On Apr 4, 8:37*pm, "
wrote:

They still have automats in the Netherlands, mind you? But they are not
the same as the Horn & Hardart ones that you saw in New York in the 1930s..

The Automat concept actually started in Berlin, IIRC.-

Correct. I'm not sure of the city, but Mr. Horn and Mr. Hardart got
their original machines from Germany circa 1900.

Obrail: Lorraine Diehl, author of a book on Penna Station, also wrote
a book about the Automat.

Reading Terminal in Philadelphia had a large Automat in the first
floor. Many people stopped there before heading home.

On Apr 4, 8:39*pm, "
wrote:

Emirates aeroplanes are now equipped on certain routes with equipment
that allows in-flight mobile phone service.-

That's been around for a while. Ironically, US' Western Union
Telegraph Co. was involved in some pioneer services, but sold out.
They went bankrupt and sold off the WU name; today the business is
wire transfers.

McDonald's? What's that?

A chain of Scottish restaurants. Why do you ask?

R's,
John


--
Regards,
John Levine, , Primary Perpetrator of "The Internet for Dummies",
Please consider the environment before reading this e-mail. http://jl.ly

On 05/04/2012 01:34, wrote:
On 04/04/2012 07:53, Graeme Wall wrote:
On 03/04/2012 23:06, wrote:
On 02/04/2012 14:43, wrote:
On Apr 1, 5:34 pm, wrote:

Are you finding that the inks which I pasted in don't work? I am, but
if I put the HTTP:// back in they do.

Yes, I got to it. Interesting stuff. thanks for sharing it.


Would you know if the British railway system ever had radio phones for
use by passengers as premier American trains did?

Also, at one time almost every US train station had a payphone, but
they are rare to find now. Some stations still have them mostly to
serve as an emergency phone (no charge to call police), though of
course one can still make a normal call. Overall, pay phones have
become rather rare in the US thanks to cell phones, and cheaper phone
rates.

Do British railway stations still have pay phones?


London Underground stations used to have pay phones, though no longer. I
can't understand why they would do that, however, because one cannot get
a signal on their mobile phones on the tube lines.

They also used to have to have Candbury's vending machines, though those
disappeared around 2006/07.

Too many people figured out how to get an extra free bar out of those
machines.


How so?

I did notice in the couple of instances that I used them that I would
get two chocolate bars, rather than the single one, for which I paid.

I am told, not that I ever did it you understand, that if you didn't
release the rotary knob having turned it to get your first bar, it would
rotate again as the first one fell and release a second bar.

--
Graeme Wall
This account not read, substitute trains for rail.
Railway Miscellany at http://www.greywall.demon.co.uk/rail

On 05/04/2012 01:35, wrote:
On 04/04/2012 16:35, wrote:
On Apr 4, 2:53 am, Graeme wrote:

They also used to have to have Candbury's vending machines, though
those
disappeared around 2006/07.

Too many people figured out how to get an extra free bar out of those
machines.

the NYC subway used to have thin vending machines (candy, gum) that
mounted on pillars of the station. I think other cities had them,
too. The MTA got rid of them some years ago claiming they weren't
properly maintained.

We forget that in the old days vending machines were strictly
mechanical and did not make change. Today, I can't imagine a machine
not taking dollar bills and not making change.

In Philadelphia and NYC, often near subway and train stations, there
was a popular restaurant chain, "Horn& Hardart", that used vending
machines known as the Automat. The machines were constantly refreshed
by crews working behind them. They had good wholesome food at a
reasonable price. Unfortunately, times and tastes changed and the
business shut down.

Does the UK have fast food chains similar (or the same) as the US'
McDonald's, Burger King, etc.?

McDonald's? What's that?

A Scottish Clan.

