Been having a bad day so to brighten things up...

[Rowan]

Thanks G-Man,
Sounds a lot like the earlier attitude taken towards Aussies in those days.
Now that the post has been deleted I'm unable to go back to see if I can get it now it's been explained to me.......... but I think the moment has passed....

(I need to be careful what I say, as my wife and I are off to Canada next year, and we Aussies are not good at being politically correct.)

 

[G-man]

Rowan,

Sorry you didn't get the joke. Guess you had to be a Canuk to understand it. But in WWII, Canadians were considered boorish, uneducated, loutish, uncultured, ignorant,colonials by the British public at large. This attitude still exists today but not as prevalent as it used to be. The attitude was so bad that Canadian Naval officers would cultivate British accents and mannerisms to be more acceptable to their British counterparts in the British Navy, an attitude that still exists to this day amongst older officers. When something nasty was to be done (like Dieppe) they sent in the Canadians. By war's end, attitudes had changed but not that significantly. I belonged to the British Railway Modelers of North America for a time and the attitude that we were less than civilized still prevailed. I ignored and laughed at it. Despite that they were a great bunch. I deleted the joke as after some thought, I decided it wasn't appropriate for the site. Is that cryptic enough???

[Emettman]

Ahhhhh, Trago Mills...where else can you go for a train ride, anti european union political propaganda and a bag of cement!!!!!!....dare I say it...beat that yanks!!!

Careful: there's a whole world of "Only in America..."

Bessie's almost small enough to be in the Gazellle class, but I only know of one picture of the latter in her early 2-2-2 days.
http://www.irsociety.co.uk/Archives/28/GAZELLE.jpg

On a page that leads on, and on...
http://www.irsociety.co.uk/Archives/28/Letters_28.htm


http://www.irsociety.co.uk/Archives/24/Star_Patent.htm
http://www.irsociety.co.uk/Archives/23/Picture_Parade_23.htm#RS%201959
See bottom, especially, on those two pages...

[Rowan]

Sorry, but I don't get it.
Is that a cryptic joke?
 

[G-man]

Can't beat that. Then I'm a Johnny Canuk. Can't beat that either. Would love to come over and see that place but at 62 and in the poor house, it ain't gonna happen. Love his statues.

[crackingjob]

Ahhhhh, Trago Mills...where else can you go for a train ride, anti european union political propaganda and a bag of cement!!!!!!....dare I say it...beat that yanks!!!
(now i've said it!!!)

Thanks for the videos, especially for the 'Time flies by as a driver of a train' music from the childrens tv programme, Chigley (tied in with Camberwick Green and Trumpton)...in fact one of my future projects will be 'Bessie' the loco for which the tune was written...if interested all easily found on You tube and web

On a wet day...cheered me up

Crackingjob

[Emettman]

Ah, Trago Mills is something else indeed.  I've never met anything quite like it.  It's heading towards bizarre.

For our readers not in the West Country:
I go to the Liskeard one, but the Devon one is even bigger, with it's own large model railway and impressive 10.25" gauge live steam line.
(which had it's first derailment in twenty years this summer, but has been cleared of negligence:
http://www.thisissouthdevon.co.uk/news/Trago-cleared-negligence-miniature-train-crash/article-1332485-detail/article.html)

They sell just about everything, clothes to concrete, toys to chainsaws to plants to carpets mainly leaning towards the cheap and tatty end of the market, but with occasional major surprises.

On the statues:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q97lH76n3FY&feature=related

On the steam railway:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSEswxhrpsQ&feature=related

Spot the peacock early on... Both big Trago sites have wandering fancy birds.

[crackingjob]

You could always do what Mr robinson, the owner of a number of general trading stores called Trago Mills did, and that was to erect statues to those who upset him, in the grounds of his store at Liskeard in Cornwall.

Unfortunatly i cannot find a picture of the Tax man (bowler hat with horns sticking out....and tail at the back), but his take on the local council who kept blocking his building plans is worth a look.
Crackingjob

[Emettman]

"Perhaps in today's climate, the large skull should be a mortgage banker rather than a pirate."

But on the whole they have got away lightly chastised, compared to being hung in chains on Jamaica Quay
till their bones fall apart.
Now there's a thought.
But I don't think we'll see "The reckless accountants of the sub-prime mortgage" as a ride at Disney any time soon.

I did see, I think in AWNUTS, a proposal for a "Gravy Train" for corrupt politicians.

[bkbates]

Perhaps in today's climate, the large skull should be a mortgage banker rather than a pirate.

[G-man]

Cool, Cool, very very Cool. I love it. If you can find some human figures to butcher, maybe a headless passenger or two would be in order.

[Emettman]

Runs with a skeleton crew I notice...
 

Choices, again: a normal driver, scared... a ghost or skeleton driver or, ghostly, no driver at all...
The footplate being too high really made the last choice the easy one, having considered the "sheet with cut out eyes" ghost option.

I'll try a car boot sale this weekend to see if I can find a few human victims to butcher to fit.
Muhaahahahaaaaa!
Hmm... Maybe some Scooby Doo ones might turn up.

[Rowan]

Runs with a skeleton crew I notice...
 

[trainboy]

that's just plain creepy, in a GOOD way!!

[Emettman]

Adding here rather than anywhere else as the Pizza layout's "first hat" pictures are already here earlier in the thread.
The Pizza has just acquired its "second hat" as a Halloween layout. Now complete unless I can acquire/make a couple of convincing terrified passengers.  Will go into my window on about the 15th so I have a week and a bit.

The bits... Scrapbox, some urethane foam pieces, a polystyrene life-size dead pirate's head, A skeleton, a skull-and-tooth necklace, and a packet of creepy-crawlies.  £8.00 in all. (£4 for the head!)[attachment=1][attachment=2][attachment=3][attachment=4]

I'm really quite pleased with the way this has come out, and the transformation from the "Round the Mountain" version.