The Night Mail

[rockershovel]

Meanwhile in the "heart of stone" class, some notably idiotic dog stories around at present...

 

Firstly, the woman who was awarded a holiday as a prize on the Ant and Dec show. She apparently runs a charity "to raise awareness of disabled pets" ....

 and the airline won't allow her to take hers in the cabin. She won't allow it to travel in the hold as per usual, and it doesn't have the necessary jabs to travel. She claims to be "heart broken" and "will never watch them again".... this all sounds like what my late father would refer to as "poor staff work".

 

Secondly, a "reality TV personality" who missed a holiday because the airline wouldn't accept her passport. Moral being, don't allow your dog to chew it

.. better yet, don't carry your dog in the same handbag! 

 

The Golgafrincham B Ark must be refusing bookings daily... 

[Dave Hunt]

I don't recall which one it was but a friend who models in OO told me that an Iain Rice plan that he liked the look of couldn't actually be built because the necessary pointwork wouldn't fit in the space available.

 

Dave

[bbishop]

I've drawn the correct method of accessing a goods yard, so there isn't a facing point into a dead end siding.  One of Rice's plans had a facing point.  I told him.  The language!

 

Edited April 17 by bbishop

[figworthy]

24 minutes ago, rockershovel said:

The Golgafrincham B Ark must be refusing bookings daily... 

 

Just remember where the B Ark ended its journey.

 

Adrian

[br2975]

I spent the day in the company of my best friend, and best man, who is visiting from His Majesty's Dominion across the Atlantic.

.

A former railwayman, and enthusiast I took him to view several locations across the South Wales area working east, back from Margam Knuckle Yard.

.

With the adjacent Port Talbot steelworks under threat, it is strange to find that the yard has seen an upsurge in traffic of late.

.

Imported slabs from Newport Docks are worked to Llanwern, where they reverse and run to Margam, likewise (imported ?) steel coil appeared today originating from Cardiff's Tidal Yard.

.

Whilst the nearby Grange coke ovens have been decommissioned last month, imported coke is railed from Immingham, as required.

.

Margam is something of a unique place, as a public footpath (known as Heol-y-deiliad crossing) crosses the South Wales mainline, the OVE (Ogmore Valley Extension) and the west/down end yard throat and allows one to get quite close to the shunting, including the Tata Steel internal locos which work into the yard with exchange traffic.

.

 

Edited April 17 by br2975

[Happy Hippo]

Unlike Cyril Freezer's plans which did tend to verge on the cramped and improbable, Ian Rice was a dab hand at making unique track formations.

[Dave Hunt]

40 minutes ago, rockershovel said:

Meanwhile in the "heart of stone" class, some notably idiotic dog stories around at present...

........The Golgafrincham B Ark must be refusing bookings daily... 

 

Wasn't the population of Golgafrincham wiped out by a virus picked up from an unclean telephone after all the hairdressers and telephone sanitizers were shipped off in the B Ark?

 

Dave

[Happy Hippo]

24 minutes ago, bbishop said:

I've drawn the correct method of accessing a goods yard, so there isn't a facing point into a dead end siding.  One of Rice's plans had a facing point.  I told him.  The language!

 

The sidings at Walnut Tree West that accessed the Dolomite works were accessed by a facing point into a set of dead end sidings.  More than a few branch lines had the arrangement you have illustrated, had the diam9nd crossing replaced with a facing point and lock.  I R should have known that.

[Dave Hunt]

Back to walking a (slow) mile today, although my back didn't half ache afterwards. I was thinking about spending some time in the workshop this afternoon but I had to have a lie down instead. It wasn't all wasted time, though, as I did a lot of thinking about how I'm going to make the sheerlegs for my layout. Ah, well, onwards and upwards as they say.

 

Dave

[Hroth]

1 hour ago, rockershovel said:

The Golgafrincham B Ark must be refusing bookings daily... 

 

They're probably commissioning the B Ark 2 already!

 

[Northmoor]

3 hours ago, Dave Hunt said:

I don't recall which one it was but a friend who models in OO told me that an Iain Rice plan that he liked the look of couldn't actually be built because the necessary pointwork wouldn't fit in the space available.

A former neighbour of my parents was a cookbook writer, specialising in gluten-free cookery.  She believed her books were unusual in that the author had actually made all the recipes, multiple times, to make sure they actually worked.  I know they weren't Iain Rice's work, but many of Railway Modeller "Plans of the Month" suggest no-one had ever actually tried to fit them into the claimed space.  I can certainly remember one or two where putting a ruler to the page suggested some curves were less than 15" radius, in OO.

