The Night Mail

[Winslow Boy]

52 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

Just replace your decoders with fission chips. 

No no no just lower the control rods and they'll mop up the spare ions.

[jamie92208]

1 hour ago, Tony_S said:

Just replace your decoders with fission chips. 

[Tony_S]

1 hour ago, Winslow Boy said:

no just lower the control rods

That is the boron answer...

[bbishop]

2 hours ago, Tony_S said:

Just replace your decoders with fission chips. 

He can't afford to.  Fish & chips, being a UK product, incur a 200% duty in the EU.  Bill

[jamie92208]

27 minutes ago, bbishop said:

He can't afford to.  Fish & chips, being a UK product, incur a 200% duty in the EU.  Bill

However, Macron permitting we will be having Fish and Chips on Thursday night as long as I get back home with them before curfew.  Mind you at least all the patrolling Gendarmes are helping keep marauding bears and hippos away.

 

Jamie

 

PS we haven't seen any evidence of the Gendarmarie for at least 2 months.

[TheQ]

1 hour ago, Tony_S said:

That is the boron answer...

That deserves a groan too

[Winslow Boy]

You could of of course switch it off and then turn it back on. Or is that the computer.

[Oldddudders]

7 hours ago, jamie92208 said:

remember that French electrickery is incompatible with DCC.

There is a great deal less French electrickery here than there usedtowas. The power lines that overflew the garden, resulting in them periodically cutting down another of my trees, have now been diverted, and my power and telecom now arrive via buried cable - but only for the last 150 feet. Before that they are pole-mounted across la Sarthe. But, most of the time, my Digitrax system accepts the power with a good grace. I have been running test trains for some months - a short session each day as it's not even 12 deg out there even with the heater on full-time - and found, only yesterday, an error with a non-insulated rail joiner, where an insulated one was needed. Being on my own for the foreseeable future - Sherry can't get here even if she wants to, and she doesn't until vaccinated - does give me time to be doing stuff. 

[Tony_S]

22 minutes ago, Oldddudders said:

non-insulated rail joiner, where an insulated one was needed.

Will you need to lift track to fit an insulator or just cut a rail to make a gap with a Dremel?

[Happy Hippo]

Another grey day in not so sunny Telfland.

 

This morning will see me trekking off to the local x-ray department for the long awaited picture of my chest cavity.

 

The phone went earlier, and I suspected it was yet another cancellation, but it was only an automated scam call asking me to press#1 because someone was transferring funds from my credit card account into Western Union.

 

Ironically, I was actually using the on line banking app at the time, and could see there had been no activity on the account this year.

 

My personal feeling about scammers is that they should be taken to a public arena and flensed (alive).

 

 

[jamie92208]

I hope to hear later that the said Xray has revealed two things.

 

Firstly the location of the secret cake stache.

 

Secondly putting to bed the scurrilous rumour that HH has a heart of stone.

 

Jamie

 

 

Edited January 26, 2021 by jamie92208

[Winslow Boy]

You mean he has a heart. Only jesting Big H hope all goes well with your radiation dosage.

[Tony_S]

3 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

My personal feeling about scammers is that they should be taken to a public arena and flensed (alive).

People may have got the impression that I am a kind person and not too keen on extreme punishments but I find myself frequently very annoyed at scammers. They seem to have given up having conversations as most people get suspicious when “Steve from Manchester” calls and now use robot voices. I know Aditi was sometimes likely to use the most critical thing to say to such (non robotic)  callers “what do you tell your mother you do for a living?” A lot of the scammers used to be based in Bangalore. I did say to Aditi that her cousin who lives there is a Wing Commander in the Indian Air Force and could perhaps arrange a cruise missile? Apparently not as he is retired now, and according to MiL his only offensive capability is a big dog with wind!  My intolerance of scammers also applies to litterers and people who vandalise trees in the park.  Recent additions to my “make me cross” list are Covid deniers. The Facebook friend algorithm actually suggested one of the most obnoxious Covid deniers as a possible friend. I nearly deleted Facebook.

Tony

[Winslow Boy]

We used to get quite a few scam calls so I did some research and found a useful piece of legislation on line. So now when we get a call, much less nowadays, I usually quote them this and then either ask for the company details or if I'm feeling generous, that they remove our details before they are reported. Usually it works although I did once get a prat who argued the toss so just cut him of.

[Happy Hippo]

 Mention of Bangalore reminds me....

 

Did you know a Bangalore Torpedo is a long tube like explosive charge used to breach various obstacles on a battlefield?

 

Of course you have to get some hardy soul to deliver it, usually by keeping your head lower than a snake's belly, as you crawl into a position from whence you can push the tube into place....

 

Then retreat before detonating it!

Edited January 26, 2021 by Happy Hippo

[Mike Bellamy]

2 hours ago, jamie92208 said:

 

 . . . . . scurrilous rumour that HH has a heart of stone.

 

 

I thought of Debbie Harry and then remembered that her song was 'Heart of Glass' - however our friend Google gave me this - not sure how this applies to HH . . . . 

