Arthur

Reminds me of a former boss, lovely guy, he usually had one eye, but one only, on his diet. One day we were having lunch at a customers canteen. He loads up his tray with a massive roast, loads of spuds, sponge pudding and half a gallon of custard. Big mug of tea. We're paying at the till and he's looking for something, says to the lady without any irony, " Have you got any sweetner?". She looks at his calorie laden tray and says, "Are you effin' joking".

Looking good, I've one of Roberts rolls to finish myself, that and your prototype photos will be very useful. The use of a mofified standard wagon as a scrap pan carrier is entirely prototypical though I'd consider adding simple end stops to contain the pans. Some melting shops, those that had the scrap pans delivered immediately in front of the furnaces for charging (Abbey, Shotton, Ravenscraig for example) needed them on special low wagons as made by Robert. Here's one at Ravenscraig from my iron & stell gallery. http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/gallery/image/12887-rolling-stock-30/ Arthur

Probably an urban myth but there is the story of the expectant chav mother telling the midwife she had a lovely name in mind for her new daughter......,.... Chlamydia

Yeah, and even after Dara grilled Melody on the wash up programme I still don't know what,exactly, she does!!

Guilty pleasure Journey, their latest album, Eclipse, stadium rock as only Journey can.

I had a Saturday job at Fine Fare in Eccles, Lancs. We had our fair share of celebrity shoppers, well, wrestler Adrian Street was a regular. Our Butcher was alcoholic and always in late. One morning, in has absence, I was tasked with unloading the meat lorry in the alley round the back. Being handed a beef haunch over my shoulder the greasy leg slipped out of my grasp and onto the grimy cobbles. Shrieks from the manager, quickly picked up, quick look around, no one to see, and hustled in and wiped down!! (the beef, not me). The building had previously been a Temperence Hall (whatever happened to them?) and one day Fine Fare realised their lease forbade the sale of alchohol. Result, the closing down of the beer, wines and spirits section. The whole place didn't last much longer, clearly Temperence didn't have much of a local following.......

Hayman drums, Ivor Arbiters attempt to build a British drum to compete with US makes like Ludwig and Gretsch. Excellent drums and, for a while (late 60's, early 70's) very successful too. At one time it seemed virtually every British drummer, pop, rock and jazz was playing them. I had a thrash on a set at an instruments fair at the old Belle Vue in Manchester, couldn't afford them at the time but now have a four piece set to refurbish.

Correct! Over to you.

Bump and a clue, The explosions occured in 1940, 1948 and 1962, the first two causing fatalities.

Thanks Boogy, Which British* designed locomotive class suffered three serious boiler explosions in the 20th century. (*so, excluding the USATC S160 2-8-0) Arthur

Little Egberts? Not sure if that's correct so will not post a question just yet!

That's the problem, whereas in the past people were presumed to demonstrate common sense, and if you didn't, well, tough. Today we try to prevent the stupid fulfilling their potential and the rest of us are stifled in the process.

John Hustons 1948 film 'The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. In response to treasure hunter Humphrey Bogarts request for some form of I.D., the snarled response from the Mexican bandit leader posing as Federales "Badges!! We don't need no stinkin' badges!"

There has been talk, the legislation may already have been passed, on making this mandatory across the EU and having new cars rigged to do so from new, as with Volvo's and Saab's. It's long been a legal requirement in Sweden. Having worked for the British Steel Corporation, at two sites, in the early seventies, I can vouch for that, safety wear was minimal and only that which was absolutely essential for the job in hand was worn. Never saw a high viz vest and hard hats could be counted on one hand. Of course the most dangerous thing in the work environment is the human being, who through various combinations of haste, complacency and over familiarity, can do the most stupid things. As an example, at Irlam in 1973, at the end of one Friday morning shift, a young guy, keen to clock off and get out of there, dashed out of one of the personnel doors in the rod & bar mill, vaulted the safety rail (there precisely to check such hasty exits) and went right under the wheels of a passing works shunter, losing both legs in the process. A very high price to pay for a moments haste.

