What About The Bee

That is simply a beautiful locomotive Alberto. I like it! Bee

Hello Robert Ask away! Anything at all about the LMR. Always happy to share what I know. And if I don't know (it happens) I will tell you. Probably look it up to extend my knowledge too! Bee

Hiya JJ Fellow of the Royal Society. The Royal Society is an institution for the sciences. Some very famous scientists were members of the Royal Society. To get into the Royal Society, a member has to nominate you, and there is a vote by all the members. It is quite an honor to be inducted into the Royal Society and to become a Fellow. Bee

Stave 1: William Brunton's Obituary The mention of Brunton's obituary brings me to the point of this month's Railway Oddities. There is no doubt that Brunton practiced sound engineering. This must be distinctly understood, or nothing wonderful can come of the oddity I am going to relate. Stave 2: Early Career. In 1796, William Brunton became employed by Watt. That Watt, the fellow who has a unit of measurement named after him. Watt had such confidence in Brunton, that Brunton was promoted to the position of Superintendent of the Engine Manufactory, at Watt's Soho Foundry. This position put Brunton into close proximity with Watt. I do hope that James Watt's confidence in William Brunton will dispell any notion of crackpot in what you are about to see. In 1808, Brunton left Soho and joined the Butterley Works, the place where our oddity occurs. Stave 3: The other players. George Stephenson. One of the engineers who worked with Stephenson during the 1810s was a fellow named Nicholas Wood. Wood published several editions of an engineering text known as A Practical Treatise of Railway Engineering. The first edition was published in 1825, with several editions to follow, the last to my knowledge in 1854. The tome is filled with data, equations, mechanical drawings, sketches & etc. Editions of the book were translated into other languages. I have seen copies in French and German. The editions are a tour de force by an early participant in the development of railways. Highly recommended to all students of early railways. Stave 4: The Image This was published in the 1825 edition of Practical Treatise, Nicholas Wood, Plate 4. I will begin in the lower right hand corner. You may recognize that image, it is my avatar. My avatar is the yellow circle that appears at the top of my posts. The image depicts Stephenson's Dynamometer. This brilliant device was used by Nicholas Wood and Stephenson to investigate the inhibiting friction of railway wagons. I will cover this device in a future article, but you should understand that this device was instrumental in the development of the railway industry. Its importance cannot be overstated. In the upper left hand corner, is the Blenkinsop Locomotive. Blenkinsop worked around the adhesion problem, in 1811, by making a cogged railway. The early railway industry was tortured by driving friction and the adhesion of metal wheels on metal rails. The Blenkinsop Locomotive is a very important early railway device. In the upper right hand corner is the Killingworth Locomotive. You may know this as an early George Stephenson locomotive, a precursor of things to come. With the importance of the items in this image established, we can finally proceed. Stave 5: Brunton's Mechanical Traveller In the top center of the image, taking pride of place, is Brunton's Mechanical Traveller, or as he sometimes called it, "A Horse to go by Steam". This isn't some fanciful or outlandish contraption, look at the items in the illustration that it keeps company with. It was a practical engine that worked the Butterley Gangroad so successfully, that the Newbottle Colliery ordered an engine as well. This locomotive worked loads uphill, the hill with a gradient of 1 in 36¹, per Brunton. To put this in perspective, the Wapping Tunnel on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway had a shallower gradient of 1 in 48, a slope which could not be serviced by LMR locomotives, well into the 1840s. Stave 6: The engine that walked!! Those odd legs in the back were the motive power. The legs propelled the steam engine by pushing it along. Brunton patented this in 1813². (Reminder, this image, as all my images, can be zoomed.) The boiler is a return flue type, with the firebox and chimney at the same end of the locomotive. The boiler itself was of wrought iron, 5 feet 6 inches long, 3 feet in diameter. The weight, per Brunton was 45 cwt (4500 lbs) including water. 3 feet 6 inch gauge when at Butterley Gangroad. The 6" diameter piston had a stroke of 24 inches. Working pressure 45 psi. The piston rod is at "a". You may observe that when the piston rod extends, the foot at "b" will be forced away from the locomotive, driving the boiler forward. When the piston rod retracts,the foot lifts and is brought forward. The other leg is wonderful. We have, in Brunton's own hand, a description and sketch of the mechanism³. Brunton shows us the stationary pinion gear, the piston and the two racks which move in opposite directions, attached to the legs. He has unfolded the mechanism for clarity. In his patent, Brunton includes a plate, showing the general mechanical arrangement. By the way, unless you manage to figure out the UK's arcane system of early patents, you will probably never see the end or plan view. You will likely only ever see them here, so enjoy!! The stationary pinion gear is fixed horizontally, at the top of the boiler, with the racks parallel to the top of that boiler. As one leg is driving the locomotive forward, the other leg is retracting for the next step, due to the rack and pinion system. Brunton solved the adhesion problem of metal wheels on metal rails by avoiding it. He used an alternative method. His drawings and patent include various foot arrangements. A singular pad. Multiple pads at each foot, each free to conform to the surface. Feet with ribbed bottoms. Feet with cogged engagement like Blenkinsop. In fact, anything that would engage the surface. Stave 7: Empirical tests (1)Per Brunton, he first determined that the Mechanical Traveller required 84 pounds of linear thrust to drive forward at 2½ mph⁴. (2) The length of each "step" is 26 inches. (3) Brunton then tests the horsepower as follows: boiler at 40 to 45 psi; the Mechanical Traveller moving forward at 2½ mph; a chain attached to the rear lifted a vertical weight of 812 pounds at the same rate. From this, Brunton concludes "6 horsepower, or nearly so". Discussion (1) Using the standard friction equations, linear force / normal force=84 lbs/4500 lbs = 0.0187 rolling coefficient of friction. Modern steel wheels on rail have a rolling CoF as low as 0.001 up to as high as 0.0025. Brunton, with performance an order of magnitude worse than modern railways, could have benefitted from analysis with Stephenson's Dynamometer. (2) The piston stroke is specified to be 24" but the length of step is also specified to 26"! This implies there were periods when both feet were off of the ground and the engine coasted, 1 part in 13. The cuff rate may be determined. 