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The Night Mail


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Here’s were the layout will live. It’s a cabinet my late father made about 20years ago. Originally he made it me for a Z gauge layout but after much thought I changed my mind. The problem with Z gauge is that the layout would be very low, it would hardly reach up the glass front. Even a three storey building is only a few cm tall. The other big issue to me is that anything in a glass cabinet invites close examination and to me Z gauge is something to look at from a greater distance. What I mean is a small train in a large landscape type of layout.

The cabinet is less than 4ft by 2ft and not suitable for oo as I needed it to be a continuous run layout. I considered N gauge but again I think the height issue may be a problem. I do model mainly in N gauge, European, and fancied a change. 009 then came to mind. Small trains, tight radius, details can be incorporated easily and height wouldn’t be an issue, the ideal compromise? Well sort of. My dad helped me with my modelling as a child and always kept an interest in model railways. He was never particularly impressed with 009, his memories were of badly running rabbit warren layouts with garish, badly painted stock. I do remember this type of layout so for my  009 layout to work it must not show any of the above characteristics.

 

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2 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

.....current practice when teaching people to drive is to use the brakes to slow down and only use the gears and gas pedal to get going........

 

I really have a problem with that. The practice of downshifting as you slow down is something I was taught, not primarily to use the engine as a brake but to ensure that should you suddenly need power to the wheels you were in the right gear to get the best response. It is somewhat similar to one of the reasons for using flap during an approach in an aircraft as the extra drag is opposed by using a higher power setting so that the engine(s) are at a higher RPM and thus better able to spool up so acceleration will be better (there are more aerodynamic reasons for using flap that aren't applicable here but the power consideration holds good). The 'gears to go, brakes to slow' mantra is, to my mind, a 'dumbing down' of driving technique.

 

Bill, I'm glad that Blindheim is still in progress; I was looking forward to its appearance at Guildex and the news that it is booked to be at Stafford next year is welcome. The same goes for Pantmawr Sidings from the Muddy Hollow Railway and Cake Company.

 

Some more 1:43.5 topography construction happened on the Midland Railway North Hipposhire branch locomotive depot today but the forthcoming plaster extravaganza is still some way off so Jill and the cat are temporarily safe from being turned white. However, hacking about bits of foamboard, wood and cardboard and glueing it all together (including bits of me at times) is beginning to lose its sparkle somewhat so I'll be glad to get onto getting plastered. That reminds me, there's a rather toothsome Caol Isla malt in the cupboard next to where I'm sitting and it's about nightcap time....

 

Stay safe and well everyone.

 

Night night.

 

Dave 

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14 minutes ago, Dave Hunt said:

 

 

 

Bill, I'm glad that Blindheim is still in progress; I was looking forward to its appearance at Guildex and the news that it is booked to be at Stafford next year is welcome. The same goes for Pantmawr Sidings from the Muddy Hollow Railway and Cake Company.

 

Some more 1:43.5 topography construction happened on the Midland Railway North Hipposhire branch locomotive depot today

I would like it recorded that the small S7 depot is probably longer than the combined length of both Splott West and Pantmawr Sidings.  And that also includes their fiddle yards!

 

This is what happens when you have a spare aircraft hanger at your dispersal disposal.

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3 hours ago, chrisf said:

 

I believe that the honourable member is referring to "The Slow Train".  There is a song called "Last Train", by Stanley Accrington.

 

Chris

 

You are absolutely correct, Chris, and I stand corrected and grateful for that correction.  It is actually many years since I last performed it, with a good college friend at the piano!  (We did three songs as our contribution to an 'impromptu' cabaret at another friend's 40th birthday!  The other two were "London Omnibus"* and "Mud, Mud, Glorious Mud"!  How appropriate for Happy Hippo's thread!)

 

Earlier talk of wisdom teeth and the removal of impacted wisdom teeth reminds me of another college friend who had to have them extracted in his gap year between dropping out of his chemistry degree and starting his music degree.  Admitted to hospital for the operation, he suddenly got panicky when studying the permission forms, and demanded to know what exactly was going to happen in his operation.  (He knew he was having teeth out, but all the medical personnel got cagey when he asked for any details.)  His consultant rocked up in his gown, as he was about to start morning theatre, and told him that he would be put under with a GA, his jaw dislocated, his gums cut back and they would "go hunting" for his teeth with a hammer and chisel!

 

Telling this story he got looks of disbelief from all but myself; I had heard first hand from a member of my mum's hockey team - a theatre nurse and absolutely reknowned for not flinching at blood, guts and gore (she played ladies' hockey -  so it was a common Saturday afternoon sight!) - that the only operations she was unable to assist at were wisdom teeth extraction - at her very first one she had fainted when the surgeon struck the first blow with a hammer and chisel!  This hard nut of a woman (she once completed a semi final match after the hockey ball hit her in the face, knocked her front teeth out and - as discovered afterwards - broken her jaw!) also avoided hardware stores or certain aisles in such places as B&Q because the mere sight of those tools sent her faint!!

