The Night Mail

[Happy Hippo]

I am just about to connect the water feature water pump to the mains outlet.

 

Prior to this I am going to switch all the house electrics off.

 

It is the equivalent of wiring up a three pin plug, but I'm taking no chances.

 

Should there be a bright flash from the direction of the Hippodrome, you will know that  Nyda re-insured me!

[Dave Hunt]

Ten minutes and no bangs heard. Seems that we still have a hippo in our midst. Shame about that policy I sold Nyda yesterday.

 

Dave

Edited July 29, 2023 by Dave Hunt

[Happy Hippo]

It all went extremely well, with no sparks or screams.

 

However Nyda did manage to get me when I was lying on the floor, trying to adjust the pump flow.  She pulled the water pipe out of the top of the stone monolith just as I cranked the pump power up to full.

 

The gentle trickle went to full bore and a fountain to rival the one in Lake Geneva was created.  Most of the water, landing on me.  Having stripped to the waist in order to put my arm  into the fountain sump, it was a bit of a shock.

 

Someone denied that the pipe was pulled out on purpose, but I have a sneaking feeling there may have also been a drowning clause in the policy she received from Crabs-U-like.

[jamie92208]

Until a few days ago I had no idea where Polish Andy got his moniker from. It emerged on these hallowed pages that an SM42 was a type of shunting  loco.  Thanks ttheomagazine Rail Passion now know what one looks like and alsoIthat one has been converted to Hydrogen power.  Wonders never cease. 

 

Jamie

[SM42]

17 minutes ago, jamie92208 said:

Until a few days ago I had no idea where Polish Andy got his moniker from. It emerged on these hallowed pages that an SM42 was a type of shunting  loco.  Thanks ttheomagazine Rail Passion now know what one looks like and alsoIthat one has been converted to Hydrogen power.  Wonders never cease. 

 

Jamie

 

You could have just looked at my Avatar 😁

 

We did see some bright flashes from the west a little earlier, but that may have been mother nature connecting up the electric. 

 

We've been out on a train today. Will post some pics later, but first dinner. 

 

Andy

[J. S. Bach]

12 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

 ...snip... Is PB gunning for a place in the Big House?

Sing Sing? Alcatraz? Oh, wait a minute, Alcatraz is now a tourist attraction. Anyway, there are many others still in operation!

[Dave Hunt]

1 hour ago, jamie92208 said:

Until a few days ago I had no idea where Polish Andy got his moniker from. It emerged on these hallowed pages that an SM42 was a type of shunting  loco.  Thanks ttheomagazine Rail Passion now know what one looks like and alsoIthat one has been converted to Hydrogen power.  Wonders never cease. 

 

Jamie

 

Twas I who gave him the moniker a few months ago in these hallowed pages but only after I had asked him what an SM42 was. At one time I thought he was the 42nd member of some strange cult involving whips and rubber garments.

 

Dave

Edited July 29, 2023 by Dave Hunt

[Happy Hippo]

13 minutes ago, Dave Hunt said:

 

Twas I who gave him the moniker but only after I had asked him what an SM42 was. At one time I thought he was the 42nd member of some strange cult involving whips and rubber garments.

 

Dave

It's funny you should mention whips.  I would add Vaseline to the mix as that is what was needed to get the cable from the water feature to the power point.

 

We had put a proper nylon pull though into the conduit, but it was very reluctant to move:  It had been in place for the last four weeks, so that might not have helped.  However, the application of liberal amounts of Vaseline (it came from the Guide cabinet at the County Office when they were having a clear out) so I soon had it slipping through easily.

 

Nyda then did some very nice twine whipping to connect the end of the nylon pull through to the electrical flex from the pump to which I applied more Vaseline.  It did slip through rather easily after that.

 

Had I been wearing a rubber garment as well, I might not have got as wet as I did, which I mentioned in an earlier post.

 

Why Girlguiding Shropshire required three tubs of Vaseline in their cupboard, is beyond me, but it is very good for lubrication, in particular small taps and dies and drill bits.

Edited July 29, 2023 by Happy Hippo

[Happy Hippo]

1 hour ago, jamie92208 said:

Until a few days ago I had no idea where Polish Andy got his moniker from. It emerged on these hallowed pages that an SM42 was a type of shunting  loco.  Thanks ttheomagazine Rail Passion now know what one looks like and alsoIthat one has been converted to Hydrogen power.  Wonders never cease. 

 

Jamie

I didn't realise it was a monicker.  I thought it was a command!

Polish Andy. Iron Andy; Vacuum Andy; Garden Andy.

[SM42]

SM42s, what's not to like?

