RMweb Premium kevinlms Posted June 26, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 26, 2014 The late Michael Jackson allegedly wanted to live to the age of 150, and look what happened to him! But did MJ have any original bits left? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Coryton Posted June 26, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 26, 2014 Not an urban myth; I recall reading about it and possibly seeing film of the salvage operations, back in the 60s or 70s. I don't know whether it's still being salvaged though; there may be sufficient stocks. It's not only that it was shielded from post 1945 radiation, but that it was made in a radiation free environment from radiation free source materials. It is no longer possible to make steel that is totally uncontaminated. This appears to sum it up: http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2971/is-steel-from-scuttled-german-warships-valuable-because-it-isn-t-contaminated-with-radioactivity Pete I can beat that. I was involved in a physics experiment which has taken low-radioactivity lead from a Roman ship wrecked over 2000 years ago and cooled it to ridiculously low temperatures under a mountain in Italy. http://www.nature.com/news/2010/100415/full/news.2010.186.html Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Colin_McLeod Posted June 26, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 26, 2014 Anyone remember as a child in the 1950s those machines in shoe shops where you put you feet in a gap and looked down at them through a viewer and saw what appeared to be an X Ray of your feet. I dread to think what X rays went through children's feet then, or the eyes of those who looked. Unless of course the machines were just a con to aid selling shoes. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatB Posted June 26, 2014 Share Posted June 26, 2014 Anyone remember as a child in the 1950s those machines in shoe shops where you put you feet in a gap and looked down at them through a viewer and saw what appeared to be an X Ray of your feet. I dread to think what X rays went through children's feet then, or the eyes of those who looked. Unless of course the machines were just a con to aid selling shoes. Nup. They were the real deal and are nowadays recognised as having been a rather bad idea. Mind you, for several decades after the discovery of ionizing radiation it was considered to be a healthful and invigorating phenomenon. Google "revigator" and "radithor" for some truly hair raising examples of what our not so distant ancestors believed to be a good idea. Which brings us back, somewhat peripherally, on topic as old revigators and Radithor bottles are quite collectable and get bought and sold on Ebay. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium melmerby Posted June 26, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 26, 2014 The glowing dials on the old GPO "Trimphones" apparently had radioactive material in them as well...... True. Keith (ex GPO!) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium melmerby Posted June 26, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 26, 2014 (edited) Not an urban myth; I recall reading about it and possibly seeing film of the salvage operations, back in the 60s or 70s. I don't know whether it's still being salvaged though; there may be sufficient stocks. It's not only that it was shielded from post 1945 radiation, but that it was made in a radiation free environment from radiation free source materials. It is no longer possible to make steel that is totally uncontaminated. This appears to sum it up: http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2971/is-steel-from-scuttled-german-warships-valuable-because-it-isn-t-contaminated-with-radioactivity Pete If you read about Radon, It would suggest the chances of ever making totally radiation free steel was unlikely due to Radon being ever present and it's also responsible for most of the radiation dose the average person gets in a lifetime. Keith Edited June 26, 2014 by melmerby Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crosland Posted June 26, 2014 Share Posted June 26, 2014 Funny waht went for entertainment in those days, and what it was acceptable to do with children. One of the highlights of the village playscheme was to go on a visit to Didcot Power Station... The ash from which is surprisingly radioactive! Coal and all the mining and processing involved has been and is far more dangerous than nuclear power. Andrew Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Coryton Posted June 26, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 26, 2014 The ash from which is surprisingly radioactive! Coal and all the mining and processing involved has been and is far more dangerous than nuclear power. Andrew Supposedly it's illegal to burn coal in the grounds of a nuclear power station because it would exceed the permitted radioactivity levels. That's what they used to say on tours round Sellafield/Calder Hall, anyway. