The Night Mail

[rockershovel]

If we are including Americsn generic type names, the Union Pacific has a class of 2-8-8-0 known as "Bull Moose"

[Compound2632]

6 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

EMUs

 

... are animals too.

[jamie92208]

58 minutes ago, Compound2632 said:

 

... are animals too.

But the Midland had them and painted them in a proper colour scheme.

 

Jamie

[Compound2632]

[J. S. Bach]

1 hour ago, Oldddudders said:

Rio Grande Southern. Deceased 1951. Jamie knows a bit about them, no doubt, having visited their bailiwick. 

When I visited Colorado, my friend and I rode the Florence & Cripple Creek and the one that traverses a curved trestle Just remembered the name: Georgetown Loop.

Edited October 13, 2021 by J. S. Bach

[Dave Hunt]

Today I managed to spend a decent amount of time in the railway room and got the grouting on the cobblestones finished on the layout. Just some more painting, washes and other weathering/grotting to do and its on with the track ballasting.

 

Off tomorrow morning to get the second operation on my schnozzle, which I am really not looking forward to a lot. Will report in later in the day.

 

TTFN

 

Dave

[Florence Locomotive Works]

Evening all,

 

Today was my last day at my current school, and it consisted of taking the PSAT, a four hour test. So we were dismissed at noon. Unfortunately that’s all I’m allowed to say about said test.

 

This evening though I made a drawing for the engine’s tender, borrowing heavily from Kirtley. Once it’s finished it should look passably nice. This is actually the first proper drawing I’ve ever made for a component not yet extant, as unusually I don’t work from drawings unless it’s vitally important. I’d venture to say it’s not bad for a first attempt. Apologies for the bad handwriting, it’s only me who reads it though.

 

 

Douglas

[BR60103]

12 hours ago, J. S. Bach said:

Another is the narrow-gauge Galloping Goose on one of the Colorado lines and the Skunk in California. Sorry if these were mentioned before but I did not see them; casual, quick reading maybe.

 

See them now.

[jamie92208]

9 hours ago, Dave Hunt said:

Today I managed to spend a decent amount of time in the railway room and got the grouting on the cobblestones finished on the layout. Just some more painting, washes and other weathering/grotting to do and its on with the track ballasting.

 

Off tomorrow morning to get the second operation on my schnozzle, which I am really not looking forward to a lot. Will report in later in the day.

 

TTFN

 

Dave

Dave, I hope that the hooter repair goes well.  Is there still a role for Rudoph in December.

 

Jamie

[Happy Hippo]

A acquaintance of mine built a 1:20.3 GG  (I think it was #2)complete with sound card that spluttered along quite nicely.

 

However the random bleating noises from inside the freight compartment revealed(when the roof was removed) a man doing interesting things to a sheep assisted by a cam operated rod driven off the front (fixed axle).

[Winslow Boy]

12 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

A acquaintance of mine built a 1:20.3 GG  (I think it was #2)complete with sound card that spluttered along quite nicely.

 

However the random bleating noises from inside the freight compartment revealed(when the roof was removed) a man doing interesting things to a sheep assisted by a cam operated rod driven off the front (fixed axle).

 

Assuming that wasn't on 'foreign turf aka Wales' isn't that illegal!

[Happy Hippo]

7 minutes ago, Winslow Boy said:

 

Assuming that wasn't on 'foreign turf aka Wales' isn't that illegal!

Pure Colorado (allegedly)

[Tony_S]

1 hour ago, Happy Hippo said:

A acquaintance of mine built a 1:20.3 GG

1:9 is the most common scale for model horses …

[Oldddudders]

2 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

A acquaintance of mine built a 1:20.3 GG  (I think it was #2)complete with sound card that spluttered along quite nicely.

I think I have two or three On30 (1:48) ones with sound. The petrol engine and crash gearbox sounds really help, and you can 'play' with those noises to emulate the struggle the motormen often had. All they lack is the sound of the radiator cap being blown off as the motor overheated yet again! 

[Northroader]

There’s also the “Leaping Lizard”:

[J. S. Bach]

3 hours ago, Oldddudders said:

I think I have two or three On30 (1:48) ones with sound. The petrol engine and crash gearbox sounds really help, and you can 'play' with those noises to emulate the struggle the motormen often had. All they lack is the sound of the radiator cap being blown off as the motor overheated yet again! 

On2½ or On3? I ask as I would get one in On2½ if it were available at a reasonable price (no brass imports!). I have a Bachmann railbus and trailer but it looks more like a trolley body rather than a bus body. From Bachmann's catalog:

[Florence Locomotive Works]

Afternoon all,

 

I thought we might like to see this. This is an excerpt from a two part hour long lecture I made yesterday at the request of my social studies class. Part one was an impromptu explanation of the death of the Romanovs, and then they wished (for some unfathomable reason) to hear me talk about steam engines. The question they posed to me was, “which train was the best?” Or something or that effect. So I began explaining the development of the SNCF 242 A-1 and a bit about its designer, Andre Chapelon. Unfortunately the whole lecture isn’t on video but the part where I explain what a 4-8-4 is was recorded for posterity. 

 

(the reason they talk about the quizzes is that this is an extremely hard AP US History class with a pretty low pass rate)

 

 

 

Why on earth these guys like listening to me talk I’ve got no idea.

