Tonic required. Send in your photos of what is nice on the waterways now.

[PeterScott]

On this day in 2011

Acton Bridge T&M

[Tam & Di]

1 hour ago, Dav and Pen said:

Some more pictures from the Kerala backwaters a real water world. The covered ones are rice boats.

 

 

 

  Kerala is our most favourite Indian cuisine - conveniently our local Kerala restaurant is doing home deliveries during the lockdown. Some operators now offer holiday cruises with on-board chef on upgraded versions of those kettuvallam boats - we've often considered it but just never gotten round to it.

 

Tam

[Dav and Pen]

17 minutes ago, Tam & Di said:

  Kerala is our most favourite Indian cuisine - conveniently our local Kerala restaurant is doing home deliveries during the lockdown. Some operators now offer holiday cruises with on-board chef on upgraded versions of those kettuvallam boats - we've often considered it but just never gotten round to it.

 

Tam

Your very lucky to have a Kerallan or even South Indian restaurant. Up here it’s still the normal 5 sauce stuff but even so very good. We have been to the South twice and it’s our favorite both for food and the people.

[Ray T]

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  8 hours ago, PeterScott said:

 

 

 

Tools

 

Calcutt Locks GU

"A hydraulic screw, a very rare beast ??"

 

The Ham Baker paddle gear of the northern GU is not hydraulic !!!

 

387,951. Sluice valves. BENCE, E. H., Municipal Engineering Works, Langley Green, Birmingham, HAM, P. S., 70, Victoria Street, London, and MORGAN, E. I., 8, Wolverhampton Road, Sedgley, Birmingham. Aug. 24, 1932, No. 23694. [Class 68 (ii).] A sluice valve is operated by screw gearing of such a pitch that the valve, when raised and released, will descend by its own weight. The Figure shows a gearing for raising a flat sliding valve, not shown, at the lower end of a non-revolving rod 14. It comprises a gear case 19, 20, containing bevel wheels 23, 24 rotatable so that the nut 35 raises the rod 14. When raised, it is retained by pawls 33a, 33b engaging with ratchet wheels 30, 31 ; these may be released by overturning a link 34, and the valve then descends. The stop 37 is fitted with a buffer 38, or may function as a dashpot. In a modification, the rod 14 is keyed to the wheel 23, and rotates in a nut at the upper end of a tube attached to the valve rod. Buffers are fitted at the lower edge of valve ; they may be removed to enable the valve to be removed.

 

Edited January 7, 2021 by Ray T

[PeterScott]

58 minutes ago, Ray T said:

•  

387,951. Sluice valves. BENCE, E. H., Municipal Engineering Works, Langley Green, Birmingham, HAM, P. S., 70, Victoria Street, London, and MORGAN, E. I., 8, Wolverhampton Road, Sedgley, Birmingham. Aug. 24, 1932, No. 23694. [Class 68 (ii).] A sluice valve is operated by screw gearing of such a pitch that the valve, when raised and released, will descend by its own weight. The Figure shows a gearing for raising a flat sliding valve, not shown, at the lower end of a non-revolving rod 14. It comprises a gear case 19, 20, containing bevel wheels 23, 24 rotatable so that the nut 35 raises the rod 14. When raised, it is retained by pawls 33a, 33b engaging with ratchet wheels 30, 31 ; these may be released by overturning a link 34, and the valve then descends. The stop 37 is fitted with a buffer 38, or may function as a dashpot. In a modification, the rod 14 is keyed to the wheel 23, and rotates in a nut at the upper end of a tube attached to the valve rod. Buffers are fitted at the lower edge of valve ; they may be removed to enable the valve to be removed.

Advert in a GU book

 

 

 

 

 

" ... the gear enables the paddle to be opened by one man in 30 seconds against a maximum head of 8'6", while closing is by gravity..."

[ditchcrawler]

8 minutes ago, PeterScott said:

Advert in a GU book

 

 

 

 

 

" ... the gear enables the paddle to be opened by one man in 30 seconds against a maximum head of 8'6", while closing is by gravity..."

Liquid free mechanical hydraulics, similar to perpetual motion 

[Rob-M]

40 minutes ago, PeterScott said:

Advert in a GU book

 

 

 

 

 

" ... the gear enables the paddle to be opened by one man in 30 seconds against a maximum head of 8'6", while closing is by gravity..."

Closing by gravity, not winding down as seems to be the instruction today.

[Dav and Pen]

39 minutes ago, Rob-M said:

Closing by gravity, not winding down as seems to be the instruction today.

We always took off the chain and bashed the spindle and down went the gear and paddle. 

[PeterScott]

On this day in 2005

 

Boats at Calcutt GU ...

 

... on a blustery morning

 

and a few more from the sevenths of January

[Victor Vectis]

12 hours ago, Dav and Pen said:

We always took off the chain and bashed the spindle and down went the gear and paddle. 

The locksmurfs don't like you doing that.

(You may wonder how I know this!)

 

Is there some sort of oil filled dashpot to cushion the mechanism as it comes down?

I wonder if this is where the idea of the Ham Baker gear being 'hydraulic' came from.

Edited January 8, 2021 by Victor Vectis

[Dav and Pen]

Times change but often these paddles will drop on their own anyway. The good thing is that you can see if they are down by looking at the indicator rod. I’ve single handed up Hatton with a loaded boat and you can see from a distance if the paddles are up or down. Put boat in lock shut gates open offside paddle go up to next lock open paddle walk back lock full pull off chain open gates and go.