2½ mph is 158,400 inches per hour. A step is 26" so 6092.307 steps per hour. 3600 seconds per hour/6092.307 steps = 0.59 seconds/step. Each step is one chuff, inverting yields 1.69 chuffs/second. (3) There are two components to compute Mechanical Traveller's total horsepower. The first component of the total is the horsepower to move Mechanical Traveller itself. I obtain 0.559898 HP. The second component is the useful work done, lifting the 812 pound load at 2½ mph. I obtain 5.41234 HP. Add these two components, yielding 5.972 HP. "Nearly so", says Brunton, and I agree, to within 5 parts per thousand. Sound engineering indeed⁵. Stave 8: Mechanical Traveller No.2 The second Horse to go by Steam was larger, made for Newbottle Colliery, after the success of the first at Butterley Gangroad was demonstrated. Unfortunately, due to the engineman's adjustment of the safety valve, the engine exploded, killing several people. Testimony exists as to the improper use of the safety valve⁶. Brunton never brought another Mechanical Traveller forward. Stave 9: A functional model A few years ago, a modeler made a working model of Brunton's Horse to go by Steam, in ¹/₃₂ scale. I will emphasize that the wheels do not drive this model forward, the legs do. Here is Adrian's entire play list. https://youtube.com/@adriansstuff78?si=mK0gfoThDImaQdiI Just click on "videos" and enjoy the marvel of Brunton's Mechanical Traveller. Adrian goes through the entire build and performs empirical adhesion tests. Well worth any modeler's time. Stave 10: Merry Christmas!! This Railway Oddity was presented for your Holiday Enjoyment. You may recognize the initial paragraph as paraphrased Dickens. A paragraph found on the first page of A Christmas Carol (Scrooge). The 'stave' references are in Dickens as well. Bee ~~~~~~ Notes: For those who care about the tiny details, as if the details given above are not enough. ¹Butterley Gangroad (Crich Railway) had a 1 in 30 or 3.3% gradient. Newbottle Colliery had 1 in 36 or 2.77% gradient. ²"Method and Machinery for drawing or propelling carriages on roads or railways, by means of certain levers or legs acting alternatively or conjointly upon such roads or upon machinery attached thereto." UK patent 3700, William Brunton, May 22, 1813. As per usual, a title entirely too long! ³Brunton's handwritten letter The Science Museum has a handwritten letter, from Brunton to his brother, which contains the patent text and some sketches. This was obviously an attempt to preserve evidence of primacy of invention because, as per the letter, he was deeply suspicious of the individual at the patent office. https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/documents/aa110073746/autograph-letter-from-william-brunton-engineer-giving-a-description-of-his-steam-horse-butterley-iron-worksl ⁴Brunton is explicit in stating the velocity at 2½ mph, in more than one instance. Why is that??? James Watt needed to sell his engines. Watt's engines would substitute for horses. What could be a better selling point than comparing his engines directly to horses. To do so, Watt needed to measure the work output of a horse. Watt placed a 100 pound weight at the bottom of a 220 foot well. It took 1 minute, on average, for draft horses to pull it up. Watt allowed 50% for friction. Therefore, his definition of a horse's power became 150 pounds lifted up 220 feet in 60 seconds. 220 feet/60 seconds = 3.666 feet/sec = 2½ mph. Brunton's competition was a draft horse, just as Watt's competition was. Hence the 2½ mph figure of merit. ⁵An engineering statement. While I obtain 5.97 HP for Mechanical Traveller, this is assumes we can use Brunton's numbers verbatim. There is an essential problem with that assumption. It has to do with weights, measures, resolution, accuracy and traceability. Brunton cannot know his numbers with certainty. The entire horsepower calculation provided by Brunton is an excellent guesstimate. Mechanical Traveller had a velocity around 2½ mph. The thrust to move Mechanical Traveller was around 84 pounds. The friction in the sheave used to lift 812 pounds is ignored. The calculation yields around 6HP. His numbers align with his assessment, but the numbers themselves cannot be relied upon. ⁶Testimony about the boiler explosion. "…in the North, a propelling engine; it was near Sunderland [Newbottle is close to Sunderland], of a boiler driving waggons; the facts of the case I know to be these, from the engineer [brunton] who made the boiler. – In the first place, they had a smaller boiler to the same engine; that boiler did not generate steam so fast as the engine could expend it, consequently there was never an excess of steam came out of the safety valve, the engine man therefore with impunity screwed down his safety valve; it was never used. The proprietor of the engine [Newbottle Colliery] wishing to have more power, ordered a larger boiler, which had the power of generating nearly double the quantity of steam; this was sent, and a caution given by the gentleman [brunton] not to attach it to the engine till he arrived; but that was not attended to; the boiler was attached to the engine; the man [engineman Wm Sharp, per newspaper accounts] went to work as before, and he screwed down his safety valve, not knowing, that though before he had a deficiency, he now had an overplus; he said he would make a good start of it; the boiler exploded, killed several people, and him among the rest...