 

Here’s an article about what I was talking about. They were supposed to remain in service till the mid 1980s when some newer ones would be built that were to be retired in 2010!

 

https://revivaler.com/chapelons-242a1-frances-greatest-steam-locomotive/
 

 

Douglas

Edited October 14, 2021 by Florence Locomotive Works

[Oldddudders]

3 hours ago, J. S. Bach said:

On2½ or On3? I ask as I would get one in On2½ if it were available at a reasonable price (no brass imports!). 

No, On30. On3 would require me to lay my own track. On30 uses HO track which in 1:48 scale comes out at about 30 scale inches, wrong for almost everywhere in the USA, of course. 

[Tony_S]

I am sure I once purchased one of these ON30 rail trucks. I never sold any of my 1/48 models so unless the purchase is a figment of my imagination it must be lurking somewhere.  

[simontaylor484]

3 hours ago, Florence Locomotive Works said:

Why on earth these guys like listening to me talk I’ve got no idea.

Because you know what you are talking about and you have a good presentation style 

[Dave Hunt]

Had some more of my hooter removed this morning but luckily the surgeon decided that since he wasn't enlarging the area of the previous excavation very much but mainly making it deeper he didn't need to do a skin graft. So I'm back to having an enormous dressing that has me looking like a cross between one of Mike Tyson's victims and a plague doctor and it aint 'arf sore.

 

If I play the poor wounded soldier card well enough, though, I may get some quality modelling time in tomorrow so it could be that every cloud etc.

 

For now, though, a brace of cocodamol and an early night beckon.

 

TTFN

 

Dave  

[J. S. Bach]

4 hours ago, Florence Locomotive Works said:

Afternoon all,

 

I thought we might like to see this. This is an excerpt from a two part hour long lecture I made yesterday at the request of my social studies class. Part one was an impromptu explanation of the death of the Romanovs, and then they wished (for some unfathomable reason) to hear me talk about steam engines. The question they posed to me was, “which train was the best?” Or something or that effect. So I began explaining the development of the SNCF 242 A-1 and a bit about its designer, Andre Chapelon. Unfortunately the whole lecture isn’t on video but the part where I explain what a 4-8-4 is was recorded for posterity. 

 

(the reason they talk about the quizzes is that this is an extremely hard AP US History class with a pretty low pass rate)

 

 

 

Why on earth these guys like listening to me talk I’ve got no idea.

 

Here’s an article about what I was talking about. They were supposed to remain in service till the mid 1980s when some newer ones would be built that were to be retired in 2010!

 

https://revivaler.com/chapelons-242a1-frances-greatest-steam-locomotive/
 

 

Douglas

Darn, those rods are skimpy. And that tiny trailing truck. Let's put that alongside a NYC Niagara for comparison to a real 4-8-4!

[Florence Locomotive Works]

2 hours ago, J. S. Bach said:

Darn, those rods are skimpy. And that tiny trailing truck. Let's put that alongside a NYC Niagara for comparison to a real 4-8-4!

Agreed about both, and I think that truck even has a booster in it. The rods are a European thing, I think it has to do with aesthetics. I've never seen or heard reference to a snapped one, so they must work pretty well, as that was a 5,600 horsepower engine. About 450 hp off Big Boy!

[J. S. Bach]

37 minutes ago, Florence Locomotive Works said:

Agreed about both, and I think that truck even has a booster in it. ...snip...

The Indiana Harbor Belt's 0-8-0s had a booster on the leadtwo-axle tender truck. They were some of largest 0-8-0s built. AHM offered them in O and HO. I had the O kit put together but lacked the drive kit. It could be assembled as a stationary model  or a powered one; the motorizing kit cost almost as much as the locomotive kit and are very hard to find now.

[AndyID]

7 hours ago, Florence Locomotive Works said:

Afternoon all,

 

I thought we might like to see this. This is an excerpt from a two part hour long lecture I made yesterday at the request of my social studies class. Part one was an impromptu explanation of the death of the Romanovs, and then they wished (for some unfathomable reason) to hear me talk about steam engines. The question they posed to me was, “which train was the best?” Or something or that effect. So I began explaining the development of the SNCF 242 A-1 and a bit about its designer, Andre Chapelon. Unfortunately the whole lecture isn’t on video but the part where I explain what a 4-8-4 is was recorded for posterity. 

 

(the reason they talk about the quizzes is that this is an extremely hard AP US History class with a pretty low pass rate)

 

 

 

Why on earth these guys like listening to me talk I’ve got no idea.

 

Here’s an article about what I was talking about. They were supposed to remain in service till the mid 1980s when some newer ones would be built that were to be retired in 2010!

 

https://revivaler.com/chapelons-242a1-frances-greatest-steam-locomotive/
 

 

Douglas

 

Nice work Douglas!

 

Reminds me a bit of the time I gave a presentation to my class to explain how the valve gear on a steam locomotive works. I think I was around nine at the time! IIRC I had the general idea about right but I don't think I understood anything about cutoff and efficient expansion

 

Night Mail followers in the UK might be interested to know that a certain Andrew Neil gave a presentation about model railways - more specifically Tri-ang IIRC - at school. I think we were probably about 14 or 15 at the time.