Picture(s) of the day....

[CitroJim]

Neil, once again you have uncovered a gem...

I looked up cash railways in Bucks and found this for the Bletchley Co-Op

BLETCHLEY. Co-op. "The culmination of the Bletchley and District Co-operative Society's jubilee celebrations was reached on Saturday, when the new premises were opened in Bletchley Road... A new system of heating .. has been installed, together with a pneumatic cash carrier system." Bucks Herald, 25 Jan. 1935, p.5
• "On purchasing an item, trhe assistant would write your member's number on a check and with the cash it would be placed in a metal tube which travelled along a series of pipes to a secret place, the cash office. To me, it seemed quite magical, for a few minutes later, the tube would whizz back to the assistant with the correct change."

Whilst I don't recall such a system in that one in the late 70s and early 80s I do have recollections of seeing that exact system in operation somewhere else. I would only have been very young and I have a feeling it may have been in the Co-Op in my old home-town of Langport...

[NewcastleFalcon]

Via, other document/cash transfer systems and apparatus, including the Cash Ball system installed in the Annfield Plain Co-operative at Beamish, donated by the Dene Motor Cycle Company of Haymarket Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, who made the two machines in the picture approriately next to the Carterway Heads AA box at Beamish.

Regards Neil

[CitroJim]

Now I thought I knew my old bikes but Denes are new ones on me The one on the left looks a lot like an early 1920s BSA...

Both are belt drive which puts them very early 20s or old-school. Chains soon superseded belts (which were troublesome in the wet) on all but the small and cheap bikes...

Those belts were not belts as we know them today but rather short lengths of leather clipped together to make the belt of the necessary length. Such belts needed regular dressing with stuff similar to dubbin...

Great fun until they gave trouble... Chains are both one of the most efficient power transmission systems in existence - even today - and require quite straightforward maintenance...

[bobins]

Lamson didn't just make a pneumatic dispatch postal system, if I remember correctly, this was one of theirs as well. It's designed to get bits of paper between two floors. You put your important document in the little basket (that's sitting down by the lamps in the picture), pulled the handle to the right, and the basket accelerated away on ropes and appeared at the other 'station'. I think they even wired in a red warning lamp at each station to let you know when a new message had arrived





I'm aware of a handful of such installations, but survivors of these message handling systems seem to be quite rare these days.

[CitroJim]

Now that’s a proper piece of engineering I like that a lot!

[NewcastleFalcon]

In Readng there used to be a major clothing store called "Jacksons" (they did, amongst other things, all the school uniforms in the area) who had a similar system linked to the cash office, where the cash was managed.

Jacksons in action!



Regards Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

More a "video" of the day or more accurately video of 2 days ago.....

Taxi driver trys tries! to beat the tide at Holy Island....



Regards Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

Now I thought I knew my old bikes but Denes are new ones on me The one on the left looks a lot like an early 1920s BSA...

Both are belt drive which puts them very early 20s or old-school. Chains soon superseded belts (which were troublesome in the wet) on all but the small and cheap bikes...

Great article here on Dene motorcycles

http://beamishtransportonline.co.uk/wp- ... lesopt.pdf

Just a little snippet relevant to your info on belts and chains

....Moore continued to develop his designs and by 1906 the direct belt drive had given way to a chain drive with a two speed counter-shaftgear of his own design working on the epicyclic principle and fitted with a clutch. The all chain drive was a notable achievement but the company appeared to then take a backward step and revert to the use of belt drive and hub gears, the convention of that era. It may well be that the chain drive did not prove to be a success and the lack of adequate shock absorption and exposed chains would not have resulted in an entirely reliable
transmission. Perhaps this is why they reverted to the conceived best practice of the time.

Didn't realise that the cash ball system was not the only bit of the Dene motor company to make it to Beamish. much of the workshop is also on display at the Town Garage.


Regards Neil

[Stickyfinger]

More a "video" of the day or more accurately video of 2 days ago.....

Taxi driver trys to beat the tide at Holy Island....



Regards Neil

I am not buying that 2nd hand !

[CitroJim]

Taxi driver trys to beat the tide at Holy Island....

I read a good tale the other day of crossing the causeway by bike! Makes me want to try it

Thanks too Neil for the link to article on Dene Motorcycles

Beamish is a place I really must visit very soon. I'd be in my element there...

[NewcastleFalcon]

I am not buying that 2nd hand !

Haven't seen the aftermath, but if his insurance co have seen the video I doubt they will be paying out! I mean...it wasn't even close, there was absolutely no chance. No idea what the car is, those taxi-like things of that size dont have any distinguishing features for me. Likely to be his own personal car so a very expensive risk-take.

Its by no means an isolated incident, and you tube has many other examples of streams of cars crossing with the causeway mostly underwater not just your odd individual deliberately taking the risk.

Regards Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

.....forgive me.....I know this isn't German Car Forum....but is does have a certain "je ne sais quoi"!



..and another example of a fine causeway

Regards Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

.....just to inject a suitable anti-dote...here's a French car or two at the Passage du Gois, one of France's best causeways

http://images-00.delcampe-static.net/im ... 90_001.jpg

Anyone driven it? Cycled it?

Regards Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

Talking about causeways, this is one of the longest in the world....24 miles over the open water of Lake Pontchartrain.

http://media.nola.com/traffic/photo/9755205-large.jpg

and quite a site for the ornithologist apparently....here's an example of a nice pair making their home on top of pilings on the Causeway.

http://image.nola.com/home/nola-media/w ... e197fb.jpg

According to this article

....Causeway inspectors checking out the underside condition of the bridges..... thought they saw the boobies earlier this year and confirmed the sighting recently.

Picture(s) of the Day..first for..Information, Entertainment, Education and ..Innuendo!

Regards Neil

[CitroJim]

Picture(s) of the Day..first for..Information, Entertainment, Education and ..Innuendo!

I'm tempted again to think of what Malcolm would have made of that statement

Boobies have been the subject of Radio 4s 'tweet Of The Day' a few times. They have a very distinctive and unusual call...

That's quite some causeway... Biking across it would be very tedious... Unless you're really into boobies