 

Anyway today we have been for a ride on the 785mm line in Rudy. 

 

We only found out about its existence at around ten past 3. We had  enough time to get there for  1700hrs train. 

 

6km each way for £3.50 ish each. 

 

The station at Rudy

 

 

 

Our loco running round at Rudy

 

 

Running round at the end of the line at Rybnik Stodoly 

 

We stopped the traffic on a major road just to cross over to the station. Fortunately there was enough space for the run round without stopping the traffic. 

 

Finally steam loco Los 49 3343 in the maintenance area 

 

 

 

Andy

Edited July 29, 2023 by SM42

[Northmoor]

1 hour ago, Happy Hippo said:

It's funny you should mention whips.  I would add Vaseline to the mix as that is what was needed to get the cable from the water feature to the power point.

 

We had put a proper nylon pull though into the conduit, but it was very reluctant to move:  It had been in place for the last four weeks, so that might not have helped.  However, the application of liberal amounts of Vaseline (it came from the Guide cabinet at the County Office when they were having a clear out) so I soon had it slipping through easily.

 

Nyda then did some very nice twine whipping to connect the end of the nylon pull through to the electrical flex from the pump to which I applied more Vaseline.  It did slip through rather easily after that.

 

Had I been wearing a rubber garment as well, I might not have got as wet as I did, which I mentioned in an earlier post.

 

Why Girlguiding Shropshire required three tubs of Vaseline in their cupboard, is beyond me, but it is very good for lubrication, in particular small taps and dies and drill bits.

I dare someone to cut and paste the above into Google.....

 

Edit: It's also just occurred to me that someone searching the Web using a selection of terms used in the above, for reasons we're probably best off not knowing, will get in amongst their list of hits, a page of RMWeb, specifically an entry in TNM.  What sort of impression do you think they'll get of the frequent contributors to this forum?

Edited July 29, 2023 by Northmoor
Extra text

[SM42]

Our trip was an interesting experience.

 

Track that is less than smooth, 6 loose coupled open sided bogies carriages, wooden bench seats and little suspension. 

 

At least there was a little chain to stop you falling out. 

 

All great fun

 

 

 

Andy

[SM42]

I suspect the Guides use the Vaselinee on long hikes to stop clothes chafing. 

 

Or for rescuing animals from fences. 

 

Getting hands unstuck from the biscuit barrel

 

Or

 

Perhaps there is a connecting up a water pump badge. 

 

Andy

 

 

[Dave Hunt]

3 minutes ago, SM42 said:

Our trip was an interesting experience.

 

Track that is less than smooth, 6 loose coupled open sided bogies carriages, wooden bench seats and little suspension. 

 

At least there was a little chain to stop you falling out. 

 

All great fun

 

 

 

Andy

 

Are the sides of those carriages painted Fresh Flour Andy? Have you been busy?

 

Dave

[bbishop]

On 26/07/2023 at 07:59, Happy Hippo said:

Of course you should always be aware that in the best Hollywood tradition, there would be a follow up.  

 

'Dambusters: Winston's Escape' would deal with Winston after he was blown overboard from the carrier.

 

After swimming around for a week in the freezing Atlantic, he is picked up by a U-boat. After being nursed back to health, he becomes the boat's mascot.

 

On the U boat's return to Brest after it's patrol, Admiral Doenitz take a liking to Winston, and the crew  decide to present him to the Admiral.

 

Doenitz returns to Berlin with his new bestie, totally unaware that Winston, is not only a very smart dog, but also a fully trained member of the OSS.

 

After lots of exciting  sabotage missions in the German capital, Winston manages to gain access to the Fuhrer bunker and assassinates Hitler thus bringing the war to an end.

 

 

But do you know how?  It's not in Wikipedia, you have to access the furthest corners of the dark web to obtain this information.  

Winston crept out of the Führerbunker at dead of night, crawled across the Tiergarten, into the Zoologischer Garten and released the Hippopotamus (name of Glücklich).  They paddled along the Landvehrkanal, slipped into the Bunker where Glücklich performed the dastardly deed.  Unfortunately the web doesn't record how he did it.

[SM42]

11 minutes ago, Dave Hunt said:

 

Are the sides of those carriages painted Fresh Flour Andy? Have you been busy?

 

Dave

 

No a sort of khaki drab. 

 

Not quite GW green

 

The colour of the inside of the roof looked familiar though.

 

Andy

[bbishop]

2 hours ago, jamie92208 said:

Until a few days ago I had no idea where Polish Andy got his moniker from. It emerged on these hallowed pages that an SM42 was a type of shunting  loco.  Thanks ttheomagazine Rail Passion now know what one looks like and alsoIthat one has been converted to Hydrogen power.  Wonders never cease. 

