What volcanic ash?

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Norm

Guest
Crankarm said:
Volcanic ash ................. surely a smoke screen. It's probably all the ash from the huge amount of investor's money that went up in smoke when the Icelandic banking system went into melt down.
Apparently it's down to a dodgy phone line from the Bank of England. The quote was "We told them to send cash"

Lovely a quiet here this afternoon, I spent the afternoon cycling around under what would usually be the flight path. Sun is going down now, and it's looking orange out there. I'll leave you with a link to this rather lovely photo. :wacko:
 

Paulus

Started young, and still going.
Location
Barnet,
Arch said:
Makes perfect sense to me. Wet leaves are a good lubricant, and as you say, it's metal on metal.

Do trains still have sandboxes feeding under the wheels to improve grip, or did that go out with steam?

Modern passenger rolling stock has disc brakes which grip the back of the wheel instead of a brake shoe which gripped the tyre of the wheel, the outside bit which runs on the rail. In slippery conditions, ie leaf fall season the driver would apply a small application of the brake to clean the wheel before applying more brake, (modern stock has preset braking postions which make very small applications difficult unless you are driving air braked freight locos) so that although the rail would still be slippery, the wheel would be clean. It is not actually the leaves which cause the wheels to slip, slide and lock up, but the small amount of sap left in the dead leaf. in wet/damp conditions the leaves stick to the rails and are crushed by the wheels. The sap is then spread along the rails and it acts as a type of grease making the rails very slippery. This is not a new problem, but has been around since railways were invented. The problem has got worse with modern brakong systems. Trains and locomotives still have sandboxes, but they are really to assist with starting off from a standstill.
 

BrumJim

Forum Stalwart (won't take the hint and leave...)
Paulus said:
Modern passenger rolling stock has disc brakes which grip the back of the wheel instead of a brake shoe which gripped the tyre of the wheel, the outside bit which runs on the rail. In slippery conditions, ie leaf fall season the driver would apply a small application of the brake to clean the wheel before applying more brake, (modern stock has preset braking postions which make very small applications difficult unless you are driving air braked freight locos) so that although the rail would still be slippery, the wheel would be clean. It is not actually the leaves which cause the wheels to slip, slide and lock up, but the small amount of sap left in the dead leaf. in wet/damp conditions the leaves stick to the rails and are crushed by the wheels. The sap is then spread along the rails and it acts as a type of grease making the rails very slippery. This is not a new problem, but has been around since railways were invented. The problem has got worse with modern brakong systems. Trains and locomotives still have sandboxes, but they are really to assist with starting off from a standstill.

A couple of minor corrections (it's my job)
Some new trains, in particular electric ones, can apply a small amount of brake. However diesel trains have an old-fashioned brake control system so that they are compatible with older units, and only have a few crude steps. Some newer trains have a notched braking control even though a continuous variation is available, as that is what the drivers are used to.

All new trains are now fitted with sandboxes primarily for braking, but can use them to get away from stations. However they are not allowed to use all their sand for traction, and leave none for braking. All older units have also being retro-fitted with sanding systems, as this has been proven to be the best way to overcome the slippery leaf problem. Not to say that there aren't other support methods used too.
Steam trains had the best idea - line-side fires prevented trees from growing near the track. However they were quite hazardous.
 
OK, back to the OP......

As a geologist, sunset here in Cheshire tonight was very, very red - the reddest I've seen - and no doubt due to the ash. Probably a once in a lifetime event, at least until tomorrow night anyway....

OK, back to the trains.....
 

Arch

Married to Night Train
Location
Salford, UK
Are geologists expert in sunsets?;)

Overcast here, so I didn't get a chance to assess the sunset, maybe tomorrow.
 
andytheflyer said:
OK, back to the OP......

As a geologist, sunset here in Cheshire tonight was very, very red - the reddest I've seen - and no doubt due to the ash. Probably a once in a lifetime event, at least until tomorrow night anyway....

OK, back to the trains.....

;)
 

Norm

Guest
Bongman said:
Slightly overcast sunset here in Herts, was a little orange, but nothing to write home about. I was expecting better ;)
I'm not a geologist, although I do have an A level in it. So, as an armchair geologist, the sunset here was cloudless but also wasn't overly special.
 

arallsopp

Post of The Year 2009 winner
Location
Bromley, Kent
Just been out for a two hour pootle around SE london. All the cars are suspiciously matte, and the cyo is clearly showing lots of little airborne particles. I'm up early tomorrow to take a photo of the neighbour's car. He cleans it 4 times a week, and its presently covered in dust!
 
arallsopp said:
Just been out for a two hour pootle around SE london. All the cars are suspiciously matte, and the cyo is clearly showing lots of little airborne particles. I'm up early tomorrow to take a photo of the neighbour's car. He cleans it 4 times a week, and its presently covered in dust!
Couldn't get a pic of his appopleptic face when he sees his car covered in caustic ash could you:laugh:.
 

slowmotion

Quite dreadful
Location
lost somewhere
A great big fat setting orange sun at about 8pm in West London tonight..

BTW, how much carbon dioxide is that burning crater sending out? The ash must act as some kind of a "baddy" as well, in the computer models. I'm surprised that Al Gore isn't calling for a few trillions of dollars to "cap" this planet busting geographical feature.
 

Crankarm

Guru
Location
Nr Cambridge
Norm said:
Apparently it's down to a dodgy phone line from the Bank of England. The quote was "We told them to send cash"

Lovely a quiet here this afternoon, I spent the afternoon cycling around under what would usually be the flight path. Sun is going down now, and it's looking orange out there. I'll leave you with a link to this rather lovely photo. :smile:


:biggrin:
 
BrumJim said:
Quick irrelevant question:

Which is the largest island in the world without a full gauge railway, and which is the smallest island that DOES have one?
I think I know the answer to both, but less certain about the second. Island in this case is defined as a land mass unconnected by bridge or tunnel from another land mass - so that rules out Great Britain.

I dunno about smallest WITH one but the largest without (and I assume by 'full gauge' you mean standard gauge?), is is New Zealand? They, thanks to my railway-mad uncle who's been there, only operate narrow gauge due to the terrain.
Smallest with, guessing, Isle Of Wight?
p.s. I don't know if it was just the last remnant of winter or the volcanic ash, but sunrise this morning had an unusual yellow glow around it and it was blummin' cold, 2.9 deg C.
 

rsvdaz

New Member
Location
Devon
jut got email from friends..they are stuck in Vegas because..and cant get on a flight back now until Monday....I feel for them!
 
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