[modeleng] Re: Barely on-topic as it is quiet

A while ago having given some children a ride behind No.4. I pulled up & 
screwed the hand brake on, a little girl asked if that was the steering 
wheel .

E.W.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "alan stepney" <alan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <modeleng@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Saturday, April 15, 2006 10:18 AM
Subject: [modeleng] Barely on-topic as it is quiet


> As the list is quiet right now, those of you who are around may be amused 
> by
> the following.
>
> On one of the Traction engine boards, there is a thread about "stupid
> questions and comments by members of the public."
> These mainly relate to full size engines, but I am sure that many members
> here will have heard similar comments when running in public.
>
> I guess that it shows how "strange" our models / engines are to the
> unitiated, and how much the public needs to be educated. After all, it 
> isnt
> many years since steam locomotives were the main motive power and yet that
> knowledge has already been lost by the majority.
> Alan
>
> 1.One of my favourite  idiotic comments was when a commentator , after 
> being
> carefully briefed about our activities,proudly announced, live on air that
> he was SITTING ON THE BOILER of the world's last working steam tar sprayer
>
> 2.parading around a ring one year in a 6" red foden, i heard the 
> commentator
> annouce it as a 4", i pointed out it was a 6", to which he replied "are 
> you
> sure", a bit taken back i said yes,
> he looked around, and up the line up line which included a 6" blue foden, 
> he
> then turned to me and said "ah i see now, your right it is a 6", its the
> colour that confused me, the red looks smaller than the blue
>
> 3.  was once asked "Why do all railway engines have a clock on the front?"
> Not the first line of a joke, he meant the smokebox door handles!!!!
>
> 4. was out with my model, heard a little boy ask his mum if they still run
> on coal, she replied "no love, they are all electric these days,"
>
> 5. A couple of years ago I overheard a man explaining to his son (who was
> about 5 years old) how the steam engine worked. He explained quite well 
> how
> the fire made steam and how the boiler held the pressure so I thought he
> knew a bit about tracton engines. When he got onto the motion he explained
> that the steam pushed the piston one way and then to move it back the
> momentum of the flywheel pushed the steam back into the boiler.
>
> 6.
>
> I have more than once heard children asking what the black rocks are in an
> engine's tender........
>
> .... an also an explanation from Dad that a showman's engine (generating)
> was driven by a belt from 'that electric motor on the front'.
>
> 7. I was at a rally last year with my 4 1/2" burrell, someone came up and
> asked where do I put the batteries.....
>
> 8. ...'where does the petrol go'.
>
>
>
>
>
>
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> 



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