The Night Mail

[pH]

9 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

Couldn't you scramble up the wall and teeter precariously on the top.

I worked on building sites as summer jobs in my student days in the 1960s (amongst other things).  I’ve done quite enough teetering on the top of narrow concrete walls, thank you very much!

[Compound2632]

13 minutes ago, Mike Bellamy said:

 

LMS Patriot Project. It is reported that parts were lost and needed to be replaced or were not manufactured to the correct specification. A detailed report is in the link below - and that's just one of the locos they were working on - note the date December 2018 and so long before Covid.

 

https://www.lms-patriot.org.uk/engineering/2018-12-20/engineering-date-december-2018

.

 

What a sorry tale. No wonder the firm has gone to the wall.

[simontaylor484]

Thanks for sharing the link Mike that is quite a snagging list far from professional 

[polybear]

7 hours ago, simontaylor484 said:

Thanks for sharing the link Mike that is quite a snagging list far from professional 

 

Just love the picture of the nut used to take up the slack on the sand trap bolt......nice.....

[Happy Hippo]

Any one who has had a loco go through the workshop there must now be questioning the quality of work done.

 

I would suggest that very few would really want to be putting their rather expensive pride and joy through that workshop when the time comes for an overhaul. (Not likely if they are insolvent).

 

However, should there be a recovery, then the new owners will be fighting a very steep uphill battle to get an engineering reputation because there will be a certain amount of stigma attached to the location.

 

 

[Oldddudders]

I understand zilch about the engineering industry that supports the heritage sector, but am in no doubt that building or rebuilding a steam locomotive is an exacting task. Even the mighty Tornado, where costs seemed less of an object, has had some serious issues. Thus I would assume that the tenders for such work would necessarily be accompanied by CVs of those intending to undertake the management and design aspects of the job. 

 

The "mates and good blokes" aspects of preservation that pervaded the early decades have no place in such key tasks as this. If Llangollen does rise again, new names with impressive credentials will surely be needed. 

[PhilJ W]

[Happy Hippo]

Those of you who've followed my mutterings about the Ixion Fowler will be delighted to hear that I set up the machine vice in the milling machine then added the chassis to the mix.

 

Of course my plan of action was to simply cramp the frame in place end to end.

 

Trouble is the naughty (other words are useable) machine vice is not long enough!

 

Because the chassis has little bits that stick out of the side such as brake hangers, a simple turn through 90 degrees is not possible.

 

I must now go and make a series of packing pieces that can help the vice jaws avoid the delicate bits.

 

As usual the setting up is taking far longer than the cut, although I know from bitter experience that failure to secure properly will result in a less than satisfactory finish. (Damaged beyond repair being the usual outcome.)

[Winslow Boy]

I have found from bitter experience that life is much the same. You spend a inordinate amount of time setting things up, to ensure that it doesn't go pear shaped, only to find that the actual deed is not all that it is alleged to be.

[rockershovel]

4 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

Any one who has had a loco go through the workshop there must now be questioning the quality of work done.

 

I would suggest that very few would really want to be putting their rather expensive pride and joy through that workshop when the time comes for an overhaul. (Not likely if they are insolvent).

 

However, should there be a recovery, then the new owners will be fighting a very steep uphill battle to get an engineering reputation because there will be a certain amount of stigma attached to the location.

 

 

 

I notice also that another railway also receives an unfavourable mention ....  I was briefly once involved with dimensional control checks on a locomotive under restoration. I never did it again ... it produced such acrimony that the consultant involved declined any further involvement. 

 

 

Edited March 3, 2021 by rockershovel

[polybear]

4 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

Any one who has had a loco go through the workshop there must now be questioning the quality of work done.

 

I would suggest that very few would really want to be putting their rather expensive pride and joy through that workshop when the time comes for an overhaul. (Not likely if they are insolvent).

 

However, should there be a recovery, then the new owners will be fighting a very steep uphill battle to get an engineering reputation because there will be a certain amount of stigma attached to the location.

 

 

 

I suspect that the LMS Patriot team will be checking everything under the sun now, to ensure its ok - so that surely involves stripping the lot?  Is that 3" long bolt actually 3" long, or is it 2" hanging on by a couple of threads.....

 

I would guess that (if any is due) the LMS project will have little hope of seeing any of their money back for iffy work needing to be re-done elsewhere.

[jamie92208]

37 minutes ago, polybear said:

 

I suspect that the LMS Patriot team will be checking everything under the sun now, to ensure its ok - so that surely involves stripping the lot?  Is that 3" long bolt actually 3" long, or is it 2" hanging on by a couple of threads.....

 

I would guess that (if any is due) the LMS project will have little hope of seeing any of their money back for iffy work needing to be re-done elsewhere.

I can imagine that any other company that they approach to continue the work will be very wary. It will be like buying a part built kit which many of us know to our cost can be a can of worms.

 

Jamie

Edited March 3, 2021 by jamie92208

[Oldddudders]

3 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

Ah, yes, old Spanner-eyes. So called because one look from her was likely to make your nuts go tight. 

