 

Dave

I couldn't stand whisky until I was in my thirties, so I'm making up for lost time.

 

By the time you've got down to the workshop and settled in, Jill and your father will have been around DC gardens and back with you expecting coffee and cake to warm them up.

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11 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

PB and I are joint custodians of a  secret cake mountain hidden deep in the hills of.......................

 

I think the Appelations are a red herring. 

 

I've  always been suspicious of the shape of the Wrekin.

 

Now it all makes sense. It's  even got a candle on top

 

Andy

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Evening,

 

Right, well I’ve got the burner singing nicely, and the engine does an extra 2 rotations now. An extra 2 rotations I hear you say, that doesn’t seem like much. That’s because I’m using the wrong oil. I ran out of most of the correct (Wilesco) oil, but I had some left and wanted to make it last, so added a wee bit of high pressure steam oil, which is much thicker and harder for the steam to get through. So all going well when my new 10 pots of Wilesco oil arrive, the engine should run very well.

 

Douglas

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The Wrekin i went up and down there several times during my A level Geology field trip got sick of drawing Wrekin quartzite. In fact i think there are a couple of lumps of it still in my Mum and Dads shed as well as part of Wenlock edge with some fossils in it. 

Douglas there is a guy on you tube called Keith Appleton he is a model engineer/steam fanatic he could be worth a watch for you not all locomotives he has a large scale showmans engine and stationery engines too plus machining techniques etc. He may be of interest to you. The usual disclaimers apply

 

 

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7 hours ago, simontaylor484 said:

Douglas there is a guy on you tube called Keith Appleton he is a model engineer/steam fanatic he could be worth a watch for you not all locomotives he has a large scale showmans engine and stationery engines too plus machining techniques etc. He may be of interest to you. The usual disclaimers apply

 

 

 

Jeez, he's loaded almost 1600 videos onto the 'tube.  Looks interesting.....

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8 hours ago, Florence Locomotive Works said:

Evening,

 

Right, well I’ve got the burner singing nicely, and the engine does an extra 2 rotations now. An extra 2 rotations I hear you say, that doesn’t seem like much. That’s because I’m using the wrong oil. I ran out of most of the correct (Wilesco) oil, but I had some left and wanted to make it last, so added a wee bit of high pressure steam oil, which is much thicker and harder for the steam to get through. So all going well when my new 10 pots of Wilesco oil arrive, the engine should run very well.

 

Douglas

Some years back there were a few people in the small scale live steam world who used to add a drop of Molyslip to their steam oil if it were a bit on the heavy side.

 

I never tried it(Molyslip) myself as I had a very good supply of 220 grade steam oil for the likes of a Mamod or Wilesco live steam engines.  However for the likes of a higher pressure of say a Roundhouse or Accucraft derived loco, I use a 460 grade medium viscosity steam oil.

 

Don't try and use it as a lubricant for the bearings  otherwise after a couple of laps (outside) you'll have a great deal of grit and other associated detritus clinging to the drops for dear life.  I use standard SAE 20/50 motor oil.  Gun oil and 3 in 1 is just a little too light.

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14 hours ago, simontaylor484 said:

The Wrekin i went up and down there several times during my A level Geology field trip got sick of drawing Wrekin quartzite. In fact i think there are a couple of lumps of it still in my Mum and Dads shed as well as part of Wenlock edge with some fossils in it. 

Douglas there is a guy on you tube called Keith Appleton he is a model engineer/steam fanatic he could be worth a watch for you not all locomotives he has a large scale showmans engine and stationery engines too plus machining techniques etc. He may be of interest to you. The usual disclaimers apply

 

 

Thanks Simon,

 

I have heard of Keith, he is responsible for getting me into live steam after watching his channel for 6 months or so (that was nearly four years ago though). When it was initially presumed that my new lubricator strategy for the Mogul was to fail, we got very close to sending the engine off to him.

 

7 hours ago, polybear said:

 

Jeez, he's loaded almost 1600 videos onto the 'tube.  Looks interesting.....

There are even more if you’re strange enough to pay him $5 a month as one of his Patreon’s! I would recommend it though, you also get access to some of his books.

 

Douglas

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9 hours ago, polybear said:

 

Jeez, he's loaded almost 1600 videos onto the 'tube.  Looks interesting.....

He does try to upload a video every day he releases them to his patreon viewers first then youtube a couple of months later. Some of it is his own stuff some he does for other folk 

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The Night Mail might become a reality!

 

I was complaining about the lack of an rtr Mk 1 BG which I wanted as the base coach for a parcels train for Splott West/Aberflyarff(LL).  I have just found out the Daerstaed are introducing one next year as part of their range.  (I did not want to get yet another kit that would spend years being built).

 

Trouble is I would like a slightly grubby BG in WR chocolate and cream livery, but feel that in all probability a lined maroon version might be more realistic, as the  pretty ones were limited to named trains and the likelihood of one being cascaded down to parcels traffic in the Welsh docks/valleys is highly unlikely.  Had I unlimited funds a blue one might creep in as well....... However, that is definitely a flight of fancy at present.