It is often debated that the hobby is dying. Let me sort that with a bit of arithmetic. I placed an order in February of this year, as well as during the Black Friday sale. Hornby order numbers are sequential. That is, they have no reason to encrypt or otherwise scramble them. Just assign the order number to the orders, in the order received. When I deduct one order number from the other, I obtain 71,671 orders in 285 days. That is an order, just to Hornby, every 5 minutes 43.5 seconds. Around the clock. Not just business days or business hours. Not any other manufacturer. Not second hand. Just to Hornby, at list price. Our hobby has a heck of a heartbeat. Sorted. Bee

Hi Alberto The view of Trullo Station with the train passing through is very nice indeed! I know English can be tricky and you are doing very well. In your note above, you say "my last video". In English, this has the implication to American ears that this is your "final video" with no more videos to follow. When I read "my last video", I think Alberto won't make anymore, that is it, he is done. That is the last video. I think you mean to say "my latest video", meaning that this is the video most recently produced. When I read that, it says that Alberto has uploaded a new video, and since I like them, I should go take a look!! I do hope that this small offering meets with your approval. It is offered with the best of intentions and simply to extend your knowledge of English. Bee

Hello Simmo009 Did you, by any chance, take pictures of the Hornby display cases? If so, I would certainly appreciate it if you would post them. Thank you! Bee

