The Night Mail

[Northmoor]

5 hours ago, Dave Hunt said:

Currently at the beach in Formby where it is quite warm but not so much for me to bother taking off my jacket and carrying it. 

 

I have happy memories of driving along Formby Beach one night in a young lady student's car.  She'd been intending to doing something artistic with a slide projector and the flotsam at the high tide mark, but the kit wasn't working so before heading home she let me have a drive of her Fiat Panda.  We amused ourselves for a little while with the cars parked up by the dunes, driving towards them then suddenly turning on full beam before driving away.  Probably quite annoying to those in the cars, amusing themselves in other ways altogether.....

[PhilJ W]

3 hours ago, SM42 said:

A pleasant day has been had in Gdansk. 

 

The trains on the way back were all over the place. Ours was 30 down, so we got an earlier, one hour late train to Tczew so a bit of train  watching could be done away from the crowds at Gdansk Glowny. 

 

Mrs SM42 was sat patiently awaiting me to get bored ( no chance) when I heard her calling me, a Nurek* was arriving 

 

Mrs SM42 has a soft spot for these ( it's why I was allowed to buy an H0 one) 

 

And here it is in all its glory

 

 

Just 3 coaches on the hook. 

 

Made her day it did 

*Nurek is Polish for diver

If it was painted yellow would it be a Minion?

[newbryford]

7 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

 

I'm quite relaxed about noms-du-web on RMWeb, I think the personality (and thus part of the identity) of a regular poster does tend to emerge: whether you call yourself Graf Stephan Christof von Thierstein und Homberg or iL Dottore.

 

So is one your nom-du-web and the other one is your real name?

[newbryford]

1 hour ago, Northmoor said:

  She'd been intending to doing something artistic with a slide projector and the flotsam at the high tide mark, 

 

It's been awhile since we had an EA [*]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[*] Euphemism Alert

[newbryford]

32 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

If it was painted yellow would it be a Minion?

 

Nah - this is a Minion 

 

[AndyID]

37 minutes ago, newbryford said:

 

Nah - this is a Minion 

 

 

Anybody know what those white bush things on the ends of the Pandrol clips are made of? I'm assuming they are anti-friction devices to allow the rail to move through the clip as it expands and contracts.

[Darlington_Shed]

Anyone have any spare mojo, or a round tuit not needed?

 

For the third day this week I have been in possession of the materials to start the baseboard for the planned layout. I could have done it; I should have done it; I wanted to do it... but I didn't do it!

 

Just couldn't summon up the enthusiasm.

 

Help!

[J. S. Bach]

8 hours ago, AndyID said:

 ...snip... those familiar with the US it could be Idaho (despite the fact that many in the US have no idea where Idaho actually is 😀)

Hey, I do know where Idaho is; and, have actually been there! Well, ok, the narrow part near the top while on Amtrak's Empire Builder.

[J. S. Bach]

1 hour ago, AndyID said:

 

Anybody know what those white bush things on the ends of the Pandrol clips are made of? I'm assuming they are anti-friction devices to allow the rail to move through the clip as it expands and contracts.

As I recall what a friend (track inspector on Amtrak) told me, they are insulators for insulating the signal circuits in the rails. The wheels/axles are un-insulated and shunt the rails causing the signal control apparatus to do whatever it is set up to do.

[J. S. Bach]

35 minutes ago, Darlington_Shed said:

 ...snip... Just couldn't summon up the enthusiasm.

Join the club!

[J. S. Bach]

6 hours ago, SM42 said:

Andy

Ooh, I would love to get one in reasonably-priced two-rail O!

[J. S. Bach]

Night Owl from the Piedmont.

[BR60103]

9 hours ago, AndyID said:

(despite the fact that many in the US have no idea where Idaho actually is 😀)

 

Isn't it in that cluster of states that begin with I -- Illinois, Indiana, Inner Mongolia?

[AndyID]

1 hour ago, BR60103 said:

Isn't it in that cluster of states that begin with I -- Illinois, Indiana, Inner Mongolia?

Sometimes confused with Iowa and Ohio too 😀

 

[AndyID]

1 hour ago, J. S. Bach said:

As I recall what a friend (track inspector on Amtrak) told me, they are insulators for insulating the signal circuits in the rails. The wheels/axles are un-insulated and shunt the rails causing the signal control apparatus to do whatever it is set up to do.

 

Ah! Yes, for the track circuit. That makes more sense. I looked at the Pandrol site and they refer to them as insulators too. They seem to be made from high viscosity nylon (HVN) which is pretty tough stuff. There will also be an insulated pad under the rail. Wooden ties are quite good insulators so they don't need them but reinforced concrete must short across the rails without insulators.

[AndyID]

2 hours ago, J. S. Bach said:

Hey, I do know where Idaho is; and, have actually been there! Well, ok, the narrow part near the top while on Amtrak's Empire Builder.

 

You were not too far from here then. You crossed Lake Pend Orielle. Did you see it or was it night at that point?

[iL Dottore]

5 hours ago, newbryford said:

 

So is one your nom-du-web and the other one is your real name?

Quite frankly, at my age I can’t remember which is which…..

[iL Dottore]

1 hour ago, AndyID said:

Sometimes confused with Iowa and Ohio too 😀

 

For my sins, I lived on the Eastern Seaboard for a number of years as a yoof. From what I recall, the denizens of the great state of Virginia were comfortably au-fait with anyplace on the North-South Axis of the Eastern Seaboard; but head west, beyond the mountains of West Virginia, and it was very much a case of “here be dragons”.

