The Night Mail

[jamie92208]

Good evening from a still, just, sunny place.   A couple of days ago the mention of the size of coupling rods on bug US steam was mentioned.  Here is my photo of UP 838 at Cheyenne from 1978.  It's kept as a spares donor to keep 844 running and lives in the roundhouse at Cheyenne.

The rod is just under 2' across where the bearing on the 2nd axle is.   The tandem rods between axles 2 and 3 are interesting. They were obviously doing a bit of maintenance on it when I was there.  June 78.

 

These two pictures may bring back some memories to Dave Hunt.

It was on display, along with a B17 AT, I think, Tulare CA north of Bakersfield as a war memorial to WW2 and Vietnam.

Hope that the hooter is healing Dave.

 

Jamie

Edited April 20, 2022 by jamie92208

[Florence Locomotive Works]

Morning all,

 

Yeaterday a good 4 1/2 hours was spent at the track trying 3 different sprocket arrangements and finally the correct one was found yielding -1 second per lap improvement, so very good. After that a very nice dinner was had downtown for my parents 25th anniversary. 
 

This morning I went outside to see if I could goad the engine into running along the roughly 75ft long piece of sidewalk we have in the yard running alongside the house. It flatly refused, but did pose for pictures. The refusal is due to the sidewalk not being made of concrete but various small stones mixed in with concrete, creating a slightly uneven surface. It didn’t bother Seamus the Mamod so I thought there was hope.

 

 

It did however make a few runs on the upper tiled patio, and as it was on a slope it could overcome the gaps between tiles with help from Sir Isaac.

 

 

Tomorrow is my first day at the new high school, so preparation will more than likely occupy this afternoon. I shall approach that and tomorrow with great apprehension.

 

Douglas

[New Haven Neil]

Recent comment about expansive working and axlebox hammer etc are in my mind - I was really surprised how far the driver linked up the Beyer Peacock on the IoM railway yesterday during my footplate ride, as it's a lever rather than screw reverse it is hard to give a percentage cut-off but he had her up to the notch next to mid gear as we fair rattled along, about 40 mph making up time after an unexpected stop.  This feels quite fast on a narrow gauge 2-4-0T!  She ran very happily at this setting on full small valve regulator.

 

As for axleboxe thump, most 'modern' (hah!) valve gears do open steam to a cylinder BEFORE top dead centre to give a cushioning effect, even things like feed pumps (Weir type) do this also.  It is the purpose and meaning of 'lead' in the context of valve gears.  How this changes (or not) soon gets too complex for discussion here!

[AndyID]

7 minutes ago, New Haven Neil said:

 

As for axleboxe thump, most 'modern' (hah!) valve gears do open steam to a cylinder BEFORE top dead centre to give a cushioning effect, even things like feed pumps (Weir type) do this also.  It is the purpose and meaning of 'lead' in the context of valve gears.  How this changes (or not) soon gets too complex for discussion here!

 

My uneducated guess is that it keeps all the connections (bearings etc,) in compression and avoids a sudden transition from extension to compression, but that might well be baloney

[New Haven Neil]

Just now, AndyID said:

 

My uneducated guess is that it keeps all the connections (bearings etc,) in compression and avoids a sudden transition from extension to compression, but that might well be baloney

 

Quite correct Andy - the first bit that is!

[PhilJ W]

34 minutes ago, AndyID said:

 

My uneducated guess is that it keeps all the connections (bearings etc,) in compression and avoids a sudden transition from extension to compression, but that might well be baloney

 

33 minutes ago, New Haven Neil said:

 

Quite correct Andy - the first bit that is!

The same applies with an IC engine and indeed with most piston engines.

[Happy Hippo]

Now that Douglas's loco has seen the light of day, perhaps he ought to get an engineer's helmet:

 

 

If he wants the model, I'm afraid she's an additional extra!

[polybear]

2 hours ago, jamie92208 said:

These two pictures may bring back some memories to Dave Hunt.

It was on display, along with a B17 AT, I think, Tulare CA north of Bakersfield as a war memorial to WW2 and Vietnam.

 

 

Bear will add to the collection....

 

 

 

Taken at the War Museum, Seoul, January 2019; an excellent Museum indeed.  They also had one of these:

 

 

 

 

 

 

On July 27, 1953, North Korea, China, and the United States signed an armistice agreement. South Korea, however, objected to the continued division of Korea and did not agree to the armistice or sign a formal peace treaty. So while the fighting ended, technically the war never did.

[AndyID]

Yipee! I have swept my shed/shop's wood stove chimney. As it requires walking across a short narrow plank thingy between the bank behind the shop and the roof I wasn't looking forward to doing it too much but as it is a beautiful windless day I thought I better get on with it.

