Flower of Gloster - to be released on DVD in Sept. 2015

[alan_fincher]

23 minutes ago, Derek R. said:

No, can't remember anyone walking to the head of a train to smell diesel exhaust. Now hot steam oil and coal smoke, and feel the heat from the engine - yes.

Not my bag, but are you not aware of the Diesel galas at most of the big (and even small) preserved railways.

These are huge, and attract vast numbers of enthusiasts - just often different enthusiasts from steam.

I seldom travel on steam railtours, but when I did some years back, and the train started with Diesel haulage, and picked steam enthusiasts up at stations en route, the organisers had arranged a diesel locomotive type rarely found on passenger trains.  The train initially had many Diesel enthusiasts occupying seats that would later be used by steam enthusiasts yet to board.  The Diesel enthusiasts had no interest in the later steam haulage, and left the train to return to theirs tart point on service trains, before the steam leg started. (Canny extra income by the organisers to keep overall costs down, of course).

And Derek, you of all people must know that people travel miles to journey on the very bus types you used to drive - diesel enthusiasts of a different kind surely, as is anybody with a vintage diesel in their boat.  (I would still prefer not to inhale the exhaust fumes though, I agree!)

[Laurence Hogg]

2 hours ago, Derek R. said:

cNo, can't remember anyone walking to the head of a train to smell diesel exhaust. Now hot steam oil and coal smoke, and feel the heat from the engine - yes.

Having grown up next to the Grand Junction main line steam, diesel and electric were for a short time seen together. When trainspotting at either of Wolverhamptons stations you struggled to see the numbers on the filthy clapped out steam locos still clinging to life. However when the "leccys" came in or the diesels they always seemed clean.

I can remember standing next to a class 50 on a winters day enjoying the warm air from the vents, also of standing in awe at Kings Cross whilst your whole body reverberated to the Deltic engine, far more thrilling than any steam loco noise. Yes steam is nice but today the diesel is as fondly remembered and the new diesel days and galas prove this.

Edited February 24, 2017 by Laurence Hogg
spelling as usual!

[Derek R.]

It's all about nostalgia, and seeking and reliving that which was experienced during youth.

My more recent involvement driving RF buses was another period of nostalgia - back behind the big wheel again! But though I have many books on RT's and RF's, they seem to be poor relatives to the steam books with their many and varied types. As to those buses that superseded the RT - pretenders - uninteresting boxes. Compare them to the half cab coaches, or the little Bedford OB. How much more interesting is a JP2 to a Vetus? We each have our own favourites of course, but the diesel fans seem to relish their own kind of 'clag' videos, which frankly are a five minute wonder for  me.

Not sure about these circular avatars either - what's the reasoning behind that Daniel? Square corners a bit sharp on the hands?

[alan_fincher]

1 hour ago, Laurence Hogg said:

Having grown up next to the Grand Junction main line steam, diesel and electric were for a short time seen together. When trainspotting at either of Wolverhamptons stations you struggled to see the numbers on the filthy clapped out steam locos still clinging to life. However when the "leccys" came in or the diesels they always seemed clean.

I can remember standing next to a class 50 on a winters day enjoying the warm air from the vents, also of standing in awe at Kings Cross whilst your whole body reverberated to the Deltic engine, far more thrilling than any steam loco noise. Yes steam is nice but today the diesel is as fondly remembered and the new diesel days and galas prove this.

Do you mean Class 55?  I don't think Class 50s had a the Deltic engine, did they?

[IanM]

39 minutes ago, alan_fincher said:

Do you mean Class 55?  I don't think Class 50s had a the Deltic engine, did they?

They didn't.

English Electric Sixteen Cylinder 16CSVT according to https://www.preserved-diesels.co.uk/engines/index_50.htm

[Ray T]

49 minutes ago, IanM said:

They didn't.

English Electric Sixteen Cylinder 16CSVT according to https://www.preserved-diesels.co.uk/engines/index_50.htm

 Class 50's known as Hoovers.

"The class were nicknamed "Hoovers"^[2] (sometimes shortened to "Vacs"^{[citation needed]}) by rail enthusiasts because of the distinctive sound made by the cooling fan mechanism.^[3]"

^{https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_Class_50}

 

 

 

Edited February 24, 2017 by Ray T

[mark99]

Quote

 

A modern take. We are currently installing the main fuel feed for these type engines (gas). 8 in line, each a v16.  Dotted around the UK. Next one near Wolverhampton.

 

http://catmrg.com/360/tcg-2032-v16/English/730x548/tcg-2032-v16.html

[cuthound]

5 hours ago, mark99 said:

A modern take. We are currently installing the main fuel feed for these type engines (gas). 8 in line, each a v16.  Dotted around the UK. Next one near Wolverhampton.

 

http://catmrg.com/360/tcg-2032-v16/English/730x548/tcg-2032-v16.html

One of my last projects before retirement was to install a couple of 2000kVA gas engined gen sets, similar to those at the Royal Marsden Hospital in Sutton.

They provided all of the hospitals power and a significant chunk of its heating using revovered heat from the exhaustsame,  via a network of pipes and heat exchangers to the numerous buildings on site.

[mark99]

Yes - the ones above in my previous post are married together and provide 16,000 kWe.

Other sites use a Vee20 variant and 8 V20's together total circa 20,000 kWe. Possibly a bit too much for our bote.

Royal Marsden? it's less than a mile from our house. Pass it everyday.

 

 

 

 

Edited February 25, 2017 by mark99

[cuthound]

49 minutes ago, mark99 said:

Yes - the ones above in my previous post are married together and provide 16,000 kWe.

Other sites use a Vee20 variant and 8 V20's together total circa 20,000 kWe. Possibly a bit too much for our bote.

