The Night Mail

[Compound2632]

14 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

I've no idea what these places are, can someone put names to them please.

 

Check out this website: http://www.greatwestern.org.uk/names.htm

[pH]

49 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

I've no idea what these places are, can someone put names to them please.

They’re all castles. The numbers with each photo are the numbers of the GWR ‘Castle’ class locos named after them.

 

(Edit - apologies to Stephen. I really should have learned by now to read to the end of a topic before replying! Also, 3021 was a Dean Single.)

Edited September 3, 2021 by pH

[Compound2632]

11 minutes ago, pH said:

3021 was a Dean Single.

 

A notorious one - built, as the first thirty were, as a 2-2-2, it broke its leading axle whilst working an express train in Box tunnel, leading to its replacement by a leading bogie, without which the engines could not have ranked as the eighth most handsome of British singles.

[Winslow Boy]

2 hours ago, Dave Hunt said:

I believe the answer to that is no. Same for hang gliding.

 

Dave 

 

Dear Sir

 

I am writing to you in the hope that you will be able to correct a grave erroneous misconception that namely hippos cannot hang glide. On what evidence is scullerous statement supported. Has extensive testing been done. Have the results been subjected to peer review. No it has note. This is simply the sort of unthinking and discriminatory comments that have caused discrimination against

  Hippos that has held them back and stopped them from achieving there full potential.

 

I demand forthwith satisfaction Sir.

 

Yours H D upOnes A-Arse

[Dave Hunt]

1 hour ago, Compound2632 said:

 

A notorious one - built, as the first thirty were, as a 2-2-2, it broke its leading axle whilst working an express train in Box tunnel, leading to its replacement by a leading bogie, without which the engines could not have ranked as the eighth most handsome of British singles.

 

No. 1 - Kirtley 2-2-2 No. 33 as rebuilt under Johnson.

No. 2 - Johnson 115 Class 4-2-2

No. 3 - Johnson 'Princess of Wales' Class 4-2-2

 

What were the other four?

 

Dave

[PhilJ W]

2 hours ago, Compound2632 said:

 

Check out this website: http://www.greatwestern.org.uk/names.htm

It would help if the list was numeric and not alphabetical as the only identification was the locomotive numbers. It would be even more helpful if the names were put on the original post as well as the numbers. 

Edited September 3, 2021 by PhilJ W

[Dave Hunt]

4 minutes ago, Winslow Boy said:

 

Dear Sir

 

I am writing to you in the hope that you will be able to correct a grave erroneous misconception that namely hippos cannot hang glide. On what evidence is scullerous statement supported. Has extensive testing been done. Have the results been subjected to peer review. No it has note. This is simply the sort of unthinking and discriminatory comments that have caused discrimination against

  Hippos that has held them back and stopped them from achieving there full potential.

 

I demand forthwith satisfaction Sir.

 

Yours H D upOnes A-Arse

 

Dear Mr. Arse,

 

At first reading I was inclined to dismiss out of hand your accusation of scurrilous statement and discriminatory comment mongering but on reflection I decided first to do some fact checking and found that your objection to my earlier post has some merit. My search has revealed that I was indeed wrong to deny hippos the ability to hang glide, although their achievements in that pursuit are somewhat limited. It turns out that the world speed record for a hang glider is held by a certain Major H. Hippo during a flight from the top of the cliffs of Mojer to a landing directly below the take off point a matter of a few seconds later. I hope that this admission of fault on my part will satisfy your objections and negate the need for 'satisfaction'. If not, then as the challenged party my choice of weapon is the McDonnell F4J, K or M.

 

I await communication from you appointed second.

 

D. Hunt

[SM42]

6 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

 

The trip down was not too bad if you discount the road works at each end of the Kidderminster ring road 

 

The ends of the ring road is not a joke

 

There are indeed ends to the ring.

 

Started in 1939 and not yet finished. 

They tried once. Late 80s. Bought the houses to make way and several years later gave up and sold them again 

 

Can't wait for the junction worsening work to finish at the Worcester end.

 

Two month's work, taking 12.

 

The north end of New St Station was ripped up and renewed within 2 weeks and it takes em 12 months put up some traffic lights

 

Andy

Exasperated 

[pH]

54 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

It would be even more helpful if the names were put on the original post as well as the numbers. 

A bit of whimsy, and an encouragement to do a little original research perhaps?

[AndyID]

I went to the doctor today. He said,

"Don't eat anything fatty."

"Oh, you mean like bacon and hamburgers?"

"No Fatty, don't eat anything."

[Florence Locomotive Works]

Evening all,

 

I spent a very enjoyable two hours this evening after dinner making the smokebox door for the engine, it still needs some work, and a dart.

 

The photo is a bit distorted.

 

 

Douglas

[polybear]

7 hours ago, Winslow Boy said:

This is simply the sort of unthinking and discriminatory comments that have caused discrimination against  Hippos that has held them back and stopped them from achieving there full potential.

 

Bear predicts this could be the start of a whole new protest movement, complete with "HLM" (Hippo Lives Matter) T-Shirts.  Police may have a little trouble dispersing the street protests in London - and the subsequent clean-up job could be, er, "challenging"....

