gecko zzed
Grumpy Mod
our local town hall could do with something like that!
M
moresound
Loud Sun Studios
Old town halls are the worst!
They were made purposely to reverb the vocal before the onset of PAs.
You'll notice the ones ... they will have curves where the walls meet the ceiling in the corners.
They were made purposely to reverb the vocal before the onset of PAs.
You'll notice the ones ... they will have curves where the walls meet the ceiling in the corners.
Chili
Site Moderator
Intelligible speech in a British train station??? Now there's an epic idea!! 
Damned PA system had me on the train to Brighton instead of Newburyport!! I was 27, penniless and running around the English countryside (make that country!!) and that PA system set me back quite a bit. That little mistake was the last of my money. Eventually had to call my dad to wire me some more. When he asked where the hell I was, I had to break down and laugh because it kind of hit me all at once how I got stuck in England.
Her name was Charlotte!!!
Damned PA system had me on the train to Brighton instead of Newburyport!! I was 27, penniless and running around the English countryside (make that country!!) and that PA system set me back quite a bit. That little mistake was the last of my money. Eventually had to call my dad to wire me some more. When he asked where the hell I was, I had to break down and laugh because it kind of hit me all at once how I got stuck in England.
Her name was Charlotte!!!
M
moresound
Loud Sun Studios
Were you traveling with her or trying to catch up with her?
Chili
Site Moderator
I was in the navy. We pulled into Portsmouth and I met her at a club. I stayed behind when the boat went back out to sea. I was suppose to just be there for a few days and catch an MAC flight home, but stayed longer. Got low on money and went seaching for a bank that could cash a check for me. (This was in the 80's and checks were still all the rage) There was one in Newburyport, but I caught the wrong train because of the poor PA system and went to Brighton instead.
Ended up on a train to Shippea Hill way north of London. Want to hear the rest? or have I hijacked the thread enough?
witzendoz
Senior Member
I could think of a lot worst places to be than Brighton
Alan.
Alan.
M
moresound
Loud Sun Studios
I was in the navy. We pulled into Portsmouth and I met her at a club. I stayed behind when the boat went back out to sea. I was suppose to just be there for a few days and catch an MAC flight home, but stayed longer. Got low on money and went seaching for a bank that could cash a check for me. (This was in the 80's and checks were still all the rage) There was one in Newburyport, but I caught the wrong train because of the poor PA system and went to Brighton instead.
Ended up on a train to Shippea Hill way north of London. Want to hear the rest? or have I hijacked the thread enough?
Please continue ... I have similar war stories myself.
Chili
Site Moderator
When the train finally made it to Shippea Hill there were only two people left on it; me and a drunk pilot from the USAF. I walked off and he stumbled off and we found ourselves on a concrete platform and that was all we could see. It was dark and foggy, like thicker than any fog I've ever seen in Maine. Couldn't see the end of teh platform and we didn't know which way to walk. So, we picked a direction.
Found the steps down to a path that led to a road. We saw a glow of a street light through the fog, so we followed it. Still couldn't see more than a few feet. Finally came upon a restaurant or bar or something. There were no cars in the parking lot, but it looked open so we went in. The place was packed and everyone stopped what they were doing looked at us. Awkward. So I said "Fuck it", dropped my seabag at the door and walked up to the bar and ordered a pint!!! Everyone started singing. Just weird.
I noticed the crowd were all wearing old Royal AF uniforms and were, for teh most part, elderly. I asked the bartender what the heck was going because I was starting to believe I got caught in some epidode of the Twilight Zone and ended up back in 1944!! If everything was in black and white, I would have believed it. He said they were part of the Lions International and it was Remember the 40's night!! When they found out I was on subs and the other guy was a pilot, we couldn't buy another drink for ourselves. Great night.
As for the empty parking lot, the tour bus was parked on the side of the building and we couldn't see it in the fog!!
All that from a poor train station PA.
Found the steps down to a path that led to a road. We saw a glow of a street light through the fog, so we followed it. Still couldn't see more than a few feet. Finally came upon a restaurant or bar or something. There were no cars in the parking lot, but it looked open so we went in. The place was packed and everyone stopped what they were doing looked at us. Awkward. So I said "Fuck it", dropped my seabag at the door and walked up to the bar and ordered a pint!!! Everyone started singing. Just weird.
I noticed the crowd were all wearing old Royal AF uniforms and were, for teh most part, elderly. I asked the bartender what the heck was going because I was starting to believe I got caught in some epidode of the Twilight Zone and ended up back in 1944!! If everything was in black and white, I would have believed it. He said they were part of the Lions International and it was Remember the 40's night!! When they found out I was on subs and the other guy was a pilot, we couldn't buy another drink for ourselves. Great night.
As for the empty parking lot, the tour bus was parked on the side of the building and we couldn't see it in the fog!!
All that from a poor train station PA.