 

 

The view from the roof is pretty good too.

 

 

 

 

[Florence Locomotive Works]

38 minutes ago, AndyID said:

Yipee! I have swept my shed/shop's wood stove chimney. As it requires walking across a short narrow plank thingy between the bank behind the shop and the roof I wasn't looking forward to doing it too much but as it is a beautiful windless day I thought I better get on with it.

 

 

The view from the roof is pretty good too.

 

 

 

 

I’m fairly confident I’ve driven past that house! 

[jamie92208]

Good luck tomorrow Douglas. Thoughts will be with you this side of the pond.

 

Jamie

[Florence Locomotive Works]

27 minutes ago, jamie92208 said:

Good luck tomorrow Douglas. Thoughts will be with you this side of the pond.

 

Jamie

Thank you Jamie,

 

It shouldn’t be to bad as I know about 70 people in my new grade already, but I haven’t seen them for nearly two years. Strange world.
 

Thankfully there is a support system now for new students rather than just essentially showing up and going to class, so before hand I get a tour of campus to show me where my classes are. I was actually supposed to go to this school freshman year but I ended up switching due to the online learning template they used. It should be interesting though.

 

1 hour ago, Happy Hippo said:

Now that Douglas's loco has seen the light of day, perhaps he ought to get an engineer's helmet:

 

 

If he wants the model, I'm afraid she's an additional extra!

Those are, relatively speaking, very similar goggles as issued to PLM drivers during the 1900s.

 

(I could have made that much more amusing but wished not to shoot my moral fiber with a 4.75 inch field gun)

Edited October 17, 2021 by Florence Locomotive Works

[Dave Hunt]

Thanks for the pictures of F4s guys - reminds me of days of yore. The ones shown are F4Ds, which is a mark I haven't actually flown although I have flown J79 engined F4Js but mostly Spey engined F4Ks and Ms (or FG1s and FGR2s in UK speak). IIRC I managed about 2,850 hours in Phantoms altogether.

 

The hooter seems to be OK but I'll have a better idea after I've been back to the clinic tomorrow afternoon for them to check on things.

 

The cobbling on the layout is finished! I've celebrated with a large G&T earlier and am about to indulge in a nightcap of some Scottish happy water - Jura to be specific. The downside is that the next job is ballasting....

 

Have a good week all and hopes for Douglas to get a good start to your new school. Maybe you can give them the steam locomotive lecture?

 

TTFN

 

Dave  

 

PS - just seen Douglas's post - glad to see that you should get a bit of a running start tomorrow.

Edited October 17, 2021 by Dave Hunt

[Happy Hippo]

21 minutes ago, Dave Hunt said:

 and am about to indulge in a nightcap of some Scottish happy water - Jura to be specific.

That's coincidental, I've just opened a bottle of Penderyn.  

 

We have some friends coming around on Tuesday evening, so I thought I could do with the practice.

[J. S. Bach]

4 hours ago, polybear said:

Bear will add to the collection....

 

On July 27, 1953, North Korea, China, and the United States signed an armistice agreement. South Korea, however, objected to the continued division of Korea and did not agree to the armistice or sign a formal peace treaty. So while the fighting ended, technically the war never did.

Hmmm, I know that they did not fly that thing into that spot! Just like one  at the Albuquerque, NM Nuclear Museum:

 

and this B-29:

 

But the oddest thing at the museum was this submarine surfacing in front of an airplane:

A nice place to visit but one only needs to go once; just like Four Corners.

 

4 hours ago, polybear said:

Bear will add to the collection....

 

See, I, too, have flown an F-4:

 

 

 

Edited October 17, 2021 by J. S. Bach
To do a minor edit.

[J. S. Bach]

3 hours ago, jamie92208 said:

Good luck tomorrow Douglas. Thoughts will be with you this side of the pond.

Jamie

And GOOD LUCK from the Piedmont! Actually, "good luck" is probably the wrong phrase, something like "successful experience" might be better.

Edited October 18, 2021 by J. S. Bach

[polybear]

The Seoul War Museum also includes this, which is a replica of that sunk by North Korea back in 2002 (it actually survived the battle, but subsequently sunk whilst under tow back to port):

The Second Battle of Yeonpyeong was a confrontation at sea between North Korean and South Korean patrol boats along a disputed maritime boundary near Yeonpyeong Island in the Yellow Sea in 2002. This followed a similar confrontation in 1999. Two North Korean patrol boats crossed the contested border and engaged two South Korean patrol boats. The North Koreans withdrew before South Korean reinforcements arrived.

