The Pub 2017

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Brian
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Re: The Pub 2017

Post by Brian »

We had an air start Ruston Hornsby driving the DC generator that powered the works, lathes, grinders, pillar drills and lighting were all DC. If the air cylinder was low four men had to get the cranks out, two on each side, flywheels around 6' across, and swing like mad whilst the foreman worked the air valve to push air into the cylinder.

Once she was running, the fuel was shut off and the engine allowed to coast down with the compression diverted to re-charge the air cylinder.

The stand by engine was a Petter ( I think, memory going) which started by rocking the flywheel with heat on the hot bulb on top. It was a 50/50 chance on which way she would run when she eventually fired.

Happy Days.
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oehrick
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Re: The Pub 2017

Post by oehrick »

Did the workshop lads have a 'pull er round' command where anyone near a belt if the engine was dying had to pull to keep it turning over until someone had refuelled / put plug lead back on / walloped stuck valve rocker etc to avoid a standing start with all the fast and loose belted on the fast pulleys ? I've heard it described in some places.

When I was young I got involved in the Eastney pumping station, pumped Portsmouths sewage and drainage to a better place, 2 remaining out of 3 horizontally opposed twin Crossley Y4 class 180hp gas engines direct coupled to 48" centrifugal sewage pumps, we got one running on natural gas but it was very quiet on no load, then after chasing the auxilliary services piping around, we figured out why the donkey engine (a Ruston) had fast, loose & fast pulleys on its layshaft, one way the compressor pumped up the bottles and with crossed belt it had operated the compressor as a vac pump to prime the centrifugals.

http://s0.geograph.org.uk/photos/75/63/ ... ddafb8.jpg

Now the outfall pipes were blanked off just outside the enginehouse so on an idle Sunday with the working engine ticking over we tried the vacuum line out and surprisingly started to develop a vacuum, so opened the valve on top of the pump and the vacuum dropped away but then started to build again, the intake was still connected to something liquid :yikes: after a few more minutes there was the sound of the smelly stuff hitting the fan then all hell appeared to break loose, the engine governor dropped and both ends started barking, a very loud bang wasn't (as first panic assumed) something old, tired and vital breaking, the vac valve had slammed shut on seeing positive pressure and neatly killed the donkey engine, meanwhile the building shook, windows rattled, decades of dust and spiderage fell from the gantry crane and the old Crossley sounded absolutely glorious (previously, three of us had stood on a sleeper pivoted on the edge of the flywheel pit, bearing against the rim with no effect) we couldn't do this for long as after about ten minutes we found we had an uncalibrated dynomometer, couldn't touch the pump casting and paint started to peel in places.

We had two more runs, one was recorded but the cassette has long since been eaten :( then someone from the Museum Service banned any more live working, :rulez: despite the City Engineer saying it was good for the engines to work.

I also played a tiny part in the Mary Rose project, one of the other buildings housed a division of the City Engineers and had a compressor and filtration rated for breathing air, they sponsored recharging the divers air bottles, well we were easy meat, in exchange for use of their machine tools the City guys could go home early and leave us to watch air pressurise - it was before Margaret Rule started to dive herself so it was often she who brought the empties and generally had interesting finds in the van.

They were desperate for secure, wet storage for the tons of iron & bronze cannon being lifted so I suggested she asked the CE if the cooling pond for the beam engine house could be seawater flooded, a week later there were two guys pitching over the cracks and a week after that it was full of seawater and filling with Tudor ordnance

I was absolutely horrified to see her almost completely sidelined when the wreck was eventually lifted and all the ba$£ards who had tried to sandbag her & the project took the limelight :stress: as a result of that I've refused to visit the displayed remains, not that they will notice the lack of one admission fee :eyes:
Best regards
Rick - Bogside on Bure


1958 Diesel E1A Mk2 s/n 1470165 - still in working clothes

blackbob
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Re: The Pub 2017

Post by blackbob »

Sorry guys, but this song came into my head today and I've been playing it on the jukebox all night..

(feel free to put in your 2p and select something different!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InmR5R1X428

PS how about a 60's/70's/80's disco some night?
1440276 - 1957 - working
1335674 - err - one day..
Claeys combine M103 - 1963 703129 - working
Ford 7710 2wd, 1983 - working

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Brian
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Re: The Pub 2017

Post by Brian »

Really enjoyed that Bob takes me back to my youth when I was involved with a little club in Dereham. We had people like Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames, The Animals and Jimi Hendrix come to the club on a Sunday night and play. Got to meet and talk to most of them.

But my favorite group of all time is this one. I still sit down on a quiet evening and put on their songs. Don't tell Ann but I was a little in love with Judith, one of the best voices of the era. We saw them at the Albert Hall on their farewell tour but really missed out as they were performing on the Melbourne club scene when we were there in 2014 and we did not know.

