The Night Mail

[newbryford]

1 hour ago, New Haven Neil said:

 

Or alternatively, I could go to my shed and see my three panniers.....

 

 

Medication is available......

 

[Happy Hippo]

18 minutes ago, newbryford said:

 

Medication is available......

 

After any medication that is worth  taking, I usually see double.

 

I really do need to get all my panniers on parade and tell them what a good job they are doing.

 

The poor little 14xx will feel quite left out.

[Winslow Boy]

21 minutes ago, newbryford said:

 

Medication is available......

 

Well you hold him and I'll hit him with the mallet. Or is that too subtle.

[Winslow Boy]

Ps just in case you were wondering I still don't have a shed. I'm now going off to bed and will no doubt dream about green panniers in a shed. Pray for me.

Edited September 25, 2023 by Winslow Boy
Or paneers even.

[newbryford]

16 minutes ago, Winslow Boy said:

Ps just in case you were wondering I still don't have a shed. I'm now going off to bed and will no doubt dream about green panniers in a shed. Pray for me.

 

I have a shed.

I do not dream about paneers [*]. Regardless of colour.

 

[*] the stuff of nightmares..................

 

 

 

 

 

 

[J. S. Bach]

Night Owl from the Piedmont.

[Adam88]

4 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

I often wonder what pannier tanks would have looked like if OVS Bullied had been in charge at Swindon?

 

At the very least they would have had a hole in the side big enough for a winding up key.

[BR60103]

Today I went to renew my health card and driver's licence. Both expire on my birthday, the week before Christmas.
I arrived there at 9:01 according to my parking card and I was out of there about 9:30. Only about half the chairs were occupied.
The government has stopped mailing out reminders and apparently there has been a drop-off in renewals.

[Hroth]

7 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

I often wonder what pannier tanks would have looked like if OVS Bullied had been in charge at Swindon?

 

Or perhaps...

 

He would have produced an experimental pannier of a highly radical design* and then bundled off on a permanent exchange/transfer to Doncaster to help the LNER...

 

* In a similar fashion to the 101 Hornby are so fond of...

 

[Florence Locomotive Works]

Two posts within a month of each other! 
 

About two days after my last post, I made a very significant (and expensive) purchase. I’d been wanting one of these for several years, but had either not been able to afford one or the ones for sale were not in very good condition. 
 

And what is this thing of which I speak?

 

A live steam overtype stationary engine, made by Joseph Falk of Nuremberg. 
 

Bore: 3/8th inch

Stroke: 1 inch

Boiler OD: 3 inches

Working pressure: 30 psi estimated

IHP: 0.0062

 

 

 

 

The engine was made around 1899, and from what we can piece together came over to America in the same year and spent its life amusing the members of a wealthy New York family who also had a property in Florida as many Edwardian Americans did. Somehow it managed to stay in Florida, which is where I got it from via the Bay of E. 

 

It arrived looking very, very sorry for itself although mechanically perfect. It had lived in a pipe smokers house for many years and had accumulated a thick layer of tobacco on all surfaces, and the boiler had never been cleaned of soot. After a lot of cleaning up, the result seen above was reached.

 

The more keen eyed if you may note that the cylinder cladding is a funny glue green color. This is actually genuine Russian iron, a mysterious material that many early American locomotives were clad in as it is highly resistant to heat and corrosion. This has been painted over some time in the past so I gently removed all the paint and to my surprise the Blue finish was still intact. 
 

The engine steams very very well, and currently I have it belted up to a modern Meccano motor functioning as a DC dynamo making around 1.2 volts. 
 

Here’s a photo of me during a dusk steam up taking the rpm reading using my 1884 Schaeffer & Budenberg tachometer made for exactly this job.

 

 

Douglas

 

 

PS: I hope we are all doing well.

Edited September 26, 2023 by Florence Locomotive Works

[polybear]

9 hours ago, New Haven Neil said:

 

Dearly Beloved, we gather here today.....

 

 

...to witness the long-awaited arrival of the latest scrap to be thrust upon the 1st Year Apprentices so they can learn gas-cutting techniques......

 

8 hours ago, newbryford said:

 

Medication is available......

 

 

Or, for those who prefer to follow naturopathic medicine we have straight jackets available.....

 

4 hours ago, BR60103 said:

Today I went to renew my health card and driver's licence. Both expire on my birthday, the week before Christmas.
I arrived there at 9:01 according to my parking card and I was out of there about 9:30. Only about half the chairs were occupied.
The government has stopped mailing out reminders and apparently there has been a drop-off in renewals.

 

No doubt to be followed by an increase in those caught driving without a licence and fined accordingly.....

Edited September 26, 2023 by polybear

[jamie92208]

I also have a SHED but do not dream about panniers though I do possess two sets that clip onto my bike.  I actually used one recently when we went gathering Sloes that will be converted into a form of self medication. 

 

Jamie

Edited September 26, 2023 by jamie92208

[TheQ]

I'm Very slowly building a layout of a railway that ended up being owned the GWR, panniers were remarkably rare, it was mostly moguls . I do have a couple of pannier kits to build though..

So No dreams of panniers, at the moment it's 0-4-0s with the possible inclusion of the odd 0-6-0.

[SM42]

Today I have done something I have not done in this country since 1991. 

 

I caught a bus. 

 

It has charged much.  In fact I think the bus was that old. 

 

The motor is in for repair and it was the cheapest way home and almost to the front door.  

A whole £2 and a tour of several villages thrown in. 

 

Andy

[newbryford]

22 minutes ago, SM42 said:

Today I have done something I have not done in this country since 1991. 

 

I caught a bus. 

 

It has charged much.  In fact I think the bus was that old. 

