Mini weeze

[bizzard]

What a brilliant wheeze, I'd never thought of that.

I used mine once for that purpose on a boat i brought up here from Waltham Abbey overnight.On a full tank of para they'll just about last out an 8 hour shift.

[bizzard]

I used mine once for that purpose on a boat i brought up here from Waltham Abbey overnight.On a full tank of para they'll just about last out an 8 hour shift.

As you've probably noticed the green lens window is actually blue but with the yellow flame behind it when alight it shines out as green,yellow and blue mixed make green i suppose.

[MtB]

Wow now that is a GREAT idea, parafin navigation lights! Anyone still sell them, of know of any for sale second hand?

[bizzard]

Wow now that is a GREAT idea, parafin navigation lights! Anyone still sell them, of know of any for sale second hand?

You've probably got more chance of picking up a railway guards tricolour lamp.Or make em out of hurricane lamps.

There must have been thousands upon thousands of oil railway lamps disposed of when it went all electric. Signal lamp holders,train lamps, station staff lamps ect ect.

Oddly enough its not that long ago that the railways ceased using red oil train tail lamps, it took donkey's years to make electric train rear lamps 100% reliable as were the oil lamps they replaced.

[bizzard]

Yes, they can really take you back. We used to visit Wells, where there was (maybe still is) one of those old-fashioned hardware shops with the very distinctive smell of paraffin.

I was born and brought up in parts of Central Africa with no electricity - Tilley lamps were lit at dusk!

There's still the odd Oil shop around.There's one in Seven Kings near Ilford ''Creeds''Still have a paraffin tank inside,wooden floors and also sell alsorts of old fashioned household goods The twin bars of Sunlight household soap for example,which incidentally according to a doctor customer of mine is the best soap for your skin and complexion as it contains Lanolin,but with of course with no silly perfumed stink that is not good for the skin.

Edited December 18, 2011 by bizzard

[NB Esk]

Most of this paraffin talk refers to the past, but we have a Tilley lamp hanging from the livingroom ceiling 'to stop the power cuts' and most winters it is used (ie it fails to stop the power cuts). Most notably not many years ago when the power was off for 10 days. I love the soft hiss and the yellow light and the ensueing (very competitive) crib games. Winter has its compensations.

 

Yes, something appealing about the light from a pressure lamp.

A trick I learned in the Army, was to be able to re-fuel a Tilley (think they were Aladdin's?) without having to use the atomiser (can't remember it's proper name).

When the lamp starts to die, close the valve & wizz the filler cap off, a quick fill up followed by a couple of pumps & all you need is a match...very satisfying as it pops back to life.

 

Don't try this at home (or at least, IN the home )

 

That's right you could probably teach that Paul Martin fellow on Flog it a thing or two.

 

From what I saw, I could probably teach him a lot

[David Schweizer]

Most of this paraffin talk refers to the past, but we have a Tilley lamp hanging from the livingroom ceiling 'to stop the power cuts' and most winters it is used (ie it fails to stop the power cuts). Most notably not many years ago when the power was off for 10 days. I love the soft hiss and the yellow light and the ensueing (very competitive) crib games. Winter has its compensations.

Tilley lamps do produce a good light, and a fair bit of heat, and were the preferred choice of markey stall holders. The only problem with using them as emergencty standby lighting when the power fails, is that they take so long to get going.

 

Rather than use a Tilley, I much prefer Aladdin Mantle lamps which can be light almost instatly and give off almost as much light and heat as a Tilley. However for attractiveness I would always choose the traditional simple wick burner lamps with a cast iron base and glass fount..

[bizzard]

Yes, something appealing about the light from a pressure lamp.

A trick I learned in the Army, was to be able to re-fuel a Tilley (think they were Aladdin's?) without having to use the atomiser (can't remember it's proper name).

When the lamp starts to die, close the valve & wizz the filler cap off, a quick fill up followed by a couple of pumps & all you need is a match...very satisfying as it pops back to life.

 

Don't try this at home (or at least, IN the home )

 

 

 

From what I saw, I could probably teach him a lot

I bet. The erm Patina on your tub wagon would hold him spellbound.

[NB Esk]

I bet. The erm Patina on your tub wagon would hold him spellbound.

