Dave Hunt

I must say, Andy, that SMS is a really interesting and inspiring layout - and that's from an S7 pre grouping modeller. Your scenic work is excellent and a source of ideas for me and the realism you achieve I think is admirable. I find that if I start to lose my mojo at times, a visit to SMS can often kick start it. Well done and thank you, keep it up.

Dave

Since Dad's endoscopy revealed nothing wrong internally and his femur has mended satisfactorily, he is being discharged from Whitchurch hospital and taken to a nursing home in Shrewsbury where he will continue to receive physiotherapy. His case will then be reviewed in two weeks' time and if he is still not mobile enough to return home, with some degree of daily help, we will have to look at more permanent nursing home care for him.

Ah, well, there goes the round the world trip we were planning for the near future  - or maybe not in view of such a thing being totally stupid and only contemplated by the terminally thick. Mind you, we are close to Telfland......

Dave

8 hours ago, Florence Locomotive Works said:

Evening all,

 

As was guessed, yesterday I annealed the spring and reinstalled it. This is not a process that is in any way enjoyable. However the engine is working now, and can now run in both forward and reverse. This weekend the mechanism is due to be put in a bag of WD40 which will then be placed in an ultrasonic cleaner, to remove all the old oil I couldn't get to with a brush. Currently the coupling rods have been removed while a broken spoke is repaired.

Great work, Douglas. You are rapidly becoming a model engineer of note and I suspect that before too long will be offering the rest of us advice rather than the other way round.

Dave

Terrifying or what??

I await the headlines on the new scourge of the Telfs.

Off to see Dad again this afternoon and maybe get some idea of what is being planned for him.

Dave

8 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

I have now joined the ranks of the indestructible immortals. Well, at least for the time being.

First came Captain America, then Iron Man, and now............................

The Mighty Pachyderm.

Be afraid, Telfs, be very afraid.

'Night all.

Dave

55 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

 

If you have a dog, any dropped foodstuffs will often not even reach the floor.

Our dog, who passed away three years ago, could detect the preparations for cake making even before any mixing of ingredients took place. He recognised the removal of the necessary utensils from various cupboards and knew that eventually there would be a mixing bowl to lick out and after cooking there would very possibly be crumbs as the cake was removed from the baking tin(s). Getting him out of the kitchen throughout the proceedings was impossible.

Dave

As the Christopher Isherwood poem goes:

The common cormorant (or sh*g)

Lays eggs inside a paper bag

You follow the idea, no doubt,

It's to keep the lightning out

But what these unobservant birds

Have never thought of, is that herds

Of wandering bears might come with buns

And steal the bags to hold the crumbs

And I presume that the possibility of herds of wandering TNM based bears or pachyderms with cake would also apply? Hence the need to be careful not to leave crumbs in order to protect cormorants.

Dave

I suppose that a "sorry" button would be appropriate? But I won't make a song and dance about it 

Dave

8 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

Thank you for the sage advice which is much appreciated

 

Fortunately I was not using the cake for plate work, merely internal reinforcing.

 

 

Jill always insists on me using a plate when eating cake so that I don't leave crumbs on the carpet.

Dave

Something that springs to mind (sorry about that) - Is there such a thing as a Bassett Lowke society or similar that Douglas could use to try to acquire a new spring for the George V?

Dave

16 minutes ago, lezz01 said:

 Like I say I do like a jig.

Regards Lez. 

Prefer a square dance or a ceilidh myself.

And on that note I'll say goodnight.

Dave

The good news today is that Dad's endoscopy showed nothing sinister and the consultant put his eating problems down to a simple matter of age related diminished gastric efficiency. We now await the response from the medics, therapists etc. as to the way forward.

A word of warning to HH though. Christmas cake is a rotten substitute for nuts, bolts and washers - the tensile strength leaves something to be desired and it makes everything sticky.

Dave

Commiserations on the Mogul situation, Douglas. I agree with HH's comments above - clean and inhibit the beast then keep it where you can get some pleasure simply from its presence and determine that someday it will be sorted but for now move on to pastures new. At least you have the satisfaction of knowing that you did a good job with it.

Dave

Some breaking news Chez Hunt. The water heater in the kitchen just made a sort of groaning noise followed by a loud pop and the ring main CB tripped. There is also a strong smell of burning plastic. I suspect that it has become an ex water heater. 

Bu**er.

Dave

4 hours ago, Tony_S said:

I needed to cut some short pieces of brass tube and I am now the possessor of a tiny brass tube cutter. I was thinking it was a pity there wasn’t a mini version of my one for plumbing and it was nice to find there was. 

Tony, any chance of more details such as make, size range of tubes it will cut, availability etc?

Dave

Regarding my previous, it has just occurred that my suggestion would only be correct if the spring was wound clockwise.

I do realise that I should get out more......

Dave

If he learns to do it properly, would it then be 'the rights of spring'?

Dave

A lovely thing to see, Douglas. Well done that man!

Dave

4 hours ago, Florence Locomotive Works said:

If you look at the above video, you can see the sizable exhaust plumage coming from the engine. Mine has a much much smaller plume, meaning I’m guessing that there is less steam in the system. Or it could be a blocked line. However, on the very first time I ever ran the engine, it was about the same as it is now, will run but no power. 
 

Do we have any ideas?

 

Douglas

I'm expert on small steam engines but it strikes me that your problem can be narrowed down to: lack of steam production and therefore low system pressure; leak(s) in the steam circuit; or restrictions/blockage(s) in the circuit. Your efforts with the burner and fuel would suggest that sufficient heat is being applied so I would tend to discount the first option, leaving leaks and/or restrictions as the probable culprits. It should possible to apply some sort of pressure test to the circuit to expose any leaks but I will leave it to HH and others more knowledgeable than me to suggest how that can be done; similarly, methods of clearing restrictions (maybe caused by limescale build-up?) are the province of those more familiar with the subject.

I hope that the above, despite not offering direct advice, can add to the debate. I sympathise with your frustration to get the Mogul performing as it should.

Dave

We once considered moving to Cornwall and Jill remarked that with my love of Cornish pasties it could be damaging to my waistline. Having seen the Cornish cake report I think that we're I to live there I would soon be rivalling HH in body mass, or if not that much at least PB proportions.

Went to see Dad last night at 2130 and stayed until just short of midnight. He was glad to see me but I'm not sure whether it helped him get to sleep. The doctor there has arranged for both of us to be allowed to visit (independently that is) so Jill is going this afternoon and I'll go again tonight.

Happy Sunday people.

Dave 

Some years ago we went on a guided tour of the Caol Isla distillery on the northern tip of Islay and were told, like Northmoor, that a lot of the production went for blending. The guide, who was an ex-chief distiller, said that the most highly paid people in the whisky producing business are the chief blenders for the big names as they have to be able to produce the same taste year after year when the availability of the different distillations varies a lot.

He also told us that the supposed effect that local water supplies have on the taste of single malts is a myth and that in dry years his distillery had sometimes received deliveries of fresh water in tankers. The two things that do affect the taste more than anything else are how the barley is dried and the shape of the necks of the distillation vessels, which govern exactly what the distillate is. Apparently the latter is so important that when new distillation vessels are required it is common for the necks to be cut off and left in situ whilst new bodies are welded on underneath.

The most surprising thing, though, was that he was teetotal and had never tasted what he had spent a working lifetime producing, basing his judgement of the distillates purely on smell.

Dave