The Night Mail

[Dave Hunt]

In Scotland?

 

Dave

[Compound2632]

2 minutes ago, Dave Hunt said:

In Scotland?

 

Like the Midland, a partner in the joint ownership of the Portpatrick & Wigtownshire. 

[New Haven Neil]

2 hours ago, AndyID said:

 

Induction motors have a lot in common with transformers. An alternating current in a primary winding (or windings if three-phase) induces current in the secondary. That creates an opposing force that makes the rotor turn or, in the case of a linear motor, repels the primary from a static secondary.

 

In linear motors the secondary it typically an aluminium plate. There is no magnetic repulsion or attraction involved.

 

Your impulse thingy will run on DC which means it isn't an induction machine. I think it operates by kicking the vehicle along by periodic magnetic attraction.

 

More on linear induction motors here:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linear_induction_motor

 

 

 

i once went to a lecture by Eric Laithwaite at BAYS (British Association of Young Scientists) when i was a teen, he was highly entertaining and interesting.  It wasn't all about linear motors, but he did have his hobby horse to promote!

[Dave Hunt]

12 minutes ago, Compound2632 said:

 

Like the Midland, a partner in the joint ownership of the Portpatrick & Wigtownshire. 

 

Dammit, having written about the Midland's Irish Sea interests I should have known that! My apologies.

 

Now for the wriggling out attempt; following the partition of Ireland in 1922 my statement stands?

 

Dave

[Florence Locomotive Works]

Afternoon all,

 

Unfortunately I stand defeated at the hands of my own creation. 
 

Without going into to much detail, Brunel is now a project for another day. Although it is not destroyed if anybody thought that.

 

So now I stand at a crossroads with four roads I could take:

 

1. Drag the mogul off it’s shelf and sort the poor thing out once and for all. (The hippo slaps his head in despair) 

 

2. Buy a nice Bachman pre grouping loco that won’t give me problems and build a small layout. (Either a GCR D11 or LBSCR H1)

 

3. Buy some sort of rtr coarse scale engine. (Very expensive but I have the rolling stock)

 

4. construct a gauge 1 GWR saint from scratch. This time it would be made properly and could be taken with me to college and run on club tracks. (Dad was very confused at this option)

Thoughts?

 

 

Douglas

 

[Happy Hippo]

10 minutes ago, Dave Hunt said:

 

Dammit, having written about the Midland's Irish Sea interests I should have known that! My apologies.

 

Now for the wriggling out attempt; following the partition of Ireland in 1922 my statement stands?

 

Dave

Hey Jamie, look at this!

 

A slow worm in a bucket.

[Tony_S]

3 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

Yes, that German DCC is disgusting!

There had a been a red engine trundling up and down some track when testing earlier but I didn’t want to upset anyone with a photo. . A red Welsh engine may have been just too exciting for some. 

[Compound2632]

17 minutes ago, Dave Hunt said:

Now for the wriggling out attempt; following the partition of Ireland in 1922 my statement stands?

 

The Dundalk Newry & Greenore straddled the border; it remained LNWR property and passed to the LMS but because of the geography wasn't integrated with the Northern Counties Committee. However, it wasn't until 1933 that operation was handed over to the Great Northern. 

 

The B&NCR lines - the NCC - was entirely within Northern Ireland but the County Donegal straddled the border, so that was another line partly within Eire that the LMS had a stake in, through the NCC's joint ownership with the Great Northern.

 

What is perhaps more interesting and less obvious is what happened to the British railway companies' financial interests in lines that were to become constituents of the Great Southern - whether through loans or share ownership. I don't know. Were they bought out in 1925 or not until full nationalisation in 1945? The D&SER had sought amalgamation with the Great Northern to retain independence.

Edited January 17, 2022 by Compound2632

[Happy Hippo]

1 minute ago, Florence Locomotive Works said:

Afternoon all,

 

Unfortunately I stand defeated at the hands of my own creation. 
 

Without going into to much detail, Brunel is now a project for another day. Although it is not destroyed if anybody thought that.

 

So now I stand at a crossroads with four roads I could take:

 

1. Drag the mogul off it’s shelf and sort the poor thing out once and for all. (The hippo slaps his head in despair) 

 

2. Buy a nice Bachman pre grouping loco that won’t give me problems and build a small layout. (Either a GCR D11 or LBSCR H1)

 

3. Buy some sort of rtr coarse scale engine. (Very expensive but I have the rolling stock)

 

4. construct a gauge 1 GWR saint from scratch. This time it would be made properly and could be taken with me to college and run on club tracks. (Dad was very confused at this option)

Thoughts?

