The Night Mail

[Tony_S]

2 hours ago, Dave Hunt said:

 

Tony, any chance of more details such as make, size range of tubes it will cut, availability etc?

 

Dave

It is claimed to cut 1/16 to 5/8 inch pipe. I bought it to cut 3/32 “ ID pipe for a slot car chassis.  I am converting a 4 wheel brass chassis to six wheel so needed to make the axle holder. 
The make is K&S. I found it on eBay. Search for K&S tube cutter. Prices vary! I have no idea how long it will last, it doesn’t look as robust as the ones plumbers use. 

[Florence Locomotive Works]

Well bad news everybody.

 

The mogul has sprung a bad leak (overnight) form the inlet t piece underneath the lubricator and behind the exhaust piping.

 

 

At this point, I am far to fed up to continue. I have been struggling along now for 16 months, and i don't really think it's worth it anymore. Dad and I also discussed this, and we came to the conclusion that its a bit like owning a WWII fighter plane. It looks nice when it running and everything is going fine, but it's a fairly massive money pit and is very very hard to repair as it is living outside its design window. Both of my Bassett Lowke engines are like this, the second being my 1912 made LMS ex LNWR George the FIfth which still has a broken spring. I have made an attempt at removing said spring but it is extremely hard to do, and quite dangerous.

 

 

Douglas

[Happy Hippo]

6 hours ago, Florence Locomotive Works said:

Well bad news everybody.

 

The mogul has sprung a bad leak (overnight) form the inlet t piece underneath the lubricator and behind the exhaust piping.

 

 

At this point, I am far to fed up to continue. I have been struggling along now for 16 months, and i don't really think it's worth it anymore. Dad and I also discussed this, and we came to the conclusion that its a bit like owning a WWII fighter plane. It looks nice when it running and everything is going fine, but it's a fairly massive money pit and is very very hard to repair as it is living outside its design window. Both of my Bassett Lowke engines are like this, the second being my 1912 made LMS ex LNWR George the FIfth which still has a broken spring. I have made an attempt at removing said spring but it is extremely hard to do, and quite dangerous.

 

 

Douglas

Douglas,

 

I'm sorry to hear that yet another leak has occurred within the Mogul's pipework.

 

Going back many years, my first few commercial live steam locos were not very successful.  One decided to develop a major leak from the steam feed from the boiler, and the other had a valve gear issue which prevented it from running in reverse.

 

At the time I didn't have the knowledge or equipment to put things right.

 

Years later I know that the best practice is to fit unions to the pipework between the boiler and the cylinders, and that all the joints should be silver soldered.

 

The analogy about the warbird is spot on, although you will get many more miles out of the Mogul once you have the knowledge and a bit more experience at replacing components with those you've made yourself.

 

Pop it into a cabinet to look pretty for now but at least once a day go up to the cabinet and in a menacing tone state:

 

'I'm gonna sort you out one day you **** (insert vulgar word of choice).  Just you wait and see!'

[Dave Hunt]

Commiserations on the Mogul situation, Douglas. I agree with HH's comments above - clean and inhibit the beast then keep it where you can get some pleasure simply from its presence and determine that someday it will be sorted but for now move on to pastures new. At least you have the satisfaction of knowing that you did a good job with it.

 

Dave

[Tony_S]

3 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

 

'I'm gonna sort you out one day you **** (insert vulgar word of choice).  Just you wait and see!'

My mother was always impressed with her sister’s houseplants. Auntie Florrie said it was because she talked to them.  This surprised Mum who asked what do you say, Auntie’s reply “grow or you are in the compost bin”. 

[jamie92208]

2 hours ago, Tony_S said:

My mother was always impressed with her sister’s houseplants. Auntie Florrie said it was because she talked to them.  This surprised Mum who asked what do you say, Auntie’s reply “grow or you are in the compost bin”. 

We've only got 3 eggs from our 4 hens so far today. As I shut the door to Cluckingham Palace I asked them who was the slacker as the pot is always ready.  I am of course aware that they don't lay ever day.