 

Jamie

and you were the 92, 208th person to cycle to the top of the Grand Canyon.

[SM42]

3 minutes ago, bbishop said:

But do you know how?  It's not in Wikipedia, you have to access the furthest corners of the dark web to obtain this information.  

Winston crept out of the Führerbunker at dead of night, crawled across the Tiergarten, into the Zoologischer Garten and released the Hippopotamus (name of Glücklich).  They paddled along the Landvehrkanal, slipped into the Bunker where Glücklich performed the dastardly deed.  Unfortunately the web doesn't record how he did it.

 

Maybe he used Vaseline to slip into the bunker 

 

Andy

[J. S. Bach]

41 minutes ago, SM42 said:

Anyway today we have been for a ride on the 785mm line in Rudy.

 

 785mm, just about right for On2½ at an actual 30.905511811in!

[SM42]

It appears we will be unable to visit the narrow gauge railway in Bytom as it only runs on Sat, Sun and holidays. 

We have other cake related plans tomorrow. 

 

On Tuesday we may be able to fit in a visit to a railway in Chorzow en route to Opole

 

We shall see

 

Andy

[Happy Hippo]

45 minutes ago, bbishop said:

But do you know how?  It's not in Wikipedia, you have to access the furthest corners of the dark web to obtain this information.  

Winston crept out of the Führerbunker at dead of night, crawled across the Tiergarten, into the Zoologischer Garten and released the Hippopotamus (name of Glücklich).  They paddled along the Landvehrkanal, slipped into the Bunker where Glücklich performed the dastardly deed.  Unfortunately the web doesn't record how he did it.

Glücklich was a member of the SOE.  As far as I was aware his exploits were supposed to be sealed from public view until 2045.

[J. S. Bach]

Night Owl from the Piedmont.

[br2975]

6 hours ago, jamie92208 said:

Until a few days ago I had no idea where Polish Andy got his moniker from. It emerged on these hallowed pages that an SM42 was a type of shunting  loco.  Thanks ttheomagazine Rail Passion now know what one looks like and alsoIthat one has been converted to Hydrogen power.  Wonders never cease. 

 

.

Back on the 11th. of this month I was in the Port of Gdynia, from where I took the train to and from Gdansk.

.

I noticed a lot of apparently new  trackwork in the port area, which was being shunted by the PKP Cargo SM42 loco shown in the photo.

.

The beaten up, nondescript silver car in the distance performed a 'U Turn' and pulled alongside me on the level crossing.

.

It contained two armed Polish police officers who 'politely' asked me not to take photos.

.

Considering there is a war waging 'next door' and just up the Baltic coast the "Go Brandon Go" roadshow was in town, attending the NATO summit, the actions of the two officers were understandable.

.

The other photo shows another SM42 on a local train at Gdynia

.

Edited July 29, 2023 by br2975

[SM42]

I must admit to being a bit more aware of where I take photos nowadays, given the situation over the border.

 

Dinner last night was an interesting affair with a group of Ukrainians sat at the next table, one who lives in Italy, who were en route back to Ukraine. 

 

Ordering dinner was proving a little awkward with limited Polish, some Italian, familiar sounding Ukrainian words and a menu written in the local dialect. 

 

Mrs SM42 helped out where she could without using Russian as much as possible and we think they got what they wanted eventually

 

They have a circa 2000km drive ahead of them today.   

 

Andy

[SM42]

6 hours ago, br2975 said:

.

Back on the 11th. of this month I was in the Port of Gdynia, from where I took the train to and from Gdansk.

.

I noticed a lot of apparently new  trackwork in the port area, which was being shunted by the PKP Cargo SM42 loco shown in the photo.

.

The beaten up, nondescript silver car in the distance performed a 'U Turn' and pulled alongside me on the level crossing.

.

It contained two armed Polish police officers who 'politely' asked me not to take photos.

.

Considering there is a war waging 'next door' and just up the Baltic coast the "Go Brandon Go" roadshow was in town, attending the NATO summit, the actions of the two officers were understandable.

.

The other photo shows another SM42 on a local train at Gdynia

.

 

Very nice. Wibble

 

The second photo shows a loco in the old Przewozy Regionalne livery with a double deck coach in PolRegio livery. 

 

Polregio is the new identity of PR. 

 

Despite the designation as a shunting loco, they get used for all sorts of stuff and sound fantastic. 

 

Note the PKP IC EU160 creeping into shot on the left. The new order for loco hauled trains. 

 

Andy

Who won't be too far from Gdansk next week

Edited July 30, 2023 by SM42