 

You can build me up, you can tear me down
You can try but I'm unbreakable
You can do your best, but I'll stand the test
You'll find that I'm unshakeable
When the fire's burnt
When the wind has blown
When the water's dried, you'll still find stone
My heart of stone

 

.

[Oldddudders]

17 hours ago, Tony_S said:

Will you need to lift track to fit an insulator or just cut a rail to make a gap with a Dremel?

Fortunately lifting the track on the Bude branch proved fairly easy, and an insulated joiner is now in place. The slitting disc option is a good one - but rail-creep can occur to frustrate if you don't then fill the gap with a non-conductive medium. The daily freight from Torrington can now arrive with dignity. 

[Happy Hippo]

I have two hearts:  The first is made of granite  and allow(s)ed me to do bad things to nasty people without a second thought.

 

The second is a like a big sponge which sucks up emotion and holds it there until it is full to bursting.

 

Every so often it has to be wrung out.

 

Edited January 26, 2021 by Happy Hippo

[Tony_S]

57 minutes ago, Oldddudders said:

Fortunately lifting the track on the Bude branch proved fairly easy, and an insulated joiner is now in place. The slitting disc option is a good one - but rail-creep can occur to frustrate if you don't then fill the gap with a non-conductive medium. The daily freight from Torrington can now arrive with dignity. 

I had a very frustrating similar problem. I had cut the wire links under some Peco points. However the bit of rail forming one side of the vee moved a bit making contact where there should  have been a gap. Soon fixed with some epoxy glue. 

[jamie92208]

3 hours ago, Mike Bellamy said:

 

I thought of Debbie Harry and then remembered that her song was 'Heart of Glass' - however our friend Google gave me this - not sure how this applies to HH . . . . 

 

You can build me up, you can tear me down
You can try but I'm unbreakable
You can do your best, but I'll stand the test
You'll find that I'm unshakeable
When the fire's burnt
When the wind has blown
When the water's dried, you'll still find stone
My heart of stone

 

.

I believe the Strolling Bones did a song called Heart of Stone some eons ago.

2 hours ago, Tony_S said:

I had a very frustrating similar problem. I had cut the wire links under some Peco points. However the bit of rail forming one side of the vee moved a bit making contact where there should  have been a gap. Soon fixed with some epoxy glue. 

We used to get a similar problem caused by expansion on Long Preston, usually on a Sunday afternoon when the hall had heated up. I took a while to figure out where the short was then discovered it was at a baseboard joint that doubled as an insulation gap. Shows why tracklaying in winter is not a good idea.

 

Jamie

 

 

Edited January 26, 2021 by jamie92208

[PhilJ W]

2 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

 Mention of Bangalore reminds me....

 

Did you know a Bangalore Torpedo is a long tube like explosive charge used to breach various obstacles on a battlefield?

 

Of course you have to get some hardy soul to deliver it, usually by keeping your head lower than a snake's belly, as you crawl into a position from whence you can push the tube into place....

 

Then retreat before detonating it!

Ideal job for these cold callers. I keep getting e-mails saying 15,000 Bitcoins have been deposited in my account. Its straight into the spam folder. The fact that its a scam is blatantly obvious so why keep on sending them? As I mentioned Bitcoins I'll ask this question. Major world currencies are watched over by their respective central banks such as the £ is controlled by the Bank of England, the US$ by the US Treasury and the Euro by the European Central Bank. There is no such central bank for the Bitcoin. I know this is seen as an advantage by certain elements as a lot of money can be moved around without  any authorities knowledge. But whats to stop someone flooding the world with fake Bitcoins causing them to crash?

[Happy Hippo]

2 hours ago, jamie92208 said:

I believe the Strolling Bones did a song called Heart of Stone some eons ago.

We used to get a similar problem caused byvexpansion on Long Preston, usually on a Sunday afternoon when the hall had heated up. I took a while to figure out where the short was then discovered it was atva baseboard joint that doubled as an insulation gap. Shows why tracklaying in winter is not a good idea.

 

Jamie

 

 

You get even more fun out in the garden if you are not careful.

 

The Kinks come to mind:  Sunny Afternoon and Living on a Thin line.

 

What you didn't want  was a short on a reversing loop as that was Big Black Smoke.

 

I'll get my medication......

[jamie92208]

14 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

You get even more fun out in the garden if you are not careful.

 

The Kinks come to mind:  Sunny Afternoon and Living on a Thin line.

 

What you didn't want  was a short on a reversing loop as that was Big Black Smoke.

 

I'll get my medication......

My 4mm Woodlesford  layout was installed in the loft. I did lay a loop of track all the way round the loft. I made the mistake of soldering the rail joints. When I went up in summer the track was in a nice set of sine curves centered round the track pins which were at 6" intervals. Tant pis as my neighbours would say.

 

Jamie

 

 

 

[Canal Digger]

2 hours ago, jamie92208 said:

We used to get a similar problem caused byvexpansion on Long Preston, usually on a Sunday afternoon when the hall had heated up.

Some of the slightly older club members of recall tales of rails expanding and then contracting again overnight [while at a show in London?] to the extent that the rails buckled and had to be relaid before opening, only for them to expand again ...... 

[Happy Hippo]

I think the recurring message is don't use track pins!