The Night Mail

[New Haven Neil]

29 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

The cake would have travelled 'on the cushions'!

 

Istr we'd run the tippers down to the western terminus where the railway used to cross the Teifi:  The bridge was long gone and the platform was designed so you could walk off the end and out onto the eastern abutments of the bridge and admire the view.  We'd dropped off the load of ash for ballast packing, and were returning.

 

We'd stopped to pick up a load of rail which had been recovered when the loop had been re-laid.  The rail was laid along the tippers, tied down and then we dragged the lot back to Henllan.  The barrier wagon behind the loco was  to ensure the when we stopped the rails did not slid forward into the back of the cab.

 

Despite a  very gentle stop, they did slid forward a few feet!  Such is inertia.

 

There's a lesson there.....

[Northmoor]

1 hour ago, Happy Hippo said:

The cake would have travelled 'on the cushions'!

 

Istr we'd run the tippers down to the western terminus where the railway used to cross the Teifi:  The bridge was long gone and the platform was designed so you could walk off the end and out onto the eastern abutments of the bridge and admire the view.  We'd dropped off the load of ash for ballast packing, and were returning.

 

We'd stopped to pick up a load of rail which had been recovered when the loop had been re-laid.  The rail was laid along the tippers, tied down and then we dragged the lot back to Henllan.  The barrier wagon behind the loco was  to ensure the when we stopped the rails did not slid forward into the back of the cab.

 

Despite a  very gentle stop, they did slid forward a few feet!  Such is inertia.

I didn't recognise the location, as depite growing up in the part of the world, I only ever visited the Teifi Valley on a non-operating day.  What's happening with it these days, I know it was nearly closed and replaced with a road train a few years ago?

[Happy Hippo]

The picture was taken at Pontprenshitw in May 2010 when things were still seemingly on the up and up.  However things changed and the  following extract from the TVR website explains all:

 

 

'From 2010 onwards the railway suffered a loss of trained personnel and operation for a full season became more and more difficult. In 2013 two directors resigned fearing that the railway was facing closure.  A local businessman took on the tenancy of the cafe and shortly after, operation of the whole business.  Reports on the poor condition of the railway track, locos and rolling stock were ignored and eventually brought about the closure of railway operations.  There were however no attempts to repair the track, but the tenant removed the first stretch of rail and began operation of a land train.  Following an ORR inspection the Teifi Valley Railway suspended rail services in June 2014.

 

From July 2014 the Teifi Valley Railway no longer operated as a railway; no trains ran and the track was removed from Henllan to Pontprenshitw, a tractor-hauled 'land train' providing rides on a short section of the trackbed.  It was discovered in the autumn that the tenant had no intention of repairing or relaying the track, but rails had been removed so that commercial timber fellers could access the large spruce plantation just past Pontprenshitw.  The track beyond Pontprenshitw had not been taken up and was severely damaged.  The tenant left the scene and declared himself bankrupt. 

 

In November 2014 a new group took over management of the Railway and funds were sought to relay some track and resume operations in 2015. By 2018 the track had been laid as far as Forest Halt.

 

Track relaying is now progressing towards Pontprenshitw to reconnect to the disused part of the line to Llandyfriog Riverside. The track beyond Pontprenshitw is still in situ although remedial work will be required before it can be used to carry trains again. For now, the railway is in good hands and we look forward to a bright future.'

 

 

 

 

 

[Dave Hunt]

It's good to hear that restoration of the TVR is under way. I'd been led to believe that it was gone for good so HH's news is very welcome as although I've only seen it once in the early 2000s I thought it was a lovely bit of railway. I just hope that the events of the last 18 months or so haven't had a detrimental effect on proceedings.

 

Dave

 

PS.   If cake travelled on the cushions, wouldn't they get a bit sticky (especially if it was LDC).

[simontaylor484]

I m sure bears and hippos wouldn't let any cake stickiness go to waste 

[Stubby47]

Should this thread be renamed 'The Cake Stand' ?

[Happy Hippo]

6 minutes ago, simontaylor484 said:

I m sure bears and hippos wouldn't let any cake stickiness go to waste 

In the world of bears and hippos, cake waste is as common as unicorn droppings.

 

I am a bit crochety this afternoon.

 

I was fitting a new door to one of the upstairs bedrooms.

 

I had carefully measured it, and trimmed it to size.  This process also involved taking the door upstairs and fitting it into the frame to make sure it did fit.

 

Having just hung it on it's hinges, it has decided that it will in fact, not fit, so it will have to come off and be re-sized.  This will involve having to repaint the  trimmed edge which is a bit of a pain in the posterior as I hate painting.

