Railroad vs Railway?

Greg Procter wrote: [...]

There are 8 current spellings for my surname. In my own family, at least three of them have been used. I use the spelling established by my Grandfather, and used in my branch of the family ever since.

Church lake?

Flying Scotsman? Ya mean the guy who just got spied buggering the sheep and is fast headed down the road? (to Wyoming, perchance)

Greg Procter spake thus:

I have no doubt they'll be even more brutal and barbaric than we could even dream of being; that's their nature. But at least they won't be invading and bombing and overthrowing and assassinating, etc., in the name of Freedom, Democracy and all that bullshit. And that will be a breath of fresh air.

Looks like they will just get you dead for no special reason -- but that OK.

Seems unlikely - they don't come more brutal than yanks.

that's their nature. But at least they won't be

Church bailiff

Greg Procter spake thus:

This is laughable, and shows your breathtaking ignorance of history (recent history even). I thought we Yanks were the worst in that area, but I guess not.

You think bombarding a city with modern armaments to 'liberate' the population is genteel.

Perhaps the gunners aren't as brutal as the guard wielding a bamboo stick but the effect is the other way around. Are US prisons for 'suspects' any less brutal than Chineese prisons? I shouldn't think so.

Greg Procter spake thus:

No, you're trying to put words in my mouth. I assume you're talking about the siege of Fallujah; in my book, that counts as a war crime against us (the US). White phosphorus and all, dontcha know. (Just as the Israelis are war criminals for their attacks on Jenin and other places, resulting in the murders of civilians.)

What I was referring to was the fact that the Chinese are responsible for killing *millions* of people. We haven't come close to that level of barbarism, try as we might.

Read up on a little 20th century history, why don't you?

You're up to the millions in the second half of the twentieth century!

If it's a contest of totals then I'm sure China is a bit ahead, but are you going to sugggest Adolf was a nice man because Stalin killed more people???

Didn't you mean Cecil Kimber and _his_ mechanics knew that? ;-)

Dale

Everyone with a functional brain, including us North Americans, knows that the "invention" of the automobile is credited to Karl Benz of Germany. Attempts to invent the automobile, however, go all the way back to Leonardo Da Vinci. Leonardo would have invented the automobile, the airplane and the helicopter, if he'd had the rest of the needed technology in his time. He was ready, but the rest of the world was dragging behind. Italians still build the sexiest cars, if not the best ones.

The first self-propelled road vehicle that I can find record of was in 1769 in France. It was a steam-powered tractor sort of affair. A Scot by the name of Robert Anderson "invented" an electric car around 1832 or thereabouts. Next was Benz about 1885. Karl's car was not a commercial success, but does qualify as the first "true" automobile- whatever that may mean. It remained for Diamler and Maybach to "invent", in 1886, a vehicle that could actually be produced and that had four wheels. It wasn't until Henry Ford "Invented" mass production that the automobile could be produced at a cost that would allow virtually anyone who had an income to have one. Prior to that time, automobiles were play-toys for rich boys. It is for that reason that Ford was once mistakenly credited for inventing the automobile. Prior to the first Fords, most people living in rural and remote areas had never seen an automobile. Suddenly, Fords were everywhere! So then, Ford must have invented the thing. Once rooted, a mistake like that is difficult to correct. Today, however, no one any longer believes that Ford invented the automobile, or that it was invented in North America.

Froggy,

Of course I do - but having owned a Morris I am not convinced that they ever made a successful motorcar!

Regards, Greg.P.

"Greg Procter"

Morris Minor? UK's answer to the VW.

-- Cheers

Roger T.

Home of the Great Eastern Railway

Greg Procter spake thus:

Speaking of which: OK, I'll grant you another area of UK superiority: cute cars. I used to have a Sunbeam Minx: ever seen one of those? No, not the Alpine, the one everyone knows about. This was a little--very little--4-door sedan. Wish I still had it.

The closest we Merkins ever seem to have come was the little Rambler American (when I was a kid, we used my mom's convertible version of this as "our" car).

Morris J van!

Sliding front doors - fly open back doors - valve adjusters on the S/valve engine lined up with the chassis member so you could either get a hand or a spanner in but not both, let alone a feeler gauge. Enough horsepower to pass another vehicle at 45mph if you had a spare half an hour and half an hour's clear use of the other side of the road ... I could go on.

Regards, Greg.P.

Rootes must have changed the badges for the US market!

You also had the Austin/Nash 'refigerator fallen over' car - can't think what it was called now.

Greg Procter spake thus:

So this model wasn't made back home? Or called something else?

That's the Nash Rambler, no? (The same as the song, "Little Nash Rambler" ("Beep Beep"): "Hey buddy how do I get ... o-u-t o-f s-e-c-o-n-d g-e-a-r?")