 

It's funny, of the people who've seen it "in the flesh" no-one has picked up that it's not the real thing (it does look realistic) The giveaway is that the real ones were constructed from Larch, whereas this is Pitch Pine (made out of an old blanket box)

[bizzard]

It's funny, of the people who've seen it "in the flesh" no-one has picked up that it's not the real thing (it does look realistic) The giveaway is that the real ones were constructed from Larch, whereas this is Pitch Pine (made out of an old blanket box)

Larch is more flexible,''ladders ect''Pitch pine would last longer i think,very common for traditional boat building.

[bizzard]

Most of this paraffin talk refers to the past, but we have a Tilley lamp hanging from the livingroom ceiling 'to stop the power cuts' and most winters it is used (ie it fails to stop the power cuts). Most notably not many years ago when the power was off for 10 days. I love the soft hiss and the yellow light and the ensueing (very competitive) crib games. Winter has its compensations.

Chess,draughts and Ludo too. I've still got and use the old, Boom boom boom boon! ''Esso blue''square shaped blue 1gal paraffin can,when i can get to an oil shop that sells it loose.

[bizzard]

It's funny, of the people who've seen it "in the flesh" no-one has picked up that it's not the real thing (it does look realistic) The giveaway is that the real ones were constructed from Larch, whereas this is Pitch Pine (made out of an old blanket box)

Wasn't Larch used for pit props too being a bit flexible and not susceptable to cracking. The POW camps of WW2 used bed boards to shore up escape tunnels,i believe was Larch,most of those camps were surrounded by Fir trees.

[NB Esk]

Wasn't Larch used for pit props too being a bit flexible and not susceptable to cracking. The POW camps of WW2 used bed boards to shore up escape tunnels,i believe was Larch,most of those camps were surrounded by Fir trees.

 

Pit props were still in use, when I worked underground (very early seventies) but they were mostly hydraulic. Dunno what the wooden ones were but they were softwood.

[Slim]

Any old vans were used for paraffin rounds,Austin and Morris commercial being two old favorites with a big tank in the back.

A friend of mine had a hardware ''oil shop'' with inside paraffin tank and measures.His paraffin came in clear form and the tanker driver carried pink and blues dyes,and would always ask my friend,''Esso blue or Aladdin pink this week mate.This friend is not the sort of person who would tell whoppers.

 

 

God, this is bringing back memories. The guy I worked for had a hardware 'oil shop' but the tanks were out the back. When there was a delivery (by tanker) the hose went over the pavement, through the shop, through a sash window into a tank. The 'company' fleet comprised of two 1946 Morrison electric floats, a Brush? 3 wheel float and a Trannie van. They each had a square steel tank holding about 200 gallons that were filled from the top through a small hatch. The paraffin was pumped from the outside tanks via a garage style petrol pump in the shop, through a rubber pipe forced onto the spout of the delivery gun out through the shop, across the pavement. The fuel gauge was a notched broom handle.

 

So far as the colour is concerned I absolutely believe what you say. We sold genuine Aladdin Pink which was a Shell product. However, occasionally because of supply difficulties we had to go elsewhere. The first question would be "what colour do you want?". I seem to remember there were 3 options, pink,blue or green. (Fina was green!)

 

 

Frank

[bizzard]

God, this is bringing back memories. The guy I worked for had a hardware 'oil shop' but the tanks were out the back. When there was a delivery (by tanker) the hose went over the pavement, through the shop, through a sash window into a tank. The 'company' fleet comprised of two 1946 Morrison electric floats, a Brush? 3 wheel float and a Trannie van. They each had a square steel tank holding about 200 gallons that were filled from the top through a small hatch. The paraffin was pumped from the outside tanks via a garage style petrol pump in the shop, through a rubber pipe forced onto the spout of the delivery gun out through the shop, across the pavement. The fuel gauge was a notched broom handle.

 

So far as the colour is concerned I absolutely believe what you say. We sold genuine Aladdin Pink which was a Shell product. However, occasionally because of supply difficulties we had to go elsewhere. The first question would be "what colour do you want?". I seem to remember there were 3 options, pink,blue or green. (Fina was green!)

 

 

Frank

Lifes boring now with all the nanny state H&safety regulations and so forth.A bit of risk with Heath Robinson set ups i think added spice to life and kept people on their toes,people had to use their inituative to get by and earn a bob.

