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Post by Oily Rag on Jun 2, 2019 19:44:57 GMT
I had assumed Gympie was the name of the locomotive! Destination board. QR locos (Queensland Railways) , steam and diesels had brackets that could carry three destination boards. Various destination boards were stored at the depots and crews grabbed the one they needed for their shift. On the back is written "Amamoor" which is the small town we terminate at and turn the loco on the table. We simply rotate the board as we turn on the table. Well that is the intention, it is often forgotten by some crews to change the board to show the correct destination . Whoops! So Gympie is the destination of this train.
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Post by dhamblin on Jun 4, 2019 21:36:58 GMT
Spent the day at the 'Daks Over Duxford' event, which is part commemorations for the 75th anniversary of D-Day. A gathering of 23 Douglas DC-3 Dakota / C-47 Skytrain aircraft and a few variants, with the whole lot panned to fly to Normandy tomorrow (5th June) for a mass parachute drop at Sannerville. Weather didn't play ball, so no practice drops at Duxford, but the atmosphere was pretty special.
Regards,
Dan
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Post by Oily Rag on Jun 5, 2019 3:18:00 GMT
I had an 12 hour day yesterday at Gympie, light up, drive 974 the shunt loco till 2.00pm, we had carriages here and there and turning the guards vans on the table, then I fired the last few hours of the shunt. Mean while 967 was delivered back to the Gympie shed for final fit out and trails. I will be in Gympie all of next week helping out. There was a special buzz about the shed. A view down road # 2 through a clear shed, 967 has arrived back. The view from the drivers side of 974 as I had the privilege to buffer up and make the first ever shunt movement of 967.We tuned 974 for this photo op and for the local press.Split again and we moved 967 to the northern end of the shed. If this pic does not excite you ? There were comments about Jelly Fish getting hard.
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Post by delaplume on Jun 5, 2019 9:19:18 GMT
Spent the day at the 'Daks Over Duxford' event, which is part commemorations for the 75th anniversary of D-Day. A gathering of 23 Douglas DC-3 Dakota / C-47 Skytrain aircraft and a few variants, with the whole lot panned to fly to Normandy tomorrow (5th June) for a mass parachute drop at Sannerville. Weather didn't play ball, so no practice drops at Duxford, but the atmosphere was pretty special. Regards, Dan As an extension of this event keep an eye open for Guy Martin's D- Day parachute drop television programme--------- most entertaining, particularly the 6 storey high scaffold "Walk" and "Leap of faith".... He eventually jumps into France ( Where Custom Officials wait for him to "sign in" ) from an original veteran Dakota wearing the "Rig of the Day" uniform and under a plain, round canopy of the period.....Well done that man !!! Of particular note are the various D-Day veterans that are individually interviewed by the TV people.....ALL are in their 90's, with bright eyes, an alert cognative manner and NONE showing any signs of Dementia etc.........an example to us all I think ??
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Post by runner42 on Jun 5, 2019 23:53:51 GMT
I would like to add my memories of the D-day landings. I was born in Freshwater Road in Cosham Portsmouth which is just south of the old A27 road a main arterial link to strategic leaving points to the Normandy landings. A few days before the departure and as a young pre-schooler I was amazed at the activities that were taking place outside my house and all along Freshwater Road, it was choker block with Army vehicles and soldiers awaiting orders to leave for the final push to eventually end WW2. They were in good spirits and I remember generous in providing us kids with sweets and chocolate.