 

In other matters, nice to see some models appear here!

 

G'night, Nightmailers all!

 

 

 

 

* Performing this song whilst sober is a challenge - whilst slightly inebriated and encouraging audience participation with a pointy stick and the lyrics on a flip chart is tantamount to asking for disaster!

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6 hours ago, Dave Hunt said:

 

I really have a problem with that. The practice of downshifting as you slow down is something I was taught, not primarily to use the engine as a brake but to ensure that should you suddenly need power to the wheels you were in the right gear to get the best response.

 

Definitely with a manual transmission but not necessarily with traditional automatics that have torque converters. Torque converters include a one-way clutch and the engine revs drop as soon as you lift your foot off the accelerator. The "kick-down" is supposed to overcome this but there is usually a quite a lot of lag while the engine spins up.

 

I can drive my automatic Fiat in "manual mode" but because it has a toque converter it's nothing like driving with an actual manual transmission. DSGs are completely different because they are really just automated manual transmissions but they still are not the same as driving a car with a foot operated clutch.

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3 hours ago, SteveyDee68 said:

 

You are absolutely correct, Chris, and I stand corrected and grateful for that correction.  It is actually many years since I last performed it, with a good college friend at the piano!  (We did three songs as our contribution to an 'impromptu' cabaret at another friend's 40th birthday!  The other two were "London Omnibus"* and "Mud, Mud, Glorious Mud"!  How appropriate for Happy Hippo's thread!)

 

 

Memories jerked: a  VERY long time ago I found myself singing the Hippopotamus Song to a bunch of cubs.  They joined in loudly if not tunefully!  It is high time that it was aired again.  Last August I was inveigled into the bit of Sidmouth Folk Festival called the Middle Bar Singers.  After performing the song that I really really wanted to do and finding it well received, my thoughts strayed to what I might sing if I ever went back.  Guess what was top of the list?

 

Chris  

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Having had driving  instruction from police officers i was taught to use the brakes to slow and then to select the appropriate  gear for the speed and conditions to go.  However this was all part of a whole theory of driving in the Roadcraft Manual. I can well remember one of our instructors saying. "Brakes pads are designed to be changed, gearboxes aren't"  he may have been the same one who used his walking stick to press the accelerator pedal down if a student wasn't "making  progress" fast enough.  We did use engine braking with the gears in poor conditions and you never used the brakes on the steep hills on the Land Rover course.

 

As to tools in operating theatres, one of my main co conspirators  on  Long Preston and Lancaster, is a retired, and very eminent orthopaedic surgeon. In fact any of you who have hip replacements  can thank him for the fact that the prosthesis last a long time, though his boss got the credit.  He said that he always kept a sterilised Black and Decker drill plus bits in the theatre in case things went wrong. However I will not comment on 'bush fires' in theatre.

 

As to layouts and large sheds there is no more to be said.

 

Jamie

 

Edited by jamie92208
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4 hours ago, SteveyDee68 said:

 

 The other two were "London Omnibus"* a

 

 

Also one of my favs but the title is actually "A Transport Of Delight".

 

(I still have the {mono} LP)

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8 hours ago, Stubby47 said:

Now sat on the lounge chair,  modelling tray on my lap, watching Kevin's Grandest Designs

 

....and his favourite turns out to be a couple of ISO Containers....

WTF??

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That's it. I give up with NAS (Network Attached Storage). I bought a Seagate NAS box a few years ago thinking it would be great for back-up and also allow me to access files regardless of which computer I was using.

 

In reality it's just a gigantic PITA. Windows makes it incredibly difficult to attach a PC to the file server and to put the tin lid on it Seagate has stopped updating their product to be compatible with the latest OS versions.

 

Thanks a lot guys!

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1 hour ago, polybear said:

 

....and his favourite turns out to be a couple of ISO Containers....

WTF??

I suppose a couple of 40 footers connected to make a nice big 24 x 40 box, suitable insulated and protected would make a grand design workshop and railway room

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Good morning Night Mailers from a damp and dreary North Hipposhire. At least it's good weather for keeping muddy hollows topped up I suppose.