[J. S. Bach]

5 hours ago, Dave Hunt said:

I don't recall which one it was but a friend who models in OO told me that an Iain Rice plan that he liked the look of couldn't actually be built because the necessary pointwork wouldn't fit in the space available.

 

Dave

Build it in place from scratch.

[J. S. Bach]

Night Owl from the Piedmont.

[AndyID]

Had my other at eye cataract surgery today. Hopefully no more glasses for me other than reading glasses. I just got the basic lenses and the whole thing is covered by Medicare. They don't cover the more sophisticated corrective lenses which can get rather spendy.

 

Based on what I had heard I was a bit concerned about healthcare in the US before we came here but our experience has been very positive although health insurance is expensive until you reach retirement age.

[polybear]

6 hours ago, Northmoor said:

A former neighbour of my parents was a cookbook writer, specialising in gluten-free cookery.  She believed her books were unusual in that the author had actually made all the recipes, multiple times, to make sure they actually worked.  I know they weren't Iain Rice's work, but many of Railway Modeller "Plans of the Month" suggest no-one had ever actually tried to fit them into the claimed space.  I can certainly remember one or two where putting a ruler to the page suggested some curves were less than 15" radius, in OO.

 

Certainly trying to create some of the designs using Templot shows up some issues with tight radii.

[rockershovel]

10 hours ago, figworthy said:

 

Just remember where the B Ark ended its journey.

 

Adrian

I seem to recall that they adopted the leaf as currency. Consequently they all became very wealthy but suffered a serious inflation problem, which they propose to rectify by burning down the forest.

 

Sounds like the sort of thinking that would fit right in today. 

 

 

[rockershovel]

10 hours ago, figworthy said:

 

Just remember where the B Ark ended its journey.

 

Adrian

Come to think of it, the whole story kicks off when Ford Prefect receives a message on what is basically a smartphone fitted with a rolling news feed and Uber.....  Zaphod Beeblebrox is basically a social media influencer...

[jamie92208]

Good moaning from the Grey and overcast Charente. I didn't get chance to visit yesterday so have skipped a page.  However we had fun trying to fit new feet to the four  big pieces of timber that support the verandah at the front. These are 6 to 7 inches square and were rotting at the base. The roof is an extension of the house roof and is heavy.   Acrow props were used to prop each one up at a time. Then the base sawn off and a steel foot inserted. Sounds simple.  

 

First discovery, there was a steel spigot sticking up the centre of each so the cut off piece had to be chiseled apart then the spigot cutoff with a cutting disk. 

 

Problem 2 was that there was rot in three of them and in one this extends over 2 feet up.  All good fun.  3 of the pied de poteaux regulaible, (adjustable pillar feet)  are now in place and the fourth is sitting on a temporary pillar of breeze blocks and timber.  I am going to have to source a suitable piece of timber to replace and splice in the lower metre of that one.  

 

Anyway after that Beth and I went out for a nice meal at some friends.  

 

Jamie

Edited April 18 by jamie92208

[AndyID]

9 minutes ago, jamie92208 said:

Good moaning from the Grey and overcast Charente. I didn't get chance to visit yesterday so have skipped a page.  However we had fun trying to fit new feet to the four  big pieces of timber that support the verandah at the front. These are 6 to 7 inches square and were rotting at the base. The roof is an extension of the house roof and is heavy.   Acrow props were used to prop each one up at a time. Then the base sawn off and a steel foot inserted. Sounds simple.  

 

First discovery, there was a steel spigot sticking up the centre of each so the cut off piece had to be chiseled apart then the spigot cutoff with a cutting disk. 

 

Problem 2 was that there was rot in three of them and in one this extends over 2 feet up.  All good fun.  3 of the pied de poteaux regulaible, (adjustable pillar feet)  are now in place and the fourth is sitting on a temporary pillar of breeze blocks and timber.  I am going to have to source a suitable piece of timber to replace and splice in the lower metre of that one.  

 

Anyway after that Beth and I went out for a nice meal at some friends.  

 

Jamie

 

I have to replace some timbers on our deck and I will be using treated timber. I've been experimenting with splices held together with adhesive. Polyurethane seems to work extremely well. Clamped for 24 hours, no screws necessary.

