England

[Anonymous]

Well here i am in England after a month in Germany, wow driving a new 350 Merc down the Autobahns at 250 km per hour. I have visited the LGB factory and was not inmpressed.See you soon Troy and KIm.regrds Ian NH

[Anonymous]

Hope you brought some sun with you!

[vsmith]

Bummer about the LGB factory, why was it a disappointment?

I would have thought they'd hand out drool bibs on entry!

[Anonymous]

There's probably nothing there Vic, it's all made in China now isn't it?
Cheers,
Kim
[tup]

[Anonymous]

I see they are introducing speed limits on the autobahns...... So whats the point of Germany now?

[Anonymous]

Surprising there are speed limits on all Autobahns that i went on and there were plenty of them. 120 most of the time but no one seems to care, they just go like thewind. When we crossed over into Denmark things weere different though same speed limits different attitude.

The LGB factory was large very tidy but the macinery etc was very moden in the seventies; and no one seemed to work very hard..

The thing that impressed me most about it was the way they cleverly used a mirror to disguised the entrance to the toilet which is in the middle of a layout.

Still i managed to buy 3 new engines and awhole lot of MTS stuff at very good prices.


rgds Ian

[Rastun]

That's great Ian,

More trains and more things to controll them at a good price is always a great help.

Jack

[bman36]

Hey IAN!,
Great to hear you are having a good time. One day when I am rich and famous (whatever) I plan to visit some factories. Remember the semi trailer from the Father's Day deal? The power unit was made by Western Star here in Canada. Kelowna, BC. I believe. A thrill for me would be to drive away a new unit of my own from the factory. Enjoy your trip! Rgds eh...Brian.

[Anonymous]

Well gentlemen and Rene can you guess where \i am. I am sitting at Troys computer typing away only 12,000 miles from home.

We are having a very nice time drinking beer and operating our trains, on Troys track.

It wasn't easy getting here we drove over the huge Queen elizabett ii bridge just on the outskirts of London and the signs were confusing but we got here ok in about 2 hours instead of 1 1/2 as it should have been.

Troy and his wife are very good hosts and we are really enjoyinmg the visit.


Rgds ian

[Anonymous]

Ian and Troy, sounds like you all are having a great time and hoist a couple for me! Where's the pics? I expected to see a picture of the two of you with your spouses by Troys tram RR line.

[Anonymous]

It was very nice to have Ian and Doreen over for the day.If this forum can get people together that live over 12000 miles apart,that is a good thing !
Ian driving trains;


Tram driving


Ian spinning Emily


Ian's new toy;

[Anonymous]

Now that's what I'm talking about![:p][8D]

[Anonymous]

Nice one mate, my turn next. Doesn't like warm beer? cheek of it. I'll put some lager in the fridge just to be a good host.
Cheers,
Kim
[tup]

[Capt Bob Johnson]

I thought Foster's was Aussie for Beer!

[Anonymous]

Any brand is ok Kim, cold enough to chill your teeth, mate.

What a great guy Troy is, that little Loco he made it for me, and i am most greatful, thanks mate. The other is alpine baggage car having its first outing, bought it along with a lot of other stuff in Hamburg.

We got home last night ok but got caught in a terrific traffic jam prior to going under the Dartford tunnel under the Thames.

If any of you get a chance to go to Kent, do so it is not very much like Australia but it is very pleasant.

rgds
ian

[Rastun]

Capt. Bob,

All I can answer the fosters comment with is, " I'd rather have a Swan"

Take care, glad you're having a great trip Ian.

Jack

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Capt Bob Johnson

I thought Foster's was Aussie for Beer!

Bit Like "Bud" is american for beer - yet when I was in America, everyone avoided Bud (being near Canada Molsen was the way) - They thought we loved Fosters.

Best beer in Oz (IMHO) is any from Coopers!

Glad you are enjoying your holiday Ian.

[tangerine-jack]

I thought the Brits liked warm beer because thier fridges are made by Lucas![xx(][:-,][:-,][swg]






[oX)]

[Anonymous]

Come on Jack, you know all our fridges are clockwork and we have to get up half way through the night to wind them up. If you think about it, if all the worlds fridges pack up there will only be the Brits who'll still enjoy their beer. Perhaps Lucas make the lights inside the fridges, if that's the case does the light really go off when the door closes?
Cheers,
Kim
[tup]

[tangerine-jack]

Sorry, my mistake, Kim. Darn hard to keep tract of those fridge keys, isn't it?

