Merry Xmas to all -

Received an engineering plate as a gift almost exactly the same as this one:

Mine is actually larger than this one but extremely rusted - the date and the format of the plate is exactly the same, Newport Workshops dated 1898. If anyone has a suggestion as to how I can insert an original image of mine without using a hosting service (I never have any luck with those things!) I'd be interested to hear.

Reluctant to do anything about the rust as I think that'll alter the originality of the piece but the rust is so pervasive it's difficult to read the cast writing.

Just interested to get some feedback from fellow Railpagers about the possible origins of the plate, what sort of rolling-stock it may have been attached to and whether it might be original or a reproduction. Does anyone know if these things have been reproduced for sale? Not that it worries me if its a reproduction, it's just a decorative piece for the shed anyway.

Thanks in advance.

Worked out how to do image hosting with Google Photos - so here it is:

If anyone has a suggestion as to how I can insert an original image of mine without using a hosting service (I never have any luck with those things!) I'd be interested to hear.

This site doesn't currently support doing that.

If anyone has a suggestion as to how I can insert an original image of mine without using a hosting service (I never have any luck with those things!) I'd be interested to hear.

This site doesn't currently support doing that.

Didn't realise until today that my Google account also supports image hosting; wonders never cease...

The image that I originally posted is lifted from Museums Victoria.

If anyone has a suggestion as to how I can insert an original image of mine without using a hosting service (I never have any luck with those things!) I'd be interested to hear.

This site doesn't currently support doing that.

Didn't realise until today that my Google account also supports image hosting; wonders never cease...

The image that I originally posted is lifted from Museums Victoria.

Be interested in the recipe for how you posted the original pic.

If anyone has a suggestion as to how I can insert an original image of mine without using a hosting service (I never have any luck with those things!) I'd be interested to hear.

This site doesn't currently support doing that.

Didn't realise until today that my Google account also supports image hosting; wonders never cease...

The image that I originally posted is lifted from Museums Victoria.

Be interested in the recipe for how you posted the original pic.

If you already have a Google/Android account then you'll have Google Photos (search for it if you're not sure). If you're not already logged in then log in. Find the photo you want to make available to the interwebs and you should be given the option of "make available to the internet" and/or "copy address" - do both.

Just post the address in the 'insert an image' - that's how I did it anyway.

If anyone has a suggestion as to how I can insert an original image of mine without using a hosting service (I never have any luck with those things!) I'd be interested to hear.

This site doesn't currently support doing that.

Didn't realise until today that my Google account also supports image hosting; wonders never cease...

The image that I originally posted is lifted from Museums Victoria.

Be interested in the recipe for how you posted the original pic.

If you already have a Google/Android account then you'll have Google Photos (search for it if you're not sure). If you're not already logged in then log in. Find the photo you want to make available to the interwebs and you should be given the option of "make available to the internet" and/or "copy address" - do both.

Just post the address in the 'insert an image' - that's how I did it anyway.

Thanks Don. Don't think I'll bother - but that's not your fault.

If anyone has a suggestion as to how I can insert an original image of mine without using a hosting service (I never have any luck with those things!) I'd be interested to hear.

This site doesn't currently support doing that.

Didn't realise until today that my Google account also supports image hosting; wonders never cease...

The image that I originally posted is lifted from Museums Victoria.

The image you posted from your Google account shows as a black rectangle with a white circle with a white horizontal bar in it. Not very interesting at all!

If anyone has a suggestion as to how I can insert an original image of mine without using a hosting service (I never have any luck with those things!) I'd be interested to hear.

This site doesn't currently support doing that.

Didn't realise until today that my Google account also supports image hosting; wonders never cease...

The image that I originally posted is lifted from Museums Victoria.

The image you posted from your Google account shows as a black rectangle with a white circle with a white horizontal bar in it. Not very interesting at all!

Disappointing as it's opened properly in my browser - I wonder what the problem is -

Can anyone actually see it or has it failed to launch everywhere except my browser?

Can anyone actually see it or has it failed to launch everywhere except my browser?

I suspect it can only be seen by you as the owner. You may have to share it, but as I don't use Google Photos, I can't tell you how to do that...

Can anyone actually see it or has it failed to launch everywhere except my browser?

I suspect it can only be seen by you as the owner. You may have to share it, but as I don't use Google Photos, I can't tell you how to do that...

I'll have another go tomorrow, thanks -

Can anyone actually see it or has it failed to launch everywhere except my browser?

Don,
All I get is a black rectangle but that is pretty much always the case with any image posted in a message on RP so far as I am concerned. Significantly, your original (Museum plate) pic worked for me but nothing since. I have occasionally sought a simple means to post images to RP without the need for an external host (which I don't have and don't want) but RP does not support this. I regularly post on a maritime site called Shipping History (SH) where I am able to simply upload my pics directly to the SH Gallery. One has to sign in to view or post pics there but it is free, friendly and worthwhile for anyone interested in historic shipping especially.
YM

Don,
All I get is a black rectangle but that is pretty much always the case with any image posted in a message on RP so far as I am concerned. Significantly, your original (Museum plate) pic worked for me but nothing since. I have occasionally sought a simple means to post images to RP without the need for an external host (which I don't have and don't want) but RP does not support this. I regularly post on a maritime site called Shipping History (SH) where I am able to simply upload my pics directly to the SH Gallery. One has to sign in to view or post pics there but it is free, friendly and worthwhile for anyone interested in historic shipping especially.
YM

Thanks, YM - rather than go mucking around with my Google hosting service (which obviously isn't as straight forward as I thought it would be) I'll probably go and sign up for another hosting service like the one you suggested.