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium PhilJ W Posted June 26, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 26, 2014 The Romans used radio active cobalt as an ingredient in glass making as it produced an iridescent green colour, they then proceeded to serve food of of items made from such glass. One such item is displayed in a museum in a special case due to it being so dangerous. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bodmin Bob Posted June 26, 2014 Share Posted June 26, 2014 Somebody on Ebay is selling several unbuilt GWR Hawksworth Comet coach kits for £50 each - £6 more than new ones cost direct from Comet Buyers beware! http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BNIB-COMET-COACHES-KIT-OO-GAUGE-GWR-HAWKSWORTH-C82-84-CORRIDOR-THIRD-/301226212762?pt=UK_Trains_Railway_Models&hash=item46227b3d9a Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon G Posted June 26, 2014 Share Posted June 26, 2014 Is it true (may be an urban myth) that some high precision measuring instruments are made with steel salvaged from the German fleet at the bottom of Scapa Flow as it's been at a depth sufficient to bew shielded from the contamination created by all the nuclear explosions since 1945? Definitely not an urban myth. A large monitoring cell at a certain well known nuclear plant was built using steel from ships in Scapa Flow. This was to allow them to detect extremely low radiation levels in people, without getting any background from the steel, as it pre-dated nuclear testing. The gas mantles also mentioned recently were high in Thorium, which is why they emitted alpha radiation. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torn-on-the-platform Posted June 26, 2014 Share Posted June 26, 2014 http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/One-Off-009-gauge-Scratch-Built-2-6-2-BR-Prairie-Tank-Loco-/281356398470?pt=UK_Trains_Railway_Models&hash=item418225ef86 I'm quite glad that this is a 'One-Off'! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thane of Fife Posted June 27, 2014 Share Posted June 27, 2014 It is amazing what money people want for "off the shelf items". A South Eastern Finecast J39 kit was on offer for £120. You can buy it from SEF for £94. The price has now been reduced to £100. There is a SEF SECR class D kit on sale at £150, where again SEF sell the kit for £94. Thane of fife Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Coryton Posted June 27, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 27, 2014 A real blast from the past before DCC came along...check out those relays!! http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Lea-Vale-00-Layout-Exhibition-Standard-Featured-in-Railway-Modeller-6-039-x-19-034-/221477468826?&_trksid=p2056016.l4276 If you scroll down and look at the excerpt from Railway Modeller you can try and make sense of the electronics - I couldn't! David Maybe I'm stating the obvious, but I would think that the electronics in a DCC layout are much, much more complex than that, but the "wiring" is mostly hidden away in teeny tiny bits of silicon. If you printed out a circuit diagram for this system, and then for the electronics in a DCC controller, and in just one DCC chip, I think you'd need a lot more paper for DCC. And how long would it take to make sense of how all the chips in DCC work, plus the program running on the controller (and on the DCC chip?)....? There's a big difference in simplicity from the user's point of view, and from the point of view of actually implementing something these days. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Il Grifone Posted June 27, 2014 Share Posted June 27, 2014 A real blast from the past before DCC came along...check out those relays!! http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Lea-Vale-00-Layout-Exhibition-Standard-Featured-in-Railway-Modeller-6-039-x-19-034-/221477468826?&_trksid=p2056016.l4276 If you scroll down and look at the excerpt from Railway Modeller you can try and make sense of the electronics - I couldn't! David I think I'll pass on that one! I spent my working life sorting out faults on things like that...... IIRC there was a report on a Hornby Dublo demonstration layout controlled by computer (in the Meccano Magazine?) in the late 50s/early 60s. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Il Grifone Posted June 27, 2014 Share Posted June 27, 2014 http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/One-Off-009-gauge-Scratch-Built-2-6-2-BR-Prairie-Tank-Loco-/281356398470?pt=UK_Trains_Railway_Models&hash=item418225ef86 I'm quite glad that this is a 'One-Off'! I would suggest that one is one too many! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Il Grifone Posted June 27, 2014 Share Posted June 27, 2014 (edited) Maybe I'm stating the obvious, but I would think that the electronics in a DCC layout are much, much more complex than that, but the "wiring" is mostly hidden away in teeny tiny bits of silicon. If you printed out a circuit diagram for this system, and then for the electronics in a DCC controller, and in just one DCC chip, I think you'd need a lot more paper for DCC. And how long would it take to make sense of how all the chips in DCC work, plus the program running on the controller (and on the DCC chip?)