We are coming over there.

[Anonymous]

Doreen and I have joined an international house swapping organisation and are looking for advice on where to go and what to see.

Plan A/ We want to see Engalnd, Ireland Scotalnd and Wales, Doreen is insisting on France as well (I hate the fkn Frogs), where is the best place to use as a base? Aussies like to drive long distances by pom standards.

Plan B/ Southern Canada, what can we see where is best to go.


Regards Ian

[Anonymous]

Ian, If you drove to the border there is Niagra Falls, Mackanaw Bridge...There's one for Marty to model[:D]. You probably need Bmann's imput, he's the great white norther.
PLAN C, Fly to England see Troy and Kim, then a quick stop in France to humor the wife, Then hit north america and drive around(you said you like to drive) and visit with all of the forum members and their railroads, oh and one more thing plan it in 2005 so you can go to the GR convention( E-mailRene for details). [:D]

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by iandor


Doreen is insisting on France as well (I hate the fkn Frogs)

Regards Ian

I knew I liked you Ian [:D]

[bman36]

Hey Ian,
What exactly do you mean by southern Canada? I live in the southern half of my province and only an hour from the US border. Ontario stretches farther south than us if you wish. Toronto is great for smog if you like. Niagara Falls is absolutely stunning and a must see for Canada. Every province is unique and interesting. Due to your love for the French I would avoid Quebec. I guess the question is what kind of climate do you wish??? We can go from mild to what I call "Brass Monkey weather". Old joke...translation: cold. Look forward to hearing from you. Regards eh...Brian.

[Anonymous]

Hi Ian,

When you hit old blighty gi'us a call, I'll e-mail my number to you. Get a map of the UK and have a look at the northwest of England (where I live). You'll see that we are well located for North Wales - stuning, Lake District - awesum, Yorkshire Dales - well; we don't talk about Yorkshire if you are a Lancastrian but I believe it's quite nice!![:-,]. We are about 3 hours drive from the Scottish borders and, well it just goes on. We also have plenty of coastline but it's not as warm as you would like. When you make it we'll make up the spare room and run a few trains.
Cheers,
Kim
[tup]
Did I mention beer..................

[Anonymous]

Ian, make sure you visit the railway museum in York, a few hours north of London. That town is among the best attractions in the UK.

And make sure Kim lets you ride the trams in Blackpool. Another top attraction.

Regards,
Bill C.
South Jersey (USA)

[Anonymous]

Hi chestnut 31
I can agree with you on the railway museum at York well worth a vist been there.
Has any one mentioned the Ffestiniog Railway the Corris Railway
and the other narrow gauge lines
not to mention the usual tourist haunts like the Tower of London science meuseum madame tousauds bukingham palace for the changing of the gaurd. windsor castle Ect Ect
regards John

[Anonymous]

John, all good suggestions. Also the London Transport Museum at Covent Garden. Here's the link:

http://www.ltmuseum.co.uk/

As I recall, my wife was shopping next door and I visited the transport museurm.

Regards,

Bill

[Anonymous]

Hello Ian,
If you don't have a problem with distances the entire United Kingdom is at your disposal.As others have said there are loads of things to see.If it's to be a semi-railway viewing holiday ,Wales has a wealth of narrow gauge railways that meander through the most stunning countryside.
Riding the trams in Blackpool is a must (as trams are my first love ) .
Loads of beautiful countryside where I am plus a full sized preserved steam railway.Won't be able to put you up I'm afraid (to many children) but I can sort out hotels or guest houses for you.Just say the word.
Stay away from that froggy land.The French countryside and their way of life are fantastic,completely laid back ,good wine,fresh bread twice a day but full of french people.
Mind you,try getting something in Wales with an English accent.Now that IS attitude[:D]
Troy

[powlee]

Hello Ian
By all means come to England. I won`t repeat all what Troy and Kim have mentioned but you will be spoilt for choice steamwise. When the big roo touches down at Heathrow Airport, after picking up the car and before you set off around our congested motorways, please pay a visit to my garden. I live next to the airport.
Cheers Ian P
PS Can`t vouch for the weather.

[Anonymous]

Hey Ian,

If you are coming to the Unionted States, I have one place to suggest (Well, under 5).



They are......... 1. The Tannessee Valley Railroad in Chatanooga Tennessee. They run alot of steam trains and riding the Missonary Ridge Local is very cheap.

