Bill Hudson's
Personal "Likes"
Places and Things I think are worth the time to visit or read
"Sea Stories" and other writings are further down the page
"Sea Stories" and other writings are further down the page
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Project Gutenberg_ Committing the printed word to machine readable format. A very important work started way back when computers still occupied whole rooms. Now coming to fruition, many classical works are available. This is where "E-Books" come from. Let's hope you find this link before you pay "Goggles" for the same thing. |
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Library of Congress_ Historic American Buildings
An outstanding resource for Model Builders, or just plain old stuffy historical research. The "Historical Societies" only seem to be interested in showey stuff. Real Americana is being bulldozed daily. This is a record of day to day life from a hundred years past.
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Blacksmithing_ The fellow that shoes horses is a "Farrier". These guys are "Black Smiths". If you want to learn the "Smithing Trade", or just see how it's done, this is a great place to start. In my case, I have a piece of railroad iron and a big hammer. Just enough to keep up my equipment. This is another craft I wish I had time to study. |
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TheDruids_
The "Old Religion" Religious traditions of Western Europe and the British Isles in the "Pre-Christian" era. My ancesters are from the "Second" Celtic migration, c. 500 B.C. To study Druidry does not to deny Christianity.
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Radio Lovers_, Old timey Radio Shows
From the days before the
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Alabama Railfan_ Central Alabama is covered up with railroading. With three major Class 1 carriers, you can watch trains to your little heart's content. This is a copyrighted work. I figure he won't mind too much cause I'm sending you to his site. |
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Bob Jorgensen's Bernays Engine _: I greatly admire this grade of Craftsmanship. The photo is a link to a web site of Mr Jorgensen's family, with a host of information on his more than two dozen projects. The text link and the engine below point to imbedded pages at the Lindsay Publications site. In my experience, the source for practical technical books. |
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Vince Gingery's Hot Air Engine_ A Hayne's. . . Both this image and the one above were stolen fair and square from the Lindsay site so I could link to them. Technical books for the enterprising home mechanic who wants to learn how things really work, and how to do it for themselves. Consider Vince's engineering genius that allows the flywheel to run opposite the crankshaft. |
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NAMES_ North American Model Engineering Society
The first Model Engineering organization that comes to mind. The "name" is easy to remember. (groan) There are many..... Links branch out from here to many other Model Engineers. Galleries of past events can be accessed. I guess it's the long winters in the deep north......
Would that I could claim this exquisite miniature as my work. Sad to say, I am not this good. |
?Do you know the difference between a "Fairy Tale" and a "Sea Story"?
Well, it's like this;
A fairy tale starts off "Once upon a time . . ."
And a sea story, "This is no s**t, I was there, I saw it . . ."
And so, some "Sea Stories" to give you a mental exercise.
And a couple of articles of more . . . technical interest
This is a sample of my personal "literary" interests, over and above the links above. Some of it is my own work, other items are things that have stayed with me much of my life. I learned to read before the age of four; Hugh Lofting's "Dr Dolittle" was my "primer" text. The worst social nightmare of my childhood was being pulled out of the first grade classroom and forced to read aloud to the third graders. Especially when they were told that "this is how you are supposed to do it."
Anyway, this first entry dates from the Viet Nam era and is a story about a good friend. He and I have bled on each other and that is a bond no-one can understand that hasn't "seen the elephant." I ask only that you accept the truth of this story. The only "embellishments" are the name changes and the father's military service and place of employment. I helped build the houseboat. I wouldn't want some damn fool trying to root this fellow out of "his" swamp.
This second work is over a hundred years old. As you may have gathered, I am interested in "Steam". Model Railroading is how I express it, but the underlying interest is in "Steam". A living, breathing, unforgiving force that manages to breathe life into inanimate machinery. Yes, railroad steam locomotives are a mighty force to behold. What can compare to a 5000 (five thousand) horsepower steam plant that can move itself around at sixty feet per second?
What about, perhaps, a three cylinder, triple expansion, "Liberty Ship" engine from the First World War? Now, there was an engine. Rudyard Kipling has a better way with words than I. Perhaps I better let him express the awe of such power. The link between human and machine is NOT a new phenomenon; something of the computer age. Find the Steve McQueen movie Sand Pebbles . . . "Making 60 roundy-go-thumps."
What about, perhaps, a three cylinder, triple expansion, "Liberty Ship" engine from the First World War? Now, there was an engine. Rudyard Kipling has a better way with words than I. Perhaps I better let him express the awe of such power. The link between human and machine is NOT a new phenomenon; something of the computer age. Find the Steve McQueen movie Sand Pebbles . . . "Making 60 roundy-go-thumps."
This next piece is a real sea story. Just as I defined it above. It was from a 6th grade reading book, in '61 or thereabouts. Today, we call such things "ear worms". Then, it was merely something that stayed with me. As did many of Jack London's "Tales of the South Seas". A first edition of which still gets read from time to time. Maybe that's where the itchy feet came from; too much Jack London as a kid.