Brian
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Post by dhamblin on Jun 6, 2019 8:26:16 GMT
As an extension of this event keep an eye open for Guy Martin's D- Day parachute drop television programme--------- most entertaining, particularly the 6 storey high scaffold "Walk" and "Leap of faith".... He eventually jumps into France ( Where Custom Officials wait for him to "sign in" ) from an original veteran Dakota wearing the "Rig of the Day" uniform and under a plain, round canopy of the period.....Well done that man !!! Of particular note are the various D-Day veterans that are individually interviewed by the TV people.....ALL are in their 90's, with bright eyes, an alert cognative manner and NONE showing any signs of Dementia etc.........an example to us all I think ?? A very good programme indeed - the gentleman who owned the motorcycle and frame, that it was dropped in from a Hercules, was at Duxford along with a substantial amount of his army medical equipment from the period. He had the parachute drop frame used on the programme, but the bike in it was an original condition one found in a Dutch barn. A genuine D-Day veteran that was probably abandoned during the push through Holland, then taken on by a Dutch farmer as they could do over 100 miles per gallon, which was a help during post-war fuel rationing. Sadly I missed the aircraft en route to Normandy yesterday (migraine). But watching some of the footage it looked like they pulled it off ok. Regards, Dan
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Post by simplyloco on Jun 6, 2019 8:38:00 GMT
I watched the commemoration ceremony from start to finish. Excellently produced and performed. I was a hard nosed senior NCO in the Royal Engineers, and I was never shot at, but I don't mind admitting to a few tears during the show! John
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smallbrother
Elder Statesman
Errors aplenty, progress slow, but progress nonetheless!
Posts: 2,269
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Post by smallbrother on Jun 6, 2019 12:42:49 GMT
Spent the day at the 'Daks Over Duxford' event, which is part commemorations for the 75th anniversary of D-Day. A gathering of 23 Douglas DC-3 Dakota / C-47 Skytrain aircraft and a few variants, with the whole lot panned to fly to Normandy tomorrow (5th June) for a mass parachute drop at Sannerville. Weather didn't play ball, so no practice drops at Duxford, but the atmosphere was pretty special. Regards, Dan As an extension of this event keep an eye open for Guy Martin's D- Day parachute drop television programme--------- most entertaining, particularly the 6 storey high scaffold "Walk" and "Leap of faith".... He eventually jumps into France ( Where Custom Officials wait for him to "sign in" ) from an original veteran Dakota wearing the "Rig of the Day" uniform and under a plain, round canopy of the period.....Well done that man !!! Of particular note are the various D-Day veterans that are individually interviewed by the TV people.....ALL are in their 90's, with bright eyes, an alert cognative manner and NONE showing any signs of Dementia etc.........an example to us all I think ?? I must doff my cap to Guy for going through that beasting and then facing up to a seasoned boxer for a couple of rounds. Poor bugger didn't know what day of the week it was after that. Pete.
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Post by andyhigham on Jun 6, 2019 18:17:55 GMT
I have just finished reading the James Bond book "Forever and a day" by Anthony Horowitz. He described the workings of a steam powered cruise liner (set just after WW2) boilers, engines, condensors etc Using an improvised bomb 007 attempts to blow the sea water intake valve. All very plausible, I assumed the sea water would be to cool the exhaust steam in the condensors. No he described how the sea water was used to cool the cylinder heads and turbochargers!!!!!!!
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JonL
Elder Statesman
WWSME (Wiltshire)
Posts: 2,906
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Post by JonL on Jun 6, 2019 18:24:52 GMT
I have just finished reading the James Bond book "Forever and a day" by Anthony Horowitz. He described the workings of a steam powered cruise liner (set just after WW2) boilers, engines, condensors etc Using an improvised bomb 007 attempts to blow the sea water intake valve. All very plausible, I assumed the sea water would be to cool the exhaust steam in the condensors. No he described how the sea water was used to cool the cylinder heads and turbochargers!!!!!!! ?! It was all going so well, and now I'm confused!