[PhilJ W]

8 hours ago, pH said:

A bit of whimsy, and an encouragement to do a little original research perhaps?

That was not the point I was making. I asked for the names and a long alphabetical list was provided. Not very helpful when looking for a name. I have looked up the names now on the internet.

[Compound2632]

11 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

That was not the point I was making. I asked for the names and a long alphabetical list was provided. Not very helpful when looking for a name. I have looked up the names now on the internet.

 

As @pH says, it was intended as a little bit of light entertainment in pub quiz vein; I'm sorry it turned into a source of frustration for you.

[Northroader]

10 hours ago, Dave Hunt said:

 

No. 1 - Kirtley 2-2-2 No. 33 as rebuilt under Johnson.

No. 2 - Johnson 115 Class 4-2-2

No. 3 - Johnson 'Princess of Wales' Class 4-2-2

 

What were the other four?

 

Dave

 

I reckon any single driver is going to be highly good looking, without worrying about which partickler company had it, so here’s six examples, all differing designs, builders and companies, without worrying about bogie stuff neither.

g

[Tony_S]

9 hours ago, pH said:

A bit of whimsy, and an encouragement to do a little original research perhaps?

I quite enjoyed the encouragement. Though without the “ number” clues I would have struggled.

[bbishop]

11 hours ago, Dave Hunt said:

 

No. 1 - Kirtley 2-2-2 No. 33 as rebuilt under Johnson.

No. 2 - Johnson 115 Class 4-2-2

No. 3 - Johnson 'Princess of Wales' Class 4-2-2

 

What were the other four?

 

Dave

 

Absolute b0110cks.  Number 1 must be the Drummond unsuperheated T9.  Not only aesthetically beautiful but perfectly visually balanced - the leading coupled wheels are exactly below the dome and the chimney is above the mid point of the bogie.  Bill

[Oldddudders]

5 minutes ago, bbishop said:

Absolute b0110cks.   

Please don't mince your words, Bill. Clear, unambiguous writing is what this thread needs.

 

As far as parachuting hippos is concerned, do I not recall once hearing that the human body, dropped/falling from however many  thousand feet, cannot exceed a velocity of more than about 160 mph? Is there similar - really useful - data for hippos? We might imagine that even if the velocity were lower, the resulting crater might be a little larger/deeper? 

[bbishop]

Premature praise for the NHS.  I have now received a letter, advising that the walk in (or hop in) x-ray service has been suspended due to social distancing, and that appointments should be booked.  Presumably a six month delay will be implemented to allow the patient the opportunity to expire thus relieving pressure on the department.

A good thing that I hopped into an empty department on Wednesday.  I am sooooo tempted to ring up!  

Bill

[Happy Hippo]

45 minutes ago, bbishop said:

 

Absolute b0110cks.  Number 1 must be the Drummond unsuperheated T9.  Not only aesthetically beautiful but perfectly visually balanced - the leading coupled wheels are exactly below the dome and the chimney is above the mid point of the bogie.  Bill

But only if fitted to an 8 wheeled water cart.

 

In contrast, the GWR 4-4-0 locos did not follow the finer aesthetic lines of their LNWR counterparts, although I will admit to a soft spot for the smaller 'Bird' class.  I've always fancied a model of 'Jackdaw' which would have looked fantastic in BR(W) unlined black; a livery it never lived to see.

 

Ian is right about falling objects.  They can only accelerate indefinitely at 10m a second squared in a vacuum.  Acceleration when falling through the air ceases when the frictional resistance is sufficient to prevent further acceleration. vertically we used to estimate it to be around 120mph, although by 'tracking' (curving the body into an aerofoil shape) you can increase your speed to about 160-180 mph.  This is not vertical speed, but a combination of vertical and horizontal speed.

 

When working relatively (close) with another jumper(s), at a given height  one has to turn away from each other and then track for 5 seconds.  This gives the required separation between jumpers when the canopies open.

Edited September 4, 2021 by Happy Hippo

[Tony_S]

40 minutes ago, Oldddudders said:

As far as parachuting hippos is concerned, do I not recall once hearing that the human body, dropped/falling from however many  thousand feet, cannot exceed a velocity of more than about 160 mph? Is there similar - really useful - data for hippos? We might imagine that even if the velocity were lower, the resulting crater might be a little larger/deeper? 

Hope this helps
 

Quote

 

The topic is summarised nicely by J.B.S. Haldane in his essay (1926) On Being the Right Size

You can drop a mouse down a thousand-yard mine shaft; and, on arriving at the bottom, it gets a slight shock and walks away, provided that the ground is fairly soft. A rat is killed, a man is broken, a horse splashes.

 

 

[Compound2632]

15 hours ago, Dave Hunt said:

 

No. 1 - Kirtley 2-2-2 No. 33 as rebuilt under Johnson.

No. 2 - Johnson 115 Class 4-2-2

No. 3 - Johnson 'Princess of Wales' Class 4-2-2

 

What were the other four?

