Been a few days now, George @Bealman
How are you getting on with the snazzy bum bag and the drip in your arm at home?
They won't have prescribed you any morphine to take at home so, on a scale of 1 - 10 (with 1 being virtually pain free), how're you doing?

Quote from: Train Waiting on April 20, 2026, 08:57:11 AM

Quote from: chrism on April 20, 2026, 08:41:37 AMThe rest of the article is very interesting too, thanks for posting it.

@cmason

Thank you, Colin.

John

@Train Waiting

John,

to complement Geyutshud, herewith Darlo...


Colin.

Quote from: Train Waiting on April 20, 2026, 08:57:11 AM

Quote from: chrism on April 20, 2026, 08:41:37 AMThe rest of the article is very interesting too, thanks for posting it.

@cmason

Thank you, Colin.

John

@Train Waiting

My pleasure John!

Colin.

Quote from: chrism on April 20, 2026, 08:41:37 AMThe rest of the article is very interesting too, thanks for posting it.

@cmason

Thank you, Colin.

John

The rest of the article is very interesting too, thanks for posting it.

It's been a Long Road (Faith of the Heart)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6INC9hqodw

Not to be confused with It's a Long Road.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DD0mzPhVSU

Quote from: chrism on April 19, 2026, 08:43:37 PMCrikey, I never knew that they used brass boiler tubes at that time - I'd always thought that they were originally wrought iron, eventually replaced by steel.

Thank you. Brass was commonly used and was long-lasting. In Railway Adventure, LTC Rolt makes much of Dolgoch having her original boiler, made of Low Moor iron with brass tubes.

All good wishes.

John

Crikey, I never knew that they used brass boiler tubes at that time - I'd always thought that they were originally wrought iron, eventually replaced by steel.

Vital Statistics

Occasional Special No. 2


Hello Chums

You might recall that I mentioned, in the part of the surprisingly brief mini-series discussing cylinders, that for two inside cylinders, their diameter was constrained by the distance between the inside faces of the frames. I mentioned that this distance was about four feet. This was based on my own experience as I hadn't seen a relevant published figure for this dimension.

Then, on 17 March of this year, @cmason posted on my Poppingham thread a very interesting article from The Engineer about the North Eastern Railway's Gateshead Works.

The article is fascinating and, on page 616, is probably the most comprehensive list of dimensions of a British inside-cylinder locomotive I have ever seen. With Colin's kind permission, I'm glad to reproduce the article here. A look at all the relevant dimensions will demonstrate just how tightly constrained locomotive engineers were by the standard gauge and the British structure gauge.

Incidentally, outside cylinders had their own limitations on diameter due to the distance between the outside face of the frames and the edge of station platforms.

Of course, all the other dimensions included in the list are worth thinking about.

With SuperSpecial thanks to Colin.


'N' Gauge is Such Fun!

Many thanks for looking and all best wishes.

Toodle-oo

John

So far this year has seen another Peak, 64xx, 57xx, Britannia added to the fleet. Three of the new Halls, a BoB and a Mogul are also on the pre order list, so yes it will be a rather expensive year.