 

Of course, much of the coastal states’ view of the so-called “flyover states” was (is?) driven by TV programmes (Hee Haw and The Andy Griffiths Show for some reason come to mind, though I know the Andy Griffiths Show wasn’t set in a flyover state).

 

Ironically, I didn’t visit much of the US when resident there (nor, for that matter, much of Britain when I lived there), it was only when I moved to Switzerland for work that I started visiting an awful lot of the US (not to mention Canada and Britain), a chore made “bearable” (😁) by being well funded by a company with very deep pockets (and a generous disposition towards its employees)….

[Northmoor]

 

6 hours ago, AndyID said:

Anybody know what those white bush things on the ends of the Pandrol clips are made of? I'm assuming they are anti-friction devices to allow the rail to move through the clip as it expands and contracts.

Definitely not - see below.  As I started my engineering career with Pandrol, I know a bit about these things.

 

The one thing you are trying to avoid the rail doing, is move longitudinally.  Clamping the rails hard to sleepers/ties which are sat in deep ballast, resists movement and forces much of the thermal expansion to take place in the volume of the rail instead (which is imperceptible).  Rails do expand/contract longitudinally - which is why they have expansion joints and buckling occurs in the hottest weather - but it's much less than would be the case if the rail were free to expand.

 

3 hours ago, AndyID said:

Ah! Yes, for the track circuit. That makes more sense. I looked at the Pandrol site and they refer to them as insulators too. They seem to be made from high viscosity nylon (HVN) which is pretty tough stuff. There will also be an insulated pad under the rail. Wooden ties are quite good insulators so they don't need them but reinforced concrete must short across the rails without insulators.

The insulator has to do what you describe, to support track circuits, but must be sufficiently hard to not "squash" under the spring load of the clip, which is about a ton (and varies by roughly 100kg/mm deflection).  Actually track circuits on concrete or wood sleepers can be equally affected when wet and the reliability or otherwise of track circuits has resulted in a move away from them as a form of train detection, being replaced with systems using axle counters for example.

[AndyID]

1 hour ago, iL Dottore said:

For my sins, I lived on the Eastern Seaboard for a number of years as a yoof. From what I recall, the denizens of the great state of Virginia were comfortably au-fait with anyplace on the North-South Axis of the Eastern Seaboard; but head west, beyond the mountains of West Virginia, and it was very much a case of “here be dragons”.

 

Of course, much of the coastal states’ view of the so-called “flyover states” was (is?) driven by TV programmes (Hee Haw and The Andy Griffiths Show for some reason come to mind, though I know the Andy Griffiths Show wasn’t set in a flyover state).

 

Ironically, I didn’t visit much of the US when resident there (nor, for that matter, much of Britain when I lived there), it was only when I moved to Switzerland for work that I started visiting an awful lot of the US (not to mention Canada and Britain), a chore made “bearable” (😁) by being well funded by a company with very deep pockets (and a generous disposition towards its employees)….

 

We've lived in quite a few states since we came. In order Arizona, New  Jersey, Idaho, California, and Idaho. We also owned a small apartment in Utah for a few years. I've also worked in Manhattan NY and Spokane, Washington State.

 

We definitely prefer the West and the climate here on the western edge of the Rockies is great. Summers are warm and dry but we don't need air conditioning and the Winters deliver some snow but it's not enough to be a problem. Temperatures are quite moderate unlike East of the Rockies where it can be brutally cold.

[jamie92208]

My visits across the pond are well documented infmy American Railways thread. My initial visits mainly involved the Western States but I did see some of New England in 2012: though I drove across the flyover states to get there.  I guess my first love will always be the Western ones particularly Wyoming and Colorado. I've never been to the southern states apart from a short transfer between Planes at Houston, TX.  I did drive along the New Jersey Turnpike but didn't manage to count the cars. 

 

Jamie

[Hroth]

7 hours ago, newbryford said:

 

Nah - this is a Minion 

 

 

If you prefer an old-fashioned Minion with all the wires, you can have the Scouse version...

 

 

 

[AndyID]

Tomorrow might be interesting. We are having a three-way phone conference with our financial adviser and the financial adviser that's about to replace him. The purpose of the call is to expedite the transfer of various investment accounts to the new firm.

 

He has not been warned but he probably expects it. He advised us to invest a serious chunk of change in some "bonds" that quickly became worthless. We have engaged a lawyer.

[Dave Hunt]

Employing a financial advisor can be something of a minefield. I used to manage all our finances myself but after my Dad died and I had all his legacies to deal with as well as some other investments that were maturing I realised that I was getting out of my depth. One of my railway orientated friends is a banking consultant so I asked him for advice and he put me in touch with an IFA with whom he deals. In this way I was fairly confident that the chap in question was honest and reliable and so far he has proved to be just that. We are in the investment category that he describes as cautious, i.e., averse to taking heavy risks with investments although willing to have a small part of a portfolio in the more volatile financial markets with the aim of minimising the effects of inflation and giving a relatively small income. So far this seems to be working and we are happy with the service we are getting but without the guidance my banking friend gave us I really don’t know how we would have gone about things.

 

Dave

[Dave Hunt]

The outlook in North Hipposhire today is sunny and warm, which is just as well as Jill and some friends are off to lunch and an afternoon visiting some stately gardens hereabouts. For my part I am going to see a railway modelling friend who has a 5 inch gauge garden line and we are going to play trains. More accurately we are going to run one of his live steamers and try to run another one. The latter is currently in the naughty corner as it won’t steam properly so we are going to see if we can find out why. Because of my back issues I have been promised a comfy stool and am excused heavy lifting. There is also talk of cake featuring in the proceedings so the outlook is good.

 

Dave