Let's Make A Train (2)

 What Does "Make" Mean"?

In the 1870s, The Pullman Car Company of the USA sent kits of parts to the Midland Railway for assembly at the Litchirch Lane Carriage Works. Effectively, the Railway was gluing together a giant Airfix kit, although not plastic!

But the ebullient Gregg Wallace fronted an episode of "Inside The Factory" first broadcast in 2022 and repeated a few days ago.

Mr Wallace "shot to fame" (as they say) presenting a programme called "Veg Talk" on BBC Radio 4. His origins were humble, as a porter and then a salesman at Covent Garden Market but he grew his own fruit and veg business dramatically and then moved into the Restaurant trade

Once upon a time, documentaries on the BBC were well researched, informative and occasionally intellectually challenging.

"Inside the Factory" is none of these. The series verges on the banal, intellectually at Primary School level. Some of the information is revealing and interesting, but the presentation is hardly "highbrow" and rarely even "middlebrow".

"And the wheels fit on the bolster?", mused Gregg with wide eyed amazement. "Wow, I never knew that!". Although Gregg's (mis)understanding was confirmed by the supervisor interviewed, that conclusion is wrong.

The wheels fit on the bogie ...

... and the bogie attaches to the bolster ...

... pivoting on that big peg in the middle.

The "Train" programme begins with the arrival of a very long lorry load.

We were NOT told whence came this vehicle, but a sign on the back ...

... reads "Convoi Exceptioinel" which is the European standard for warning following drivers of a "Long Vehicle". So it is reasonable to assume that these loads did NOT come from the UK!

These IKEA-style "flat packs" of aluminium panels would form the floor pan of the carriage. But first we have to enjoy watching the welding machine doing its stuff.

Once welded, the floor was shot blasted using a terrifying nozzle viewed excitedly by Gregg but without shot! 

Scaree!

This would clean the surface and provide a good "key" for the next stage. Then it was spray painted by hand. Indeed all the body panels were hand sprayed.

The welded floor was then spun upside down, again much to the "Wow" factor from our endearing presenter.

Once upside down ("So the seats are all underneath? Wow!")

Erm, No, Gregg. The seats haven't been fitted yet. If they had, they would have been crushed when the floor panel was turned over!

Here the "bolster" ...

... and lots of other stuff is fitted (but no wheels, Gregg!) and the floor is turned right way up. 

Along comes the roof panel, "assembled in the same way as the floor". The roof is suspended in a jig.

Now the sides have to be fixed.

These are swung into place alongside the roof-gap-floot jig ...

As we watch this side panel swinging, note that the panels are not solid; they are hollow with zigzag aluminium strengthening which makes them much stronger than the old steel panels and, importantly, they weigh only a third of the "traditional" metal construction.

Here is a view of the original delivery, end on.

All the panels are like this.

Nothing was said about how these panels were actually made, which confirms that they were NOT made at Litchurch Lane!

The sides are bolted to roof and floor ...

... using 28 (in the case of this shorter panel) "Huck" bolts. "Huck" is a brand name like Hoover, Google and Sellotape. The generic term would be "self locking bolts".

No, fbb had no idea either - but he has watched a video.

And "swage"?

Swaging is a metal-forming technique in which the metal of one part is deformed to fit around another part by either pressing or hammering, or by forcing the material through a die.

Yep, that matches the Huck Bolt idea. The "nut" (called a "collar") is pushed onto the threaded bolt in such a way that the metal of the collar is forced tight into the screw thread making a permanent immovable seal.

According to the Alstom man on the telly programme, these devices are stronger than a weld, stronger than a rivet and even stronger than Seccotine.

(OK, fbb made that last bit up)

So floor ...

... roof ...

... and sides ... 

... make up a very strong tube of aluminium which is, effectively, the equivalent of the steel chassis of the traditional railway coach.

As yet, no mention of coach ends?

So far, have we come across anything that is actually made in the UK?

More possibilities tomorrow!

 Next Make a Train blog : Weds 4th Sept 

Izzy, Nick, Tom and Gus (2)

Fools Rush In ....