''BRUSH''of i think Loughborough was and still is an huge electrical Co making big stuff like large traction motors for railway loco's,power stations ect. And yes i now remember the green ''Fina''which was also a petrol co,i think part of Shell-BP.

And during these paraffin deliveries everyone still had a fag on.

[David Schweizer]

God, this is bringing back memories. The guy I worked for had a hardware 'oil shop' but the tanks were out the back. When there was a delivery (by tanker) the hose went over the pavement, through the shop, through a sash window into a tank. The 'company' fleet comprised of two 1946 Morrison electric floats, a Brush? 3 wheel float and a Trannie van. They each had a square steel tank holding about 200 gallons that were filled from the top through a small hatch. The paraffin was pumped from the outside tanks via a garage style petrol pump in the shop, through a rubber pipe forced onto the spout of the delivery gun out through the shop, across the pavement. The fuel gauge was a notched broom handle.

 

So far as the colour is concerned I absolutely believe what you say. We sold genuine Aladdin Pink which was a Shell product. However, occasionally because of supply difficulties we had to go elsewhere. The first question would be "what colour do you want?". I seem to remember there were 3 options, pink,blue or green. (Fina was green!)

 

Frank

You are quite correct, I still have some Fina Green left in an airtight can. It is a beautifully dark green which unlike the Aladdin Pink does not turn clear after a few years storage, I use it in clear fount hand lamps.

 

What most people do not realise is that the dye was also a perfume, which gives paraffin the smell by which we all know it. The real smell of paraffin is awful, and you would not let it in the house if it was not pwerfumed. Sometimes when you empty an old lamp that has has some paraffin in it for decades, the perfume effect has worn off and you then get it's true horrible smell!

 

It is still possible to get paraffin dyed ble, pink or green, but because of EU regulations it can only be sold in what we would call commercial quantities, and cannot be retailed loose or in small containers. The current colur tends to be close to the natural colour of paraffin ie; light brown, although some places still have the lilac colour. which I have always though was odd, as it is remarkably similar to the dyed colour of Methylated sprit.

Edited December 18, 2011 by David Schweizer

[Tiny]

There's still the odd Oil shop around.There's one in Seven Kings near Ilford ''Creeds''Still have a paraffin tank inside,wooden floors and also sell alsorts of old fashioned household goods The twin bars of Sunlight household soap for example,which incidentally according to a doctor customer of mine is the best soap for your skin and complexion as it contains Lanolin,but with of course with no silly perfumed stink that is not good for the skin.

 

A paraffin shop - it brings a memory of 'going round the oil man' which was a shop which was an iron monger but stunk of paraffin - either pink (ring hunter 1234) or esso blue. Which I don't know but that paraffin powered the heater that was always alight in the upstairs hall - the only source of heat up there in winter. I always assosiate the smell of that heater and the blue glow of its flame with warmth. One wonders if having that and coal fires indoors smoking away is the reason few kids had asthma back then as living in all the fumes meant they were more immune to such things. Now I would be choking on the fumes and wondering why the house was so cold - guess I have gone soft...

 

In those days my uncle Charlie smoked himself to getting enough coupons for a service of Sheffield steel, monogramed cutlery - which we use every day. Meanwhile everyone (including the oil man) gave green shield stamps and that got us one set of china - still in use on the boat, the other set (a wedding present) being used at home.

 

One bit we have modernised though is the system used for power cuts - which tend to happen a few times each year. We have the paraffin lamps, torches, a battery strip light and so on but when the lights went out last week (due to the fuses blowing a half mile off with a bang loud enough for us to hear through the double glazing) we simply reached down to the TV table shelf, put on the head torches and switched on the LED camping lanterns then hung them up, then carried on reading the paper (as the head torch gives a better light than the room lights). The electric people said 3 hours but power was back in 40 minutes.

Edited December 18, 2011 by Tiny

[rubblequeen]

 

I still bear a burn scar that exactly matches the top of a Valor heater.

 

I've got one of those scars trying not to freeze after getting out of the bath on Saturday night (the once a week one) as usual had stayed in too long dreading the thought of getting out and forced to get out because the water had got even colder. Oh the good old days of winter.

 

This is the therapeutic reminiscent site isn't it?

