Christmas Flying Scotsman

[Ozexpatriate]

Isn't the joke that Bud's like making love in a canoe?  (can't print the punchline here, though)

Yes. Bud, even more so Bud Light, Miller Lite (tastes great, less filling), Coors Light (no slowing down with the Silver Bullet) or any brewed beverage with the words light (however spelled) and beer on the label (usually meaning <3.99% ABW), or really almost any American high-volume lawnmower lager etc.

 

NASCAR fans need something they can purchase by the case and drink all day.

[jamie92208]

Some years ago there was the Bourbon train, IIRC it was Jim Beam and they prioduced a complete train in I think, china, howeverf the great redeeeming feature was that each piece, loco,tender, coaches etc, contained a fifth of good bourbon.  

 

Jamie

[Stringfingerling]

t

Just to play devil's advocate here: why don't we like this stuff? Or what's your definition of tat? We all seem to agree that it's rubbish, but no-one's really defined it.

 

An interesting point!  I think there's a thin line between things that are horribly tacky and things we like.sometimes.  Country and western music walks this line (no pun intended Johnny Cash fans).  It can be intolerably corny or sentimental, or it can be heart rending. 

 

My hunch is that people loathe the clock and the Spirit of Whatever it was train because they don't relate at all to what people actually like about Flying Scotsman or the  UK at all.  The clock looks as though it ought to have a swiss mountain train in it and, as other people have pointed out the Spirit train does not exactly look British.  

 

The clock is quite funny though.  I spent several minutes looking at the ad for it, in a mixture of horror and giggles, re-reading to see if it was a spoof.

[MJI]

Bud is too easy a target to pick on.

 

But the free market has spoken. By volume of business, the number one in beer market share (2012?) in the US is (drum-roll)

 

Anheuser-Busch InBev at a whopping 47.9%

 

Almost one out of every two dollars spent on beer in the US is spent on an Anheuser-Busch InBev product. (And may I remind you, Stella Artois is one of their best products.) Their nearest competitor is MillerCoors at 28.9%. All the other competitors are in single digits or less.

 

In comparison, the largest single brand US craft brewer is Boston Brewing (Sam Adams) at 1.1% of the total market.

 

And the top brands:

1. Bud Light 19.2%

2. Budweiser 12%

 

It may be swill but it sells well. Just like those nasty Thomas Kincade pictures.

 

But their brewing industry was almost killed off with prohibition

 

At least some people are trying the craft beers.

 

[Clive Mortimore]

When I was alerted to the "Sprit of England Express" at Bradford Exchange (by Tim Hall, via faceache) I thought the EDL had chartered a train for a demo in Bradford......and he got some good photos of it , the train not the demo.

 

How wrong can a man be???????

[Guest CLARENCE]

I see the "clock" has a full page ad in the  September issue of Railway Modeller!

But look what I got for my birthday today.......

 

 

Much nicer, going in my shed.

Cheers, David.

[rob D2]

having seen the vid I think that DCC sound set up is the nuts....where do I sign ?

[station cat]

having seen the vid I think that DCC sound set up is the nuts....where do I sign ?

 

These gentlemen in white coats will show you

[Sweeps]

I see the "clock" has a full page ad in the  September issue of Railway Modeller!

But look what I got for my birthday today.......

 

100_1443.jpg

 

Much nicer, going in my shed.

Cheers, David.

My birthday today also, I got socks. Thank goodness Mrs Sweeps did't get me that clock, it may be a close run thing for well meaning relatives buying something for the man or woman who has everything - phew!

[SRman]

having seen the vid I think that DCC sound set up is the nuts....where do I sign ?

 

Note for Andy Y: could we have a "Greatly concerned for his mental wellbeing" icon please?  

[bluebottle]

To get back to nightmarish (mis)representation of trains - take a look at the Google Doodle  on the Google home page, celebrating Edith Nesbit's 155th birthday. The Green Dragon it aint.

 

http://www.google.co.uk/

 

[steve1]

To get back to nightmarish (mis)representation of trains - take a look at the Google Doodle  on the Google home page, celebrating Edith Nesbit's 155th birthday. The Green Dragon it aint.

 

http://www.google.co.uk/

 So that's what it's about...

 

steve

[MarkSG]

Bud is too easy a target to pick on.

 

But the free market has spoken. By volume of business, the number one in beer market share (2012?) in the US is (drum-roll)

 

Anheuser-Busch InBev at a whopping 47.9%

 

Almost one out of every two dollars spent on beer in the US is spent on an Anheuser-Busch InBev product. (And may I remind you, Stella Artois is one of their best products.) Their nearest competitor is MillerCoors at 28.9%. All the other competitors are in single digits or less.

 

In comparison, the largest single brand US craft brewer is Boston Brewing (Sam Adams) at 1.1% of the total market.

 

And the top brands:

1. Bud Light 19.2%

2. Budweiser 12%

 

It may be swill but it sells well. Just like those nasty Thomas Kincade pictures.

 

The US is decidedly atypical as far as beer is concerned, though. Beer production - and the skills that went with it - was effectively wiped out by prohibition. Its comparatively low alcohol to volume ratio, compared with whisky and bourbon, made it considerably less cost-effective than hard liquor to bootleg. So when prohibition was lifted, beer production was concentrated in a small number of large producers who had the resources to invest in new mass-market breweries. Prohibition also had an effect on public taste; prior to 1920 the dominant style of beer in the US was British-style ale, but after more than a decade of not drinking it people were no longer accustomed to the taste and the brewers, instead, focused on lager-style, less strongly flavoured beers.