Royal Marsden? it's less than a mile from our house. Pass it everyday.

 

 

 

 

I used to live in Ewell, so only a couple of miles away. It was the only place I ever worked at that was reasonably close to home. 

[Athy]

On ‎23‎/‎02‎/‎2017 at 20:30, archie57 said:

I know beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but I don't think you can compare those noisy, smelly boxes on wheels with Gresley's A1/2/3/4s.............!

I don't think you can have read my quotation from Alan Fincher carefully!

[IanM]

On 17/02/2017 at 17:17, Ray T said:

 

Rosebud / Kitmaster used to do a plastic construction of it.

 

 

Managed to find to find mine in the shed. 

[Laurence Hogg]

On ‎2‎/‎24‎/‎2017 at 14:39, alan_fincher said:

Do you mean Class 55?  I don't think Class 50s had a the Deltic engine, did they?

The class 50 was in Paddington after they replaced the "Westerns". One "Deltic" body shell did have a 16cvst EE engine and that was the short lived DP2. (EE Prototype lost in crash at Thirsk)

[Athy]

16 hours ago, IanM said:

Managed to find to find mine in the shed. 

I built, and possibly still have, the Italian tank engine depicted on the box. I always wanted to build a "Giant Swiss crocodile" (as I believe Kitmaster called it) but could never afford one on a schoolboy's meagre wages.

[Del 'boy' Trotter]

On ‎24‎/‎02‎/‎2017 at 14:39, alan_fincher said:

Do you mean Class 55?  I don't think Class 50s had a the Deltic engine, did they?

All the class 55 Deltics were fitted with 'twin Napier turbines' that would blow the wax outta ya ears!!!.

A former Kings Cross secondman (latter day fireman) 1974-75.

     

[ditchcrawler]

Well been watching our copy today, its very educational.

[Del 'boy' Trotter]

It is noticeable that Dick has a naïve and almost child like quality to his whole way of being and talking for someone who was in there early/mid 20s at the time (1967) but after thinking about it I presume it was because the programme was originally aimed at a younger audience maybe between 10-16 although 50 years on many people that will be interested in watching it now will probably be between 40-80 years of age?.    

[magictime]

6 hours ago, Flower of Gloster said:

It is noticeable that Dick has a naïve and almost child like quality to his whole way of being and talking for someone who was in there early/mid 20s at the time (1967) but after thinking about it I presume it was because the programme was originally aimed at a younger audience maybe between 10-16 although 50 years on many people that will be interested in watching it now will probably be between 40-80 years of age?.    

I think he does a good job of finding a middle ground between 'dramatic actor' and 'Blue Peter presenter', which seems like a very sensible approach to a role that mixes scripted and improvised drama on the one hand, with educational material like interviews on the other.

[mark99]

I recall at Marsworth just tieing up after a long day a rather well to do lady appeared at the engine doors and asked permission to smell the inside of the engine room!

She was with her husband and she advised she loved the smell of hot engines and drooled over the 2lw. It was dark and v cold and I reckon it must have looked the cosiest place on earth as it was all light up with the engine room 100w light.

Edited February 27, 2017 by mark99

[ditchcrawler]

Just been watching it again and there were several working boats above Hurlston locks, could they get up and down in the late 60s or did they just work above the locks, Chocolate Charlie was on one of them.

[FadeToScarlet]

15 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

Just been watching it again and there were several working boats above Hurlston locks, could they get up and down in the late 60s or did they just work above the locks, Chocolate Charlie was on one of them.

Yes, there are boats now that could get up in the 50s, 60s, and 70s that can't now- with fixed widths in places, such as engine room bulkheads.

 

The lock has certainly moved, the reservoir side wall was rebuilt in I think the 80s but since then has moved in.

 

There are some old photographs of the bottom lock which show the walls curving out away from the lock; nowadays, they visibly curve inwards.

[alan_fincher]

4 hours ago, ditchcrawler said:

Just been watching it again and there were several working boats above Hurlston locks, could they get up and down in the late 60s or did they just work above the locks, Chocolate Charlie was on one of them.

Also, without revisiting he DVDs, Chocolate Charlie at least was probably on a Josher.

Joshers tend to be naturally "slimmer" than ex GUCCCo boats, the vast majority of which started idle with a design width of 7' 0.5", and which have in many cases spread wider than that and/or become banana shaped over time.

[David Schweizer]

On 29/01/2017 at 11:20, David Schweizer said:

Has anyone reached the episode based at Stoke Bruerne yet? I am, apparently, featured twice in that episode, as was our boat, standing in for Flower of Gloster, which had broken down

 

On 02/02/2017 at 22:31, alan_fincher said:

 

I'm not getting it David.

Unless it is a case of "blink and you miss it", I'm not seeing any sign of Pisces in the Stoke Bruerne footage, (or indeed you, but then I don't know what you looked like in 1967).

 

I am definitely there, in episode 10 - "The Tunnel" immeditely after Bideford disapears from the screen. Three of the crew are pulling Pisces (out of shot) and I am walking along the towpath towards them, wearing brown cords and a denim jacket. I am happy to sign ther copies of the video for a modest fee !!   

Edited April 6, 2017 by David Schweizer

[alan_fincher]

3 minutes ago, David Schweizer said:

 

I am definitely there, in episode 10 - "The Tunnel" immeditely after Bideford disapears from the screen. Three of the crew are pulling Pisces (out of shot) and I am walking along the towpath towards them, wearing brown cords and a denim jacket. I will sign copies of the video for a modest fee!!

Ah, that is so obviously you David that I don't know how I could possibly have missed it!

[David Schweizer]

1 hour ago, alan_fincher said:

Ah, that is so obviously you David that I don't know how I could possibly have missed it!

I was only twenty at the time !!