The Night Mail

[Dave Hunt]

Funny you should mention that HH, we had a very similar night. Maybe something to do with the phase of the moon coupled with low atmospheric pressure and pheromones from unattended cake in the air.

 

Dave

[Compound2632]

1 hour ago, Happy Hippo said:

I was able to observe, first hand, cake evaporation.

 

Cake does not evaporate. It is transferred from one store to another. Remember, too, that the principle of conservation of mass applies.

[Happy Hippo]

4 minutes ago, Compound2632 said:

 

Cake does not evaporate. It is transferred from one store to another. Remember, too, that the principle of conservation of mass applies.

No, it definitely evaporated and then broke up whilst in the gaseous state.

 

When it had condensed again, all we could find was a trail of crumbs on the floor.

[Compound2632]

9 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

No, it definitely evaporated and then broke up whilst in the gaseous state.

 

When it had condensed again, all we could find was a trail of crumbs on the floor.

 

Taking into account the girth of your avatar, I remain unconvinced that cake simply disappears into thin air. That's certainly not my experience...

 

I fear you were either dreaming or, more likely, in an hallucinatory state brought on by not walking up the Wrekin on Boxing Day.

Edited December 28, 2020 by Compound2632

[Oldddudders]

5 minutes ago, Compound2632 said:

I fear you were either dreaming or, more likely, in an hallucinatory state brought on by not walking up the Wrekin on Boxing Day.

But surely an accomplished fantasist or procrastinator would be wandering "all round the Wrekin"?

[rockershovel]

Hard frost this morning. Not the first, but definitely the hardest, so we have had the nearest to a “white Christmas” as we usually get 

[PhilJ W]

The winter isn't over yet.

 

[rockershovel]

17 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

I recall one of the railway greats in the 1920's had something like a110v garden line.

 

Apparently the cats did not use the track bed as either a right of way, nor a toilet, having been made part of the circuit when power was switched on.

 

110v AC is quite widely used for power tools in U.K., as well as domestic power supplies in other countries. It’s easier to handle than 220-240v and does not normally give lethal shocks to humans (or cats, for that matter) although a 110v shock isn’t pleasant. 

 

Marklin were certainly producing 110v AC models, in Gauge 1 as early as 1904, which were sold under the Basset Lowke name in U.K. 

 

Hornby introduced 110v AC O Scale models in 1925, but these weren’t satisfactory and after experimenting with 4v and 6v systems, had developed the 20v AC system for O Gauge by the early 1930s. After the Wall Street Crash they sold their US operation to the Gilbert company (American Flyer) although Lionel were already using 20v AC quite independently of Hornby. 

Edited December 28, 2020 by rockershovel

[rockershovel]

16 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

The winter isn't over yet.

 

 

True, but Xmas Day has passed. 

[Oldddudders]

27 minutes ago, rockershovel said:

 

True, but Xmas Day has passed. 

February is regarded by many as the bleakest month. My late father certainly hated changing trains and standing on the lofty platform at Epsom on his way home in that month. 

[polybear]

1 hour ago, Happy Hippo said:

No, it definitely evaporated and then broke up whilst in the gaseous state.

 

When it had condensed again, all we could find was a trail of crumbs on the floor.

 

Obviously the handiwork of an amateur Cake Monster.  The professionals among us leaves absolutely no trace, apart from perhaps the odd smear across the plate resulting from that final lick to ensure every last trace has been recovered.

[Tony_S]

1 hour ago, Happy Hippo said:

No, it definitely evaporated and then broke up whilst in the gaseous state

Going from a solid state directly to gaseous is called sublimation. I suspect further investigation of pressure, temperature and cake would be beneficial to science. 

[bbishop]

A list of those who gave their life for science .....

 

Madame Curie - radiation sickness

 

Schrödinger's cat -asphyxiation

 

The Happy Hippo - poisoned by sublimating cake .

 

Bill

[Compound2632]

22 minutes ago, bbishop said:

Schrödinger's cat

 

No cats were harmed - it's a thought experiment. The practical difficulty of getting the cat in the box has always defeated attempts at a realisation.

[Tony_S]

59 minutes ago, Compound2632 said:

cat in the box

I thought cats are known for sitting in boxes you don’t want them to. 

[rockershovel]

2 hours ago, Oldddudders said:

February is regarded by many as the bleakest month. My late father certainly hated changing trains and standing on the lofty platform at Epsom on his way home in that month. 

 

Agreed; but whatever comes our way in February, it won’t include a “white Christmas” 

[rockershovel]

1 hour ago, Compound2632 said:

 

No cats were harmed - it's a thought experiment. The practical difficulty of getting the cat in the box has always defeated attempts at a realisation.

 

You are overlooking Pratchett’s Corollary; that whatever else might be inferred about the eponymous feline, it can be assumed with certainty that it will be extremely unhappy about the situation. 

[Compound2632]

36 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

I thought cats are known for sitting in boxes you don’t want them to. 

 

Precisely. If you want the cat to sit in the box, it won't - at least not while you're looking. I believe this is a manifestation of Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle and further evidence that cats exist in macroscopic quantum states. 

[Winslow Boy]

4 minutes ago, Compound2632 said:

 

Precisely. If you want the cat to sit in the box, it won't - at least not while you're looking. I believe this is a manifestation of Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle and further evidence that cats exist in macroscopic quantum states. 

No it just means that unlike dogs cats are awkward so and so's and are only in it for whatever benefits them. There was a reason the ancient Egyptians used to pray to them.

[tomparryharry]

2 minutes ago, Winslow Boy said:

No it just means that unlike dogs cats are awkward so and so's and are only in it for whatever benefits them. There was a reason the ancient Egyptians used to pray to them.

 History has repeated itself down the ages.  Ancient Assyrians & Egyptians used to pray to cats. Not for any religious association....

 

... So they wouldn't piddle on the tapestries...

[Winslow Boy]

5 minutes ago, tomparryharry said:

 History has repeated itself down the ages.  Ancient Assyrians & Egyptians used to pray to cats. Not for any religious association....

 

... So they wouldn't piddle on the tapestries...

Something tells me that cats would be quite happy if we prayed to them.

[Happy Hippo]

This afternoon I have learned why a really good cake is sublime.

[Florence Locomotive Works]

This evening I cooked dinner, which was black pudding hash, from James May’s book o’ cookery. Except I omitted the black pudding, as apparently it’s banned in the USA, meaning what I had at Kilkenny’s ye olde pub wasn’t black pudding... (sausage was used instead on our dinner)

 

I also mended the broken cowcatcher on my Hudson, with a decent amount of Balsa wood and a bit of styrene. 
 

Above: Before

Above: Still before. 

Above: The finished article, unfortunately with one less strut on each side due to my not being a cut Balsa that thin. 
 

Douglas

Edited December 29, 2020 by Florence Locomotive Works

[polybear]

3 hours ago, Florence Locomotive Works said:

Except I omitted the black pudding, as apparently it’s banned in the USA.......

 

 

And quite right too.....

Incoming.....

[PhilJ W]

Why would black pudding be banned?