A Nod To Brent - a friendly thread, filled with frivolity, cream teas and pasties. Longing for the happy days in the South Hams 1947.

[2ManySpams]

30 minutes ago, gwrrob said:

 

The usual guessing game with Dapol as to what we actually get as none of the products listed give the depot branding or lettering preview.

 

Dapol O Gauge GWR 'Toad' Brake Van - Engineering Samples - Hattons Model Railways

 

https://www.hattons.co.uk/directory/versiondetails/article?id=1259

 

I normally order 7mm stuff through Tower Models who seem to be more in touch and knowledgeable about what's occurring with the RTR stuff.

[6892 Oakhill Grange]

20 hours ago, MrWolf said:

 

Looks good on a shed though.

 

No just as bad as it looks on a tin of spam

 

In case you all feel jealous of 30 deg C afternoon temps in Muscat at the mo, a tin of spam costs 30 quid.

 

Oakhill

[Siberian Snooper]

I bet the locals don't buy much Spam, unless they don't know what Spam is. Mind you at that price I wouldn't be buying any at all.

 

 

[Ian Hargrave]

2 minutes ago, Siberian Snooper said:

I bet the locals don't buy much Spam, unless they don't know what Spam is. Mind you at that price I wouldn't be buying any at all.

 

 

Depends on what the average take home pay is. The mind shifts to images of airfreight dedicated to the delivery of cans of the ultimate tinnedmeat extravaganza. Still good for a lunch with a portion of beans with…or even on….toast.

We make jokes about it but the USA fought the European war on it and aided the nutrition of their British allies (  ? )  with it too.

 

 

 

[5BarVT]

13 hours ago, Ian Hargrave said:

Depends on what the average take home pay is. The mind shifts to images of airfreight dedicated to the delivery of cans of the ultimate tinnedmeat extravaganza. Still good for a lunch with a portion of beans with…or even on….toast.

We make jokes about it but the USA fought the European war on it and aided the nutrition of their British allies (  ? )  with it too.

Very much a case of “needs must”.

Paul.

[Mallard60022]

That Shed is Not a Class 66. Specsavers needed. It's clearly a Hut Class.

Ar$£ 

[Mallard60022]

15 hours ago, Ian Hargrave said:

Depends on what the average take home pay is. The mind shifts to images of airfreight dedicated to the delivery of cans of the ultimate tinned meat extravaganza. Still good for a lunch with a portion of beans with…or even on….toast.

We make jokes about it but the USA fought the European war on it and aided the nutrition of their British allies (  ? )  with it too.

 

Those GI's eh? Cleaned their Rifles with Coke too. Posh  lot. Spam, Coke, STI's, Jitter Bugs, Liny Hoppers and they wore Nylons I am told. Obviously not from oop North.

Ar$£

Edited March 7, 2023 by Mallard60022

[The Stationmaster]

On 05/03/2023 at 20:22, gwrrob said:

Sepia prints and horsehair filled.coach seating , happy days.

Only if you were wearing long trousers - the horsehair wasn't so nice if you were on shorts and it was coming through the seat covering.

[Ian Hargrave]

48 minutes ago, The Stationmaster said:

Only if you were wearing long trousers - the horsehair wasn't so nice if you were on shorts and it was coming through the seat covering.

 

As long as you didn’t fall asleep with your head on the seat. …

[Ian Hargrave]

6 hours ago, Mallard60022 said:

 

Those GI's eh? Cleaned their Rifles with Coke too. Posh  lot. Spam, Coke, STI's, Jitter Bugs, Liny Hoppers and they wore Nylons I am told. Obviously not from oop North.

Ar$£

They were also capable of acts of great kindness and generosity apart from chewing gum and nylons. As a small child we had two billeted with us prior to D-Day. There was a shortage of almost everything,especially food which was the subject of rationing,so they helped us with food not seen in a long time,such as a large joint of prime beef from the PX which my mother confessed she didn’t know quite how  to cook. There were also things “for the kid”….a two year old me. What became of them when they went into Europe we never did find out.Their names,I was frequently told were Murphy and Hofer. GI’s gave their all.I hope those two survived to live a long and happy life.

 

 

[Mallard60022]

5 minutes ago, Ian Hargrave said:

They were also capable of acts of great kindness and generosity apart from chewing gum and nylons. As a small child we had two billeted with us prior to D-Day. There was a shortage of almost everything,especially food which was the subject of rationing,so they helped us with food not seen in a long time,such as a large joint of prime beef from the PX which my mother confessed she didn’t know quite how  to cook. There were also things “for the kid”….a two year old me. What became of them when they went into Europe we never did find out.Their names,I was frequently told were Murphy and Hofer. GI’s gave their all.I hope those two survived to live a long and happy life.

During Covid, our U3A Chair gave a Zoom presentation about 'GI' Brides. Fascinating, especially as my late Mother had actually been married to, not a GI, but a US Navy Officer. We only found that out when we found her marriage Cert after our Dad died 14 years after her death at 53 in 1973.   The Navy boy had bogged off back to wherever from Plymuff. I did find his Service Records a few Years back, after a long search. He had survived and achieved a high Rank. family etc and died at around 90 + years of age. She had, we think having heard the U3A Talk, taken advantage of the agreement that  'abandoned UK Brides' could get a quicky Divorce with no ties etc. if the bloke wasn't interested. Seems he probably wasn't!

P

[gwrrob]

Always liked the sense of adventure portrayed in this photo although of course they were Bristol evacuees arriving at Brent in the summer of 1940.