Irrespective of the courts ruling, the coffee case, to me, is still a good example of the compensation culture and the abrogation of personnal responsibility. Any adult knows that freshly brewed coffee is very hot and needs treating with care. Whatever the temperature, if you spill it on your groin it's your fault, not the person who made it for you. What next, McDonalds employ somebody to blow on your coffee to cool it down before you drink it. If we want treating like children that's where it will end.

I am somewhat sceptical of that and would like to know what exactly is meant by "The level of personal injury claims has been roughly static for a good many years". It is a very bald statement, a sound bite devoid of any real content. If it is so, what is supporting the enormous Compensation Claims Industry which we see evidenced every day by countless TV ads? Yes, I know that many of these no win/no fee companies have the potential claiment take out insurance to cover the claims companies costs in the case of the claim being unsuccessful, but that insurance only works if some of the claims are successful. One of them went bust a few years back because they were taking on so many hopeless and unsuccessful cases that they could no longer get insurance cover. Are we expected to believe that all of these companies, all of these TV ads, are having NO impact on the total amount paid out by insurerers in claims over the years? Just what then is their business built on?

Very nicely finished Paul, I like the rusty look and those 'greased' springs are a nice touch, I'll be copying that! Did you see this, a nice colour photo of a slag ladle? http://www.rmweb.co....__1#entry424683 I use a similar technique for the white lettering but with a Uniball Signio white gel pen, an idea I found on RMWeb. It occurs to me that if Undecided Aggregates became Undecided Slag Reclamation your wagon could find a home! I received five from Robert earlier this week and am close to finishing one. Making them tip would be a challenge but I'm surprised how well the ladle tips on it's trunnions just as it is. It is a nice little kit. How did you assemble yours? I know you araldited the ladle halves, did you use any solder? I've used a mix of techniques. p.s. if this posting goes through it would seem that the reason I couldn't post comments on Blogs is an issue with Opera as my browser. Edit; that's that confirmed then!

Ron, thanks for that, looks like a useful tool, I'll try one myself. Do you use it to score and snap as I guess cutting all the way through leads to the strip curling? Arthur

Ron, when you get a moment could you post a photo of your modified balsa wood strip cutter? Sounds like a useful bit of kit, I've searched on Google and found a couple of variations on the theme. Just interested to know which type you're using to such good effect. Thanks Arthur

Thanks Andy!

Thanks Simon, glad you like it . It's just a paint effect. The ingots themselves are just blocks of styrene with the top centres 'routed' out with a burr in a minidrill leaving a raised rim. The centres of real ingots sink as the metal cools and contracts. They're then painted with a white undercoat which is allowed to dry, followed by a coat of a bright yellow. It's nothing special, just something in a tester pot from B&Q, which is also allowed to dry. Next is a fluorescent orange by PlastiCote, I think I got that from Wilkinsons. I just paint an oval 'frame' on every face of the ingot leaving the centre of each face yellow. After that's dried for 30 minutes I then use a brush with some thinners on to blend the orange into the yellow so that there is a gradation of colour from yellow in the centre to orange at the edges. When that's dried I use Humbrol gunmetal metalcote to just catch the very corners and tops and bottoms of the edges to replicate steel that's cooled beyond the glowing stage. The real ingots would still be near liquid in the centre at this point so I'm trying to replicate the various intensities of temperature, colour and glow.

A steelworks, somewhere in Lancashire, around 1973. Arthur

Thanks for that Tim, I liked the first album so I'll be getting No.2 pronto! Arthur

Dave , that's right. here's a flow diagram for Crude Tar distillation at Dorman Longs Clarence Works on Teeside. Crude tar from the coke ovens in at the top and road tar, a product, one of many, further down on the right; For interest here's the flow chart for Crude Benzole Rectification; Worth pointing out that Clarence Works was a big, sophisticated, operation taking feedstock from several batteries of Dorman Long's ovens and that not all By-Products plants were so comprehensive.

Where do you live Gary? I might have some photos of local interest.