I examined your linked image in excruciating detail, under the highest magnification possible. This was only limited by the web resolution of a reproduced photograph. The side of the tender is blank. I can observe features of the engineman's face¹, but no letters of any kind on the side of the tender. There is a rectangular base under the visible safety valve, implying that there is another safety valve enveloped in the steam discharge. I think I can see another valve in the steam, but perhaps that is merely imagination. The Westinghouse pump is clearly visible. Under the engineman's arm is what has every appearance of a GWR number plate. Rectangular, with a raised border. I cannot read the number, but the original photograph will have better resolution than any web presentation. Is it possible to contact the photograph holder? In other words, that photograph appears to meet all your criteria, less one. To wit: the number. Bee ¹Example: the engineman appears to have a mustache!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/124446949@N06/50068611688 Your link, 81F, as a hyper link. I simply copy the text of the desired link into a text editor, and then highlight it. My phone then asks if I would like to see what it links to. Sure, go ahead. Naturally, it brings me to the linked page. I back out of the page, save and then back out of the text editor. Go right back into the text editor and shazam, it is a hyperlink. Select the hyperlink there, copy, paste here. Android phone.

Perfect for that industrial line next to the Foundry! Very nice Steve. I seem to recall that one was to be able to tip the "waste". Hopefully that's still in process Bee

I am pleased to report that SWMBO has released the funds for Black Friday flatwagons R60014 times 3. The order is placed, acknowledged by Hornby and "processing" under account status. Naturally, Hornby suggested other Era 1 wagons, but I gracefully declined. Just the sale items please. They were on my acquisition list prior to the Black Friday announcement. This simply means I will receive what I wanted, but at a substantial discount. Thank you very much. Flatwagon to milk wagon, in milk churns: Flatwagon to cattle wagon: Flatwagon to pig wagon: Two flatwagons to log wagon: It is noted by Whishaw, 1842, that there is a swivel point mounted on each of the bogies to "have proper play in going round curves". Further, logs of up to 50 feet in length were transported this way.

Thank you 96RAF. Yes, I do enjoy a well executed diagram. That one was a cracker! 81F, you mentioned "no GWR safety valve cover". I take this to mean that there was a ROD safety valve cover, of a different shape? Bee

Hello MJB1961 The Lion Train Pack is a very nice set. I have it as well. Lion will readily pull more than the 3 carriages the set comes with. Bee

Welp, as an actual American, I feel a vague urge to explain my nation's foibles. Black Friday comes the day after Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is the actual holiday, established formally by Abraham Lincoln, our 16th President. It falls on a Thursday. Almost all employers give staff the day after Thanksgiving as a day off. This makes a 4 day weekend, with a family holiday as the start. Black Friday was the recognition by many retailers that shopping was happening anyway. The retailers wanted shoppers in their stores, instead of the competition's stores. The retailers offered sales on product, but only on limited quantities. Retail calls those items loss leaders. It brings you into store, and as long as you were early, you got the deal. Phenomenal deals, but only if you could manage to be one of the first. This lead to a mad crush to be one of the first. Lines forming in the wee hours. Fights over who touched the item first. Damage to stores. Retailers called these sales "door busters" because doors were damaged by the crowds. Injuries. Utter chaos. Retailers backed off on the phenomenal deal component and, with shopping frenzy firmly established, offered more rational bargains. Now as to Hornby: I am in discussions with SWMBO over R60014 Flatbeds, listed at a very good price. Normally £85, now £45. While I have a good fleet of flatbeds for general goods, they can also readily be turned into pig wagons, cattle wagons, the log wagon and the milk wagon; all depicted in the Ackermann long prints. I am more than tempted, and yes, I am pitching it as part of my Christmas bundle, the actual reason why shopping occurs the day after Thanksgiving. Bee

I looked at many ROD images, in the hope that I could possibly spot the locomotive 81F is looking for. My search criteria was a tender which had ROD #### obviously painted over. Nothing yet... I did notice these on a few: What are these things? Looks to be a steam connection and possible an electrical output, but clearly, I haven't a clue. Is this the Westinghouse pump? Bee