 

I have some wild and fanciful ideas, but I do like to try and keep things in some semblance of realistic.

 

The reason I want  a parcels /newspaper train is I remember signalling one through from Radyr to Pontypridd on a number of occasions, when I was 'visiting' Walnut Tree Junction signal box during the late 1960s.  always late on in the evening and EE type 3  (Class 37) hauled, it made a change from the staple of DMUs,  up empties and down minerals.

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I went out to a derailment of that parcels train once, can’t say how it happened, it was on the up main very nearly below the Barry viaduct just below Walnut Tree. It was very straightforward, just a couple of vans slightly off, and traffic was still coming by on the down main. There was an inspector and some traffic guys transhipping some stuff out of a van into a road vehicle, so when a down train come through, they all went on the Castell Coch side for refuge. My lot went on the cess by the river side. Then I spotted some surreptitious movement down the “blind side of the scrum” There was a  van loaded with trays of Channel Island tomatoes heading for Merthyr, and some of the trays ended up heading for Canton in the breakdown van, which was parked just below the parcels on the same line.

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44 minutes ago, Northroader said:

I went out to a derailment of that parcels train once, can’t say how it happened, it was on the up main very nearly below the Barry viaduct just below Walnut Tree. It was very straightforward, just a couple of vans slightly off, and traffic was still coming by on the down main. There was an inspector and some traffic guys transhipping some stuff out of a van into a road vehicle, so when a down train come through, they all went on the Castell Coch side for refuge. My lot went on the cess by the river side. Then I spotted some surreptitious movement down the “blind side of the scrum” There was a  van loaded with trays of Channel Island tomatoes heading for Merthyr, and some of the trays ended up heading for Canton in the breakdown van, which was parked just below the parcels on the same line.

It was a night when I was not present...Honest guv!

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8 hours ago, Florence Locomotive Works said:

Evening,

 

As some may know, today is Thanksgiving Day, so a socially distanced outdoor mask wearing feast was had at the grandmothers. Currently I sit eating some of my mothers cranberry bread as a light dinner. Other than that I have little to report.

 

Douglas

 

83104BBF-303F-4111-948A-4349895E4744.jpeg

When it comes to fruit bread like that, Bear and I both like the end......

 

So to ensure that happens we just split the loaf in half and have a sensible portion each.

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1 hour ago, Happy Hippo said:

When it comes to fruit bread like that, Bear and I both like the end......

 

So to ensure that happens we just split the loaf in half and have a sensible portion each.

 

I like your thinking H; lightly toasted with a good dollop of real butter would set it off just nicely....

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6 hours ago, polybear said:

 

I like your thinking H; lightly toasted with a good dollop of real butter would set it off just nicely....

Perhaps gently warmed and smothered wirh hot, thick custard....

 

Baz

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After a lot of waiting time for the mixture to rise properly, I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of some freshly cooked home made crumpets. 

 

Nyda is in charge of this, it is my job to sit and drool in anticipation.

 

I have been ordering important things on black Friday:

 

A new electric kettle and a pair of foot switches which I can wire up to operate as off switches for the table saw and the pillar drill.

 

I don't mind switching on, but cutting the power by lifting your foot beats having to try and find the cut off switch.

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Following a fortuitous accident we had some spiced fruit loaf this week. It looks like a loaf but tastes like hot cross buns. The accident was the recipe book for the bread machine falling out of a cupboard while Aditi was tidying up. So she read it and thought some recipes looked nice. Aditi has been hit by tinned food flying out of the cupboards before. Being short she has been known to flick them with a spatula and catch them. Not always successfully. The recipe book didn’t cause any damage.

Tony

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I've just finished mixing the dough for the bread rolls we are having for lunch, and  stuck it into the airing cupboard to rise.

 

Bacon rolls will be the highlight today, as it is grey and wet outside with the added misery of rain hammering on the office windows.

 

Once I finish here I'll get back to the emulsion painting in the spare room.  I'll try not to get paint on the sole of my shoe this time, which was the cause of mysterious paint marks on the floor.......'I'm sure I'd wiped that up...... Where's that one come from? ....... I've just wiped that up!.........Again?'

 

This afternoon will see the Wales and England rugby teams lock horns in Llanelli.  On their current form, I'm not holding out much hope for a red win, but I'm hoping we don't get a complete going over.

 

DH may have different thoughts on the matter:lol:.

 

Perhaps I will make some more Welsh cakes for consumption during the match.

 

Purely as a stress relieving exercise (the eating not the making).

 

 

 

 

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23 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

 

Once I finish here I'll get back to the emulsion painting in the spare room.  I'll try not to get paint on the sole of my shoe this time, which was the cause of mysterious paint marks on the floor.......'I'm sure I'd wiped that up...... Where's that one come from? ....... I've just wiped that up!.........Again?'

That is so like me when painting. One of my uncles was an interior decorator. Not only was the speed at which he worked impressive, it was the lack of mess too.