 

Fortunately, the conservatory is now completely empty as the old tile floor was removed this morning, so I can use this as a trimming shop.  Since the weather outside is so abysmal again today, I am lucky to have a 16 x 11 workspace at my disposal.

 

Not so lucky is the sitting room which only has enough space in it to sit, the rest of the space being taken up by the contents of the conservatory.

 

 

[J. S. Bach]

10 hours ago, polybear said:

 

Bears lead, Hippo's follow.....

 

Hmmm, I detect the use of distributed power.

 

Another, somewhat related thought, aimed at those who would complain about waiting for that train to clear the crossing: just imagine if all of those containers were on semis heading down the highway! I gave up counting at fifty double-stacks, that is a hundred trucks.

 

[Tony_S]

1 hour ago, Happy Hippo said:

as I hate painting.

I don’t like hanging doors.

[polybear]

1 hour ago, Happy Hippo said:

Not so lucky is the sitting room which only has enough space in it to sit, the rest of the space being taken up by the contents of the conservatory.

 

 

 

Bear has one of those, though mine has (some) of the contents of the kitchen in it - and has been like that for many months.  There is light at the end of the tunnel....

[Florence Locomotive Works]

Afternoon all,

 

 

Some actual modeling on my small layout* was done yesterday. Mostly it was just track arrangement, but here’s a photo of a Hornby wagon I weathered a few years ago. The layout will be a medium size SECR terminus, providing a home for my D class. 
 

 

School gets out for the summer on Wednesday, so today and tomorrow have will mostly consisted of watching movies in class. Could be worse!

 

*the layout is the baseboard of my was going to be broad gauge diorama, which I ended up not doing due to the amount of scratch building needed. 
 

 

Douglas

[Happy Hippo]

15 minutes ago, Florence Locomotive Works said:

Afternoon all,

 

 

Some actual modeling on my small layout* was done yesterday. Mostly it was just track arrangement, but here’s a photo of a Hornby wagon I weathered a few years ago. The layout will be a medium size SECR terminus, providing a home for my D class. 
 

 

School gets out for the summer on Wednesday, so today and tomorrow have will mostly consisted of watching movies in class. Could be worse!

 

*the layout is the baseboard of my was going to be broad gauge diorama, which I ended up not doing due to the amount of scratch building needed. 
 

 

Douglas

When you get to my age, scratch building goes out of the window.

 

It's hard enough bending and twisting in order to just have a good scratch!

 

 

[New Haven Neil]

Following on from an earlier conversation on here....the 'Cabbage'.

 

http://www.iomtoday.co.im/article.cfm?id=61952&headline=Disgraced diesel could be back on track after yet more repairs&sectionIs=news&searchyear=2021&cat=Transport&fbclid=IwAR0mGM9qPpNcLvGss17SN0twfY_bYLHqGbYpmp6bp0tWwMV0Gl9U3BpRXIg

[Dave Hunt]

3 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

When you get to my age, scratch building goes out of the window.

 

Some of my scratchbuilding goes out of the window - or in the bin, stamped on, melted down etc. etc. Occasionally it gets finished.

 

Dave

[jamie92208]

I did a bit of modelling  today and sorted out some trackwork. The next task is probsbly going to be building some WM kits for pairs of bolster wagons. To do this I need phosphoric  acid flux.  I bought 5 litres of 85% before covid, so today I worked out the proportions needed to produce 5 litres of 15%. I know have 4 remaining litres of 85% and 5 litres of 15%.  I suspect thst I will never run short in my lifetime. 

 

Jamie

Edited May 25, 2021 by jamie92208

[simontaylor484]

16 hours ago, polybear said:

 

Bears lead, Hippo's follow.....

 

It was bad enough in the old MGR days if you got caught at the level crossing in Knottingley  you were there ages if you got on each way never mind 100 plus container and dpus.

 

@New Haven Neil the comments on that article are quite an eye opener.

 

@jamie92208 A couple of litres of 85% phosphoric acid will make a lovely inheritance for Emily when she grows up

[Mike Bellamy]

 

As well as being one of the Admin here and writing for BRM, Phil Parker has a daily Blog - and today just for Neil, he has written all about the Railways of the Isle of Man - and in particular about a new book he has just bought.

 

Click Here for link to Phil Parker's Blog

.

[New Haven Neil]

5 minutes ago, Mike Bellamy said:

 

As well as being one of the Admin here and writing for BRM, Phil Parker has a daily Blog - and today just for Neil, he has written all about the Railways of the Isle of Man - and in particular about a new book he has just bought.

 

Click Here for link to Phil Parker's Blog

.