[Dav and Pen]

Today 2010 looking towards Puddle Bank Braunston.

[PeterScott]

On this day in 2019

 

 

 

Compare #2417 (last pic is also this day 2019) Bakewell Derbyshire

 

 

Edited January 8, 2021 by PeterScott
extra pic

[Mike Todd]

13 hours ago, Dav and Pen said:

We always took off the chain and bashed the spindle and down went the gear and paddle. 

I think that was the original intention - the u-shaped collars enabled speedy operation but, alas, boaters' aims were not always spot on and so most of the castings securing the chain to prevent loss of the collar have been broken, as the earlier photo shows. However, I note from the drawing that the raised position was to be secured by a ratchet and pawl as we find on most other locks. Some industrial archaeology needed!

[PeterScott]

19 hours ago, PeterScott said:

On [7 January] 2011

Acton Bridge T&M

On this day in 2011

Acton Bridge T&M with almost all of the snow gone

[ditchcrawler]

3 hours ago, Victor Vectis said:

The locksmurfs don't like you doing that.

(You may wonder how I know this!)

 

Is there some sort of oil filled dashpot to cushion the mechanism as it comes down?

I wonder if this is where the idea of the Ham Baker gear being 'hydraulic' came from.

Today some don't fall all the way just knocking the clip off, some drop like a stone and a few even work like they should

[David Mack]

19 hours ago, Ray T said:

The Ham Baker paddle gear of the northern GU is not hydraulic !!!

 

Well, only in the sense that it controls the flow of water.

 

4 hours ago, Victor Vectis said:

Is there some sort of oil filled dashpot to cushion the mechanism as it comes down?

No, but there is (or at least was) a great thick rubber washer below the collar at the top of the screw, which damped the impact when it reached the bottom. You can see it through the viewing hole when the paddle is down. But it wouldn't surprise me to find that on almost 90 year old gear the washer may be perished or hardened or missing. Don't know if they get replaced as part of routine maintenance.

Edited January 8, 2021 by David Mack

[Ray T]

4 hours ago, Victor Vectis said:

Is there some sort of oil filled dashpot to cushion the mechanism as it comes down?

 

As far as I am aware there is / was a couple of pads below the sluice hole for the bottom of the paddle to land on as well as Item 38 in post 4804

LHS bottom of paddle

 

No oil dashpot.

 

Edited January 8, 2021 by Ray T

[PeterScott]

On this day in 2011

 

Acton Bridge T&M

 

Front deck design giving almost step-free access from the front cabin, and so a deck that is lower than the waterline, and so can't drain directly into the canal: it has a channel through the boat and water is eventually pumped out from the engine bilge. Unless it is blocked by leaves of course. 

 

It's one of the advantages of the Ham&Baker paddlegear, that there is no need for large waterfalls (eg Rochdale 9 below) to threaten to fill the front deck of modern leisureboats.

 

Edited January 8, 2021 by PeterScott
extra pic

[PeterScott]

On this day in 2016

 

Fulbourne leaving Circus Field moorings

Aylesbury Arm GU

 

 

 

 

[Dav and Pen]

In 1988 after leaving Cochin we went up into the Nilgiri hills to Conoor and went down to the station to go on the train to Ooty. They change locos here as the train coming up is pushed by the loco using the rack railway. At a station further up the line I got out to take some photos and was invited into the cab and rode the rest of the way on the footplate. The driver waved at all the people trackside and the fireman kept telling me how much coal he shoveled. A few rupees was obviously in order.

Edited January 9, 2021 by Dav and Pen
Problem with photos

[Dav and Pen]

More stream locos from Rajasthan in 1985 January. These are meter gauge which has now been replaced by standard gauge track and no more steam. The crew standing by the loco saw me and got out of the cab to pose. Note the vulture above .

Edited January 9, 2021 by Dav and Pen
Content

[Athy]

5 minutes ago, Dav and Pen said:

More stream locos from Rajasthan in 1895 January. These are meter gauge which has now been replaced by standard gauge track and no more steam. The crew standing by the loco saw me and got out of the cab to pose. Note the vulture above .

 

 

 

Marvellous. I don't know much about Indian engines but the middle one looks as if it could have been British-built.

What year was that?

[Dav and Pen]

10 minutes ago, Athy said:

Marvellous. I don't know much about Indian engines but the middle one looks as if it could have been British-built.

What year was that?

It was in 1985 I have corrected the post. The system was certainly British built and most of the stock looked pre independence.

[Mike Todd]

15 hours ago, PeterScott said:

On this day in 2011

 

Acton Bridge T&M

 

Front deck design giving almost step-free access from the front cabin, and so a deck that is lower than the waterline, and so can't drain directly into the canal: it has a channel through the boat and water is eventually pumped out from the engine bilge. Unless it is blocked by leaves of course. 

 

It's one of the advantages of the Ham&Baker paddlegear, that there is no need for large waterfalls (eg Rochdale 9 below) to threaten to fill the front deck of modern leisureboats.

 

I don't think that it is Ham and Baker that avoids that issue - just designs with alternative overflows. Some canal builders opted for 'over the top gate' as a simple solution - other have  bywashes and others drain over the top of the ground paddle into the chamber. All have their pluses and minuses.

Edited January 9, 2021 by Mike Todd