[Florence Locomotive Works]

8 hours ago, Oldddudders said:

impressive credentials will surely be needed. 

I bet Ian Riley's is watching this with great interest. Although I believe they've recently finished up building their new facility in Lancashire somewhere.

Edited March 3, 2021 by Florence Locomotive Works

[jamie92208]

21 minutes ago, Florence Locomotive Works said:

I bet Ian Riley's is watching this with great interest. Although I believe they've recently finished up building their new facility in Lancashire somewhere.

They built a new facility not far from Bury when the East LancsxRailway needed theirvold works.  The new works is not rail connected but seems to be doing fine.

 

Jamie

[Happy Hippo]

I have just declined the offer to take Pantmawr Sidings to GOGFest21 at Stafford this coming September.

 

I feel that getting into quite close contact with a load of strangers over a two day event is possibly not the way forward for Gordon or myself.

 

I've decided to be equally wary of any shooting events, especially the indoor ones.

 

It should now go in 2022.

 

 

[Happy Hippo]

As part of the 7 mm empire building I've been out and about around the internet today, seeking and ordering.

 

It's mainly DCC bits and pieces including all the bits to make my 14xx (1401 The star of the Titfield Thunderbolt) sound like a BR(W) auto tank.

 

I've found some suitable spacers for the milling vice and I will secure them in place with some double sided carpet tape.  The spacers are....

 

The nuts from the T track of my smaller milling machine's x/y table.

 

I have not attempted to get anything set up until the new speaker arrives, as it may be possible to fit it without machining the spigot away. 

 

This is down to forgetting that there is a bit of clearance between the lower surfaces of the front axle and the keeper plate.

 

Of course I couldn't see this as the keeper plate had been removed so didn't figure in the fitting equation, despite having the sound holes cast in for the for the sound to escape!

Edited March 3, 2021 by Happy Hippo

[bbishop]

2 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

I have just declined the offer to take Pantmawr Sidings to GOGFest21 at Stafford this coming September.

 

I feel that getting into quite close contact with a load of strangers over a two day event is possibly not the way forward for Gordon or myself.

 

I've decided to be equally wary of any shooting events, especially the indoor ones.

 

It should now go in 2022.

 

 

I've received an invite for Blindheim.  Difficult decision.  Bill

[Tony_S]

1 hour ago, Happy Hippo said:

 

I've found some suitable spacers for the milling vice and I will secure them in place with some double sided carpet tape.  The spacers are.

Were you inspired by the photos from the Patriot build?

[Happy Hippo]

Well, I do have some oversize nuts.

[Winslow Boy]

It is my understanding that you can get a cream for that, with a built in applicator as well. Just in case you live alone or are too shy. 

[Dave Hunt]

The Patriot chassis is, I understand, presently a large collection of bits at West Shed where it is hoped that it will once again take on the shape of a steam locomotive but this time one that will work. 

 

Although my sciatica was still in full force this morning it eventually subsided by mid afternoon to a background annoyance and allowed my modelling mojo to kick in sufficiently for me to spend some time in the workshop. We shall see what tomorrow brings.

 

Stafford in September is a tempting thought but I can quite understand HH's concerns. There is much that can go wrong in the next few months, as bitter experience has shown, and I think that 2022 is a more realistic hope.

 

G'night everyone.

 

Dave

[Happy Hippo]

I've suffered from Sciatica in the past:  Posterior to left knee.  I didn't know whether to stand up, sit down or lie on my side.

 

It was extremely uncomfortable, and I would not wish it on anyone.

 

As you know, I'm interested what causes things to happen, and Nyda pointed out this morning that she noticed that I was cough free until I started eating a bowl of muesli for my breakfast.  Now whether this slightly dusty cereal mix is a trigger, or if it was merely a coincidence would be difficult to prove without scientific study, but it is worth thinking about.

 

Dave knows the root cause of his sciatica, but is there a special trigger that can set off a more serious bout?  Exposure to cold or sitting in/on a chair that is past it's sell by date?  

 

It certainly won't cure the problem, but such a discovery may go a little way to alleviating the some of the symptoms.

[Tony_S]

3 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

, but is there a special trigger that can set off a more serious bout? 

I am reasonably certain I know what caused my initial sciatica problem  but I have absolutely no idea what triggers off new occurrences. At the moment walking for about 15 minutes triggers the pain but normally that wouldn’t. 
My father’s back pain was almost certainly caused after being launched up and landing heavily in a tank he had driven over a mine. He never worked out what particular movement triggered bouts of extreme back pain over the rest of his life. 

[New Haven Neil]

I too used to suffer from sciatica, and I know what caused it - twisting when lifting - my own stupid fault.  Its effect was after standing, I could count to three (clever, eh!) then it felt like being plugged in to the mains from buttock to toes for a few seconds - excruciating, absolutely terrible pain.

 

I had a course of traction, and that enabled me to get well enough to get to the local pool, where gentle swimming really helped.  Took three months to sort out.  I was only about 30 at the time, thankfully it has never really come back other than as an odd twinge.