Railfans

[janjo]

[janjo]

[janjo]

Another engine, this one called Aberglaslyn, in the Aberglaslyn Pass.

[janjo]

Water tank:

[janjo]

The line near Portmadog:

[janjo]

[janjo]

I hope to have Youtube video of our trip on this amazing railway within a week or two.

[dejavu]

Nice train pictures, Jess.   

[janjo]

Thank you Debs. I t is my husband who is the real train buff, but I really enjoy them too, so going to steam railways is no hardship for me. They are very photogenic!

[fritzkep]

The line near Portmadog:

Thanks, Jess!

This sign reminds me of why I drove to Wales back in 1967. I had been fascinated by the language ever since reading of the village of Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobllllantysiliogogogoch in the encyclopedia as a kid. When I had the opportunity during a stay in London, I drove over to Wales, travelling from south to north and eventually to Anglesey. I was hoping to see signs in the language as well as hearing it spoken. But I was disappointed that at the time the language was not in favor, with very few signs other than "Croeso i/Welcome to" followed by the name of the town. I'm glad to see that the language is being used in signs now all over the Principality, and that there are radio and TV channels using the language.

[dejavu]

I think it's interesting that they actually have a picture of a train on their warning sign.  (We don't, in the U.S.)  That makes it pretty clear.

[janjo]

Thank you for your comments Deb and Fritz.
I too am fascinated by the Welsh language. In that particular part of Wales, Snowdonia / Angelsey etc, Welsh is most peoples first language, although everyone is bi-lingual and speak excellent English too. In the south of Wales probably most people speak English as a first language, with Welsh as their second one. This is not universal though, Welsh is the first language for many people there too, although it is not as predominant as in the North. All signs are in both languages, with Welsh first, also the schools teach in Welsh in much of Wales, although there are choices of English and Welsh speaking schools in the south.
There is a Welsh speaking TV station too.
I have a Welsh / English dictionary, and learn a few new words each time I visit. The pronunciation is very difficult too for an English speaker. Nevertheless, it is a beautiful and fascinating language.

[gnash]

could this be the world's smallest train?

well... it's a Z-scale model of a N-scale train, so yes, it's pretty small!

http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/26/planets-smallest-model-train-set-revealed-to-macro-lenses-micr/

you gotta watch the youtube video.

[Jer009]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joe-biden/why-america-needs-trains_b_412393.html

[michaelflanagansf]

Bucket list train rides

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/01/08/TRQU1BDJML.DTL