Miscellaneous Forum

Comment to the last picture: young females in uniform should have high heels, that helps a lot to accomplish the task of cleaning the tracks.

A red 5 star: North Korea PJ

C'mon - if that would be the case, how come a Western tourist can drive a train engine? And than what is with the other question: a), b) or c)? A North Korean car can't be sold in the States, so than either I was born in DPRK or my wife. Can it be?

I just have a lot of imagination: a) You could be the son of a diplomat b) The car was capture in the 1953 war and sold os surplus by the US Army c) Your wife was the daughter of a diplomat To me it's just a local train driver, not a tourist. The solid design of the train controls look like made in Poland. PJ

Is this the car? "How to become a nationalist loser?" - Hungary Warnings Or Dangers Tip by GyuriFT I'm drifting towards Hungary ... PJ

Russia?

USSR

>>> members.virtualtourist.com/m... That's the car of some pretty dumb nationalist... no, it's not that one.

>>> USSR Yana - since it's a pretty well-known thing about me, let's assume for the moment, the country in question is indeed USSR. Here is the first picture again: img824.imageshack.us/img824/... Looks really something like USSR indeed: the catenary pillars are very much similar to Russian/Soviet ones, the green cars in the background are pretty typical for USSR at first sight. However: there is something odd about the "Russian" letters in the front of the engine. I just can't read what is written but given the red flag I am sure what is written is politically correct ;) For the train enthusiasts: the coupler is American AAR en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AAR_co... not the Soviet SA3 coupler. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SA3_co... AAR and SA3 are largely compatible tough. If anyone is curious, the engine is "Red Flag 1" made as a licensed modification of the Skoda E499.0 Be careful, to prolong the fun I can fool around a bit if you are unsure you can be diverted. The pictures are 100% revealing, so my Greece pages. ;-)

>>> USSR Nea. KNDR :-O

"A North Korean car can't be sold in the States" Is it true?

No, it is not. - The characters on the engine aren't Chinese. - We never lived in China - Chinese-assembled cars are not allowed to the States (yet) because they do not meet safety regulations (yet). So China is (seriously) incorrect. The correct answer is the most shocking one.

I cannot access the images for some reason (possibly the connection where I am) and I am desperately trying to remember a conversation we had last year! Without the visual clues and wth my appalling memory I am going to take a stab at what is modern day Ukraine.

>>> I am going to take a stab at what is modern day Ukraine. 1) Ukraine is "blue", not red on my map, that means neither I nor my wife was born there. 2) The remaining chance: there is no car manufacturer in Ukraine which would also sell in the States. That means, UA is ruled out firmly...

Srry, I was having serious trouble accessing nything at that time. I shall retire here with whatever vestiges of my dignity still remain.

Some of the script on the train looks mongolian...as some people on the platform... What stumps me is the "car born in..." bit, even if China has car parts factories in Mongolia, there is no whole cars exports from Mongolia that I know of...

"Mongolian" is extremely close, just Mongolian Rail is not electrified, you see catenary. In the proximity there is a country with over 90% of the rail network being electrified and using Czech-related locomotives. The same country (more precisely: half-the-country) has two more features: - it has an agreement with the (southern) part of itself that they can assemble cars under that program in special ecomomic zones - these cars are widely sold in the United States even that country (or half of that) has no diplomatic relation with United States, even considered to be "at war" with it technically. As said, the solution is on my Greece pages, look again.

Since 2005 KIA cars are also made in Slovakia but they are also made in Georgia, for US and global market

I checked my VIN, it sez: DPRK. Was a mighty surprise. These cars are also made in Kaliningrad, Russia - but mine is from Korea.

Correct. What is interesting: - A Dutch tourist was allowed in the cab, that was this year. Not just allowed to stand by, he was allowed to be at the control of the engine. - My car sold is the U.S. (bought for16000 new in Portland, OR area) was assembled in DPRK - however, DPRK products normally are banned from the U.S. Hyundai concern has a large assembling plant physically on DPRK territory but in a "special economic zone". Maybe because it's under the Hyundai umbrella - that's why it is allowed to be sold in the States. Similar models assembled in Europe (Slovakia, Russia) look the same but have smaller engines and do not comply with NHTSA standards and U.S. engine emissions, this one is even more (complying with California emissions, not only "federal"). So they in DPRK / South Korea / whatever-Korea know precisely and the car assembly for U.S. market is done by purpose, not just a few strange cars happen to find the way in the States. That actually can't even happen as U.S. bans all cars which do not comply with their standards. I.e. - as strange as it is - if you have, say, a non-compliant car of your own and immigrate to the States - you can't take your car with you and register it. Would make little sense as the cars in the States are much cheaper than in Europe, even European cars.

North Korea was alright, but the choice was either a, b or c. We all know Guyri's love for casr (and trains!). PJ

I did not say "no", I just tried to raise some doubts to prolongue the pain ;-P @Peter - my love to cars is a bit strange one, I like light-colored (preferably white) inexpensive cars which are strong enough and can carry loads + passengers, preferably 6-7 people in relative comfort. Gas mileage is important but safety and comfort is even more important. And they have to be easy to steer as I (still) can't park properly.

My love is simple: When I get where I want to go, I am most thankful and rewarding. PJ