It probably stinks of ashtray. Keeping it weathered isn't a bad idea. Perhaps the stink can be encapsulated. Yet getting a clear overcoat to adhere to that tar might be tricky. If it must be cleaned, be aware that the film is a tar like substance. You will need a solvent for that tar, otherwise you will be scrubbing so vigorously that the transfers are guaranteed to be destroyed. Naphtha is a solvent for many tars and would be my first choice. There are lesser solvents, like white spirits, acetone and cellulose thinners. The problem? I cannot be sure that naphtha is safe for the plastics the undercarriage and the body are made of. Some plastics are fine with naphtha, others? Not so much. Nor can I be sure that delicate transfers won't be damaged. I'm with Potterton. It looks weathered. Perhaps keep it that way. Bee Edit: I zoomed as far as I could in on the "transfers". I could not see any transfer edges. Now it could be an image artifact, but "Smiths" "crisps" & etc look all the world like stamped paint. Are they really transfers????

The jolliest seasons greetings to you as well Alberto! Bee

Brew Man You need to stop bottling up your feelings and let us know how you really feel. Bee and for those who didn't detect the subtle sarcasm....not subtle anymore. 🙂

I thought to see how my new LMR sheep wagon looked loaded. 6 sheep come with R60165, but this really is far too few sheep. 3 double decked wagons means I must populate 6 floors. The provided 6 sheep yield one per floor. That is simply not enough. The LMR originally charged 8d/sheep, but later moved to a flat charge per wagon of £1, or ~30 sheep. Although correct, I was not sure I could pack 30 into a wagon. I purchased 1 pack of R7122 Sheep, 10 sheep, in order trial populate 1 wagon. Total sheep on hand: 16. For the sheep to stand in the wagon, it is clear that the sheep need to be glued down. I did not want to glue the sheep directly to the wagon floor. Non-reversable without damage. Using a piece of thin wood veneer, I cut two rectangles 57mm × 21 mm. The wood veneer will look the part without much effort. The size fits comfortably within the wagon when assembled. I then applied some gel cyanoacrylate to each hoof and placed some sheep on the wood veneer. I got 7 sheep to fit reasonably per floor. There is room, I may try more sheep in going forward. With the glue dried and the sheep adhered, I placed them inside and clipped the wagon back together, making sure the wood veneer floor wasn't trapped. From 3 feet away, by eye, they look every bit the part. Here is a close up, compare to the period image. And in comparison to an unloaded wagon. I am quite happy! Further, I now know how many sheep I need to populate a full rake of sheep wagons! Bee

I do hope Andy sees that. Putting "Mecanno 612 plug" into Google brings you right to vendors who have that part in stock, to manuals and to Mecanno communities he may enjoy Bee

Hi Alberto I conclude from your translated introduction that next year is the anniversary of sixty years of fun! You remember that first set so vividly. One gift from Father set you on a lifetime journey. I am happy that the forum includes folks who just want to have some fun. Maybe that's all of us? Bee

Andy After digging around for awhile, I finally have some Mecanno part numbers for you. Mecanno 611 Plug is as ntpntpntp shows in that ebay listing. Here assembled Mecanno 612 Plug is, in my view, the better connector. With these part numbers, it may be easier to find replacement parts. Bee

Hello Andy Whilst I could not find any direct information about the connectors for the Mecanno power supply, I do think I have a solution for you. Banana plugs come in 3mm, 4mm, 5.5mm & etc. Would it not be very straightforward to simply get a few larger sizes than 3mm and trial them? Bee Edit: to be more scientific, with the power off, measure the diameter of the hole of the female connector. Get the next size up banana jack (male) to get moderate compression.

Hi Rallymatt I gave the latitude and longitude as a way of helping others to find the location. The street view from there is interesting to me. Firstly, you can see the curve. From a prototypical railway perspective, wow, Holy Tight Radius indeed! Secondly, it gives me the view I'd like to have on my LMR layout. Bucolic fields, stone walls and clumps of trees are what I imagine much of what the railway passengers saw. It is the view down the dirt road. Another thing of note. The red dot on the map from 1877 is the exact spot the recent images are taken from. Same dirt road. Same Gotham Curve. Bee

N53°7'23.23" W1°43'15" Try as I might, I could not find Wayne Manor in the area. Those coordinates place you on a path, crossing the Gotham Curve. Perhaps you can spot the Bat Cave! 😉 Bee