Re: gunzel?

["Derick Wuen" <cullend@webone.com.au>]

dave pierson wrote in message <7hegvg$q9d$1@nntpd.lkg.dec.com>...
>At the risk of being pedantic (8)>>), but anyone using the word
'eytymology'
>gets The Lot...


Gidday Dave good to see alt.railroad poster in this ng.


>(Its posible the Maltese Falcon reference was an _insulting_ use of the
>'gunsel' (sense 1, 'kept boy'), which went over the heads of Lots of
People,
>who not grasping the original meaning, applique'ed on one...)
>

Its possible, now you point it out. Straight over my head. The gunsel in
question's name was "Homer", I think. I was busy avoiding Simpsons
allusions, and it wizzed over. That's my excuse, anyway.

>Alternate term in the US is FRN: ''fine' Rail Nut'.


Are you sure the F is for "fine"?

>'foamite', per se, was, (is?) a water treatment product, for use in boiler
>water to reduce foaming...


NSW enginemen called it "soap".

When I worked on locos we had a 2 part treatment of "red powder" and "liquid
from the blue drum" which we mixed in a bucket of hot water from the
injector overflow in doses calculated from a dipstick measurement of
remaining water in the tender. Result put a pink tinge over all parts in
touch with steam or water, including fingers or any other body parts.
Rendered injector overflow useless for brewing tea or coffee..... guaranteed
to stop even the most ardent rail enthusiast frothing at the mouth under any
circumstance.

>thanks
>dave pierson                        |the facts, as accurately as i can
manage,
>Compaq Computer Corporation         |the opinions, my own.
>334 South St                        |
>Shrewsbury, Mass USA                 pierson@gone.enet.dec.com
>"He has read everything, and, to his credit, written nothing."  A J Raffles
>"....the net of a million lies...." Vernor Vinge