DonB

My Wife, born and bred at the southern edge of the Cannock coalfield and from a coal-mining family, in those far-off times did well enough to get a place at a grammar school (previously a fee-paying school), She will tell anyone that the first classes she attended were elocution lessons. In consequence she has a  not-quite-posh accent, which is a stark contrast to my mixed Black Country / Birmingham / Derby intonation, reflecting the places where I have worked, usually in close proximity to the industrial work-shop. 

Quote:-

" 5 hours ago, Nearholmer said:

Interestingly, or maybe not to anyone except me, the happiest and least worried person in my family at present is my aged mother.

She lives a very secluded life already, has experience of ‘holing up’ when she broke her leg three years ago, has an excellent support network for provision supply etc, a garden that she tends with care, and is as fit as a bucket of fleas.

Everyone else needs to engage with the world; she has long found contentment in doing barely any of that, and what she does do is strictly on her own terms!"

My Best wishes to your mother too. 

I would dearly love to emulate her, but the distaff half of this household has a long list of tasks for jobs for which I have the tools and parts to complete  ..... bl00dy Covid !9

According to my cousin who is the family archivist (ie no one else can be bothered!) Our family tree stretches back to American President Garfield.

He is my 7th cousin, 5 times removed, I'm told (how these relationships are calculated is beyond me! )

WIKI :-"James Abram Garfield was the 20th president of the United States, serving from March 4, 1881 until his death by assassination six and a half months later. He is the only sitting member of the United States House of Representatives to be elected to the presidency."

Seems he was shot by a disgruntled fellow politician who had not been offered a job in government. (The right to bear arms... has anyone warned Trump?) 

22 hours ago, Annie said:

Just checking in to see how all our parishioners are managing with the the visitation of storm Dennis.  Things have been very quiet in the parish lately so I'm hoping all is well.

 

I see that January 2020 was the warmest January since proper weather records started to be kept circa 150 years ago which I think does not bode well for our little planet.

We lost phone and internet connection for 8 days due to storm Ciaira dumping water into local BT underground connection chambers.  compounded by storm Dennis a week later .

Have to say that Talktalk were unhelpful and didn't seem to know what was going on, ( "could be 3 weeks") and BT shrugged shoulders ..... "speak to your internet provider" . At least 3 other sufferers in our street are contacting Virgin ( Fibre cables already installed).... costs a little more but faster and more reliable .... we are supposed to get 27Mbps .. actually  normally about 15Mbps often down to 5 to7 

Some years ago, I took some pictures of the western end of Slough station, but found the station staff particularly unhelpful. enquiring why I was there and why I wanted or needed to photo the place at all.

I know that my movements were followed on their CCTV system. 

OMG, ... just had a notification from Hermes.... "We have your parcel......"

The only Latin I recall from school...

Caesar adsum iam forte  (perhaps Caesar will be here)

Caesar had some jam for tea.

( little things please little minds , I was 12 years old at the time!)

The proliferation of German / Austrian titles listed above, reminded me of the observation by W.S.Gilbert ....

When every one is somebody

Then no one's anybody ....

Oh dear, are we headed for a variation of the gauge / scale wars?

Sort of High-definition text (Rees-Mogg style ? ) down to the Industrial version ( Peaky Blinders?) which I met daily during my working days.

Both Rees-Mogg and Peaky Blinders could be classed as Pre-grouping , (In reality, the Black Country  gang disappeared a little before the 1914 war )

5 hours ago, Annie said:

I tried to find one Mike, but not a sign of one anywhere.  Perhaps if I plead politely at the creator group I belong to somebody might make me one.

I immediately thought of Fred Astaire's "lovely day to be caught in the rain" but your bright blue sky would seem to preclude that tune.

3 minutes ago, RedGemAlchemist said:

So he's Mussolini now?

That didn't end well!

Before the Brexit vote, one elderly gent. interviewed on TV, said (apparently seriously) "if we leave we can have our proper currency back, with pounds, shillings and pence" !!

5 hours ago, Donw said:

I wouldn't say that the old system was lunacy it had it advantages in the pre-industrial age with £sd the pound could easily be divided by 2,3,4,5,6,8,10 under the decimal system you cannot actually divide a pound by 3.

Don

Almost exactly 50 years ago we had a gang of bricklayers build  garage walls for us to complete (roof etc.)  Cost £50. --Problem? the gang of three needed paying individually down to the exact  six shillings and eight pence each!  A quick visit to our local corner shop to get the change was required!  ( Cash in hand has been with us for ever! )

7 minutes ago, Annie said:

Oh do Martians often call in there to grab a snack on the way to Alpha Centauri.

Of course they do, The place obviously has a reputation for accommodating unexpected visitors.

11 hours ago, Edwardian said:

 

I've corrected the orientation for you ...

