380John

Hi Mol, Due to the fast turn around times etc, it wouldn't surprise me if the containers just "slotted" into the cell guides and were held in place that way. A bit like runners on a draw mechanism albeit vertically. If you look at cargo shifts on Google, you'll see that when the on deck containers topple over they're quite often still stacked so must be twist locked together. I'm not 100% sure but I think that they use automatic twist locks that are put onto the container on the quayside. They then lock themselves when put onto another container. They might even use these inside the holds in the cell guides as well. Cheers, John

I haven't worked on a fully cellular box boat but on the general cargo vessels I was on we had containers 4 high on top of the hatch lids. The twist locks were carried in twist lock "bins" (basically an area adjacent to each hatch which was a welded box stacked full of twist locks). As the containers were loaded the stevedores would put the twist locks on the top of the lower container. The next container would be lowered on top with a spreader attached to a crane. This container would be locked down once in position by the twist locks underneath. The bottom container was also twist locked to the hatch below then secured to the deck with bottle screws at the ends in an X formation. Hope this helps. Not the easiest to describe without a diagram. Cheers, John

Really great to see movement on the canal again. My grandfather was a fitter at old Quay yard in the glory days and my father a tugman on the canal until the late 80s. I then used to go with him up and down the canal on the Ordale H pusher tug as a nipper in the 90s. With all the green and climate change push we are seeing, the state and congestion of our roads it makes one wonder the numbers of carrying a cargo by rail or by the canal. I guess the biggest issues are the lack of infrastructure now and land that this could be on is built up and the necessity of point to point distribution rather than a hub and spoke method?

No problem at all Mark, happy to help. John

If you fancy the Daniel Adamson version in steam I can have a word with the chairman of the society? . I have helped out in the past every now and again. They do the river weaver too. She's just gone to Liverpool for winter maintenance ready for next season. John

Still going strong! A family friend is skipper on there. From the days when the canal company had a fleet to be proud of. Makes you wonder in a slightly different world what part the fantastic Manchester ship canal could play. Time is money as they say....

When I was a gadget with Bibbys, I had joined the Boularibank in General Santos in the Philippines, and after serving the Asian ports across the Indian ocean, the med, ports in northern Europe, off across the Atlantic through Panama.... 3 ports in Fiji we finally got to Papeete in Tahiti. The Old Man (John Gunson) said I'd get my travel details when we got to our next port (Auckland). Arriving on the 22nd of December due back in college for phase 5 starting in January. No travel details.... Office had forgotten....! Panic stricken...as next port for travel would be Singapore in 3 weeks.... They got me a flight to Manchester for the following day via Sydney, and Dubai. Managed to get to Sydney and after a 4 hour delay... Families being told that Christmas was cancelled as the connecting flights were full or had already gone. Thankfully the lone off signer I was got a seat via Tokyo and Heathrow.... Jumping at the ticket I thanked the nice agent from Qantas who informed me that my seat wasn't very good, to which I replied "I'm happy to sit on the pot" but she said she'd try and find me something better. Anyway... Long story short..... I flew first class to Tokyo complementary and got through my front door on Christmas eve evening! Only terminal 5 at Heathrow lost my luggage! But I made it home for Christmas and college restarting the following week. Great!

From Antwerp to Milford Haven... Rmweb member to Rmweb member...

Oooo lovely? Over zealous windlass operator? Looks like she's home but kept heaving?

What's caused that? Previous damage? (looking at the paint) or a poor weld etc? John

The gas supply issues are obviously coming to an end.... Unfortunately after all the decent weather it's now due to come to us when things aren't great. First of two LNG cargoes due this month from Peru for Milford Haven. I'm not aware of LNG being sourced from Peru at least not in recent years. Will be a busy time for us on the tugs this week. African crude, South American and Qatari LNG, plus the fuel we were never actually short of! John

Fine shape to her bow!

That's very effective Ruston. How did you do it? John

Welcome back Bob, looking forward to seeing Cambrian Street. John

The Pembroke route has been up/down graded depending on how you look at it. With the much smaller Blue Star 1 and loss of Becker rudders compared to the Isle of Inishmore I'm expecting plenty of delays and plenty of tug use on the Irish ferries route between Pembroke and Rosslare. Irish Ferries must be expecting it too, as we have been tasked with an exercise to help them onto their berth this Sunday in preparation for the winter.

I'm from Runcorn too and the coral vessel I remember seeing regularly was the Coral Acropora who hit the news when she had a gas release there alongside.

Hi David, I have done the same with mine. When connecting the point motor (I use cobalt digital ID) just ensure that the point blades are central to the turnout when the throwing arm is inserted into the small hole between the blades. That way when the switch is thrown the blades will touch fully one way or the other. For accuracy, the cobalt ID at least has a slider on it where the position of the arm can be adjusted allowing for accuracy when the blades are moved one way or the other. Hope this makes sense! John

Good question, and following on from andys post I have a few thoughts as this is something I'm contemplating at the moment... I'm leaning to the conclusion that with a fiddle yard being "the rest of the world", if its scenic it somehow takes this away and thus to the eye it becomes more of an addition to the layout and not representing the rest of the world. Secondly due to their design and function, I don't think they are the most straightforward to scenic. Firstly unless you're making it look like a 1:1 scale storage or engineers yard it is difficult to alter it to something else. If you do and start adding other scenic items then you lose storage roads which may then impact on the fiddle yard operation. Taller Things like trees, telegraph poles etc would be caught if hands were needed regularly. That's just my opinion and as I say I'm mulling it over myself currently and if I saw a good compromise I'd be happy to swing back the other way!

I believe a medical evacuation took place off her, however why she'd still be in the area unless working I'm not sure. I don't think bibby have had her long, so maybe something to do with setting up for their liking etc.

Looking forward to watching this come alive Andy! Nice to see you doing a roundy in 4mm again, a nice size layout at 15ft. John

Good luck with the running session! I'm sure all of your hard work over the last few weeks and months has paid off. Enjoy it! John

I've got mine coming up in August. Apparently I'm going to a flooded quarry somewhere in Gloucester for it? I'll be glad to get them done and out of the way again!

Beautiful vessel currently doing day cruises around the River Cleddau here in Pembrokeshire. If there's any ship spotters aboard they'll have had a great day. LNG vessel berthed this morning and a flurry of product tankers in the following 14 hours. Managed to get a nice shot of her from the bridge wing a couple of hours ago. "Johanna Lucretia".... John

Really nice Bob. I spent hours in the garden this week, planting, tidying, cutting.... Then ruined it Monday afternoon by hitting a stone whilst cutting the grass and sending it straight through the back window

Good luck with it Bob!