[SEL] What was your best engine trip?

[George Best]

> It's not quite the same over here, but I can understand your 
> comments and frustration. Many serious collectors do not 
> encourage casual visits, and even organised ones can be a bit 
> difficult to organise.

Peter,

Must be a U.K. thing.  When Harry and I did the EHOWT we had no problem
finding serious collectors willing to show us their collection.
Granted, between Harry and myself we had contacted most of the
collectors prior to the trip and they were expecting us.

However, the first collector we visited in Germany wasn't even on our
schedule.   We were driving down the autobahn making good time to visit
a large collection.  Since we were near a town with an interesting
collection, we decided to see if we could find the collector.  We
stopped a person on the street and asked where the collector lived and
had a picture of what we were looking for.  The person knew where the
guy lived and guided us there.  As soon as the engine collector met us
and saw that we were serious engines collectors he gladly gave us the
grand tour and started up several engines.  It was a great visit and I'm
sure Harry and I will remember it for a long time.

Of course it also helps if you're the type of person that feels
comfortable going up to strangers and talking to them.  

WAIT George

Ps. I'm sure that every country has a few collectors that are suspicious
of everyone and don't want to show their stuff.  But I think the
majority of collectors are willing to show their stuff to other people
who really appreciate engines.