M
moresound
Loud Sun Studios
Please continue. What of the morning when the fog broke and you were out of the English Rod Sterling episode?
P
Phantom Piggy
Bacon
Chili that is an AWESOME story 
witzendoz
Senior Member
When I started reading this story I thought you were going to tell me you got off at Berney Arms Station the most remote station in the UK, Station link Place link. It does not even have a road going there, does have a pub so can't be all bad.
alan
alan
Chili
Site Moderator
Nah, not much else to the story. There is an air force base close by where I caught a MAC flight back to the states the next day.
It's funny, I go on Google Earth and the bar is like 100 yards from the platform. That night it seemed more like 3 miles.
And Alan, you're right, Brighton was a nice place. I walked damn near all over that town looking for a place to cash a check. Nope, closest place was in Newburyport. The opposite direction from where I started. I eventually called my dad, he wired me some money and I caught another train to Shippea Hill. This is the condensed version, of course. All the filler stuff would put you to sleep. ha ha ha....
Thanks PhanPig!!
It's funny, I go on Google Earth and the bar is like 100 yards from the platform. That night it seemed more like 3 miles.
And Alan, you're right, Brighton was a nice place. I walked damn near all over that town looking for a place to cash a check. Nope, closest place was in Newburyport. The opposite direction from where I started. I eventually called my dad, he wired me some money and I caught another train to Shippea Hill. This is the condensed version, of course. All the filler stuff would put you to sleep. ha ha ha....
Thanks PhanPig!!
Armistice
Son of Yoda
Cool story ChiliDog...!
Central railway station, Sydney.... I'll check it out next time I'm there Henry, although, despite its name, it's not central at all, more on the southern end of the CBD.... always amusing when I lived on the line that went past the airport stations, to see everyone pile out with their massive luggage at Central on the assumption that it must be in the middle of the joint... now that I'm on a different line, I see them all get back on at Central to go a few stops further into the city... Trap for young players....
Mind you this in in the country section so I'll get back to in a decade or so...
They could have paid for some decent mobile town criers for what they paid for that system!
Central railway station, Sydney.... I'll check it out next time I'm there Henry, although, despite its name, it's not central at all, more on the southern end of the CBD.... always amusing when I lived on the line that went past the airport stations, to see everyone pile out with their massive luggage at Central on the assumption that it must be in the middle of the joint... now that I'm on a different line, I see them all get back on at Central to go a few stops further into the city...
Trap for young players....Mind you this in in the country section so I'll get back to in a decade or so...
They could have paid for some decent mobile town criers for what they paid for that system!
Chili
Site Moderator
witzendoz
Senior Member
Cool story ChiliDog...!
Central railway station, Sydney.... I'll check it out next time I'm there Henry, although, despite its name, it's not central at all, more on the southern end of the CBD.... always amusing when I lived on the line that went past the airport stations, to see everyone pile out with their massive luggage at Central on the assumption that it must be in the middle of the joint... now that I'm on a different line, I see them all get back on at Central to go a few stops further into the city...
Funny thing is that every time I go to Sydney I seem to be staying at the Central end of town anyway, I actually like that end of town, Reansonably priced hotels, China Town ( cheap eats), good pubs, easy walk to Darling Harbour (was there for Entech last trip), but then again I am a little strange LOL.
Alan.
M
moresound
Loud Sun Studios
Okay Henry... your turn!!
Saigon... shit; I'm still only in Saigon... Every time I think I'm gonna wake up back in the jungle.
When I was home after my first tour, it was worse.
I'd wake up and there'd be nothing. I hardly said a word to my wife, until I said "yes" to a divorce. When I was here, I wanted to be there; when I was there, all I could think of was getting back into the jungle. I'm here a week now... waiting for a mission... getting softer. Every minute I stay in this room, I get weaker, and every minute Charlie squats in the bush, he gets stronger. Each time I looked around the walls moved in a little tighter.
I was going to the worst place in the world and I didn't even know it yet. Weeks away and hundreds of miles up a river that snaked through the war like a main circuit cable plugged straight into Kurtz. It was no accident that I got to be the caretaker of Colonel Walter E. Kurtz's memory any more than being back in Saigon was an accident. There is no way to tell his story without telling my own. And if his story really is a confession, then so is mine.
How many people had I already killed? There were those six that I knew about for sure. Close enough to blow their last breath in my face. But this time, it was an American and an officer. That wasn't supposed to make any difference to me, but it did. Shit... charging a man with murder in this place was like handing out speeding tickets in the Indy 500. I took the mission. What the hell else was I gonna do?
Let me ponder a few then I'll spout one off for ya.
Chili
Site Moderator
Just rented that movie, the redux. Still sitting on my desk waiting to be returned. All time favorite movie ever. The first time I saw it was when I was 15 or 16 and didn't fully get it. Wasn't til my early 30's when I saw it again and GOT it. Even tried to read the Joseph Conrad book, but couldn't get into it.