 

Jamie

Edited May 11, 2021 by jamie92208

[simontaylor484]

One of the guys i worked with keeps hens and ducks Bob used to bring some in and sell them. He used to sell some to a guy we called Smurf( not the brightest bulb in the box).

More stories about Smurf are available and all true.

Any hoo in one of the boxes of eggs he put a pot egg in the pot egg was never heard off or seen again. 

[simontaylor484]

I believe Alan Titchmarsh uses the phrase "Grow you bu99er Grow". Originally coming from when he was training as a council gardener in Ilkley

[Happy Hippo]

Work continues on the mud kitchen:  Now renamed the soup kitchen!

 

The top is on and the cut out for the bowl has been made.

 

It's now really a case of fitting hooks and shelves, then some general tidying up, prior to giving it some protection from the elements with stain and fence paint.

 

The weather was it's usual fickle self.  I worked for about an hour outside this morning and  it was only when I got the table saw out to cut a plank up, that the weather then  turned nasty.  Of course as soon as the saw went away, out came the sun.

 

That happened twice this morning and again this afternoon when I ventured out to get some shed paint from the local DIY hanger

 

I went in without a coat, and came out to rain bouncing off the floor.

 

By the time I got home about 6 minutes later it was sunny again.

Edited May 11, 2021 by Happy Hippo

[jamie92208]

14 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

Work continues on the mud kitchen:  Now renamed the soup kitchen!

 

The top is on and the cut out for the bowl has been made.

 

It's now really a case of fitting hooks and shelves, then some general tidying up, prior to giving it some protection from the elements with stain and fence paint.

 

The weather was it's usual fickle self.  I worked for about an hour outside this morning and  it was only when I got the table saw out to cut a plank up, that the weather then  turned nasty.  Of course as soon as the saw went away, out came the sun.

 

That happened twice this morning and again this afternoon when I ventured out to get some shed paint from the local DIY hanger

 

I went in without a coat, and came out to rain bouncing off the floor.

 

By the time I got home about 6 minutes later it was sunny again.

And there was little ole me thinking that Hippos liked rain and mud.

 

Jamie

[Happy Hippo]

1 minute ago, jamie92208 said:

And there was little ole me thinking that Hippos liked rain and mud.

 

Jamie

I do, but it's not really edible. 

 

I have been enjoying some Christmas cake that I swopped for some M6 nuts, bolts and washers yesterday afternoon.

 

The rain does not bother me, but it does have an adverse effect on power tools and ferrous objects which do not take to heart the liquid sprinklings.

[Winslow Boy]

9 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

I do, but it's not really edible. 

 

I have been enjoying some Christmas cake that I swopped for some M6 nuts, bolts and washers yesterday afternoon.

 

The rain does not bother me, but it does have an adverse effect on power tools and ferrous objects which do not take to heart the liquid sprinklings.

 

Well I never thought I'd have to say this about you HH. 

 

A bad workman always blames his tools.

 

I am truly shocked to my very core. 

[Dave Hunt]

The good news today is that Dad's endoscopy showed nothing sinister and the consultant put his eating problems down to a simple matter of age related diminished gastric efficiency. We now await the response from the medics, therapists etc. as to the way forward.

 

A word of warning to HH though. Christmas cake is a rotten substitute for nuts, bolts and washers - the tensile strength leaves something to be desired and it makes everything sticky.

 

Dave

[Happy Hippo]

46 minutes ago, Dave Hunt said:

 

 

A word of warning to HH though. Christmas cake is a rotten substitute for nuts, bolts and washers - the tensile strength leaves something to be desired and it makes everything sticky.

 

Dave

Thank you for the sage advice which is much appreciated

 

Fortunately I was not using the cake for plate work, merely internal reinforcing.

 

 

[Florence Locomotive Works]

Evening all,

 

I did something I did not expect to do today. I removed a 109 year old spring from a clockwork train. I simply got a burst of engineering mojo, went into the garage, put some heavy duty gloves on and began doing battle with it. The photos  show the end result.