2. The Chatanooga Choo-Choo Hotel in Catanooga Tenessee.

3. Lookout Mountain (Ruby Falls Caverns, Rock City, the Incline Railway)

4. Gatlinburg Tennessee (About an hour or two from Chatanooga, Great place to walk around)

5. Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. (Great Southern Living Place, Old time themed things, the store called the "Crishtmas Place" Has a great selection of LGB g-scale and has a Garden Railway in the Courtyard)

6. Dollywood. Located in Pigeon Forge. Has a Narrow Gauge steam train that runs up a mountain and back down. It is a theme park, But dosen't have alot of rides (only 7), has a store that also sells LGB and has a garden railroad next to it (Just trackon a wooden platform, But it is neat) and if you ask the engineer, he will let you ride in the cab. There are alot of shows there and great places to eat. You will not be disapointed.
If you hear people talking bad about Dollwood on this forum, it is beacuase they haven't been there recently. It has changed and gets better every year.

I hope I have inspired you to visit there. I love those places.

Nick

Nick

[tangerine-jack]

Hello all! If you find yourself in the mid-Atlantic region of the US, I will gladly arrange an itinerary for you. The Norfolk Southern coal docks are nearby and quite impressive to see. There are not a lot of train museums nearby, but the Lancaster collection of Lionel trains at the Portsmouth Children's Museum is stunning to the tune of 3 million bucks. Be sure to see the US Army transportation museum at Ft Eustice, quite a bit of military RR history there. Just one hour up the road is the Museum of the Confederacy which contains true history and awesome in its scope and sad emotional testimony. Across the 17.3 mile bay-bridge tunnel to the Eastern Shore is one of the last unspoiled wilderness' left on the east coast with wild ponies. Yorktown and restored Colonial Williamsburg are only 45 minutes away. We also have the nicest beaches, best amusement parks, and prettiest girls anywhere in the world. I can even put you up in my own home, or if you desire arrange a cabin on the beach.[:D][oX)]

[Anonymous]

How many railfan /train stores do you think Ian's wife is going to tolerate?

[Anonymous]

Gentlemen I am overwhelmed, thank you for your interest.

I'm nor sure about Canada at this time and Matt and Blurbonnets suggestions sound good to me.

At this satge we might still have Canada as plan2; don't forget i have seen more of the US of A than most Americans ie 25 cities in 12 states but that was long time ago and I was definitley on a budget timewise and pretty het up chasing business,. Now I'm retired i have all the time in the world and am not het up at all.

This idea of house swapping is new to us and we are in the process of getting registered with House Swap or something similar. We will definitely get back to North Americsa but possibly not this time.

We have a number of pommy friends here in Oz and they suggested as a base Stratford on Avon over Cambridge which is where I thought would be pretty good. However Doreen has found an almost perefect match in Cheshire.

What we want to do is to use it as a base and visit London and Paris for a few days each. We also want to track down our roots, Doreen was born in Wolverhampton and My father came from Glasogw ( I believe we will have trouble understanding them). Like many Australians we are mixtures and she wants to track down the Nolans in Ireland and i would like to fidn the Jarvis' who i think cam from Sommerset.

We also want to see the Cotswolds and a lot of other stuff as well.

We are aiming to be around about 8 weeks and am not worried about the weather it is so good here we reckon we need to experience something different to appreciate what we have. We hope to visit everyone of our railway buddies.

Regards Ian

PS I understand that if I want to find my roots in Glasgow all I have to do is to walk in to any pub in Mary HillRd.

[Anonymous]

Ian,I take it read that you have done a kind of family tree thing?
It's a bit spooky that our next door neighbours surname is Nolan,and his family hails from Ireland.
It would be bloody hilarious if her second cousin was living next to me all this time.!!
I think he done a family search.Do you want me to check.?
If you go to Ireland and shout'Nolan' you have half a million new friends.An Guinness is not cheap[(-D]

[Anonymous]

Hi Ian,
Cheshire is good, you will be around the halfway mark in the country and certainly good for Wolverhampton, 1 hour away, Glasgow about 3 hours away. The M6 motorway runs through Cheshire and goes north/south. The ferries for Ireland run from Holyhead/Liverpool/Heysham and the furthest @ Holyhead is about 2 hours away. If you fly to Ireland you can go from Manchester or Blackpool.
See you soon!!
Cheers,
Kim
[tup]