[Ozexpatriate]

Prohibition also had an effect on public taste; prior to 1920 the dominant style of beer in the US was British-style ale, but after more than a decade of not drinking it people were no longer accustomed to the taste and the brewers, instead, focused on lager-style, less strongly flavoured beers.

Yes and no. While you can't underestimate the impact of prohibition to US tastes in beer (the war didn't help either) I'm not sure the dominant style of beer was British ales at the time prohibition went into effect, like it was in the Colonial period.

 

Certainly the surviving breweries were those with a German heritage - the scions of Eberhard Anheuser (a soap maker) Adolfus Busch, Friedrich Müller (Miller), Aldolf Coors, Frederick Pabst, David Gottlob Jüngling, etc - all of whom have brands that echo their names today.

 

This blog article suggests that lagers outsold ales as early as 1857. 19th century immigration had converted drinkers from the colonial English ales to German beers well before prohibition began.

 

.... But, we're way off topic from crummy 'collectibles'.

[Oldddudders]

 

.... But, we're way off topic from crummy 'collectibles'.

Crummy? Isn't that another name for a caboose?

[Bruciethefish]

While I was aghast at the dreadful leaflet which dropped out of my magazine, this thread seems to have exposed me to more appalling cr tat than I could normally cope with.. I think the worst thing is the weasel words they use to describe this rubbish;- 'lovingly crafted', 'heirloom quality', 'certificate of authenticity', 'hand-applied accents' etc. All designed to fool the gullible into thinking they are buying something with which an element of craftsmanship is involved, whilst from what I've seen, nothing could be further from the truth. 

There is a saying that 'you can't polish a richard', but this lot seem to be making money out of doing just that... 

[BlackRat]

While I was aghast at the dreadful leaflet which dropped out of my magazine, this thread seems to have exposed me to more appalling cr tat than I could normally cope with.. I think the worst thing is the weasel words they use to describe this rubbish;- 'lovingly crafted', 'heirloom quality', 'certificate of authenticity', 'hand-applied accents' etc. All designed to fool the gullible into thinking they are buying something with which an element of craftsmanship is involved, whilst from what I've seen, nothing could be further from the truth. 

There is a saying that 'you can't polish a richard', but this lot seem to be making money out of doing just that...

 

Nahhhhh, they just rolled one in glitter!

[stewartingram]

Has anyone actually got this clock? Thought it might be fun converting it to DCC with a sound chip....

 

Stewart

[C&WR]

To be fair to the Americans while the big UK Breweries were trying to destroy ale in the UK the cousins kept a lot of the styles alive, Porter being a good one. I'm too young to have drunk Watney's Red Barrel (delivered to the pub via a hose from a tanker truck to a vat in the cellar) but am grateful to have been saved from the fate!

 

BTW I thought American "Lite" beer meant reduced calorie? It's a given that the big brands are pretty taste-free and not hugely alcoholic...

 

Back to ghastly souvenirs it's the patriotic watches emblazoned with Erin go Bragh or Cymru am Byth, the heirloom collection Manchester United ones & most recently the RM Commando version which amuse me. Priced high enough to make the gullible think they are buying quality (while too cheap to be a serious timepiece) I'm sure many would turn the wearer's wrist green inside a week and in the case of the RM one be worn by the kind of people who blather on about "our heroes" while never having been closer to Lympstone or a uniform than being nicked for causing a disturbance in an Exeter kebab shop...

[Stringfingerling]

i'm thinking of introducing my own line of gifts for train enthusiasts.  I'm considering producing a "00" Justin Bieber themed Class 37 to encourage the young teenage enthusiasts with his songs embedded on the sound chip and his face printed on the front of the loco.  I'm also looking into a leopard skin or tiger fur liveried A4 for the older enthusiast with adventurous taste in furnishing.

 

How would those go down?

[Danemouth]

Came across an advert for the clock in this month's Modeller. It's 140 notes and a tenner postage!

 

It is not something I would want on my wall - even the garage that contains my layout,

 

Dave

[br2975]

It is not something I would want on my wall - even the garage that contains my layout,

 

I've seen what hangs on your garage wall . . . . . .  and if your club subs are late again, I'll post a photo of it on here.

.

Brian R

(Demanding money with menaces).

[naturol]

I buy tat, and if its to pricey, I try and make my own, my wardrobe of designer George, is coordinated with accessories from buyology and what!

What! Have a train themed clock, and a nice leopard skin one piece and I have pictures of the latter being modelled by yours truly,

With some atmospheric mist like on Albion yard, and some smoke being blown around chris Nevard stylee, I might make the cover of a mag.

As an aside, what! Have some useful cheap modelling tools, and if you take all the sink plungers from the display stand you can push them onto the laminate flooring and they sucker down, you can then try and pull them up as quickly as you can..... My son and I have endless fun, as long as you can put up with the finger pointing and alienation from others....but then I model trains. HA.

[Re6/6]

..... And maybe someone somewhere is overjoyed to receive or own such stuff ... maybe. just maybe???

 

Are you even sure Mike that someone "just maybe be overjoyed"....?!

 

Here's food for thought, in a few years I wonder what Messrs Mic/Tude would be asking for one............. "essential for your collection"...................

[Re6/6]

Has anyone actually got this clock? 

Stewart

If they did, would they admit to it!