There are tractors in this video , for that I apologise. :run:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRg9NkIdjVs

In about nine weeks we will be back over there.
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Re: The Pub 2017

Post by brockwood »

hi brian you might enjoy this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AojXpg57ujI one of five songs spred through the episode judith in her only ? acting role from an episode of cash and co an Australian western series i was fortunate to once meet gus Mercurio one of the stars of the show
1x 23f 1x 34 blue n 1 x 44 green n e27/s x 8 3ooo/ 5000 slectospeed county 754 x1 ford k series truck

oehrick
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Re: The Pub 2017

Post by oehrick »

Thanks for that Bob - I'd not come across them before. Coo you had it tough Brian, never had any of that lot on at our village hall :D

My equivalent was Annie Haslam from Renaissance - 5 1/2 octave range and still singing - have you noticed that while they sing in a 'normal' voice singers speaking can be almost unrecognisable? this one is (despite most of her life stateside) slightly more Bolton sounding than Fred Dibnah when talking !

BTW Brian, following up on a tip to track down a rackbench today (missed it by 18 months :cry: ) the former owner is a nice young chap and has a diesel LGM which seems to be without compression enough to start, he's not mechanical and is looking for someone who might be able to help get it going - do you know any diesel Fergie engine bods this way ? its between the city edge and the new bypass near the Wroxham Road and I don't think funds are a major problem.

The old Volvo had been sounding nice for a few days, exhaust broke in two between cat & front box despite it not being rusted anyhow after a trip to Wilco's I'm £70 lighter in the pocket, about a tenner a decibel I guess.

Cold beers to all in the UK heatwave area :beer:
Best regards
Rick - Bogside on Bure


1958 Diesel E1A Mk2 s/n 1470165 - still in working clothes

Brian
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Re: The Pub 2017

Post by Brian »

Sorry Rick. I do not know any Fergy mechanics, most died young, worked out with all those repairs they had to keep doing or finished up in Hellesdon. :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :stress:

I will ask Fred next time I see him as he has better contacts.

We had a number of other groups too, Peter Jay and the Jaywalkers were our usual second group, Tony Jackson (ex The Searchers) and the Vibrations, Dana Gillespie who went on to play Mary Magdalene in Jesus Christ Superstar on the West End stage. The Beatles were a bit too expensive though (not joking about that).

When groups came to play the clubs in Norwich on a Saturday night we would book them for the Sunday. not expensive as it was all cash and they got an extra gig just down the road.

Great times and I had hair then. We brought the girls in from local villages in our cars, I once had six young ladies in a 1954 Ford 8 hp Anglia, that was quite an experience I can tell you.
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oehrick
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Re: The Pub 2017

Post by oehrick »

I went to the Marsham Tractor show on Sunday, nice day for it, good display of Ford/sons for the centenary year.

Wandering into the Blue Force tent to exchange some loose change for a few tickets to win a Dexta, (make a useful lifeboat hung behind the Major on a couple of davits) the chap who took my money looked at my shirt and observed 'ah a Fordson man, where did you get that shirt as it looks different to the ones we've got?' so I pointed out it was not just any old rag with a Fordon logo on it, it was a Fordson Tractor Pages Forum shirt 'eh? whats one of those then' so I explained at some length what it was and how it was officially linked with the main clubs in UK and worldwide and provided a place to discuss all things blue, all of which seemed to miss the mark entirely, he called over his colleague who seemed as ill informed, desperately looking to fill the missing link I asked if Brian Dye had been in over the weekend - nowt! :stress:

Seems like the need to educate some of the clubs is ongoing 'cos if Brian and Ann are not present with their display, no one else is pointing people to us :cry:

I did take a few pics but haven't even got them off the camera let alone found somewhere new to post them, am currently in shed building mode and in dire need of about a dozen 8ft corrugated iron roof sheets at less than gold bullion prices - any around in East Anglia ?? Rusty is OK as this is a 'conservation' job with 'em being daubed in black tar varnish......
Best regards
Rick - Bogside on Bure


1958 Diesel E1A Mk2 s/n 1470165 - still in working clothes

Brian
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Re: The Pub 2017

Post by Brian »

Did not get to Marsham but I know what you mean about Blue Force. The person who agreed the link with us left to do other things.

The new person in charge, Phil Gibson, is a great guy and always invites us to be on the stand at the East of England Vintage Show and to be with them on days like the Ford 1000 celebrations at Newark, but locally we have no contact.