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I managed to divert my skills away from the painting this morning, mainly because Nyda had a Zoom meeting,  and I was required to go out and pick up some fruit and other supplies from the local farm shop.

 

A large bag of cheeses and onion crisps somehow fell into the bag, which will buck me up somewhat at match time.

 

The rest of the time was gainfully spent getting stuck into some boiler design work.  

 

This was a job sitting on the back burner for some time, but Douglas' recent trials and tribulations with the steaming of his B/L Mogul made the boiler job resurface.

 

Originally I had thought to build an internally  meths fired boiler and pop it onto the Roundhouse 0-4-0 chassis kit that lurks in the workshop. But that is quite a complicated job compared to the simplicity of the externally fired 'pot' boiler, so the decision was made to emulate the earlier Roundhouse offerings, but with the single eccentric valve gear chassis rather than the original slip eccentric.  (I might still build a slip eccentric chassis but that is still to be decided).

 

The late Jack Wheldon was a keen advocate of meths firing and came up with a number of useful designs to improve pot boilers.  The first was the 'fingertip' firebox which both contained the external fire and stopped it wasting most of its heat trying to warm up the garden, and also reduced to an absolute minimum the contact area it had with the loco frames.  This stopped the rest of the engine getting ridiculously hot and difficult to handle.

 

The second of his innovations was to create a 'hedgehog' of  copper spines sticking into the boiler from within the heated area of the boiler.  The theory being that the copper spines would carry through heat from outside and increase the heating area inside the boiler.  Of course, this does complicate the construction somewhat, but those few locos I have seen with such an arrangement have been very prolific steamers.

 

Because, I am trying to keep the cost down, the boiler will be pretty much a 6" x 2" diameter copper tube with silver soldered end plates and a single stay running along the centre line of the boiler.  this is probably unnecessary, but does make silver soldering it all together a little easier as not only does it hold the plates together, but also it holds them apart.  I'm trying to keep holes in the boiler to a minimum, so there will be one on the back head which will take a level plug, and one in the roof of the boiler to take a turret which will carry the safety valve, the pressure gauge and the regulator.  It could have a spare plug fitted should I wish to fit a whistle at a later date.

 

Now a 6" x 2" boiler running a pair of 9/16" diameter cylinders, with about the same stroke, will probably run for around 40 minutes providing you keep topping up the fuel, so I'm not too worried about having a boiler refill system to extend the run, although it would not be difficult to fit.  What I intend to do is use the level plug to carry out the boiler refill function! Instead of a plug fitted in the hole to seal it and requiring complete removal, I will fit a small globe valve with an overflow pipe which runs to below the footplate.

 

This can serve two functions. On initial filling of the boiler the valve is left open.  After the fire is lit, the water heating up will expand and the excess forced out through the level plug pipework  Once steam is seen to come out of the pipe the level is correct and the valve can be closed.  This feature  is fitted to some of the Accucraft fleet of live steamers.  But, by having an open pipe at the end, and not a very fancy needle valve as on the Accucraft locos, you can also use the valve to refill the boiler at the end of the run!

 

Once you have finished the run, one closes the regulator, blows out the fire and connects a tube to the end of the level valve pipe.  The other end of the tube is connected to a water source.  You open the the valve to the level plug and as the boiler cools down a vacuum is formed and the water is drawn into the boiler.  As the cold water gets into the boiler, it cools everything down at a greater rate so more of a vacuum is created nd the water flow into the boiler increases.

 

Douglas might now be thinking 'Oh bother!'  That's because the B/L Mogul has it's lubricator feed between the boiler and the regulator.  Unless Douglas is immediately removing either a lubricator plug or the safety valve on his Mogul, some of the emulsified sludge from the lubricator will get sucked back into the boiler every time it cools down.  An oily boiler does not transfer the heat as well as a clean one.

 

Why did I not mention this before?

 

Because I'd completely forgotten about it until this morning and I was messing around with designing the boiler backhead. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by Happy Hippo
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47 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

Douglas might now be thinking 'Oh bother!'  That's because the B/L Mogul has it's lubricator feed between the boiler and the regulator.  Unless Douglas is immediately removing either a lubricator plug or the safety valve on his Mogul, some of the emulsified sludge from the lubricator will get sucked back into the boiler every time it cools down.  An oily boiler does not transfer the heat as well as a clean one.

Fear not sir, the instruction manual for the engine makes it very clear to do so. If I run the engine with the pressure gauge, then I just unscrew one of the lubricator plugs at the end of the run, if running without, than I just open the whistle.

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31 minutes ago, Florence Locomotive Works said:

Fear not sir, the instruction manual for the engine makes it very clear to do so. If I run the engine with the pressure gauge, then I just unscrew one of the lubricator plugs at the end of the run, if running without, than I just open the whistle.

By Gad!

 

Someone under the age of forty who bothers to read an instruction manual.

 

Have I discovered the eighth wonder of the world?

 

 

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