 

 

Douglas

 

1.  Now you have a lathe, sorting out the Mogul would be a distinct possibility.  But it would have to be a full on approach to sorting it out.

 

2.  What ever happened to your 4 mm exploits based upon Portmadoc (old spelling).  Surely it would be better to concentrate your small scale efforts on this project.  A Dean Goods is a nice pre grouping engine.

 

3.   When you refer to coarse scale are you referring to 'coarse' scale 7 mm stuff as championed by Nearholmer, or vintage tinplate?  There is a big difference.

 

4.  Best of luck with a 29xx.  Honestly, to build one properly will take your engineering to a whole new (much higher) level.  It will take you a considerable amount of time and effort, which with your other interests, you may find quite difficult.  You will also need a race track with curves of a minimum of 10 feet radius.  Then of course, there would be the rolling stock to tack behind it all.  Better to cut your teeth on one of the G1MRA project locos:  The Midland 4F is a prime example (he hissed through his gritted teeth).  There is a whole book dedicated to it, which helps... The book also helps (as do the others in the series) to understand what is going on and why it is done that particular way.

 

 

[pH]

58 minutes ago, Compound2632 said:

 

Like the Midland, a partner in the joint ownership of the Portpatrick & Wigtownshire. 

The Midland was also a partner in the Forth Bridge Railway Company, which remained a separate company until Nationalisation. So the LMS had a 30% share in the Forth Bridge.

[Florence Locomotive Works]

15 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

1.  Now you have a lathe, sorting out the Mogul would be a distinct possibility.  But it would have to be a full on approach to sorting it out.

 

2.  What ever happened to your 4 mm exploits based upon Portmadoc (old spelling).  Surely it would be better to concentrate your small scale efforts on this project.  A Dean Goods is a nice pre grouping engine.

 

3.   When you refer to coarse scale are you referring to 'coarse' scale 7 mm stuff as championed by Nearholmer, or vintage tinplate?  There is a big difference.

 

4.  Best of luck with a 29xx.  Honestly, to build one properly will take your engineering to a whole new (much higher) level.  It will take you a considerable amount of time and effort, which with your other interests, you may find quite difficult.  You will also need a race track with curves of a minimum of 10 feet radius.  Then of course, there would be the rolling stock to tack behind it all.  Better to cut your teeth on one of the G1MRA project locos:  The Midland 4F is a prime example (he hissed through his gritted teeth).  There is a whole book dedicated to it, which helps... The book also helps (as do the others in the series) to understand what is going on and why it is done that particular way.

 

 

1. I’ve just been on eBay and I’ve seen moguls reaching $1500 so I think it’s better to be left as is, which is still in running (kind of) condition.

 

2. Pwllheli is my dads layout and we have been stalling on progress as his main hobby is classic cars. However we have been systematically cleansing eBay of any BR coaches that come up for sale in the USA. A Dapol manor also got ordered.

 
Another possible thing in 4mm would be resurrecting my plan for a varnished wooden board with an inglenook layout layer over it as I don’t particularly like doing scenic work. This would be suitable for the H1. 
 

3. The nearholmer kind. I looked and it is certainly to expensive.

 

4. I’ve looked at both doing a Project or a Dee. Unsure if it would be a good idea as college is in 2 years.

 

 

[Compound2632]

2 minutes ago, pH said:

The Midland was also a partner in the Forth Bridge Railway Company, which remained a separate company until Nationalisation. So the LMS had a 30% share in the Forth Bridge.

 

Indeed, the Midland's ambitions in Scotland were bigger than the LNWR's; with Sir Matthew Thompson as Chairman of both the Midland an GSWR amalgamation was attempted in the 1890s but rejected by Parliament; there was some fishing for the NBR too. Thompson was also Chair of the Forth Bridge Company. 

 

On the other hand, the LNWR was the largest English company in Wales*.

 

*The Great Western being, of course, the largest Welsh company in England.

[Dave Hunt]

There was more than one attempt by the Midland to amalgamate with the G&SWR (or, in the Midland's usual style, take it over by stealth) and I have often written that Derby saw that as the first step in becoming the largest player in Scotland. It's traffic arrangements with the NBR were, I am convinced, a prelude to beginning another amalgamation attempt pending the G&SWR falling into its net and the only reason I can see for its huge investment in the Forth bridge was to further its ambitions once that had happened. I'm quite sure that the denizens of the Derby boardroom in the late 1870s/early 1880s on saw themselves as laying the ground for the London, Midland, Scottish and Irish Railway, an ambition that was only dashed when the Sou'west finally escaped their clutches following the death of Sir Matthew Thompson.

