Exciting development!

Great Eastern comes out of retirement for a new adventure!

 

There is a very strong possibillity that my Great Eastern will appear on a famous television programme later this year!

 

At the moment I can`t say too much.....Even though I`m dying to spill the beans!

No doubt. more info will be revealed shortly

 

So in the meantime, it`s time for a Spring clean, thorough dustdown and get the batteries charged up etc

 

Sorry to be a tease, but all will be revealed in due course

 

Capt Bobrunel

here comes your 15 minutes of fame bob..........enjoy it matey and well done,

 

neil.

 

 

 

 

Thanks Neil

 

Just like to mention that my donation to the Loch Ness caper does not appear in your list of donations?

 

Bob

sorry bob...you mean on just giving.............

 

that's because any i have received by cheque in the post are on a seperate sponsor form that the RNLI sent me.

i also have sponsor forms in different shops, pubs etc.....which with the cash raised are then sent to the manchester branch of the RNLI.

 

Only those that have donated on line are listed on the just giving list.

 

rest assured matey that your donation is registered on an official sheet, and we have now topped the £1000.00p rung in the ladder when all contributions are added up.

 

many thanks,

 

neil.

Spoke to the Television people today and was advised not to release too much detail at the moment

 

I can reveal that the model will be used to demonstrate laying the Trans-atlantic cable.

 

A drum of wire will be housed inside the hull and connected to a shore based terminal and transported across the lake to the opposite side, where the wire will be connected to a second terminal.

Power will be applied down the wire and a message will be sent back to shore, probably through Morse code.

The final test will be an attempt to overload the wire to destruction!........Simulating an actual event!

The waterway to be used, (they hoped) would be the River Mersey!.........But I shied away from that idea and at the moment, the lake location has not been selected.

 

In the meantime, I`m searching for information showing where the cable emerged from the hull........if no info is found, then I can safely invent something!

 

Hope you find this thread interesting, chaps?

 

Capt Bobrunel

very much so, bob.....tell 'em that loch ness is available for cable laying on july 2nd, lol

For the benefit of the new members

 

The Great Eastern build is here......

 

 

Bob

You could have a look here Bob, shows the GE as a cable laying ship:

Great Eastern Link

 

and here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nationalmaritimemuseum/5092775547/

 

In fact if you Google 'Great Eastern cable laying' there are quite a few illiustraions online. It looks like the cable was coiled inside the hull and then led up on deck through all that complicated looking machinery before being paid out from a platform mounted on the stern.

 

Colin

Thanks a lot, Colin!

 

The photos are just what we need......How complicated and well built, the equipment was?

It just goes to show, how clever and inventive the Victorians were!

 

Can you imagine manufacturing and storing on board ship.....2500 miles of electrical cabling!....in 1866!

It seams that the cable was a sort of armoured single core.....but can an electrical signal be sent down a single core?.....Did they use the sea to complete the circuit?

 

Going to need a paying out sheave at the rear and a winchy looking device, midships.

There`s not much time left, as they are filming in May!

 

Bob

And some very flexible cable Bob!

 

Colin