 

I've chatted to Phil a few times, back when I was at Trackshack.  I could have pointed him to other photos of the original cafe at sea Lion Rocks (now I have to find it, and as you may expect I have a lot of IoM books!), I'm sure we have one in the new cafe now I think about it!  It was our 125th anniversary at GGR on Sunday, of course it tipped it down so i didn't risk walking down the glen (that was where I did my foot in originally) and there's no easy access - the Victorians didn't think the way we do now!  I went down on the MER with the idea of visiting, but it really was torrential, and my foot hurts enough already, ta.   Went to the pub.....

[Dave Hunt]

It's the getting back to normal day today as I'm picking Jill up at Stoke station this afternoon. Hence this morning is cleaning up and shopping time, otherwise known as trying to stay out of trouble. I am aware that this is a forlorn hope but you have to try.

 

It's 30 years ago today that a meeting of friends at Bob Essery's house decided to make his Dewsbury layout, which was being installed in his new house, into an exhibition layout and take it on the circuit. Poor old Bob is now in a nursing home not able to recognise his family, let alone any Railway friends. Sometimes the passage of time can be so cruel.

 

Dave

[Happy Hippo]

The fruit and veg cages which Nyda ordered over the weekend and have been delivered and erected.  A bit of trimming down to size  was required on a couple of poles to ensure they fitted the raised beds.  They now await the nets being fitted.

 

Rather than take the errant bedroom door off it's hinges again, I resorted to the new belt sander, and the door now fits perfectly:  Once the paint has dried,  I'll fit the  latch and handles.

 

This afternoon I'll be  putting up the curtain rail, hanging the curtains and then shifting all the furniture back into the room again!

 

Somebody mentioned model railways:  What is a model railway?

 

It's been so long since I did anything with mine, I've forgotten what it looks like!

[Tony_S]

3 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

errant bedroom door off it's hinges again, I resorted to the new belt sander, and the door now fits perfectly:

A friend mentioned that due to their new carpets they had to remove wood from the bottom of their doors. I said I could bring my circular saw over as that was what I had used. Her husband didn’t want to borrow a saw, in case he broke it, so went off to one of the DIY warehouses to buy one. The assistant advised him against a saw and said he should use a power plane. So he returns home and managed to powerplane the knuckles on his left hand. He was left handed too. Needed surgery to restore use and plastic surgery to allow the skin to look normal. 

[simontaylor484]

@Tony_S thanks you have reminded me i need to try to find some replacement blades for my Bosch power plane trouble is it must be 25 years old it was my Grandads need to dig it out of the garage to get the model number. I think there are 3 blades on drum

[Adam88]

7 minutes ago, simontaylor484 said:

@Tony_S thanks you have reminded me i need to try to find some replacement blades for my Bosch power plane trouble is it must be 25 years old it was my Grandads need to dig it out of the garage to get the model number. I think there are 3 blades on drum

 

I needed a set of new blades for mine, not Bosch, so went to buy a set.  When I came to replace them I found that the ones I was replacing were double-sided and only needed turning round and so would be good for several more years at the rate I get through them.  When they need replacing I will no doubt have forgotten where the new replacements have been put.

 

[simontaylor484]

Thanks for that these have already been turned once there is still a bit of life in the blades but not much

[polybear]

3 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

Rather than take the errant bedroom door off it's hinges again, I resorted to the new belt sander, and the door now fits perfectly: 

 

 

Bear predicts that Big H will be spending the very near future dusting the upstairs in order to avoid certain death from SWMBO.  And cake is now off the menu for the foreseeable....

 

16 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

A friend mentioned that due to their new carpets they had to remove wood from the bottom of their doors. I said I could bring my circular saw over as that was what I had used. Her husband didn’t want to borrow a saw, in case he broke it, so went off to one of the DIY warehouses to buy one. The assistant advised him against a saw and said he should use a power plane. So he returns home and managed to powerplane the knuckles on his left hand. He was left handed too. Needed surgery to restore use and plastic surgery to allow the skin to look normal. 

 

Back in the 80's a guy at work (or rather his SWMBO) wanted a new hardwood front door (=££).  He spent hours trying to get it to fit, but each time it was offered up it was hitting the frame.  His neighbour came along and offered to help, complete with new fangled power plane; still they couldn't get it right.  So clever mate was called, who spotted the problem...

The door was so heavy - and the frame not the best - that the door was pulling the door jamb away from the wall.  So the frame was securely re-fixed to the wall and the door re-hung.  No hitting the frame this time, only there was a good half inch of daylight showing at the top edge of the door.

To say SWMBO was less than happy was an understatement, apparently.