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Watching Michael Portillo on Great Train Journeys, I didn't realise that up until 1840, different cities in England had different time zones and it was only Brunel who, because of the problems with making railway timetables, invented Railway time and convinced the other rail companies to adopt it. This was eventually adopted worldwide.
We think of ourselves on being the enlightened generation, we take so many things for granted, but we are not even close to the vision of people like Brunel.
Watching television CAN be educational, mind you, can be, not has to be. LOL LOL LOL
yeh, i think it was about 2-4hrs accross the country, so at each station you would have to change your watch... really odd now thinking bout it, i think i got it from some program on brunell years ago... shows how technology really did change the world...
Imagine how difficult it must have been to plan a journey!
I look at our present society and how we seem unable to progress even something quite small without spending years and large amounts of money but ending up compromising it to death, and I marvel at previous generations and what they achieved.
I've only watched one of MP's programmes, and although they're good, I find MP much too annoying (and un-handsome!) to want to watch for long. Have you watched Chris Barrie's series - Britain's Greatest Machines With Chris Barrie - National Geographic Channel - UK ? Dan Cruickshank is also very good at the historical presentation, though Chris Barrie has the rest beaten with his enthusiasm.
You commented, Louise, 'I look at our present society and how we seem unable to progress even something quite small without spending years and large amounts of money but ending up compromising it to death, and I marvel at previous generations and what they achieved.' Well we were at Beaulieu today, and there was a poster created from a newspaper ad. from 1910 or so, saying almost exactly the same thing!;)
So nothing changes in some ways - progress always comes at a cost!
Being a 'railway child' of the 40s and 50s, I still have the same enthusiasm for train journeys as I used to have, be they pulled by steam locos from those days, or slightly younger diesels. Next month we'll be taking this train journey from Ayr to Mallaig ; SRPS Railtour to MALLAIG : 18 September 2010 and we're really looking forward to it!
(We go over Glenfinnan Viaduct - as in Harry Potter films - on what has been voted the 'World's Top Railway Journey', and I don't care what the weather is like, we're still going to enjoy it!:))
That sounds wonderful Catherine, waiting now for the pictures.:)
Well, the plan is that Glen is taking his camera and I am taking the video camera - but it can take stills too....!
Let's hope for good weather for the journey!:)
That's a wonderful construction - I also look forward to seeing the photos... just don't drop the camera out of the window!!!
I also love trains, and even the modern experience of the packed, mobile-phone-conversation-dominated box hasn't quite blunted it (they had tvs on the back of the chairs on the one I used last week!!!). It wasn't too long ago that I was on an older train (on a more local service), and yes, it wasn't as clean and comfortable, but it had more atmosphere. I went on the Bluebell Line Steam train a few years ago and had to stick my head out of the window as we went along - I came out with a very smutty face, but a big smile :)
I like the Bluebell Railway very much, Louise. We've been on it often over the years.
The first one I 'encouraged' Glen and our then 5 year-old son to go on was the Yorkshire Moors Railway - when we were holidaying in Scarborough.
I still remember Glen saying (with reluctance) to Mike, 'Well, we'd best humour your mum and go on to this old, dirty thing!'
But guess who couldn't get near the window as two others had planted themselves right in front of it, hanging out a bit to watch the steam loco at the start of the train!;)
Since then Mike has been hooked on trains - thus his present job with Eurostar!:)
[Some folks say that 'the railway gets into the blood', and though he never met his maternal grandfather, he might just be evidence that that saying is true!;)]
ROFL - I bet they enjoyed it!!!!
My dad had a fantastic model railway (not a toy trainset!!!). We had a big loft that became a wonderful trainline powered (like real trains) in sections that were turned on and off by a big home-made control board. I remember leaving for Uni, knowing how to run it, then coming back at the end of the year to find that he had complicated it so much that I didn't know which buttons to press :)
Big boys' toys!
It looks an amazing place, Carin. I know some big boys (and a very little one) who would just love to visit that building! :)
Saw that one on TV some time ago, really excellent.:) We have the worlds oldest model village near us in Buckinghamshire, near High Wycombe Models and Attractions remember going to see it as kids on a family outing.
Oh goodness, I remember that, Rolf :)
As for the German 'Model Wonderland' - WOW!!!! It really does have the whole world there. I love the details like the camera flashes and waving flags in the arena, but I also love the little touches of humour like the penguins going on holiday or the child lifting up the horse :) You could spend a long time in there. But note, it's in Hamburg, and that's where Dad came from... it must be a north-German thing :-rolling
Dad's was not QUITE as big, but he did pay a lot of attention to detail - I never knew that he had such an artistic side until he started the trainset.
see i got excited recently going to brighton and traveling the volks railway, was really cool... oh my fav is fred dibnor the steplejack, he really gave so much info and was so typically british.. digging holes in his garden, cleaning, making, inventing, maintaining and having passion...
LOL LOL LOL No, it is not really only a north-German thing. LOL LOL LOL LOL You'll find model train exibitions throughout Germany, - boys (the big ones!) love it!
The model village looks like a great place for kids.
Well, although Mike keeps saying he has the best job in the world with his own train set at Eurostar, there are a lot of people down here who would vote for this one - a bit larger than those in Carin's video, but a lot smaller than the 'Chunnel' train!
Exbury Estate was bought by the Rothschilds in 1919. Lionel de Rothschild planted many trees and shrubs in the large estate and made it really beautiful. In the 50s, the estate was opened to the public and folks could enjoy some of the wonderful Azaleas and Rhododendrons we admire today. Mr Edward de Rothschild carried on the good work, but his younger brother, Leopold, had other ideas!
Never having had a train set when he was young, he was determined to build his own, so just under 10 years ago, the Exbury line was laid, and thousands of people have enjoyed the Exbury experience in the years since. Now, you can take a trip round 'The Summer Lane Gardens' in carriages pulled by one of three wonderful little locos - the Naomi, the Rosemary and the Mariloo.
Everyone loves this little blue train. In fact 'Mr Leo' managed to tempt a very special lady to drive down to Exbury to name the Mariloo (after Mr Leo's mother) a year or so ago! The Mariloo was an eightieth birthday present to himself, and the whole 'train set' has cost Mr Leo much more than he'll ever recoup in ticket costs - but that isn't his aim. He just enjoys sharing his 'new' hobby with others, and hopes they will enjoy it too!
This was Mr Leo taking 'Mariloo' back to the front of the train at Exbury Central last week;
Mr Leo driving the Mariloo | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
Wonderful - I love things like that, it's so eccentric :) I would LOVE To be able to do something like that! If I won the lottery big-time I would do something interesting with it.
We have a small railway nearish here at the Beale Park Wildlife Park and Gardens. It's only a mile long, but you get one ride included in your ticket... so it would be SUCH a waste to not take advantage of it :)