The author lived prior to the current copyright laws. If an estate owns the rights to this and wants it removed, I will be happy to comply with proof.
The author lived prior to the current copyright laws. If an estate owns the rights to this and wants it removed, I will be happy to comply with proof.
While I was attached to the Burton Island, '69-'71, one of my favorite Ports of Call was Wellington, New Zealand. I was young, still a teen-ager, and from a reserved upbringing so I was not able to mix well with people. My loss, New Zealand was a wonderful place. I have wanted to return there as an adult, but it is well known "you can never go back" and I have changed over the years, as has Wellington, I'm sure.
While I was there, a couple of buddies, more worldly than a backwoods Alabama kid, made contact with the local Model Railroaders. We visited several layouts, and some restoration projects, the last steam locomotive having been retired only shortly before my visit. There was a poem, a ballad if you will, someone had written the previous year for a convention.
I was going through some old personal papers from the times and discovered this copy. I don't think it's copyrighted. Even if it is, it was freely given me to share when I returned stateside. Just took me a while to get around to sharing...... A lighthearted look at what it's like to live with a model railroader;
While I was there, a couple of buddies, more worldly than a backwoods Alabama kid, made contact with the local Model Railroaders. We visited several layouts, and some restoration projects, the last steam locomotive having been retired only shortly before my visit. There was a poem, a ballad if you will, someone had written the previous year for a convention.
I was going through some old personal papers from the times and discovered this copy. I don't think it's copyrighted. Even if it is, it was freely given me to share when I returned stateside. Just took me a while to get around to sharing...... A lighthearted look at what it's like to live with a model railroader;
Electricity for the Home Shop
Let us start with the machine; you have a nice milling machine, just acquired from the junque dealer in the next town. You get it home, cleaned up, tooled and ready to make a pass on a scrap of aluminum. There's nothing matches the feeling of making a mess of the floor with metal shavings.
So you grab the cord and.....?? What's this s++++?? There's a piece of four conductor rubber cable with the end stripped back and raw copper where it was yanked out of the supply. Now what?
Open up the power box in the shop, O.K., let's see; Red and Black to a 220 breaker, ummmm, yeah, we'll use that 50 that runs the welder. Won't need it for a day or two. White with the rest of the whites and, ahhhhh, Green with the bares and greens on the other side.
Awriiiiight; "Fire in the Hole!!". Breaker turned on, lights on the panel, lookin' good! Press the "GO" button..... Lights go out with a loud "BANG". Run back in the kitchen to reset the shop feed; annddd, no lights in the house. Step outside, no lights at the neighbors’, either. Some coincidence, power goes out just as I hit the switch. Talk about spooky.....
A half hour waiting for the power company; they drive up and down the street, then stop in front of "your" house and start poking at something with a long stick. "BANG!", the lights come on and go right back out. So you eaassseeee back into the shop and pop the breaker out, just as the lights come back on, and stay on. This doesn't look good, not good at all.
Next morning, have a look at the mill. Funny looking motor, that. So, where do we go from here. Brother-in-law is an Electrician; hell, he wired the shop panel. He'll know. So, B-I-L takes a look at your wiring, says it looks good, although he's not too happy about that 50 Amp breaker feeding a small wire. He seems to think the motor may be shorted; he showed you with an Ohm-Meter where it only read 3-1/2 ohms to ground.
So now starts the search for a motor for this archaic pile of scrap iron that put its' builder out of business 40 years ago.
So now starts the search for a motor for this archaic pile of scrap iron that put its' builder out of business 40 years ago.
BULL!
A treatise on electricity written for the layman. Everyone knows you need a lot of math to understand electricity, right? Well, this can be understood with no more than grammar school arithmetic. It was written for hobby machinists that want to understand their equipment, especially salvaged machines.
It is a lengthy article, over 50 pages. This is worth reading, seriously. Well, so I'm told by most everyone that has seen it. The last few pages have been omitted; dealing with running 3 phase motors from residential power. I am avoiding liability, such wiring shenanigans can be somewhat dangerous.
It is a lengthy article, over 50 pages. This is worth reading, seriously. Well, so I'm told by most everyone that has seen it. The last few pages have been omitted; dealing with running 3 phase motors from residential power. I am avoiding liability, such wiring shenanigans can be somewhat dangerous.
Mess with electricity and you will be smote
Getting an electrical shock is no fun. And usually dangerous. But, when one works in the field, it is only a matter of time until you taste copper. There are only two choices; find another line of work or laugh it off. This is for those that choose to laugh it off.This has been making the rounds since long before I got into the business forty years back. And is just as humorous today as then. If you are easily offended, "Get over it". This may save a life one day and your delicate sensitivities aren't worth a good man's life.