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Post by delaplume on Jun 7, 2019 0:48:46 GMT
The bike parachuted into France was the Royal Enfield "Flying Flea"...........https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Enfield_WD/RE
Marine Steam Turbines are generally built on top of a condensor where the tubes carry cold water to allow condensation to take place...The water created is withdrawn by pump action......This process creates a partial vacuum....An indicator diagramme traces Pressure on the vertical scale and volume on the horizontal scale.....As Pressure multiplied by Volume displaced gives Work Done it follows that the area of an indicator diagramme gives the total work done and by including the vacuum figure below the horizontal zero line then the area of the graph has been increased and thus the power output of the turbines are increased also.......as is the thermal efficiency........If we include the economisers ( A form of pre-heating the boiler feed water using the heat found in the exhaust fumes at the base of the funnel ) then considerable savings can be made, an important factor when on a World cruise etc...
OOpppssss, nearly went off piste there but I'm "claiming the Fith" seeing as how President Donald is in Town !!
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JonL
Elder Statesman
WWSME (Wiltshire)
Posts: 2,906
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Post by JonL on Jun 7, 2019 20:07:06 GMT
I'm mainly confused as to where a steam engine has a turbocharger...
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barlowworks
Statesman
Now finished my other projects, Britannia here I come
Posts: 874
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Post by barlowworks on Jun 9, 2019 13:31:46 GMT
Just spent a very enjoyable couple of hours at the Sweet Pea rally which is being hosted by my local club here in Sheffield. Lots of happy faces and good running on the ground level and raised track. 👍
Mike
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Post by steamer5 on Jun 10, 2019 7:59:05 GMT
Well not quite.....what I’ve done today.....just got back from holiday. A couple of weeks in Switzerland, we did a 7 day tour by train. If you are a train fan I can highly recommend you dig into your piggy bank, ignore the protest from the moths, and enjoy both the trains & the scenery, stunning! A range of train, with & without cog drive, the funicular up the Harder Kulm at 64% grade was almost gravity defining! Not include in the tour, but when you fly 1/2 round the world it’s not to be missed the Jungfrau is a MUST! To top it off the local model engineers were having a Steam Fete, & the icing on the cake for me was meeting up with the owner of a 5” gauge K1 Garratt !
Cheers Kerrin
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Post by David on Jun 12, 2019 9:32:11 GMT
Sorted a few problems out.
1. After cutting a boiler band out of thin sheet last week and having it bend all sorts of bad ways I thought "there must be an easier way". Someone mentioned I could probably buy them already cut into thin strips so I called my local supplier and he's having a terrible time finding someone who'll make them for him. The last two batches he's received have been something like 1.2mm thick! Luckily I spoke to my father-in-law this morning and he said he had some spare so that's sorted.
2. I tried to take the blower pipe out of the smokebox on Sunday and couldn't figure out how to undo the union nut on the tubeplate - there's just no room. During the conversation about boiler bands this morning I asked the F-I-L how he gets the things loose and he suggested bending a spanner. I bent one 90deg near the open end and it worked well.
3. Soaked the above pipe in phosphoric acid for an hour or two, just in case. Soaked the backhead-end blower pipe in citric acid for a few hours to try and descale it, I had to do that some time in the last couple of years so figured it might need it again.
4. I found some crud in the blower valve so poked it around and blew it out with compressed air. I also found a flake of something in the steam manifold.
5. With the smokebox-end pipe off I could run some 1.6mm rod through the hollow stay in the boiler, then blast it and the valve with compressed air.
When I put it all back together the blower was much better. The fact I found crud in the blower valve and the manifold makes me wonder if the injector blockages are coming from the boiler and not the water.
Took the blocked injector apart as well as I could - I could only get the delivery cone out this time and have left the body and the separate cone in the citric acid overnight.
F-I-L confirmed what my friend told me on Tuesday about burning the Welsh coal. Both said the best way to go is to have at least some of the Australian 'brown' coal in the mix because it burns hot. Then we apparently have two types of Welsh coal mixed together... it's all a bit confusing. Hopefully I now have a blower up to the task of keeping the fire hot enough.
