At the annual Ford Freaks Gathering at the Cafe Roustap near Nieuwleusen in The Netherlands one regular event is the beer crate stacking contest. Nice and easy to begin with but as the stack gets higher they get heavier - even without any bottles in them (they've all been drunk beforehand!)The winning team is the one who stack the most crates before the inevitable!!!
To the British on tour the sight of a cigarette vending machine (and actually being able to smoke freely) is something of a novelty these days. In Germany to prove one's age a bank card (we think!) needs to be inserted although we never did work out if this is firstly or lastly. Here is "Smurf" doing battle with one such facility............
Following on nicely from the Toaster Incident our star man was far from impressed with his tent during the stay in Zonhoven (we were all at a car show if anyone's wondering) so the great Mr Stone demonstrates the quicker method of taking down a tent not intended for use again - ever!!!!
Until around 1990 The area beyond Stozec heading to Nove Udoli was heavily restricted - Nove Udoli itself is right on the Czech/German border and the railway used to continue beyond here. This clip shows 749-018 heading for Nove Udoli and would of course have been completely impossible to film 18 years beforehand!!
On the Czech/German border at Nove Udoli the line once continued to Haidmuhle (sp?) - this was severed when the iron curtain went up and Nove Udoli vanished from the maps. Today a short section of track runs over the small bridge which crosses the stream forming the border. It is possible to travel along the track in a contraption pushed by whoever is manning the nearby shop.
Part three of the epic that was the Ford show in Zonhoven, the great man himself gives a short press conference all about his nice new tent - Cheers for letting me share these Mr Stone!!!
Not far from Ceske Budejovice is a station reasonably in the middle of nowhere - Vrabce. Apparently the platform has a preservation order on it for some reason! Just opposite is a very good bar (I'll blame all the wobbly camera work on that then!!) and here we see 749-241 arriving with a Cerny Kriz - Ceske Budejovice service
Once a regular sight up until the 1980s would be Class 25 locos crossing on single line routes - occasionally this scene is re-enacted at events on preserved lines when a Class 25 loco pays a visit to run in addition to the line's resident loco. Here is a clip of 25173 arriving at Blue Anchor on the West Somerset Railway as 25262 waits to head south on 15th June 2008
Built 1959 - 1960 the Class 141 electrics are the oldest in regular operation on the Czech system although they do not tend to do a great deal these days. There are however three turns in and out of Olomouc on which 141-009 is seen arriving at Olomouc Nove Sady. Note the top paint job!
I just HAD to film this gem - the car was absolutely hanging as it trundled around advertising a circus (so I was told!!) I wonder if those same speakers used to broadcast state radio in the bad old days?!
![The World\](http://img.youtube.com/vi/0NJimr6otXY/2.jpg "The World\")
