After 15 yrs.. goodbye Canada

[grumbeast]

Well,

 

Since being in Canada since 1996, my family and I are moving back to the UK!  The winters here are just too much for my wife's CP and I'm frankly getting a little sick of the (with apologies to Canadians on the board (and I'm also one incidentally)) small mindedness in Nova Scotia, not to mention terror at the thought of a Tory majority government!

 

Still.. more importantly, my new house has a lovely garage that I've already been assigned (by the wife of course!) to be my (after some renovation) office/train room yaay!.. I should be able to build something about 17x7!!

 

So later this summer, we'll move, its tough right now as all my trains are in storage and I'm suffering serious withdrawl!!

 

So.. I look forward to being much closer to Europe and (despite them not being Japanese) able to see more than 2 trains a day!

 

Graham

[Bernard]

Graham - best of luck with the move. With 17x7 feet that will make a nice layout. If you mind me asking where in the UK are you moving to?

[bill937ca]

Good luck Graham.  Winter is no joy.

[to2leo]

Moving is always stressful but yes winter is pretty unforgiving in Canada.  Often, I take sometime off work to somewhere warm in the winter. 

[grumbeast]

Hey Bernard,

 

where I'm moving to is a little embarassing for a working class boy from a South Wales coal mining village (I can't believe it myself!)

We've bought a 400yr old cottage in the Cotswolds just south of Gloucester in Cam.  I honestly can't wait, productive vegetable garden and fruit bushes too, so Jam and Courgette's all round :)

 

Although its not Japanese, I'm doing a little film audio work in the next few months and I'm going to spend the money on some North American N that will be easier to get here than in the uk, mainly US steam, I'd like to get a ConCor NYC streamlined j3a and a N&W class J, both with Passenger cars.

 

I'm very excited about starting a railway again, and I think given my broad geographical interests, I'm going to allow myself to be inspired by Quinntopia's freewheeling style, though with that space I may be able to do some more thematic areas

 

Graham

[Martijn Meerts]

400 year old cottage? Wow, would love to see some pictures of that :)

[Kabutoni]

Good luck with moving!

 

So.. I look forward to being much closer to Europe and (despite them not being Japanese) able to see more than 2 trains a day!

 

The UK is in Europe. People tend to forget that...

[Mudkip Orange]

I'm all too familiar with the "trains in storage" feeling. But 17x7 is a realll decent space for N, you'll have space for full-length platforms (which is AWESOME). Good luck!

[Martijn Meerts]

I'm all too familiar with the "trains in storage" feeling. But 17x7 is a realll decent space for N, you'll have space for full-length platforms (which is AWESOME). Good luck!

 

The problem is usually, the more space you have, the bigger you want your layout to be, and you still end up with not enough space :)

[keiman]

Good luck with moving!

 

The UK is in Europe. People tend to forget that...

Some of us are trying to forget we are in the EU

[Barobutt]

Living in BC I often forget Canada gets winters.  Be happy you have a citizenship that can get you out of canada (is it still called canada? Not "Harper's Canada"?).  If harper gets a majority I'll be stuck behind some sort of iron curtain made out of kitten fur and sweater vests.  Immigration to first world countries is pretty much impossible these days.

[Sir Madog]

I am not to sure whether you are going to be happier in Europe (yes, UK is a part of Europe). You will miss the open space and the friendliness of the people. Europe has changed a lot in the past 25 years and I am afraid not to the better. EU rules and regulations are getting out of hand and bureaucracy is celebrating victories over common sense. And, yes, we have winters, too. Temperatures of - 15° and to to three feet of snow may be a little less of what you are used in BC, but it means a shear catastrophe in our neck of the woods.

 

If I were younger, I´d get out of this place and move to, well, you have guessed it - Canada.

[grumbeast]

Hey Guys

 

just to clarify.. sorry, yes I do see the UK as part of Europe (in fact I feel very European!)  All goverments suck and we've been home to the UK enough to not be in the "grass is always greener" mindse,  Sir Madog, there have been dramatic changes in Canada too over the time we've been here.  Keiman is totally correct, Harper is terrifying, I know the British Government and the EU for that matter has corruption, vice and all manner of problems, with Harper's Tories, we don't even know.. he's got the whole thing locked down so tight and our Democratic rights are being eroded constantly.

 

As for the snow, I was back in the UK (and Germany too for that matter) for the Winter debacle this year, and trust me, its not the same, inconvenient, yes, appaling in the way it was dealt with, yes.. but let me put it this way.. -15 is a thick sweater, railfanning in -30 is cold.. 3 ft of snow that goes in a week .. bad for sure... snow that starts in Dec and doesn't leave till March/April *every year*  different thing!  I mean its only 2C today and we're expecting ice-pellets tonight!! , the grass is still brown, the trees don't even havbe buds and my first crocuses came up 2 days ago!

 

The open space is amazing thats for sure.. but after 15 years, I still have no friends who are Nova Scotian (I won't speak for all Canadians.. but NS.. they love you to visit and are very friendly, just don't stay.. if you didn't go to the same school or university.. forget friendship))

 

anyway.. enough whining by me!.. the space is plently, and now I'm a unitrack devotee I think I will actually manage to get a railway built!  Full length platforms is going to be a blast as I'm totally going to concentrate on passenger trains (which I've always loved) 

 

So thanks for all the comments.. I'll keep you updated.. especially when I start to reno the space and plan the layout!

 

Graham

[Fenway Park]

Hi,

 

Living on the Gloucestershire/Wales border for the past 23 years all I can say is welcome.  The Old Spot pub in Dursley is one of the finest in the UK. Cam has a Tesco and Dursley has a Sainsburys.

 

There are trains from Cam and Dursley as well as bus routes to Gloucester and Bristol.

 

If you wander into Gloucester you might bump into some Canadians based at NATO in Gloucester.

 

My job is in real estate to use the American terminology. I survey and value houses. Recently I met a Canadian working for NATO who was amazed at the transport in in the UK. Bus to Gloucester railway station: train to London Tube to St. Pancras Eurostar to Brussels and weekend with his mates. Apparently in his part of Ontario there was one train each way to Toronto.

 

Had a fantastic holiday last year in Canada: very friendly: amazing scenery apart from Kamloops: Noted work was difficult hence most of the Hotel staff were from Ontario: No work.

 

If you want any more info let me know

[Guest ___]

Putting aside the CAN-AM relations between the governments and media volleying, my expedience with Canadians is pretty decent for the most part. I have to admit, I find it a bit more expensive up there than is for my taste. Winters however wouldn't bother me in the least, being a native Pittsburgher, and having lives five years in Altoona PA, I really miss the winter. What we get is DC is a joke for snowfall.