Early Risers.

[The Stationmaster]

Evening all,

 

Nice trip out although a couple of stops due to signal failures on the way down -oddly the second one was west of Blatchbridge Jcn at about the site of the old Woodlands IBS and I thought 'hmm, could get of the train here and walk to the pub I'm heading for'.  But it was far simpler to stay on the train to Taunton and have the lift back to Frome.  Nice meal but a bit fa  shock to realise our table was where the bar used to be - they've ripped it out and you are now accosted (nicely) by a member of staff who takes you order for a drink and food, oh and they're calling the place a bistro;  not surprisingly the combined party have decided that for the next get-together we will go to the Masons Arms which is still a pub which serves meals.  Mind you it's always worth wondering at these get-togethers quite how many will be around next time as apart from one newly joined participant I think I'm the youngest and the only one under 70.

 

Back to normal tomorrow but it might well be a Tesco visit as it's going to be an extra discount day so we're told.

 

Have a  good evening folks

[81C]

My son in law Steve and daughter Nicki have both bought Dacias in the last couple of years, a Duster and a Stepway respectively and are both delighted with them. Nicki's neighbour Nicki also bought a Stepway after seeing Nicki's and she (Nicki) is also delighted. From what I can see if you are on a limited budget and want a new car they are a good buy.

I might even consider one myself if my Focus dies. Much as I would like a bigger and better car it is not worth it on the very low mileage that I do these days.

You would be better off buying a transit if you want something bigger. 

Edited October 14, 2016 by 81C

[roundhouse]

Evening all,

 

Nice trip out although a couple of stops due to signal failures on the way down -oddly the second one was west of Blatchbridge Jcn at about the site of the old Woodlands IBS and I thought 'hmm, could get of the train here and walk to the pub I'm heading for'.  But it was far simpler to stay on the train to Taunton and have the lift back to Frome.  Nice meal but a bit fa  shock to realise our table was where the bar used to be - they've ripped it out and you are now accosted (nicely) by a member of staff who takes you order for a drink and food, oh and they're calling the place a bistro;  not surprisingly the combined party have decided that for the next get-together we will go to the Masons Arms which is still a pub which serves meals.  Mind you it's always worth wondering at these get-togethers quite how many will be around next time as apart from one newly joined participant I think I'm the youngest and the only one under 70.

 

Back to normal tomorrow but it might well be a Tesco visit as it's going to be an extra discount day so we're told.

 

Have a  good evening folks

On all Unilever products??

[Happy Hippo]

You would be better off buying a transit if you want something bigger. 

According to a friend of mine who is very wise when it comes to vehicles is that the advantage of a Transit is you can go anywhere in the world, and if in trouble, find someone local who can fix it.

[108]

He has been getting stressed as his landlady keeps finding fault with him. He had a chat last night and apparently his crime is "talking in the morning". All is well now.

Tony

Wow. An Irish woman complaining about somebody talking too much.

 

I don't believe it.

[Tony_S]

According to a friend of mine who is very wise when it comes to vehicles is that the advantage of a Transit is you can go anywhere in the world, and if in trouble, find someone local who can fix it.

My brother speaks very highly of Transits. He said unlike the movies trying to avoid two side by side trucks racing towards him by going on two wheels round them over a drainage ditch doesn't work. Using the tools in the van he managed to chop some wood to wedge the suspension and stuffed tyres with vegetation enabling him to exit the ditch and drive slowly to a settlement with a garage. This had enough wrecked Transits to enable him get a better repair. This wasn't in Surrey though. Also he liked a Transit with a winch. Edited October 14, 2016 by Tony_S

[Tony_S]

Wow. An Irish woman complaining about somebody talking too much.

I don't believe it.

His landlady is Croatian.

[108]

His landlady is Croatian.

That makes more sense. I was seriously worried there for a while.

 

[New Haven Neil]

The Dacias have really taken off here, but the spec of the cheap ones is somewhat utilitarian.  I bought the B Max because it had a heated screen - which I find works when it feels like it....harrumph. It is hardly run in, having been a motability car, at 3 years old and was a good price - probably because the screen doesn't always work!  The old Focus had 130k miles on it, and was in need of a suspension refresh and other TLC - at 10 years old I was happy to see it go, but miss the oomph of the 1.8 TDCi which had been chipped to 140hp.  The 90hp 1.4 petrol B max is a bit.....lot...crap....in comparison but almost as economical (44 - 45mpg as opposed to 50) and much more comfortable.

