MYSTERY OBJECTS

[Gloria]

China you little tyke---you want a slap. What is it?

[chinatyke]

Think China and Railways....

Hi Gloria,

The clue is in the question - Stanley has already told you! I think Stanley posted this one with me in mind.

It is a cap badge from China Trains. There should be a date on the back. I suspect it could be from around 1970. It shows China Trains logo.

Travel by train in China is very affordable and a good service. I travel once a week between our apartments. It is a journey of 113 km/70 miles and costs £2. It takes 73 minutes, which is around 58 mph average speed, not bad for single line operation. Tickets can be booked in advance at no extra charge and have allocated coach and seat numbers. There is a conductor to each 120 seat carriage and 10 carriages on this train, and they are usually full. Loading over a thousand passengers at Nanning station in 15 minutes can be fun. There are regulations on the amount of things that can be taken on board and one of them is 'less than 20 newborn poultries' though I haven't seen that happen yet!

There is a high speed rail link currently under construction which should be completed next year. The same journey will then take me less than 30 minutes.

There are plans to extend the high speed line south from Nanning, China where I live, to connect Vietnam, Thailand, Burma and Malaysia which would be a great scenic way to visit these countries.

Graham

[Stanley]

I thought the design was based on the Maglev as well Gloria. China is right5, it's China National Railway Corporation. Never knew there was a date on the back but I looked and it's 82.111. Now I have to think of something else!

[Stanley]

I thought the design was based on the Maglev as well Gloria. China is right5, it's China National Railway Corporation. Never knew there was a date on the back but I looked and it's 82.111. Now I have to think of something else! Try this. You know what it is but what's special about it?

[David Whipp]

Australia's answer to Chinese Railways? 1,000 people and 20 poultry in four trailers?

[Stanley]

Getting close David but why is it so special?

[chinatyke]

Side tippers?

Note the bulldozer in the background. I'm told these are sometimes required to give the road trains a push to get them under way.

[StoneRoad]

Australian articulated road train

[Marilyn]

Hair-raising to overtake. Even scarier when they are bearing down on you from behind. But if you travel in the slip stream you save a bit of fuel, even if you eat a bit of dust.

[Stanley]

Here's the answer. Normally only three trailers are allowed but WA was experimenting to see if four trailer trains were workable. Not sure if they ever allowed the change.

[David Whipp]

I found this mystery object when digging over the garden at the War Memorial for the recent planting.

[PanBiker]

I wonder if it could be off one of the old lamp standards on and around the railway station. Some railway connection I think anyway.

[Big Kev]

I found this mystery object when digging over the garden at the War Memorial for the recent planting.

Is it a key for inspection hatches?

[chinatyke]

Even the cross pieces are different sizes which suggests they are designed for a specific purpose. Could it be something to do with opening beer barrels? Or a wheel brace? Or for small manhole covers? Hedging my bets now!

[Stanley]

Combination tool for something but I don't know what. Had a word with Mick in Oz yesterday and quad trailers like the road train above are legal now in WA. They are even allowed to pass through town if they are going to the docks at Fremantle.

[LizG]

Is it a key used to 'turn the tap' to flush the water mains?

[David Whipp]

Kev, and later posters, are correct. It's what I call a bollard key, which is used to open up the panels on lamp posts and electric feeder pillars etc where the switches and timers are kept. Each end of the cross has different shaped ends for the various catches used. It may have been dropped when the flood lights at the memorial were installed.

[Stanley]

[David Whipp]

It's a Heath Robinson atmospheric champagne cork popper for the party taking place in the adjacent marquees. This is the mobile version, which uses the HGV parked in the background to move it from event to event.

[David Whipp]

Blow me!

I nearly said it was a still to produce spirits for the party in the adjacent marquees...

[Stanley]

Funny, I posted a comment and it seems to have dropped off. Let's see if anyone comes up with an exact answer.

[Bodger]

Beam Engine ?

[David Whipp]

Having researched my local history... I'd say there was an antipodean element to this device!

[Gloria]

An australian well head?

[StoneRoad]

Newcomen engine