....? There's a big difference in simplicity from the user's point of view, and from the point of view of actually implementing something these days. Way back there was a D-I-Y system in the American press (Command Control IIRC) of great complexity and then Zero 1 etc. Various automated circuits were published in the fifties, using thermal delay units and modified selenium bridge rectifiers (to make power diodes - no cheap silicon then). Edited June 27, 2014 by Il Grifone Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted June 27, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 27, 2014 I think I'll pass on that one! I spent my working life sorting out faults on things like that...... IIRC there was a report on a Hornby Dublo demonstration layout controlled by computer (in the Meccano Magazine?) in the late 50s/early 60s. Didn't they use an English Electric KDN2 for that? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted June 27, 2014 Share Posted June 27, 2014 It is amazing what money people want for "off the shelf items". A South Eastern Finecast J39 kit was on offer for £120. You can buy it from SEF for £94. The price has now been reduced to £100. There is a SEF SECR class D kit on sale at £150, where again SEF sell the kit for £94. It's naked profiteering. Nothing else. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium kevinlms Posted June 27, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 27, 2014 The Romans used radio active cobalt as an ingredient in glass making as it produced an iridescent green colour, they then proceeded to serve food of of items made from such glass. One such item is displayed in a museum in a special case due to it being so dangerous. To be fair, they had no idea about radiation, so they went by looks & presumably the most important guests got the dangerous items, by default. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crosland Posted June 27, 2014 Share Posted June 27, 2014 If you scroll down and look at the excerpt from Railway Modeller you can try and make sense of the electronics - I couldn't! Sounds like an electronic equivalent of an old electromechanical programmer on a washing machine (the bit that would click and whir and move round as the wash program progressed). Hardly a computer, even in the 1980s. Andrew 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium melmerby Posted June 27, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 27, 2014 (edited) A real blast from the past before DCC came along...check out those relays!! http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Lea-Vale-00-Layout-Exhibition-Standard-Featured-in-Railway-Modeller-6-039-x-19-034-/221477468826?&_trksid=p2056016.l4276 If you scroll down and look at the excerpt from Railway Modeller you can try and make sense of the electronics - I couldn't! David At least it's "modern" it uses TTL logic! Keith EDIT: It looks very similar to the controller we made to run the Christmas light display where I used to work, which used relays and uni-selectors, I changed it later to run off the bus in an Apple IIe computer. Edited June 27, 2014 by melmerby 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Coryton Posted June 27, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 27, 2014 Sounds like an electronic equivalent of an old electromechanical programmer on a washing machine (the bit that would click and whir and move round as the wash program progressed). Hardly a computer, even in the 1980s. Andrew From a quick glance at the Railway Modeller article, it started out using a programmable home brew computer (with a massive 32 bytes of RAM), but it suffered from electrical interference and the need to reprogram it every time the power was turned off and back on again. So it was replaced with a "motor driven multiple cam switch" which implemented a fixed program in a less interesting but more reliable manner than the computer. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Abel Posted June 27, 2014 Share Posted June 27, 2014 ...From a quick glance at the Railway Modeller article, it started out using a programmable home brew computer (with a massive 32 bytes of RAM), but it suffered from electrical interference and the need to reprogram it every time the power was turned off and back on again... Sadly, that meant it had to predate the "have you tried turning it off and back on again..." option/suggestion from the "IT Crowd"/various customer support lines... I know, I know - coat, hat, etc... 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Coryton Posted June 27, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 27, 2014 Sadly, that meant it had to predate the "have you tried turning it off and back on again..." option/suggestion from the "IT Crowd"/various customer support lines... I know, I know - coat, hat, etc... It works with Hornby train set controllers when you short circuit them... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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