 

There's an area (housing estate) called New Zealand just within the southern part of the Derby outer Ring Road, no railway connection however. 

Yes! i am old enough to remember looking forward to Peter Denny's next "episode" in the magazine. (I recently disposed of my past issues of the magazines of the time, so can't refresh my memory) I do remember that his son was in charge of preparing the trains for the return journey, and in time there became the need to have an "Automatic Crispin" resulting in the first cassettes that I remember. 

Annie, A couple of daft questions if I may... Top picture just above here, Does the animation of the terrain include variations in the height of the container of the gas holder (in the background) to reflect the time of day?  In reality they tended to be at a higher level early morning, gradually loose height during the day and be topped up again at night. the coke ovens producing the gas worked 24 /7 usually, although perhaps not in more non-industrial and rural areas.

Secondly, did Birchenwood Colliery really supply coal to the West Country?

PS. Like the new avatar..  a self-portrait ? you said you were tall and slim a couple of pages ago..? 

22 hours ago, Northroader said:

Other people were involved too.....

Boat well heeled over, a rough sea, but not a hair out of place, What a woman !

Hi Phil, Our paths didn't cross at Ley's as far as I know, but we did meet a few times at the Mickleover club usually when you had your sales stand present  Have Pm'd you .

Thanks Martin,  I have mislaid my copy of the IRS No.122 -- Which is very careless of me since I worked for Ley's for 25 years and wrote the IRS article.

It took me about 4 years to gather all the information about the sidings, I pestered anyone leaving for any historical items or photos that may have been lurking in desk drawers, and I was allowed access to a basement full of historical   bits and pieces. 

On the 50th anniversary of the 1875 foundry opening, all employees were photographed at their place of work. I found the original 5"x 7" glass plates which should also be in the Derby Museum stores.  All my original finds were passed on to a Colleague (Bob Read) who wrote a history of the works.

There was follow up information in the IRS journal a few months later. 

The foundry closed in about 1995, and is now an Industrial estate although the wall bordering the Railway was still standing when I last passed over the rail bridge a couple of years ago.

3 hours ago, Poor Old Bruce said:

 

Surely that should be the other way round Don? The LNWR using NSR tracks to join the MR just north of Willington.

Can't argue from a firm footing here. I don't know whether the NSR predated the LNWR at Derby. I based my assumption on someone referring to the pair of lines adjacent to the foundry wall as being "LNWR metals", the evidence of the LNWR loco shed being on land which became part of the foundry, and the S.Staffs Willington Junction from Derby and B'ham metals.

The NSR used the LNWR's rails on the approach to Derby. I have seen a 1934 Photo of the partly demolished LNWR's loco shed on the site of a development at  Ley's  foundry . 

I believe that this Photo, part of a series which also show the dismantling of the LNWR turntable in March 1934. These photo are, I believe in the Local Studies  museum and library at Derby,currently closed due to council cuts.  

Can't be sure, but the NSR GN may have carried Scandinavian pig iron from the docks to a large malleable iron  foundry (Leys) at Derby, who had a siding (1875 -on) alongside the main lines approaching Derby station, and an array of sidings within the works which expanded with the growth of the business. see  Industrial Railway Record (No. 125 IIRC) 

The pig iron was in approx 6-inch square by 18  to 24 inch long ingot form, a size which allowed manual unloading and stacking neatly. The supply was restricted by adverse weather in the North Sea, so stock-piling in the summer months was normal. 

This foundry supplied castings to the motor industry , typically rear axle and gear box housings.

Unfortunately, the foundry's weigh-bridge records, listing wagons and contents moving in and out of the sidings, disappeared (along with the cabin clock!) when the sidings were abandoned in favour of road transport of supplies.

EDIT.. Sorry, I was thinking of the NSR but wrote GN  They both used the junction at Egginton  GN Derby Friargate to Burton (now a cycle path), NSR Derby to Crewe. The road level crossing  on the Derby side of Egginton junction still exists as Manually operated (steel) gates, with modern auto-barrier crossings nearby either side. 

On 26/10/2019 at 03:03, Martin S-C said:

It can be if pretty trains take centre stage.

 

No one has identified the purpose of the spoked wheel on the side of the loco.

My thoughts are =  Reversing gear operation ?,  Brake adjustment ? , shaker for firebox grate. ?,  Wind up the spring ?

Regularity, above, details the possible sources of your "stiction". ...A quick check .... will an individual wagon roll freely, unaided, down your inclines?  one of Mikkel's blogs details his wagons rolling across his near level work table,  

4 minutes ago, Nearholmer said:

Actually, thinking about it, one could make a steam-powered contraption to move permanent magnets so as to create tractive force in a maglev system.

 

it would be inefficient, inelegant, and immensely amusing.

are you any relation of Heath-Robinson ?