The fool in this case is fbb and not Gustave Eiffel, seen above in a studio portrait with his granddaughters. Trying to cover the worldwide work of the celebrated Engineer, Architect and Meteorologist (who died in 1923 aged 91) in a short blog is just plain daft!

 ... Where Angels Fear To Tread.

Gus was no angel; he spent a couple of years in prison for fraudulent deals during his work on the locks for the Panama Canal! 

But the breadth of his work is simply staggering. This blog will offer a taste, as they say, "in no particular order", of the scope of his work.

The quote, by the way, is from Alexander Pope's Essay on Criticism and, to his deep chagrin, fbb had to look it up. He "did" Pope as part of his A Level English course and had failed to remember the source of those well worn words!

Bad house point!

We begin in 1860 when Gus was nobbut a lad of 26. He was consulting engineer, supervising engineer, designer (sources vary) for what became known as the "Passerelle Eiffel". Passerelle means footbridge or gangway, so the Passrrelle Eiffel was a railway bridge!

It crossed the river Garonne at Bordeaux, effectively linking two chunks of the rail network together. And it did include a footbridge.

It was a long trek!

Until 2008, Eiffel's bridge carried a double track main line electrified and used by TGV trains!

When the new bridge opened the aim was to demolish Eiffel's 1860 crossing but, thankfully, protests were huge and the structure remains, but now inaccessible.

One of the key campaigners was one of Gus's great ((?) granddaughters.

There are proposals to re-open the bridge for pedestrians and cyclists.

And A Double Decker

You can immediately spot the Eiffel style of giant Meccano here in Portugal. The top deck is roadway ...

... and below is railway. Hopefully Portugal has not copyrighted it when pictured at night.

From The Sublime ...

Eiffel designed and built a simple suspension bridge for a park in Paris ...

... but spectacular and delightful.

Gus's biggie in France is the Viaduc de Gabarit ...

... taking an extant railway over a deep gorge.

Bearing in mind it was bult using human power and simple tools, the construction is mind-blowing.

The Viaduc de Garabit is a railway arch bridge spanning the Truyère, near Ruynes-en-Margeride, Cantal, France, in the mountainous Massif Central region.

The bridge was constructed between 1882 and 1884 by Gustave Eiffel, with structural engineering by Maurice Koechlin, and was opened in 1885. It is 1,854 ft in length and has a principal arch of 541 ft span.

Back to girders on piers for this one.

Here fbb has forgotten to note where it was, but he has recorded what it has become. The girders have gone but one pier is equipped with a launch pad for bungee jumping.

Would Gus, as a lover of the spectacular, be impressed with its recycled purpose or disappointed to lose his Meccano?

Not Just Bridges

Here is what looks quite innocently like a waterside warehouse in Izmir, Turkey. 

It looks a bit like a shopping centre now (which it is!) but here is a shot of the renewal and rebuild.

But once inside, we can, once again, see Gus's Meccano in the roof.

Then the bus station in La Paz, Bolivia ...

... still very much in use today!

And still beautiful ...

... maybe the most beautiful bus station in the world!

General Post Office Ho Chi Min City, Vietnam.

Also very much the place to purchase philately and post your post.

Nyugati Station in Hungary ...

... also very much in use but due for a massive extension "round the back".

Nice Observatory ...

... iron framed, of course!

Dijon Fruit and Veg Market ...

... cuts the mustard!

And beautifully formed in Angola!

Palácio de Ferro is a historical building in the Angolan capital Luanda, believed to have been designed and built by – or by someone associated with – Gustave Eiffel.

Maybe, or matbe not?

The Legacy Lives On ...

The Millau Viaduct is so big you simply cannot comprehend it.

From base to tip of the main piers it is taller than the Eiffel Tower!

The bridge deck (but not the towers) was built by the Eiffel Company!

Gus would be oh so proud of that!

Is Gus a greater engineer than Izzy, Nick or Tom? His work was certainly flung wider over the globe than Izzy or Tom. Nick's AC electricity is a special case because there is an awful lot of it about!

 Next Variety blog : Saturday 10th August