--
Graeme Wall
This account not read, substitute trains for rail.
Railway Miscellany at http://www.greywall.demon.co.uk/rail

On 05/04/2012 01:37, wrote:
On 04/04/2012 20:51, wrote:
On Wed, 4 Apr 2012 08:35:44 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

On Apr 4, 2:53 am, Graeme wrote:

They also used to have to have Candbury's vending machines, though
those
disappeared around 2006/07.

We forget that in the old days vending machines were strictly
mechanical and did not make change. Today, I can't imagine a machine
not taking dollar bills and not making change.

In Philadelphia and NYC, often near subway and train stations, there
was a popular restaurant chain, "Horn& Hardart", that used vending
machines known as the Automat. The machines were constantly refreshed
by crews working behind them. They had good wholesome food at a
reasonable price. Unfortunately, times and tastes changed and the
business shut down.
Fairly sure there was a place called Automat in Bellevue road
Southampton UK till around 1980 ish. No idea if the food was any good
though. Roughly between the Alexandra pub and that old bank that the
Police used to keep some low profile operations in .
G.Harman

They still have automats in the Netherlands, mind you? But they are not
the same as the Horn & Hardart ones that you saw in New York in the 1930s.

The Automat concept actually started in Berlin, IIRC.

Just before nationalisation, the GWR had a plan for an Automat fitted
buffet car. I've only seen artists impressions so I assume it never
went ahead.

--
Graeme Wall
This account not read, substitute trains for rail.
Railway Miscellany at http://www.greywall.demon.co.uk/rail

On 05/04/2012 01:39, wrote:
On 04/04/2012 16:26, wrote:
On Apr 3, 6:06 pm,
wrote:

London Underground stations used to have pay phones, though no longer. I
can't understand why they would do that, however, because one cannot get
a signal on their mobile phones on the tube lines.

They also used to have to have Candbury's vending machines, though those
disappeared around 2006/07.

NYC subways still have pay phones. Mobile phones only work in
stations close to the surface, if even that. However, the MTA plans
to contract with vendors to install antenna and provide service. Some
people object to that since they don't want to be disturbed by cell
phone yackers. I certainly don't like cell phone users on trains.

Emirates aeroplanes are now equipped on certain routes with equipment
that allows in-flight mobile phone service.


BA have had built in mobile phones on some routes for several years now.

--
Graeme Wall
This account not read, substitute trains for rail.
Railway Miscellany at http://www.greywall.demon.co.uk/rail

In message , at 01:35:19 on Thu, 5 Apr
2012, " remarked:
Does the UK have fast food chains similar (or the same) as the US'
McDonald's, Burger King, etc.?

McDonald's? What's that?

An entry in Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonald's
--
Roland Perry

In message , at 08:00:13 on Thu, 5 Apr
2012, Graeme Wall remarked:
Emirates aeroplanes are now equipped on certain routes with equipment
that allows in-flight mobile phone service.

BA have had built in mobile phones on some routes for several years
now.

There's a possibility for confusion between planes with seat-back (or
other) "built-in" phones which you can use, and being able to operate
your own mobile phone from within the plane.

"Dubai-based airline Emirates has become the first commercial
airline to allow passengers to make mobile phone calls during
flights. Emirates said the first permitted mobile phone call was
made on a flight between Dubai and Casablanca."

"The aircraft, an Airbus A340, is fitted with a system which
stops mobiles from interfering with a plane's electronics.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7308041.stm

See also:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AeroMobile
--
Roland Perry

On 05/04/2012 09:15, Roland Perry wrote:
In , at 08:00:13 on Thu, 5 Apr
2012, Graeme remarked:
Emirates aeroplanes are now equipped on certain routes with equipment
that allows in-flight mobile phone service.

BA have had built in mobile phones on some routes for several years
now.

There's a possibility for confusion between planes with seat-back (or
other) "built-in" phones which you can use, and being able to operate
your own mobile phone from within the plane.


Being pedantic they are both mobile phone services.

--
Graeme Wall
This account not read, substitute trains for rail.
Railway Miscellany at http://www.greywall.demon.co.uk/rail