[bizzard]

A paraffin shop - it brings a memory of 'going round the oil man' which was a shop which was an iron monger but stunk of paraffin - either pink (ring hunter 1234) or esso blue. Which I don't know but that paraffin powered the heater that was always alight in the upstairs hall - the only source of heat up there in winter. I always assosiate the smell of that heater and the blue glow of its flame with warmth. One wonders if having that and coal fires indoors smoking away is the reason few kids had asthma back then as living in all the fumes meant they were more immune to such things. Now I would be choking on the fumes and wondering why the house was so cold - guess I have gone soft...

 

In those days my uncle Charlie smoked himself to getting enough coupons for a service of Sheffield steel, monogramed cutlery - which we use every day. Meanwhile everyone (including the oil man) gave green shield stamps and that got us one set of china - still in use on the boat, the other set (a wedding present) being used at home.

 

One bit we have modernised though is the system used for power cuts - which tend to happen a few times each year. We have the paraffin lamps, torches, a battery strip light and so on but when the lights went out last week (due to the fuses blowing a half mile off with a bang loud enough for us to hear through the double glazing) we simply reached down to the TV table shelf, put on the head torches and switched on the LED camping lanterns then hung them up, then carried on reading the paper (as the head torch gives a better light than the room lights). The electric people said 3 hours but power was back in 40 minutes.

It did seem to be only the elderly who had Asthma in those days,also for some reason i never heard of anyone having any Alergies at all either. Yes loads of people collected the Kensitas cigarette coupons. And my mum trying to get the open fire going with an open sheet of the News-of-the-World held over the front to make it draw,she'd get distracted and the newspaper would catch light and get sucked up the chimney and set it alight into an raging inferno blotting out the whole area with smoke.

[bizzard]

I've got one of those scars trying not to freeze after getting out of the bath on Saturday night (the once a week one) as usual had stayed in too long dreading the thought of getting out and forced to get out because the water had got even colder. Oh the good old days of winter.

 

This is the therapeutic reminiscent site isn't it?

Tell me about it,even my plastic duck quacked to get out. You kept topping it up with hot until the hot tank was exhausted and then you had to get out.

Yes this is the therapeutic quick cure site for sub zero exposure sufferers.

[Tiny]

Tell me about it,even my plastic duck quacked to get out. You kept topping it up with hot until the hot tank was exhausted and then you had to get out.

Yes this is the therapeutic quick cure site for sub zero exposure sufferers.

 

For our honeymoon in december we chose to go to a chalet on Hayling island. We had a 3kw electric fire on a long lead that we moved round, the materesses from 3 beds on the one we used and a tin bath which I tried. My wife cooked her first Sunday roast and I asked her to stick it back in the oven for another hour please. From then on I have done the cooking and she does the cleaning and the washing up. The tin bath - twix fire and open oven on full was rather cold - never again. Now after over 40 years of trials we put very hot water in the bath and leave for 30minutes to warm the bath material before we adjust temperature which seems to work given the room is warmed with a wall heater and heated towel radiator. My scars are not from the bath but are the tradition ones you get from taking stuff out of the Rayburn's oven - these being the standard badge of a person who works with one of these ever hot things.

[deletedaccount]

my mum trying to get the open fire going with an open sheet of the News-of-the-World held over the front to make it draw,she'd get distracted and the newspaper would catch light and get sucked up the chimney and set it alight into an raging inferno blotting out the whole area with smoke.

 

Wow, I remember my mum doing that with the evening herald!

[bizzard]

For our honeymoon in december we chose to go to a chalet on Hayling island. We had a 3kw electric fire on a long lead that we moved round, the materesses from 3 beds on the one we used and a tin bath which I tried. My wife cooked her first Sunday roast and I asked her to stick it back in the oven for another hour please. From then on I have done the cooking and she does the cleaning and the washing up. The tin bath - twix fire and open oven on full was rather cold - never again. Now after over 40 years of trials we put very hot water in the bath and leave for 30minutes to warm the bath material before we adjust temperature which seems to work given the room is warmed with a wall heater and heated towel radiator. My scars are not from the bath but are the tradition ones you get from taking stuff out of the Rayburn's oven - these being the standard badge of a person who works with one of these ever hot things.

My sister had a similar mark from her Rayburn range.We have an old wick type Esse range knocking around here somewhere which we took out of a Hancock& Lane boat,and its separate oil tank.