 

[Pendennis]

My wife was brought up in France during the occupation, her father was in the Resistance and for a time hid two downed USAAF airmen in their house; they still had chocolate and chewing gum to give to her!  Inevitably they disappeared one night so she resorted to asking the German soldiers for chocolate and chewing gum, presumably (and fortunately) they thought they were childish French words.

[Ian Hargrave]

34 minutes ago, gwrrob said:

Always liked the sense of adventure portrayed in this photo although of course they were Bristol evacuees arriving at Brent in the summer of 1940.

 

Fabulous image Rob. You can only imagine their feelings and what they were escaping.Bristol was blitzed severely.But even NA didn’t escape and that’s not too far away.As is Plymouth which had more than its share of tragedy.Gas masks in cardboard boxes too.Mine was a Mickey Mouse version.They were great to play with after war ended….shouting “We won the war “…

 

 

 

 

[The Fatadder]

1 hour ago, gwrrob said:

Always liked the sense of adventure portrayed in this photo although of course they were Bristol evacuees arriving at Brent in the summer of 1940.

 

I’ve always liked that photo seeing as it’s one of the very few showing the old bridge in reasonable detail!

[MrWolf]

4 hours ago, Ian Hargrave said:

5 hours ago, The Stationmaster said:

Only if you were wearing long trousers - the horsehair wasn't so nice if you were on shorts and it was coming through the seat covering.

 

As long as you didn’t fall asleep with your head on the seat. …

 

I remember sleeping on an antique of a drop end sofa in someone's student digs having had a heavy night and woke up next morning barely able to see out of my right eye.

 

I am not old enough to remember the effect of horsehair seats on the legs if wearing shorts. But I do remember vynide car seats in summer.

 

Ouch.

[FarrMan]

16 hours ago, The Stationmaster said:

Only if you were wearing long trousers - the horsehair wasn't so nice if you were on shorts and it was coming through the seat covering.

Reminds me of driving in Zimbabwe. Plastic covered seats heated by the sun did not go well with shorts. Sometimes had to drive standing up! But some lovely B-Gs.

 

Lloyd

[gwrrob]

What a difference five years makes. Large prairie 4110 sitting at Kingswear looking down and out and here she is today before moving to the ESR . Her first season in service since leaving Barry scrapyard.

 

 

[MrWolf]

Cracking job! Does anyone know what became of the four? locomotives retained by the council when Woodhams yard was cleared? Last I heard from that neck of the woods was that the old docks pumphouse had finally been renovated and repurposed, but the station signal box was demolished almost overnight.

[Nick Gough]

16 hours ago, gwrrob said:

What a difference five years makes. Large prairie 4110 sitting at Kingswear looking down and out and here she is today before moving to the ESR . Her first season in service since leaving Barry scrapyard.

 

 

 

They must have used a lot of filler on those side tanks.

[Denbridge]

16 hours ago, gwrrob said:

What a difference five years makes. Large prairie 4110 sitting at Kingswear looking down and out and here she is today before moving to the ESR . Her first season in service since leaving Barry scrapyard.

 

 

She isn't moving to the ESR, she's already there. It was the ESR who have undertaken the contract restoration for the owners at Paignton & Kingswear.

[Nick Gough]

10 hours ago, MrWolf said:

Cracking job! Does anyone know what became of the four? locomotives retained by the council when Woodhams yard was cleared? Last I heard from that neck of the woods was that the old docks pumphouse had finally been renovated and repurposed, but the station signal box was demolished almost overnight.

This Wiki page shews the fates of the Barry (originally) 10:

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

[MrWolf]

A lot of the frames are listed as scrapped, fair enough, many are duplicates, but as we don't have the means in this country to make frames anymore, and scrap steel isn't worth much compared to the cost of making a frame, they might have been worth storing for possible future use.

ISTR the cab from the 9F just sitting outside in a yard up the road from the goods shed in Barry town.

[TrevorP1]

1 hour ago, MrWolf said:

A lot of the frames are listed as scrapped, fair enough, many are duplicates, but as we don't have the means in this country to make frames anymore, and scrap steel isn't worth much compared to the cost of making a frame, they might have been worth storing for possible future use.

ISTR the cab from the 9F just sitting outside in a yard up the road from the goods shed in Barry town.

 

I wonder what condition these sets of frames were in? There are probably good reasons why these engines were left and others purchased.

 

There are many instances on our heritage railways where engines have required new frames or frame sections due to excessive corrosion or cracking. Both S15s at the MHR needed new front frame sections where corrosion and cracking had occurred between the cylinders and frames - this area needs to be steam tight. At least one of the West Countrys there needed new sections at the rear. The MHRs Black 5 will need significant attention to cracks in the frames when it rises up the overhaul queue. There are others on here with more recent knowledge than I who may be able to add something about these particular engines. They are just those I know of from one railway.

 

If any large replacement part of a steam engine is 'easy' it is the frames and we can do it. There is at least one 45XX running around with completely new frames, not to mention sundry narrow gauge and standard gauge new builds. Also there comes a point where making new is easier.

[MrWolf]

The biggest problem that I have found with any heavy engineering project in the UK is the availability of the correct material, particularly the thicker sections larger rolled plates and specialist grades of material. (Try buying big sheets of inconel for instance!)

You're very often looking at having the material made to order some place like Germany with a lead time of months and the subsequent transport costs. I've found that it is better in many cases to consider all the options with what you have and throw away nothing that cannot be used even for a pattern.

If there's one thing that I have learnt, is that there's not much that can't be repaired, it's just a matter of funds and equipment.