 

Has Sqn. Ldr. Hunt ever chased - or been chased - by one of these?

 

 

[AndyID]

9 hours ago, Florence Locomotive Works said:

 

It shouldn’t be to bad as

 

This isnt Merica. In the old country it's "too"

[AndyID]

Apologies for going even more off the wall than usual. MrsID has been diagnosed with some form of breast cancer. We're not sure what treatment will be recommended. Hope to find out soon.

 

Cancer can be a very nasty thing but it's not necessarily a death-sentence. I had testicular cancer in 1985 and I'm still sort of clonking along.

 

 

Edited October 18, 2021 by AndyID

[PhilJ W]

23 minutes ago, AndyID said:

Apologies for going even more off the wall than usual. MrsID has been diagnosed with some form of breast cancer. We're not sure what treatment will be recommended. Hope to find out soon.

 

Cancer can be a very nasty thing but it's not necessarily a death-sentence. I had testicular cancer in 1985 and I'm still sort of clonking along.

 

 

Very sorry to hear of your wifes cancer. Hopefully its at the early stages where treatment is usually successful.

[Oldddudders]

Breast cancer has wonderful survival rates these days. Horrid but most unlikely to be terminal.

[Happy Hippo]

Last week, our next door neighbours have had the hedge that separates our two properties removed.  Originally a couple of ornamental bushes that were put in by the original owners of the property, over 25 years later it  has expanded considerably. (Knocking down the small boundary fence in the process).

 

Our current neighbours have decided that with their children getting towards needing a car age, the driveway needs expanding,  but they were considerate enough to speak to us first.  There was no objection from our side of the fence, as it's all on their property and will also save me having to trim  back the hedge on my side.

 

What we have found since the hedge came down, it was about 2 m high, was the extra amount of light it has allowed to get in through our our kitchen window.

 

Funnily enough, considering the size of the respective houses, they have a large house with a small driveway, yet we with the smaller house, had a comparatively much larger area available for parking, as Dave can testify.

 

In fact, whilst the engineering is going on next door, they are having to park some of their fleet on our driveway.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Winslow Boy]

23 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

Last week, our next door neighbours have had the hedge that separates our two properties removed.  Originally a couple of ornamental bushes that were put in by the original owners of the property, over 25 years later it  has expanded considerably. (Knocking down the small boundary fence in the process).

 

Our current neighbours have decided that with their children getting towards needing a car age, the driveway needs expanding,  but they were considerate enough to speak to us first.  There was no objection from our side of the fence, as it's all on their property and will also save me having to trim  back the hedge on my side.

 

What we have found since the hedge came down, it was about 2 m high, was the extra amount of light it has allowed to get in through our our kitchen window.

 

Funnily enough, considering the size of the respective houses, they have a large house with a small driveway, yet we with the smaller house, had a comparatively much larger area available for parking, as Dave can testify.

 

In fact, whilst the engineering is going on next door, they are having to park some of their fleet on our driveway.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Were the two houses built by the same builder or built at different times? I ask because if it was the same builder he may have wanted one of them for himself. I live in one of eight houses one of which was for the daughter of the builder. That one is on a bigger plot but whilst there are small differences in each of the houses they are all essential the same.

[Compound2632]

2 hours ago, AndyID said:

This isnt Merica.

 

For a moment there I thought you had it in for Mercian spelling. Ow right, ower kid?

[Happy Hippo]

27 minutes ago, Winslow Boy said:

 

Were the two houses built by the same builder or built at different times? I ask because if it was the same builder he may have wanted one of them for himself. I live in one of eight houses one of which was for the daughter of the builder. That one is on a bigger plot but whilst there are small differences in each of the houses they are all essential the same.

They were built at the same time and by the same builder.

 

He built ours to finance his!

 

The family did live next door for a few years, but moved on to a plot a few doors down which had a massive L shaped site.  

 

Funnily enough this first house of his also had an L shaped plot, and it was a bit of a sticking point when it came to selling.  We offered to buy the short leg of the L, which is where our current veg plot is now situated.  Once that was sorted out, the house sold quite quickly.

 

He built a very nice house on his huge L shaped plot and lived there for about 20 years, but is now moving onto building his retirement home, which  is being built  behind his current house.... The reason for the large  L shaped plot!

 

They are becoming adjoining neighbours once more, as their rear garden now backs onto our rear garden which is good. What before was a weed infested field, with the attendant problems of seeds blowing into our garden, is now becoming his back lawn with an immediate increase in maintenance.

 

 

Edited October 18, 2021 by Happy Hippo