Stanley Melrose

2 hours ago, kevinlms said:

An aircraft is properly engineered to fly.

It would seem that Boeing have tried to disprove that recently . . .

There's a UK company working on sodium ion batteries - https://faradion.co.uk/

It's an additional trailer for the L&Y Railmotors

Many thanks!  That copy will now be perused with great intensity.

Stan

May I interrupt this thread with a couple of questions on a particular type of Midland Railway carriage?  Would the (circular) truss rods on a Midland Railway Bain 54' Clerestory Carriage be fastened to the outside of the solebar at each end (i.e over the bogies) or tucked inside the solebars and were the queen posts attached to the bottom of the solebars?

I've searched loads of books and looked at many photographs but a definitive answer has so far eluded me.  I did a search on RMWeb to find ths  thread and thought someone conributing to it might just put me out of my misery with the correc answer.

Thanks in anticiation . . .

Stan

At least one of the Brassmasters team is an accountant - I suspect he knows how to ensure that stocking unprofitable and/or slow-moving items do NOT damage the business so that it remains in good financial health.

My Dad took me to Smithdown Road to swap my Trix Twin for a Graham Farish Prairie and some Formway track.  That must have been around 1952 or 1953.  We were served by Mr Hatton and I can see him stil in my mind's eye.

I've not been a regular customer but have bought from them from time to time with complete satisfaction over the years.

Very sad and I, too, hope all involved come out of it well.

Stan

All I'll offer (tho' there are probably sme who are bound to disagree) is don't go near anything from the VW stable. My experience of the VW software requires me to advise anyone who is inerested in a BEV to look elsewhere.

My 4 year lease expires in September and I will certainly never consider a VW (or any of their other ranges) in future.

You have been warned!

Stan

A Double Diamond works wonders, works wonders, works wonders.

A Double Diamnd works wonders - so drink one today. . .

I bet that triggers earworms in some elderly listers.

Ah the days of Mateus Rose, Hirondelle (use Google translate if your French isn't up to it) and Spanish Burgundy . . .

And Watney's Red Barrel. of  course!

Completely off topic as I can't help with the railway matters but my family origins were in Pocklington over 400 years ago.  Perhaps you can find gravestones that confrm this?

Elizabeth Catton - Christening 5th April 1616.pdf

Get well soon, Martin!

Surely the use of rectangular "holes" is to avoid the possibility of the chairs being inserted at an angle that would make the whole concept of "gauge-free" track building and ease of assembly a lottery?

My enjoyment is listening to Jelly Roll Morton and the Red Hot Peppers 1923-27 recordings.  I bought an LP of these recordings in Shaftesbury Avenue in October 1962 (my first week at London Uni).  They were only 40 years old back then and I now have digitally re-mastered copies in various formats collected in the years since, along with practically everything I have been able to find recorded by Mister Jelly.  His Dead Man Blues will be played at my funeral.

Perhaps of more interest to this list is that, in the same week, the Beatles were on Parade of the Pops at the Playhouse Theatre under Charing Cross Station.  A gang of us went to hear and see them.  I still recall the looks on the faces of the session musicians sitting on the stage behind the Beatles.  They were incredulous to say the least, if not downright scornful . . .

Incidentally, the group preceding the Beatles at the top of the hit Parade was the Temperance Seven featuring Whispering Paul McDowell (sp?)

Stan

Perhaps the attached image will help resolve what a Standard 2-6-0 2MT looked like?

Stan

PS not sure about copyright so please do nor reproduce - and I will remove it if asked to.

I'm married to a retired academic (Emeritus Professor) from a distant land who, while actively doing research at prestigious UK universities, published her research output extensively.  Her work is still quoted by many researchers today.  She has often commented on her amazement at the quality of research in arcane subjects carried out by UK hobbyists who are manifestly not academically qualified by formal examination.

Hats off to all who illuminate our hobby by their endeavours.

Stan

21 hours ago, RFS said:

This picture brought a smile to me as a retired IT pro. It's of a US Federal Data Centre in 1959 where records are being stored on punched cards. It's estimated the total data stored here is about 4.3 Gb - ie equal to a small (by today's standards already!) flash drive. The pallets contain around 27,000 boxes of cards, each box having 2000 cards with 80 bytes of data each. 

 

 

 

 

Many years ago (mid 1970s) I managed a project to install a new general ledger system in a US multinational company operating in more than 100 countries.  The master copy of the chart of accounts was filed in 21 boxes of punch cards that I kept in my office.  How much power can one person have??

Those were the days - a bit later I carried a 29MByte single platter disk drive up a flight of stairs  It cost me over £200 in osteopath fees to be able to walk freely after my back was strained by the weight of the disk drive.

Our first GigaByte disk drives needed aircon and strengthened floors because of their power consumption and weight.

Stan

I beg everyone's pardon but I haven't been reading this thread but I thought those who have done so might appreciate this:

<https://www.theguardian.com/world/commentisfree/2023/oct/08/german-train-travel-deutsche-bahn-kafka>

Stan

8 hours ago, kevinlms said:

It appears that most US built cars, use Metric bolts to assemble them. Even engine capacity of their big V-8s, is increasingly given in litres (or liters to them)!

In the late 1960s when I was the passenger car engine product planner at Ford of Europe, it was decided that our new OHC engine would be used in the Ford PInto to be manufactured in the USA.  I found myself the liaison between Ford of Europe and Ford USA.  I recall the meeting when a German engineer announced to the US engineers that the engine was metric and they would have to source metric nuts and bolts as spares.

Those were the days . . .

Stan

Many thanks, I'll investigate!

Stan

I need to remove and replace a digit in the number of my newly arrived Standard Class 2MT 2-6-0 so it represents one of the class based at Bank Hall in the late 1950s.  Can anyone recommend the source of suitable transfers that will match the size and colour of the factory applied numbers. please?

Stan

3 hours ago, lezz01 said:

I'd have to say the Avro Lancaster is the kit I've built most of. I'm in double figures and I have two in stock one of which is slated to become a Manchester. I really would like to build the ASR version with the lifeboat that was dropped from the bomb bay but it's hard to find. The problem is I get enticed by all the PE addon's which although fantastic slow down completion somewhat.

Regards Lez. 

My dad worked for AVROs in Manchester in the 1930s and worked on the design of the Manchester.  A colleague borrowed one of his draughtsman's curves to draw the wingtip of the Lancaster. I still have it but no longer know which of the several that I inherited it is . . .

Stan

Wait until the cancellation charges start to appear and see how little of the £36 billion is available for these uncosted, unplanned altrenative expenditures.

When Hancock reorganised Public Health England to avoid being crucified when the COVID enquiry* eventually took place, the reorganised staff were re-located to new offices.  One of my daughters was involved in the financial management of all this and she found that they were still contracted to pay the leases on the now unoccupied offices as well as paying for the newly leased replacement offices.  It made a big hole in the imagined savings.  I'm pretty sure the same idiocy will be on display on this decision before long.

Stan
* He'll be crucufied anyway, if there's any justice.