 

The place to go to for ISO containers is The Falklands. The islands are littered with them, some used for storage on farms (bearing in mind that a farm can be several square miles so outlying storage facilities are more or less essential) and others used for myriad purposes, even welded together to form military or civilian installations. Flying over the Falklands you come across ISOs in the remotest places (and let's face it, everywhere in the Falklands starts off remote anyway) and often there will be people there who will come out and wave to you. As an aside, I was once at a remote place called Cove on West Falkland with a mate having been dropped off there by a chopper for the day when we were stood down and whilst having a walkabout we were surprised to see a chap come by in a tractor. He stopped for a chat and it turned out he was from Port Howard, which is quite a few miles away, and had just been out checking on his sheep almost all the way down to Fox Bay - an area the size of some small counties. I was once told by an army logistics guy that there were something like 400 ISO containers unaccounted for in the Falklands alone.

 

Have a fun packed day y'all. 

 

Dave

 

 

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1 hour ago, Happy Hippo said:

I suppose a couple of 40 footers connected to make a nice big 24 x 40 box, suitable insulated and protected would make a grand design workshop and railway room

Not nearly big enough at least 10 m by 40m.

 

Jamie

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58 minutes ago, Dave Hunt said:

I was once told by an army logistics guy that there were something like 400 ISO containers unaccounted for in the Falklands alone.

Dave

 

 

I suppose they've got to gave somewhere to put all the stuff that allegedly went down on the Atlantic Conveyer.

 

Jamie

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1 hour ago, Dave Hunt said:

Good morning Night Mailers from a damp and dreary North Hipposhire. At least it's good weather for keeping muddy hollows topped up I suppose.

 

The place to go to for ISO containers is The Falklands. The islands are littered with them, some used for storage on farms (bearing in mind that a farm can be several square miles so outlying storage facilities are more or less essential) and others used for myriad purposes, even welded together to form military or civilian installations. Flying over the Falklands you come across ISOs in the remotest places (and let's face it, everywhere in the Falklands starts off remote anyway) and often there will be people there who will come out and wave to you. As an aside, I was once at a remote place called Cove on West Falkland with a mate having been dropped off there by a chopper for the day when we were stood down and whilst having a walkabout we were surprised to see a chap come by in a tractor. He stopped for a chat and it turned out he was from Port Howard, which is quite a few miles away, and had just been out checking on his sheep almost all the way down to Fox Bay - an area the size of some small counties. I was once told by an army logistics guy that there were something like 400 ISO containers unaccounted for in the Falklands alone.

 

Have a fun packed day y'all. 

 

Dave

 

 

I am aware of a covert operation just after the Falklands were liberated by the task force, where a Chinook lifted an ISO container from a compound and flew off with it.  The container was never seen again, as by all accounts, the underslung load went unstable and had to quickly dumped into the Oggin.  Fortunately the contents were of no military importance as the container only contained spirits and cigarettes destined for the NAAFI.

Edited by Happy Hippo
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8 minutes ago, jamie92208 said:

I suppose they've got to gave somewhere to put all the stuff that allegedly went down on the Atlantic Conveyer.

 

Jamie

You wouldn't believe how much stuff the various fires at certain Ordnance Depots have destroyed and needed to be written off.

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31 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

My Facebook page yesterday had an advert from the Falkland Islands letting me know that it is the ideal place for a holiday. 

I have a friend who is going on a holiday by the end of this month.

 

It's a paid holiday flying  Sea King helicopters.

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1 hour ago, Stubby47 said:

My youngest has a 10 week holiday booked over December / January in South East Cornwall, with a few days excursion to Dartmoor thrown in.

 Good on your lad Stu.

 

My experience of the green machine as opposed to the dozy b'stards, is that the former is a lot about the team, whilst the later seems to be all about the individual ego.

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3 hours ago, Stubby47 said:

My youngest has a 10 week holiday booked over December / January in South East Cornwall, with a few days excursion to Dartmoor thrown in.

 

Royal Marines, by any chance?  I recall an incident some years ago, whereby one of the recruits on the survival course phoned his missus (reverse charges) and got her to book him into a local hotel, full board & bar bill.  His downfall was he was too big with the gob in the bar, and one of the locals bubbled him to the RM.  Unsurprisingly, they were none to impressed but no disciplinary action was due as he was instructed to "survive on his wits".  However, they did point out that he would be repeating the course again, properly this time....

It made the nationals, and I don't suppose it did his career prospects much good.

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14 minutes ago, polybear said:

Royal Marines, by any chance?

 

Nooooo….  He wants to be a Warfare Specialist. He did try for the Officer role, but got deferred due to lack of leadership experience, so he's going in as a rating with an eye to applying for the Officer role in a few years.

 

HMS Raleigh is just over an hour by train (to Plymouth, then RN Bus) - some of the guys in his group (private Facebook group for them to chat before they start) are coming from Carlisle & Glasgow. 

 

He was looking forward to the Dartmoor trip, until I mentioned it would be in January...

Edited by Stubby47
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