 

Dave

[br2975]

10 hours ago, jamie92208 said:

Or Brafferton Arbour in Bradford

Yes we had on ex marine boxer who 'liked' dealing with travellers. They didn't like him.  He also discovered that you can move a large caravan, with it's jacks down, along a cobbled street by towing it with a mk 2 transit van using a bit of chain round the back step.  This experiment was done at 03.30.  The caravan dwellers did move on though.

 

Jamie

Simple methods to dealing with 'travellers' - also known as 'practical policing'

.

(i)

Many moons ago several "vardas" (caravans) were set up alongside Ferry Road, Grangetown, Cardiff beneath a railway bridge on the former Ferry Road Branch. The usual mayhem, mischief and detritus came as well. Positive police action was called for, but court orders took time.

Solution:- the occupants of the local panda cars and van took it in turns, every half hour  on nights, to scurry along the railway line, scoop up handfuls of ballast and rain it down on the roofs of the caravans.

Result:- by lunchtime the following day, only the litter remained.

.

(ii)

Again, in the 'Strangetown' area of Cardiff several 'vardas' appeared overnight on a plot of land where a German supermarket and restaurant now stand. There was but one way in, and one way out. 

Solution:- at 9:00am whilst the male occupants of the site were away earning a crust from unsuspecting "gorjas" (non-travellers), a Panda car parks across the only entrance/exit to the site. Two officers alight and start to check excise licences (tax discs) against vehicle registrations, and then lie down alongside the 'vardas' shining torches underneath, and apparently scribbling notes onto a pad (actually just doodling layout designs)..

All this proves to much for one inquisitive, freckle faced, ginger haired, reflective tabbard wearing oik who waddles over, and,  in his 'Irish' accent asks "Is there a problem sir ?" ....

"Possibly.....you see, I'm going back to the station to check out these vans, that car and the VIN numbers on your vardas, and will probably be back to seize those that are dodgy !"

Result:- By the time the afternoon shift came on duty, the site was empty.

 

Edited January 17, 2022 by br2975

[Northmoor]

2 hours ago, polybear said:

Bear seems to recall a documentary many moons ago about Northern Ireland - and graveyards.....

It was mentioned that there was a dividing wall across the cemetery, one half being for catholic and the other for protestant beliefs.  The wall went done nine feet (or was it twelve?) so that spirits couldn't cross in the afterlife....

The divisions between sects of the same religion are worse than between whole different faiths.  Which explains Emo Phillips' religious joke, voted the funniest of its kind (hard to disagree):

 

Once I saw this guy on a bridge about to jump. I said, "Don't do it!"

He said, "Nobody loves me." I said, "God loves you. Do you believe in God?"

He said, "Yes." I said, "Are you a Christian or a Jew?" He said, "A Christian."

I said, "Me, too! Protestant or Catholic?" He said, "Protestant."

I said, "Me, too! What franchise?" He said, "Baptist."

I said, "Me, too! Northern Baptist or Southern Baptist?" He said, "Northern Baptist."

I said, "Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist or Northern Liberal Baptist?" He said, "Northern Conservative Baptist."

I said, "Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region, or Northern Conservative Baptist Eastern Region?" He said, "Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region."

I said, "Me, too!  Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1879, or Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912?" He said, "Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912."

I said, "Die, heretic!" And I pushed him over.

[J. S. Bach]

22 hours ago, Florence Locomotive Works said:

 ...snip... The new plan at the moment is to install a large open frame O scale motor between the frames of the engine.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Acme-1000-X1350-O-Scale-Open-Frame-Motor-/393735557345?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l6249&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0

Douglas

Please note that I re-posted the correct photo in my response to you; in this one, the commutator damage is plainly visible. I am posting it here also:

Note that it is almost worn through.

 

EDIT: It appears the the brushes mounted (too new-looking, btw) do not fit the wear pattern.

Edited January 17, 2022 by J. S. Bach
To add some information.

[pH]

1 hour ago, Dave Hunt said:

It's traffic arrangements with the NBR were, I am convinced, a prelude to beginning another amalgamation attempt pending the G&SWR falling into its net and the only reason I can see for its huge investment in the Forth bridge was to further its ambitions once that had happened. 

Interesting. I’ve always thought it was a bit simpler that that, and was to allow it to offer better service to Scotland north of the Forth.    After the Midland reached Carlisle by its own route and linked up with the G&SWR and the NBR, its ability to offer service to and from areas in Scotland was governed by the ability of those two railways to do so. The L&NWR, in conjunction with the Caledonian, could offer all-rail service as far north as Aberdeen. The ability of the Midland to provide equal service was hampered by the ferry service across the Forth. Contributing to the elimination of that limitation would seem to be a reasonable (though expensive) strategic decision.

