This is the Metadyne Website
This is the homepage of Mike Horne, writer and researcher
What is on this site...
On this site you will find a few published (but little known) works that that haven't seen the light of day in formal print. These may or may not have been updated, so please just take them 'as is'.
You will also find some articles or books that have been started but remain incomplete; again, to be taken 'as is'. There is also some information about various books of mine, plus additions and corrections.
Please regard all this very much as 'Work in Progress'; it is all liable to frequent adjustment and updating.
You are welcome to view the documents and provided you acknowledge the source you may use the information in accordance with normal copyright conditions. The documents themselves may not be printed or downloaded.
What's new?
I have added some blocks below to advise of specific updates I make. There will usually be the last five on display. I hope this is helpful. I have now added another block (in yellow) indicating what is new on my blog.
Webitems
Updated 28 November
Have begun sorting out and adding milestones to
section south of the Thames (SW London). Complete
nightmare and progress slow, but we will persist.
The milestones are there, but making sense of the
routes is more complex than in the north.
Updated 17 September
An additional page added to London's power supply
section giving a potted history of electricity
supply in the London area.
Updated 16 September
The three indexes to London's
parish boundary markers are now sortable by
clicking on the relevant column headings.
Updated 4 June
New section added under milestones to start
covering south west London.
Blogitems
Mike Horne's Blog
Updated 10 August
A recent visit to the National Railway
Museum at York gave rise to a number of thoughts
about the nature of the material being displayed
and whether the museum reasonably educates
visitors about the development of our great
railway industry. In turn it occurred to me that
the reasons for the museum's existence at York
might not be very well known and it might be
useful to offer some background information. The
story will be told in four parts, and this note
indicates that Parts 1 and 2 have been posted so
far.
Mike Horne's Blog
Updated 4 June
The election has brought forth proposals to
'nationalize' Britains railways. Time for some
observations about this and a look at what
happened last time.
Mike Horne's Blog
Updated 16 May
On 19th May 2017 the class 121 'bubble car', a
traditional diesel-mechanical multiple unit dating
from 1960, is being withdrawn from the
Aylesbury-Princes Risborough service. I went to
have a look.
Mike Horne's Blog
Updated 21 December
The TfL consultation material is now out for what
is probably the first wave of changes to bus
routes along Oxford Street to thin them out by
40%, perhaps preparatory to pedestrianization, if
that is achievable. Some details and observations
about what is proposed.
What's the photo?
It is the roof of the new part of King's Cross station. I quite like it. Let's face it, it has to be better than the squalid 1970's concourse area...
Related resources?
There is the inevitable blog, which I try and keep topical but it get refreshed in fits and starts. It may be found here: Mike Horne Blog; this will open a new web page, or at least a new tab. Items currently topical, as well as the archive, are listed on my 'other stuff' pages. I can also be found at @machorne.
Many files are in pdf format...
So you will need a pdf reader. If you do not have a pdf reader on your computer, you will need Acrobat (or another PDF) Reader in order to view them. You can download a free reader from Adobe. When reading the files use Page Up and Page Down for navigation.
I am aware that some Firefox users may have a problem with accurately resolving images in pdf files owing to a bug with Firefox's dedicated pdf viewer. It is to be hoped this will be fixed shortly. Firefox can be configured to open pdfs using Adobe reader if the bug becomes intolerable, but it isn't something that relates particularly to pdfs from this site.
Contact the Author
If you have any queries about this site, or any observations about its contents, or can help with any information, then the author will be delighted to hear from you. To reduce the risk of receiving spam, please click on the button below; this will bring up a 'Contact Me' form that is configured to send me an email, and I will respond in due course. (I will of course let you have my email address in the response in the event that you wish to send me something not convenient to pass across by means of the form.)
Why Metadyne?
The metadyne is an intriguing type of electrical machine, akin to a rotating amplifier, and is particularly suited to heavy duty operation where constant voltage input needs to be converted into a constant current (but adjustable) output. The contrived name comes from the greek 'dynamis', meaning power. The machine had was found to be useful for certain types of drive mechanism, including gun turrets and cranes, and to a lesser extent, traction; under this name it was developed in the 1930s and 40s by Metropolitan Vickers and was a development of the earlier Amplidyne machine developed in America.
Whilst there are all kinds of stories I could offer you as to why it is relevant to this site, actually I was after a fairly ambiguous name and just liked it!
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