In the meantime I actually figured out where my engineering plate was from (which was a bad thing to do with a present but oh well... the internet makes finding this stuff easy)  It's from an auction house here in Adelaide - and I've posted a picture of it from their old catalogue which should be fine as its already publicly available on the internet:



I'm really tempted to try and clean it or at least clean the cast writing so that its more visible as in the Victorian Museum example but I'm not sure if the act of doing that will decrease the value because the rust is part of what makes it authentic. Thoughts?

Hi Don, I used liquid rust converter on a cast iron woodstove earlier this year. The stove had been out in the weather for many years and was in very bad nick. The product was applied with a brush so doesn't harm the item and the results were amazing. Left a black residue but all rust was gone.

Hi Don, I used liquid rust converter on a cast iron woodstove earlier this year. The stove had been out in the weather for many years and was in very bad nick. The product was applied with a brush so doesn't harm the item and the results were amazing. Left a black residue but all rust was gone.

I can second what BG says having used liquid rust converter on 'wrought iron' railings (which are, of course steel) and a variety of other metal things over the years.

Rust converter will undoubtedly halt/neutralise the rusting but it will not remove loose rust without external abrasion. I am not sure either that it will address Don's main dilemmas which are whether to, how to, and/or to what extent to 'restore' the plate.

No doubt there are others here on RP with experience in such matters.

Just interested to get some feedback from fellow Railpagers about the possible origins of the plate, what sort of rolling-stock it may have been attached to and whether it might be original or a reproduction. Does anyone know if these things have been reproduced for sale? Not that it worries me if its a reproduction, it's just a decorative piece for the shed anyway.

Rolling stock is really not my thing, but a quick check of the Commissioners' Reports and the Rolling Stock books, suggests:

• AV, BV, CV passenger carriages
• ADAD suburban smoking/van carriages (became swingdoors)
• Steel I (open wagon) (unlikely as only 1 built by Newport in 1898)
• U (louvre)
• Water tank wagons

The most likely are the passenger carriages or the louvres.

Hi Don, I used liquid rust converter on a cast iron woodstove earlier this year. The stove had been out in the weather for many years and was in very bad nick. The product was applied with a brush so doesn't harm the item and the results were amazing. Left a black residue but all rust was gone.

I can second what BG says having used liquid rust converter on 'wrought iron' railings (which are, of course steel) and a variety of other metal things over the years.

Rust converter will undoubtedly halt/neutralise the rusting but it will not remove loose rust without external abrasion. I am not sure either that it will address Don's main dilemmas which are whether to, how to, and/or to what extent to 'restore' the plate.

No doubt there are others here on RP with experience in such matters.

My main concern is that I don't want it to look too 'new' with the addition of rust converter - however the main problem at the moment is that the writing isn't very visible and I want to be able to at least read easily what it says. I have a few other locomotive manufacturing plaques but they're quite modern by comparison (Alco, GM) so I'm not a hundred percent sure how to approach this one.

Rolling stock is really not my thing, but a quick check of the Commissioners' Reports and the Rolling Stock books, suggests: AV, BV, CV passenger carriages ADAD suburban smoking/van carriages (became swingdoors) Steel I (open wagon) (unlikely as only 1 built by Newport in 1898) U (louvre) Water tank wagons The most likely are the passenger carriages or the louvres.

Thanks for the post, interesting to think that it could have been on a passenger carriage trooping around Melbourne in the years before and during electrification.

Some rust treatments leave a black residue which is a complex ion formed by a reaction with the rust itself. One such is called Ferronite; you can apply paint directly onto it. Otherwise, leave the coating as is but the black colour means it won't look like a new piece. A labour intensive alternative is to wire brush the whole surface and coat it with clear lacquer immediately.

Some rust treatments leave a black residue which is a complex ion formed by a reaction with the rust itself. One such is called Ferronite; you can apply paint directly onto it. Otherwise, leave the coating as is but the black colour means it won't look like a new piece. A labour intensive alternative is to wire brush the whole surface and coat it with clear lacquer immediately.

Yeah I'm still not sure what to do with it - I've actually found another similar engineering plate over the holidays but its been treated with something that appears to be like Ferronite (as you describe it) because the crevices have black residue in them. I might see how much Ferronite is at Bunnings and use it on some other plates that aren't as old as the VR one and see how it goes.

Just for academic interest, I got to know the bloke (PhD in Chemistry) who developed Ferronite, and years ago he sponsored us at 707 Operations with the stuff.
We did a test which had him absolutely jumping to see how it went. When we stripped the boiler down for the annual inspection, we applied Ferronite to the outside of the boiler.  Of course, he had to wait for a year for the chance to see it again, and he was delighted to see that the boiler was a uniform matt black colour. It was a pretty severe test, and worked beautifully.