 

The motor is in for repair and it was the cheapest way home and almost to the front door.  

A whole £2 and a tour of several villages thrown in. 

 

Andy

 

TBH, the government capped single fare of £2 is working to get people back onto public transport if my observations of local services are anything to go by.

 

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/2-bus-fare-cap

 

It is going up to £2.50 in November, but it's still good value when the last bus home from the local village with 3 pubs and 3 other drinking establishments is about 23:20hrs

[Oldddudders]

I enjoy bus travel. I don't qualify for a bus-pass, due to living abroad, but do get free travel on TfL buses due to former employment. If in Torbay, the 2 quid fare - or a Dayrider for 5.50 - seem v good value. Some of the newer buses offer wifi and phone-chargers, too. 

[MrWolf]

I avoid buses like the plague. Last time I got one it cost me nearly £4 to travel 3 miles and took half an hour. I can do it on my bicycle in ten for free or on my motorcycle for about 30 pence.

When I lived out of town, getting a bus for an 11.30 appointment meant catching one at 9:10, arriving at 10.45, getting out from the appointment at 12:30, waiting until 1:20  and getting home sometime after 3, it was cheaper to buy a day rider at £12.50 than a return ticket.

Same trip by motorcycle, leave home 10:45, back by 1:15 and at a cost of roughly £4.

[Oldddudders]

Safely home in Sherry's flat after an excellent weekend in Staffordshire. The outward journey was interminable due to an accident on the M5. When you get warnings of a 2-hour delay, you tend to react, so we came off and went overland via Stroud and Evesham. Took ages but at least we were moving. Sherry found out this morning that the accident involved a preserved military vehicle, an HGV and the hard shoulder, and an air ambulance was deployed, which tells its own tale, sadly. 

 

Socials w Sherry's bambini and their offspring and new partner were as pleasant as such things can be, but the main focus of the weekend was the Sunday visit to the Stafford show, which was bloomin' excellent. Early coffee with Dave Hunt and our host here Happy Hippo set the scene for a great visit. I encountered several other illustrious RMwebbers, too, and made a couple of other new acquaintances. Last year's show was very good, but this year's was even better. Highly recommended if you are able to go - it's the same weekend next year. 

 

The journey home yesterday was much better, after some stop-start delays on the M6, and once again I enjoyed driving Sherry's 1-litre Fiesta - 100 bhp and a six-speed automatic is extremely drivable. I am, of course, lucky to be married to someone who would even consider a weekend away so I could watch toy trains! It helps that she lived and taught in the area for 30 years.

[newbryford]

3 minutes ago, MrWolf said:

I avoid buses like the plague. Last time I got one it cost me nearly £4 to travel 3 miles and took half an hour. I can do it on my bicycle in ten for free or on my motorcycle for about 30 pence.

When I lived out of town, getting a bus for an 11.30 appointment meant catching one at 9:10, arriving at 10.45, getting out from the appointment at 12:30, waiting until 1:20  and getting home sometime after 3, it was cheaper to buy a day rider at £12.50 than a return ticket.

Same trip by motorcycle, leave home 10:45, back by 1:15 and at a cost of roughly £4.

 

That's the nature of public transport - timetables and routes don't always fit in with personal circumstances.

 

At least you don't need to find a parking space or somewhere suitable to lock your bike - and buses have an added feature - they protect you from the weather when compared to 2-wheeled transport! 

[08221]

30 minutes ago, Oldddudders said:

I enjoy bus travel. I don't qualify for a bus-pass, due to living abroad, but do get free travel on TfL buses due to former employment. If in Torbay, the 2 quid fare - or a Dayrider for 5.50 - seem v good value. Some of the newer buses offer wifi and phone-chargers, too. 

The buses are excellent and very reliable- the odd dodgy driver - my younger brother being a prime example!

 

My dad enjoys riding around on the Torbay buses battering his senior citizens buss pass - especially when he is being 'chauffeured' by his son 😀

[Dave Hunt]

13 hours ago, newbryford said:

 

Something like this? (flickr pic)

 

 

You sure there's enough yellow on them?

 

Dave

[Dave Hunt]

Good to see Douglas back again and happily fettling his new acquisition. Is that 'Russian Iron' the same stuff that was used for the boiler clothing on the G&SWR Baltic tanks?

 

Dave

[Steamport Southport]

1 hour ago, newbryford said:

 

TBH, the government capped single fare of £2 is working to get people back onto public transport if my observations of local services are anything to go by.

 

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/2-bus-fare-cap

 

It is going up to £2.50 in November, but it's still good value when the last bus home from the local village with 3 pubs and 3 other drinking establishments is about 23:20hrs

 

Total rip off when you consider the local Arriva full day ticket is £4.90* (even valid in North Wales) and the ticket that you can use buses, trains and ferries in the whole of Merseyside and even to Chester is only £6!

 

*Increased from £4.20 when they brought the £2 fares in, so someone is taking the proverbial by putting the bus fares up and claiming the other price is a bargain!

 

 

 

[newbryford]

2 minutes ago, Steamport Southport said:

 

Total rip off when you consider the local Arriva full day ticket is £4.90* (even valid in North Wales) and the ticket that you can use buses, trains and ferries in the whole of Merseyside and even to Chester is only £6!

 

*Increased from £4.20 when they brought the £2 fares in, so someone is taking the proverbial by putting the bus fares up and claiming the other price is a bargain!

 

 

 

 

But if you only want to make 1 return journey, £4  is better than £4.90.

[Oldddudders]

Not a rip-off. If someone has a daily commute of several miles to work, it's costing them a mere 4 quid by bus. Day tickets are fine for those with more complicated journeys or leisure travel.