 

Dave

 

Well, to be honest, I was lumping all the Johnson bogie singles together, though I would give the palm to the piston-vale engines whilst admitting that one might consider the slide valve engines prettier. The 'Princes of Wales' Class to my mind lose it a bit - the dome is in a less elegant position, over, rather than in front of, the drivers and the bogie tender really doesn't work - it needs the bigger boiler of a Belpaire or Compound for balance. My list, in no very particular order after no. 1, is:

1. Johnson 4-2-2s up to the 115 Class
2. Kirtley 30 Class 2-2-2 as rebuilt by Johnson
3. Stroudley D1 2-2-2 (a sort of 'best in class' for the various Stroudley-inspired Drummond NBR singles)
4. Nielson 4-2-2 No. 123 (the best single Drummond didn't build!)
5. T.W. Worsdell compound 4-2-2 (perhaps I more than J, the steam chests above the running plate spoil the outline a bit)
6. Ramsbottom / Webb 'Lady of the Lake'
7. Beyer, Peacock 4-2-2s Nos 88 & 89 of the GNR (I)

Compared to any of the above, the 'Achilles' class have some slightly fussy features that to my (probably heretical) mind detract from its claim to elegance - the raised firebox, over-large dome positioned, as with the 'Princess of Wales' class, on the second ring of a two-ring boiler, the outside-framed bogie (though I think that was forced by the design of the suspension needing to clear the cylinders) and step in the valence. We're discussing looks here; the 'Achilles' singles were certainly goers.

 

There were some real shockers of singles about: the Great Eastern contributes a couple of designs: Class P43 of 1898, which I did read were designed by one of Holden's premium apprentices as a passing-out piece - the 7 ft drivers look weedy and the cab is hideous, not at all up to Holden's usual Wordsellesque cleanness of line, as exemplified by his Class D27 2-2-2s; and the Adams / Bromley 245 Class - not so bad at the front but the cab is a sort of shed perched over the rear wheels as an afterthought. Even the Sinclair singles as rebuilt by Johnson look as if they'd be happier on the Mississippi. 

 

I'm probably causing scandal by not including any of Patrick Stirling's singles in my top eight - 2-2-2s or outside or inside cylindered 4-2-2s. The thing I find displeasing to the eye about his 2-2-2s (and 2-4-0s) is the positioning of the leading axle under the cylinders, rather than just behind (I have the same issue with Dean's 'Stella' 2-4-0s). Somehow the celebrated No. 1 Class 4-2-2s don't satisfy my eye - perhaps it's the lack of dome; the A1 and Ivatt A4 inside-cylindered 4-2-2s I find a bit lumbering - if you want a really big, brutalist, single, I'd go for Pollitt's Belpaire-boiled Class 13 - pretty much the same dimensions as a 'Princess of Wales' but no concessions to 19th-century elegance. Not handsome, but striking!

 

@bbishop, missing the information that it was singles specifically that were under discussion, mentioned Drummond's T9 - Drummond was of course the absolute master of the 4-4-0, though for myself I'd rate his earliest efforts - the NBR 476 'Abbotsford' Class - as his best-looking. Which takes me back to the other Ayrshire family, the Stirlings. I've found it curious that Patrick was such an advocate of singles, dismissing a coupled engine as being "like a laddie running wi' his breeks doon", whereas younger brother James was a master of the 4-4-0 - his 6 Class, built for working the Scotch expresses off the Midland, were pioneers of the type and of course his F Class were the backbone of the SER's passenger fleet. 

 

Pretty well all the classes I've considered are "second generation" singles - post-Charles Beyer designs from the years when the steam locomotive had grown to adulthood. If one was to look earlier, I'd have to vote for David Joy's 'Jenny Lind' - if you're a disciple of the "form follows function" school of aesthetics, that's the machine for you. Looks right, is right - or rather, looks right because it is right.

Edited September 4, 2021 by Compound2632
odd bits of punctuation

[Compound2632]

43 minutes ago, Oldddudders said:

As far as parachuting hippos is concerned, do I not recall once hearing that the human body, dropped/falling from however many  thousand feet, cannot exceed a velocity of more than about 160 mph? Is there similar - really useful - data for hippos? We might imagine that even if the velocity were lower, the resulting crater might be a little larger/deeper? 

 

The terminal velocity of a falling hippo is probably somewhat greater, owing to the smaller surface area-to-volume ratio and streamlined form. However, a hippochute would surely be designed to give a secondary terminal velocity that would provide a safe landing (ideally in mud) so the impact crater should be insignificant. I wouldn't like to be a sheep in the way, though.

 

Which reminds me of a holiday observation: Herefordshire sheep don't bleat, unlike their vocal Cumbrian cousins.

[PhilJ W]

I Googled skydiving and found this.

https://www.chattanoogaskydivingcompany.com/blog/the-truth-about-naked-skydiving/

There was also a film of a young lady skydiving naked as well but I won't put it on here for obvious reasons. 

[Oldddudders]

31 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

I Googled skydiving and found this.

https://www.chattanoogaskydivingcompany.com/blog/the-truth-about-naked-skydiving/

There was also a film of a young lady skydiving naked as well but I won't put it on here for obvious reasons. 

I understood that naked lady skydivers always wear knicks because it stops that whistling noise.....