Ian, I am so glad you had a good time in England. If you find yourself in the States, don't hesitate to look me up!




[oX)]

[Capt Bob Johnson]

Back in my drinking days anything cold & wet worked, name didn't matter!

Fridge??? What ever happened to CO2 fire extinguishers??? Weren't they invented to make single beer bone chattering cold?

[Anonymous]

It is true the Poms like warm beer.

However i do not drink Fosters nor does anyone i know, its all hype as far as Aussies are concerned. I drink VB (Victoria Bitter) ands i think it is the most popular beer in Australia, irrespective of what you thought.

Rgds Ian

PS Well we are off to London again today we booked months ago for the Royal tour, The Muse , The gallery and Buckingham Palace including Changing of the Guard. Hey the muse is where the Royal Horses hang out.

[John Busby]

Hi Iandor/ Troy
More info on Ians new toy
Hey Ian how about large widget mining complex for it shuffle widget skips and pit props around[:D]
regards John

[Anonymous]

Ian.
I sat down last night ,threw away the MTS switch decoder instructions and attacked it with some logic.
Result.Made it do all kinds of interesting things,flashing lights ect. as well as making it do what you wanted.
When you get home,e-mail me and I'll go through it step by step until you get it sorted.
Remember, your new diesel thing has no decoder so it's address will be zero on the handset.

[Anonymous]

John. No

Troy great, I cant wait.

The Muse was very interesting but the horses have all gone, retired to the country i think; the Queen let the london police horses hang out there, but even they have returned to thereusual stables.

The carriages were terrific and the Queens dark red Bentley, wow.

The gallery was incredible you couldnt put a price on the paintings there billions i would say.

The state rooms in Buckingham Paace were just that stately and brilliant.

Today we are driving down to Portsmouth to see Nelsons "Victory" and othe famous British Warships.

I'll report again soon


rgds Ian

[steveblackledge]

Hello Ian, greetings from sunny Lancashire, glad your enjoying England mate, if you go down to Devon, go to Babbacombe model village near Torquey, everythings set at about "G" scale,
have a look at my picturetrail site under "holiday in Devon"

Talking about Ships have a look at this link to HMS Victory http://www.torrington-cavaliers.co.uk/Progress%201.htm this is a replica of the old battle ship HMS Victory and this group has built it over two years just to burn for charity, it goes up in flames around the 25th August, you can bid on the right to light the bonfire on ebay http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=66638&item=7340145922&rd=1

[Capt Bob Johnson]

Iandor,
I have often come across "Poms" in my reading, but have never seen or heard a definition or origin. Would you care to enlighten us?

[Anonymous]

Bob mate, I cant its sunk in the mysteries of time, many stories have been put forward on the forum even, but the South African RonnieLowe or similar said it best. something to do with them turning red in the hot Aussie sun and looking like pomegranats come something else hence the word POM.
That whole Portsmouth Dockyard was terrific saw the "HMS Warrior", and "HMS Victory"
even stood a few feet from where Lord Nelson died after the battle of Trafalgar. We can crticise the poms all we like but they certainly have history and they know how to handle it as well.

The highlight of course was the "Mary Rose" what a wonderful thing and they way it has been done is outstanding; raising her after being on the bottom of the sea for nearly 500 years, was something all poms should be proud of. It is one of the top wonders of the many i have seen in my life, you North Americans and us Aussies can only dream about doing the same.

rgds Ian

ps this topic is getting bigger England might even equal Brians Rabbit or Vics miniscule railway.

[Capt Bob Johnson]

Bout 10 years ago my son was on a school ship cruise and they docked close to the Victory. He said it was one of the most impressive things he saw. That meant a lot cause I still can't get him to read a lot. I think some of those old sea stories of the Hornblower, Bolitho, Ramage, Drinkwater genre should be required reading in any school; they would do a good job of teaching Duty, Honor, Responsibility, Leadership, and even civility.

We all have our history, but I agree, the Limeys do have a touch with it!

[vsmith]

Ian
If you can, check out the Cutty Sark in Greenwich, The Warrior's history is amazing, it was hull was laying around as a floating hulk for almost 100 years when someone realized what it was, then they patched it and moved it back to England for a huge restoration effort. Absolutely amazing what a people can do when they put their backs into it.

I hope to get back to England, never got to see the Mary Rose!