Thread: Interesting Old Equipment, Projects & Work Places

Years ago we had a site where when you turned off the main mechanical switchboard,for the refrigeration units(to do a repair),the generator in the corner of the plant room would start up.The exhaust pipe on the generator had rusted through,and fallen off.It was an old little 4cyl diesel.

The first day i did that i am sure i did three laps of the plant room and shot out the door,to the nearest change room.

From then on,we used to pull out the generator start relay in the switchboard,to do any work on the units,but we often forgot to put it back in..

All fun and games

Ex military are no different to any other potential hire. You have to match applicant and skills required. Have sought them out when the role required someone to follow procedures, stand your ground with clients and work in any weather. Happy to field the client calls after a visit by the team as it was a result of them doing what we wanted. They knew how to work as a team which multiplied their effectiveness.

That said my first boss when I started paid employment was an ex army officer who had left the military in the late fifties. Had some interesting ways of judging a client and if you failed on any of these unwritten tests there was no deal. Things like sunglasses on top of head not in pocket. If too lazy to put sun glasses in pocket would be too lazy to pay at the end of the month

Originally Posted by Old Farang

I detest HT in ANY form! Not worked around sub stations, but one oil rig that I worked on had 6 KV propulsion and thruster motors with air blast circuit breakers. Walking past the switchboard when they operated ensured a quick trip to the nearest change room!

I remember working in the Chalumbin Sub Station Near the Koomboomba Dam not far from Ravenshoe (Gods country) , we were there for a couple of weeks putting Lattice towers together. For us there were no surprise's they would ring us every time they were going to do switching & we had to go out side the perimeter fence , it was like a cannon going off , & sometimes they would have six attempted to get the contactors to hold in . If anything was to go wrong it was going to happen during switching. They would then call us back when it was safe to renter. I loved going to that Sub Station , the 3/4hr to & from the site through the rain forest was so relaxing & working on a site in the middle of the forest was so quite. The only down side was working in the rain & if it wasn't raining the humidity. I would go to this site about three times a year.
Also there was a guy who lived near the saw mill at Ravenshoe who was restoring a S1 so I would always visit him & check on his progress.
Staying at the Club Hotel could be a bit dodge , I remember going to the dining room for breakfast one morning & every glass in the bar must have been smashes there had been a fight the night before the place looked like a bomb had gone off . The accom was separate to the hotel so slept through it.

Talking about power distribution, a few days ago I was talking to my brother in the USA. He mentioned a time bomb they have there, and I wonder if the same applies here.

Most of their key power sub stations were built adjoining railways, because the very bulky and heavy transformers used were too big and heavy to move by road. Many of the railways used have long since disappeared, and the substations often have only very light duty roads servicing them, that are accessed by miles of heavily builtup urban areas that it is difficult to imagine moving very heavy loads through. There are many of these substations where it would be easier to restructure the network and build a new substation in an accessible location than to replace a transformer.

Originally Posted by 1950landy

I remember working in the Chalumbin Sub Station Near the Koomboomba Dam not far from Ravenshoe (Gods country) , we were there for a couple of weeks putting Lattice towers together. For us there were no surprise's they would ring us every time they were going to do switching & we had to go out side the perimeter fence , it was like a cannon going off , & sometimes they would have six attempted to get the contactors to hold in . If anything was to go wrong it was going to happen during switching. They would then call us back when it was safe to renter. I loved going to that Sub Station , the 3/4hr to & from the site through the rain forest was so relaxing & working on a site in the middle of the forest was so quite. The only down side was working in the rain & if it wasn't raining the humidity. I would go to this site about three times a year.
Also there was a guy who lived near the saw mill at Ravenshoe who was restoring a S1 so I would always visit him & check on his progress.
Staying at the Club Hotel could be a bit dodge , I remember going to the dining room for breakfast one morning & every glass in the bar must have been smashes there had been a fight the night before the place looked like a bomb had gone off . The accom was separate to the hotel so slept through it.

Would that have been when the two old girls with the weird brother where running the pub?

Originally Posted by 3toes

Ex military are no different to any other potential hire. You have to match applicant and skills required. Have sought them out when the role required someone to follow procedures, stand your ground with clients and work in any weather. Happy to field the client calls after a visit by the team as it was a result of them doing what we wanted. They knew how to work as a team which multiplied their effectiveness.

That said my first boss when I started paid employment was an ex army officer who had left the military in the late fifties. Had some interesting ways of judging a client and if you failed on any of these unwritten tests there was no deal. Things like sunglasses on top of head not in pocket. If too lazy to put sun glasses in pocket would be too lazy to pay at the end of the month

3T As a team they are probably excellent because that is the Training, but as a sole Mechanic out in the donga without any backup could tell a different story.

They'd be on the horn after each turn of the spanner. "Was that right Sarge?"


Btw. when I say horn I meant the radio not the other sort.

Originally Posted by 4bee

3T As a team they are probably excellent because that is the Training, but as a sole Mechanic out in the donga without any backup could tell a different story.

They'd be on the horn after each turn of the spanner. "Was that right Sarge?"


Btw. when I say horn I meant the radio not the other sort.

Perhaps you should ask Blknight about that.

Originally Posted by Saitch

Would that have been when the two old girls with the weird brother where running the pub?

Not sure but don't think so, I think the owners were husband & wife , I know they had not long taken over the pub & were concerned about the affect it would have on there licence. Would have been at least 15years ago. The road house up on the HI way used to sell bacon burgers that had a shish kebab skewer through the top of it to hold it together it was so high. I never had on my self but did see a guy buy one for breakfast , he recon it would keep him full for the two day fishing trip.