MYSTERY OBJECTS

[Bodger]

this is the "queen mary" i remember
http://truck-photos.net.s3.amazonaws.com/3281.jpg

[Bodger]

My memory tells me about a truck i saw in Platts of Oldham, dont know the make but it had a Rolls Royce engine, c. 1960 ?

I should have known, Seddon Atkinson were made in Oldham and Platts were a large company, i was told it was on test !
From Wikia, plant &truck
"By the 1970 they built there last Seddon designed model the Seddon 34:Four a Tractor unit for general haulage. This had the Rolls Royce Eagle 220 hp , Gardner 8LXB 240 or a Cummins NH 220 hp options for engines. "

[Stanley]

The RR Eagle was their attempt to design a diesel engine with better than 50% thermal efficiency to compete with Gardner, the only maker that ever beat this figure. I think RR sold the operation to Perkins who in turn were taken over by an American firm. The 8LXB Gardner was their bid to get more power to satisfy modern requirements. It was a 6LXB with two extra cylinders in line and gave 240hp. It was a long awkward engine but had the classic Gardner characteristic of a very flat torque curve and good fuel consumption. However this was the time when firms like Volvo were bringing in smaller engines, more highly stressed and turbo charged which changed the face of the industry. Earlier, RR made a de-rated version of the Merlin petrol engine which was used in tanks and special applications like the Thorneycroft Antar tractor for tank transporters. I often reflect on the days when I was king of the road with the biggest wagon in the district powered by a 150hp Gardner 6LX, today the same wagon would have 400/500hp. Makes you wonder how we did it!
Back to the Harrison Queen Mary. The name came from the size and the fact that during WW2 the RAF used what were, in those days, enormous lattice girder trailers for carrying aircraft components in one piece. They weren't heavy weights but were so outstanding in those days they were called Queen Marys. In the 1950s it was quite legal to make quite radical modifications to wagons without having to have them inspected and approved. John S Counter in Skipton built his own tipper wagons for quarry work based on second-hand artic tractors. Another firm I knew converted tippers to tractors. We bought a Bayko Flitch set specially made for the Bedford S type. Dead simple, you cut the chassis in two at the centre bearing, inserted the flitch which carried a prop shaft extension, lengthened the brake pipes and the wiring to the rear lights, gave it a coat of paint and away you went! We normally loaded the bottle crate 6 high but tried 7 high as well as the extension but decided against it when we realised the wagon was sagging in the middle. Back to six high and the wagon ran satisfactorily like this for many years. The only other modification we made was to take the 35hp petrol engine out (RAC rating) and replace it with a Ford 6D diesel. Incidentally the big GMS 35hp had one tiny Zenith downdraught carburettor but the exhaust pipe was always a light chestnut colour and the plugs never sooted up. Just about perfect carburation! It was quiet as well, all you could hear when it was pulling was the fan. Those were the days!



What's the square object in the picture?

[Bodger]

no obvious means of attachment, a magnet for collecting swarf?

[Whyperion]

Handy in the garage , a magnet for retriving lost screws ( the brass ones turn up in the sweeping up )

[Stanley]

Bodge, you're right. It's actually two flat bar magnets between mild steel keepers and it lives on the miller casting to keep it away from everything else. One of the things we tend to forget is the amazing progress that has been made in producing ferrous alloys for making magnets. These are so powerful that the biggest problem is getting them off the casting when I need them. I don't use them for swarf but they occasionally come in useful when you want to hold something outside the normal run. I got them by accident. A neighbour bought a patent window cleaner that had two elements, one for the outside of the window and one for the inside. The outside one was held in place by the magnets embedded in the bodies. It was useless so she gave it to me and when I took it to bits I found these magnets inside the plastic bodies. I use pot magnets with rods in as height gauges and one particularly useful one was a large pot magnet with a hook on it which I used for lining large components up when I was full size steam engine building. There is still nothing to beat an old fashioned plumb bob for getting a perpendicular from a height. The magnet was perfect for anchoring the string high up in the Whitelees! I've got a telescopic rod about the size of a ball pen that extends to two feet long with a small powerful magnet on the end, just the thing when you've dropped a spanner in a gear box!

[Stanley]

Try this one....

[Stanley]

That one seems to have foxed you. It's the mechanism on the large waterwheel at Glasshouses Mill at Pately Bridge which regulated the flow of water onto the wheel. The seal was made by ox-hide leather blankets and at one time the shutters were regulated by a governor. All gone now, if you want to see it go to Quarry Bank Mill at Styal, the wheel was dismantled and re-erected their to replace the large turbine which had been installed to replace the original Hewes' water wheel.



In similar vein, what's this and where is it?

[PanBiker]

I would say it's the axle for a water wheel. No Idea where it's from.

[Stanley]

Dead right Ian. It's at County Brook Mill. Cast iron and mentioned frequently in Neston's tapes in the LTP, he repaired it on a regular basis. Last waterwheel to be used in the Manor of Barnoldswick!



A forgotten corner in Barlick but what exactly is it?

[PanBiker]

With regard to the waterwheel axle, my brother has one in the basement of his former mill over in the Limosine in France. All the ironmongery is there along with about a third of the wheel which he intends to restore and re-attach. He is currently pre-occupied with converting four barns into accommodation though. Retirement from the rat race has it's compensations!

Picture above looks like a coal hole but it probably isn't. It's not an ash pit either, you can see that on the right. Door is a bit small but I reckon it used to be a privy.

[PanBiker]

Been looking at it again and the hinge points, or what remains of them look like it could have had a double door. That could mean that it was for keeping some kind of beast, top door for observation and feeding, bottom for access, maybe a pig?

[Stanley]

I doubt if anyone is going to have a stab at this and Ian is so close. It's the ash pit or midden for 12 King Street. I know this for a fact because it was noted on the deeds as it was detached. Instead of being next to the house it was in Philip Street, I have no idea why there was this peculiar arrangement.

[Stanley]

I doubt if anyone is going to have a stab at this and Ian is so close. It's the ash pit or midden for 12 King Street. I know this for a fact because it was noted on the deeds as it was detached. Instead of being next to the house it was in Philip Street, I have no idea why there was this peculiar arrangement.

Try this one.....

[Nolic]

Our ash pit on Garden Street was next to the privy which was halfway down the street from number 5. Three other houses between us and a quick dash!!. Nolic

[Big Kev]

Try this one.....

Slotted spring pins to hold something on a shaft.

[Stanley]

You've got it Kev. A handy alternative to taper pins and easier to dismount and replace. I shall have to have a think again......

[Stanley]

Try this one.....

[Stanley]

I was doing an image search on Google yesterday and yesterday's pic was there in the images for Barlick. Amazing.......

[Bodger]

They look a little like rawlplugs, pre plasic days

[Big Kev]

They look a little like rawlplugs, pre plasic days

I'll go along with that, too...

[Steeplejerk]

http://www.rawlplug.co.uk/index.php?opt ... 3&Itemid=3http://www.rawlplug.co.uk/index.php?opt ... 3&Itemid=3

[Whyperion]

Sites that use google search for their own site get indexed back to google almost as soon as any change or addition is made.

[Stanley]

Sorry lads, you're nowhere near yet. Comrade Nolic has seen them before......

[Nolic]

I assume they are connected with weaving or spinning but if I've seen the like I can't remember. Nolic