Not sure how to clean the boiler out - any ideas? One day I'll make a new manifold and install new valves but I'm heartily sick of fixing this damned loco and want to spend my time working on the mogul! The todo list is:
1. Add a chain to the whistle valve so I can use it. 2. New manifold and valves - two injector steam valves and a blower valve, which will require all new pipe work. 3. Redo the kinked and curvy injector water supply pipework on the RHS, which requires unsoldering the existing pipe one from the water tap and soldering a new one on and hoping all that doesn't distort the valve meaning I need to make a new one. 4. Make a new arrangement for attaching the tender water hoses to the loco, the current setup is pretty annoying and damages the hoses. 5. Make a new tender tank from brass or plastic to sit inside the current steel one where the rust is already coming through the very new and very thick bitumen paint. When I do this it would be the right time to install some small commercial ball valves in the original tank under the coal space thus doing away with the ones on the loco. 6. Attach the side tanks properly - they're essentially sitting there held in place by gravity due to by being filled with sand. They also need the rivet heads ground off the rear plates so they sit against the cab front properly. 7. Remake the cylinder drain linkages which were wrecked when one of my sons pushed the loco off it's stand a few years ago. I also managed to use the wrong tap in one of their holes one day - no idea why I did it - the hole was already there and tapped and working. So now the cylinder drain doesn't fit and it's blanked off.
I'm hoping the constant stream of grief this loco provides will leave me in good stead for fixing the mogul when it needs it.
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Post by simplyloco on Jun 12, 2019 9:59:42 GMT
Sorted a few problems out. 1. After cutting a boiler band out of thin sheet last week and having it bend all sorts of bad ways I thought "there must be an easier way". Someone mentioned I could probably buy them already cut into thin strips so I called my local supplier and he's having a terrible time finding someone who'll make them for him. The last two batches he's received have been something like 1.2mm thick! Luckily I spoke to my father-in-law this morning and he said he had some spare so that's sorted. SNIP I discovered stainless steel cable ties. Ten thou thick and they look fantastic. John WP_20181207_17_40_24_Pro by inkaboat, on Flickr
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Post by ilvaporista on Jun 12, 2019 12:48:03 GMT
Sorted a few problems out. 1. After cutting a boiler band out of thin sheet last week and having it bend all sorts of bad ways I thought "there must be an easier way". Someone mentioned I could probably buy them already cut into thin strips so I called my local supplier and he's having a terrible time finding someone who'll make them for him. The last two batches he's received have been something like 1.2mm thick! Luckily I spoke to my father-in-law this morning and he said he had some spare so that's sorted. SNIP I discovered stainless steel cable ties. Ten thou thick and they look fantastic. John WP_20181207_17_40_24_Pro by inkaboat, on Flickr My two sources of boiler band material are. 1 Backing strip from windscreen wiper blades. These give stiffness to the rubber blade. About 3mm wide. 2 Drain unblocker. A thin spring steel strip about 4mm wide x 0.8mm thick
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Post by David on Jun 12, 2019 23:07:58 GMT
John and Adrian, thanks!
I like the look of those stainless cable ties, that seems just right.
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Post by silverfox on Jun 13, 2019 9:27:29 GMT
Having emptied my piggy bank to go to a football match in Madrid..AND i was not a happy bunny.....i had resigned myself to another 6 month wait to get my Milling DRO.. Until yesterday when , the VERY good lady asked how much i needed. Well it is being delivered between 2 and three this PM. Top marks to M-DRO. So today i will be mostly taking off the old LCD strips Had no problems with them but they do have the habit of turning off the display at the most inopportune moments!
So if anyone has a WM16 miller and could do with a digital readout to get them one step further forward...make me an offer
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Post by simplyloco on Jun 13, 2019 10:28:20 GMT
SNIP I had resigned myself to another 6 month wait to get my Milling DRO.. Until yesterday when , the VERY good lady asked how much i needed. Well it is being delivered between 2 and three this PM. Top marks to M-DRO. SNIP Which one did you get? I'm quite pleased with my Eassom, but the cheaper one would have done just as well! John
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