Could be me not pushing it but it is a bit difficult as I do not want to force the point. Originally, apart from Phil, others were a bit stand-offish as they had their own experts to answer members on-line questions. When we get on the showground though I get a lot of questions to answer. :D :D

Bit like the Ford and Fordson Club, always a great welcome on their stand from Pat and Sue Pawsey but Pat and I are in contact a lot of the time and I sort their members queries direct by e-mail as Pat passes them on to me.

Fordson Club of Australia is our most friendly link up, even though they are thousands of miles away. The whole membership treats Ann and I like royalty, throwing their homes open to us and always prepared to help with queries. This time we shall be staying with members in Gippsland, Mount Gambier, Robinvale and of course, Barry and Dawn in Bendigo. We try and reciprocate when they come over here as we do with our own board members. We are not special here but anyone is welcome to visit.

The World of Fordson is a great place with great people. :clap: :clap: :clap:
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oehrick
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Re: The Pub 2017

Post by oehrick »

Horses for courses I guess Brian, the two chaps I didn't recognise having seen at the RNS venue, but not recognising your name and reputation was very disappointing and probably grounds for their compulsory retraining ;)

It was a nice day but an odd mood as the owner of part of the site used had died a week or so before, his tractors did a memorial lap of the ring before the rest came in. Good selection of tractors. a (what is the collective term for multiple triple D's ?) of DDD's including a Massey wanabee a few N's including a Trackson but no MOM's. I had an appointment with the Soame steam cart and its guardian so didn't watch the whole parade. Nipped home via my Major to pick up a couple of doors only to find the roof truss it lives under has become attractive to owls, who have squitted what looks like a 45 gallon drum whitewash over her and then sprinkled it with dozens of pellets.

Know what you mean about the Aussie welcome, my limited experiences as a mere bloke that comes to install or mend machinery is similar, I sort of half expected the ex pat Brits to be welcoming but those who's ancestors shipped in longtimes back were equally welcoming and of course those with a vinatge machinery interest, well its better than being in the Masons !

Are you getting ahead with the jobs in readyness for your departure ? spuds lifted, washed, wrapped & stored ?? Horseradish Sauce Jarred and busy etching its way out of the jars ??? Corks threaded and stapled round the brim of Anns hat :run:

I hear your local railway have had another outbreak of vandalism - bet they would have been pleased to get away with having an engine started and left revving :(
Best regards
Rick - Bogside on Bure


1958 Diesel E1A Mk2 s/n 1470165 - still in working clothes

Brian
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Re: The Pub 2017

Post by Brian »

Horseradish has been done some time and a lot of it eaten. I add home grown, extra hot chillies to it to give it a bit extra bite! (Has anyone seen the top of my head)? :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

Nowhere near ready to go yet, got to put all the tractors away under sheets. Potatoes will have to wait until we get back but I do have people lined up to harvest the pumpkins. For some reason we have the best sunflowers, sweetcorn and pumpkins we have grown for a few years. The spaghetti marrows have up to around six fruit per plant with rows 100m long. The butternut squash and Autumn Crown are cropping freely too. All in all we should have about 1000 different pumpkins.

Waiting for the final batch of 50 circuits to come from the factory so I can test and seal them.
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oehrick
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Re: The Pub 2017

Post by oehrick »

Hey Guys,

I had to venture into that strange county South of the Waveney this afternoon (Gumtree found me 7 sheets of very clean 9ft corrugated iron roof sheets for the Majors new lair) and I just could not beleive the road I drove past on the way.

Put NR33 8GN into Google maps and see where it takes you !

Only wish I had the camera with me as :needpics:

Begs the question of who on the local council did the decent thing in naming it !
Best regards
Rick - Bogside on Bure


1958 Diesel E1A Mk2 s/n 1470165 - still in working clothes

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Re: The Pub 2017

Post by ford5000y »

Brian wrote:Has anyone seen the top of my head?
It may have been here!

henk
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Re: The Pub 2017

Post by henk »

Has anyone in Nordfolk seen one yet?
https://www.facebook.com/machineispassi ... 72/?type=3
Kind regards, Henk

Fordson New Major February 1957 Mark I

oehrick
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Re: The Pub 2017

Post by oehrick »

Ah Henk, you just can't believe anything* you see on the interweb :D

The poor man is actually saying, 'thass funny, I thought those bell housing bolts looked a bit on tha small side, hev anyone seen the rest of my Triple D ?'

Happy New Year all round, we have a bit of wind blowing at the moment, seem the 'mericans can't use it all up so send the surplus over here.........

Cheers all

* can't be a segway of any sort, no grills to argue over the colour they should be :run:
Best regards
Rick - Bogside on Bure


1958 Diesel E1A Mk2 s/n 1470165 - still in working clothes

henk
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Re: The Pub 2017

Post by henk »

We also had our share of that wind.

Happy New Year to all readers.
Kind regards, Henk

Fordson New Major February 1957 Mark I

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