[Winslow Boy]

41 minutes ago, jamie92208 said:

Good moaning from the Grey and overcast Charente. I didn't get chance to visit yesterday so have skipped a page.  However we had fun trying to fit new feet to the four  big pieces of timber that support the verandah at the front. These are 6 to 7 inches square and were rotting at the base. The roof is an extension of the house roof and is heavy.   Acrow props were used to prop each one up at a time. Then the base sawn off and a steel foot inserted. Sounds simple.  

 

First discovery, there was a steel spigot sticking up the centre of each so the cut off piece had to be chiseled apart then the spigot cutoff with a cutting disk. 

 

Problem 2 was that there was rot in three of them and in one this extends over 2 feet up.  All good fun.  3 of the pied de poteaux regulaible, (adjustable pillar feet)  are now in place and the fourth is sitting on a temporary pillar of breeze blocks and timber.  I am going to have to source a suitable piece of timber to replace and splice in the lower metre of that one.  

 

Anyway after that Beth and I went out for a nice meal at some friends.  

 

Jamie

Good heavens Jamie that sounds like very hard work and I'm just reading it. I hope you had some assistance. You definitely deserved your 'treat' at the end.

[TheQ]

Strangely walking to the MRC AGM a couple of nights ago, I saw someone's front porch was being held up by pied de poteaux, this is as built comparatively recently. However I don't think it is much good, the cup holding the foot of the beam above , had signs of water and soggyness into the wood..

Like this but with an adjustable threaded support rod. Nice water trap..

[Winslow Boy]

I'm assuming that the bottom part is set in concrete? Yes unless the top of the cup is sealed there going to have to repeat the process, unless there are drain holes at the bottom? Even then though I can't see them draining quick enough to stop water building up.

[Happy Hippo]

I think that most problems with timber rotting out is down to three factors.

 

The first is using unsuitable timbers for the task in hand.

 

The second is poor design of what is being made. Or poor design of a supporting device, as shewn by The Q's examples above.

 

Finally we have fresh water.

 

Strangely, you never see a healthy tree, that is soggy and rotten!

 

Yet put a timber post into the ground, and watch it rot.

 

The tree sucks up full of water and yet it survives, the only rot you'll find is where the water supply up to a branch has failed:  The effected limb then dries out and rots!

 

A timber post has already been dried out, either over a few years or in a kiln.  when it goes into the ground, it starts to suck up water once more, expands, which destroys its structural integrity.  It then has no option but to rot as the water it has absorbed has no where to go without branches , leaves and a root system.

 

A wooden boat that is put into seawater can have a long life, but put that same boat into freshwater and there it will start to decay very quickly.  Just look at timber groynes on beaches to see how well they last.  Their rounding off and eventual collapse is down to the erosive action of the sea and the particles of sand the seawater carries.

 

Visit the Welsh Museum of Rural Life at St Fagans (other similar sites are available,) and see centuries old timber framed buildings, still structurally sound.

 

I believe that in these cases the secret is laying the timber frame on a solid stone or concrete foundation so the timbers are kept clear of the ground (earth).

 

The arch I have built rests on a brick wall, the 4 x 4 uprights are not in contact with the ground.  The top of the uprights have caps fitted, so that the end grain is not exposed.

 

If you have no option, but to have open end grain facing the sky, then cut it with a 45 degree taper to allow any water to run off.

 

Ideally it also ought to be sealed as well to extend it's life.

 

To counter these effects we can also use preservatives:  some more effective than others.

 

But that is a wholly different subject.

 

 

 

 

[Dave Hunt]

I was taught as a lad by an uncle who was a carpenter that if splicing a piece into an upright outside timber, always make the join at an angle with the bottom of the join on the outside face. That way water will run freely down the join line and not collect there, thus avoiding rot.

 

Dave

[Dave Hunt]

When we lived in a small village in Lincolnshire, the house across the lane was two Elizabethan cottages knocked into one and was a listed building. The chap who had bought them was in the process of rebuilding them using the original wattle & daub method due rot in the corner timbers. He was replacing one wall at a time by supporting the roof and floors on pole jacks then taking the wall down and rebuilding it. The new corner posts were oak with some sort of preservative treatment although I don’t know what it was, and when I asked him how long he was expecting them to last he said that since the original ones had been in for over four hundred years he didn’t think that he would have much trouble in his lifetime. The only alteration he was making to the original structure was to include a French drain all

round the outside of the house to prevent the ground from retaining water.

 

Dave