[J. S. Bach]

3 hours ago, Florence Locomotive Works said:

Afternoon all, ...snip...
Thoughts?

Douglas

BNSF, UP, SS, SKOL, TSU, C&T, well, I could go on and on! Oh, and stay with O scale!!!! Be it 1/48 or 7mm.

Edited January 17, 2022 by J. S. Bach
To add some information.

[iL Dottore]

10 hours ago, Dave Hunt said:

I think that the spirit of Irish funerals was encapsulated in Spike Milligan's Puckoon.

 

Dave

Apparently, Spike Milligan wanted the inscription “I told you I was ill” on his gravestone, but the diocese in which he was buried got all po-faced and prohibited the inscription (a compromise was reached with the words being engraved in Gaelic).

 

As for me? I can think of one or two suitable epitaphs:

• You’d better hope and pray that I’m really dead

or

• I can’t die now, I haven’t finished my layout

[pH]

46 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

Apparently, Spike Milligan wanted the inscription “I told you I was ill” on his gravestone ...

 

While out with our grandsons trick-or-treating last Halloween, we saw that inscription on a 'gravestone' in a decorated front yard - in a mountain town in British Columbia!

[polybear]

57 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

As for me? I can think of one or two suitable epitaphs:

• You’d better hope and pray that I’m really dead

or

• I can’t die now, I haven’t finished my layout

 

Hmm....Bear wants....

 

• Not yet, I haven't finished my cake....

[AndyID]

It's flippin' cold outside but nice and toasty in my playroom. The wood stove has died down but I've found if I get the shed up to a comfortable temperature in the evening it does not cool down all that much overnight. It isn't terribly well insulated but I think the concrete floor stores a lot of heat so the trick is never to let it get too cold. The builder underestimated the difficulty of inserting posts into fractured basalt and ended up pouring an enormous amount of concrete under the floor.

 

I completed the filing jig for the turnout switch blades and stock rails and filed a couple of samples. Then I thought "why buy a dog and bark yourself? " so I adapted it so that I can plane the rails on the milling machine.

 

 

That's it after milling a test piece. The cylinder under the left end of the jig elevates the jig to the angle required for a B switch. I move it to the other end if to plane the other "hand". I can make different length cylinders for other planing angles but most of my switches are B's.

 

Here's the test piece.

 

 

 

It looks like the planing extends exactly to the center of the rail which is what I was trying to achieve. To create switch blades I will snip off the rail beyond the planing and square-up the end.

 

 

[Happy Hippo]

2 hours ago, polybear said:

 

Hmm....Bear wants....

 

• Not yet, I haven't finished my cake....

Poor Hell.

[Compound2632]

10 hours ago, pH said:

Interesting. I’ve always thought it was a bit simpler that that, and was to allow it to offer better service to Scotland north of the Forth.    After the Midland reached Carlisle by its own route and linked up with the G&SWR and the NBR, its ability to offer service to and from areas in Scotland was governed by the ability of those two railways to do so. The L&NWR, in conjunction with the Caledonian, could offer all-rail service as far north as Aberdeen. The ability of the Midland to provide equal service was hampered by the ferry service across the Forth. Contributing to the elimination of that limitation would seem to be a reasonable (though expensive) strategic decision.

 

Yes, that's how it looks from the outside. But the same problem applied to East Coast traffic north of Edinburgh yet the GNR and NER between them contributed 35% of the capital to the Midland's 30%. That looks irrational unless the Midland had ambitions with respect to the NBR. The East Coast companies got the early publicity, since the opening of the Forth Bridge route in 1894 enabled the 1895 Race to the North, in which the Midland had no hope of being a contender. But the West Coast companies won that hands down and were ahead on facilities too so no doubt there was complacent satisfaction at Euston.

[iL Dottore]

Following on to a post made earlier today on ER, in which I confessed to watching woodworking videos on YouTube, this in turn means that I’ve started eyeing up (and in some cases - buying) inexpensive woodworking gear from Parkside (Lidl), Einhell and the like.

 

As practical folk on TNM, do you have any thoughts/recommendations regarding Parkside, Einhell and other budget gear (Lidl will be offering a portable table saw next Monday and I’m wondering should I/shouldn’t I?). It doesn't have to be Parkside (Lidl), Workzone (Aldi) or Einhell (most anywhere), but it should be reasonably priced.

 

At the moment, I'm buying inexpensive kit to see how much use I'll get out of it. If it gets a lot of use I'll upgrade to Makita, DeWalt, Bosch or another reputable brand.

 

Currently, on my shopping list are:

• A band-saw
• A nail gun (not air powered)
• A crosscut/mitre saw (possibly)
• Guide rails for my circular saw
• Table saw

Thought? Ideas? Suggestions?