 

 

 

Douglas

Edited May 12, 2021 by Florence Locomotive Works

[simontaylor484]

Dont let it wind you up Douglas.

 

Hope you got some cheese with the xmas cake HH

[jamie92208]

Well done Douglas, the Gauge 0 Guild's first task, after it was founded, was to source new springs for clockwork locos.  Good luck Douglas.

Looking at it it seems to have snapped at the ends. It might be possible to do a little bit of heat treatment and bend new ends from the spring.

Jamie

Edited May 12, 2021 by jamie92208

[Dave Hunt]

Something that springs to mind (sorry about that) - Is there such a thing as a Bassett Lowke society or similar that Douglas could use to try to acquire a new spring for the George V?

 

Dave

[Dave Hunt]

8 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

Thank you for the sage advice which is much appreciated

 

Fortunately I was not using the cake for plate work, merely internal reinforcing.

 

 

 

Jill always insists on me using a plate when eating cake so that I don't leave crumbs on the carpet.

 

Dave

[Stubby47]

2 minutes ago, Dave Hunt said:

 

Jill always insists on me using a plate when eating cake so that I don't leave crumbs on the carpet.

 

Dave

 

You leave crumbs ?!?

[Happy Hippo]

I've hung out the washing and now keeping a weather eye towards the sky:  You know the drill... Hang it out in brilliant sunshine and as soon as the last peg goes on, in roll the clouds.

 

I get my second Covid jab this afternoon

[Dave Hunt]

As the Christopher Isherwood poem goes:

 

The common cormorant (or sh*g)

Lays eggs inside a paper bag

You follow the idea, no doubt,

It's to keep the lightning out

 

But what these unobservant birds

Have never thought of, is that herds

Of wandering bears might come with buns

And steal the bags to hold the crumbs

 

And I presume that the possibility of herds of wandering TNM based bears or pachyderms with cake would also apply? Hence the need to be careful not to leave crumbs in order to protect cormorants.

 

Dave

[Happy Hippo]

A few years back we took a holiday in Mevagissey.

 

We decided that a nice day out would be to take the ferry to Fowey. (it's not a pop across a river but about 35-40 minutes across the bay.)

 

During the amble around the shops, Nyda spotted a very nice  piece of art work of a cormorant in one of the upmarket (expensive)  art gallery/shops that litter the streets in Fowey.

 

'Graculus' was duly purchased (and was put aside for collection before we returned to Mevagissey) and we went off to enjoy Pasties and Cider at a pub overlooking the estuary.

 

Having remembered to collect the fine art we returned to the ferry and on boarding were talking to the ferry's master.

 

The cormorant who was peeping out of his bag and looking over my shoulder became the centre of attention.

 

In a very loud voice, the skipper stated, to the ferry in general:

 

This bloke has had to go all the way from Mevagissey to Fowey to get a sh*g!

Edited May 12, 2021 by Happy Hippo

[PhilJ W]

2 hours ago, Dave Hunt said:

 

Jill always insists on me using a plate when eating cake so that I don't leave crumbs on the carpet.

 

Dave

 

2 hours ago, Stubby47 said:

 

You leave crumbs ?!?

If you have a dog, any dropped foodstuffs will often not even reach the floor.

[chrisf]

2 hours ago, Dave Hunt said:

As the Christopher Isherwood poem goes:

 

The common cormorant (or sh*g)

Lays eggs inside a paper bag

You follow the idea, no doubt,

It's to keep the lightning out

 

But what these unobservant birds

Have never thought of, is that herds

Of wandering bears might come with buns

And steal the bags to hold the crumbs

 

And I presume that the possibility of herds of wandering TNM based bears or pachyderms with cake would also apply? Hence the need to be careful not to leave crumbs in order to protect cormorants.

 

Dave

 

I know that poem!  It's in the wonderful anthology Verse and Worse, which was read to me and other classmates by our form master around 1959-60.  That Christopher Isherwood wrote it comes as a complete surprise though: I always thought it was Hilaire Belloc.  You live and learn.

 

Chris