 

The number of exotic cars here reflects our 'high personal worth individual' population. If only that included us.

[Tony_S]

A chap down the road seems to have traded in his Aston Martin for a Chrysler 300.

[emt_911]

I managed to keep my first day of report writing short finishing at 15:00. It makes a nice change to have control of the finish time.

 

An evening of doing not a lot is planned

[Kelly]

 

On the subject of cars, Dutch testing revealed more then half of tested diesel cars failed the emissions test! Here's the table:

 

I suspect where you are has stricter Diesel testing regulations, whereas its still mostly visual other than fairly new diesel models (my '05 mondeo is iirc visual only for emissions, so unless it throws out a huge black cloud when they rev it hard it will pass all the time usually on emissions).

 

 but nonetheless lovable. Of my two Schotty pretty much keeps to his basket or his allocated sofa (we have a dedicated "dog sofa"), whereas "The Dowager Duchess" (Lucy) has not yet encountered a sofa that she hasn't tried to annex.

 Her basic attitude that it is her divine right (I think she's channeling Queen Marie Antoinette ) to sit/lie/spread out on any available sofa and any sofa owner should be proud to offer his/her sofa for her aristocratic bum to place itself on...

 

Maybe they've turned up in my neck of the woods???

 

There seems to be a lot of liquidity to be mopped up around here, the SAAB Garage where we used to service our late, lamented, 9-3 estate has become a Maserati dealer; the nearby Jaguar dealer must have felt the need to "go upmarket" and has become a Bentley dealer. Even the dealer who sold us our modest little Škoda Yeti, has a forecourt of Audis (VWs off to the side, Škodas next to them, SEAT round the back...)

 

The Stationmaster mentioned that although Laddo didn't buy a car, he wants to get a Mini. Presumably we are talking about the new one made by BMW  and not the original one designed by Sir Alex Issigonis? Call me a philistine if you will, but I think of all the re-issued / re-imagined classics (VW Beetle, BMC Mini, FIAT 500) I think that the new FIAT 500 is the only one that has remained true to its' origins. The VW "New" Beetle production ended in 2010, the BMW version of the Mini is neither cheap (the 3 door hatchback starts at £13,500 and by the time I specc'd it up to match the old SAAB/current Yeti it went to ver £25,000!); nor is it small, agile and nippy. In comparison, the FIAT 500 starts at £11,500 and has a reasonable spec (the UK FIAT 500 RIVA editions seems pretty good value for money) and is big enough to comfortable hold iL Dottore but still has a smaller footprint than the Mini. FIAT have also pimped up the 500 to the MPW and Trekking versions, OK I guess, but not really FIAT 500s...

 

Anyway off to cook Spaghetti alle Vongole for my guest (and whisky drinking partner for this evening)

 

Have a good one

 

Strange that SEATs are hidden in preference to the Skodas, as the brand appeal would seem to usually be the other way around with those two. Though modern skodas are very good cars.

 

As for 'new' Mini and Beetle, well oxymoron if ever there was!

[Kelly]

The Dacias have really taken off here, but the spec of the cheap ones is somewhat utilitarian.  I bought the B Max because it had a heated screen - which I find works when it feels like it....harrumph. It is hardly run in, having been a motability car, at 3 years old and was a good price - probably because the screen doesn't always work!  The old Focus had 130k miles on it, and was in need of a suspension refresh and other TLC - at 10 years old I was happy to see it go, but miss the oomph of the 1.8 TDCi which had been chipped to 140hp.  The 90hp 1.4 petrol B max is a bit.....lot...crap....in comparison but almost as economical (44 - 45mpg as opposed to 50) and much more comfortable.

 

The number of exotic cars here reflects our 'high personal worth individual' population. If only that included us.

 

130k is barely run in for a Ford TDCI engine usually. My '05 plate Mondeo 2.0 TDCI has only just hit 111k. The suspension work though can soon mount up, but Ford parts tend to be cheap and easy to source at least.

 

Motability cars can get a fairly hard or easy life dependant on the owner, some don't give a monkey about looking after it other than cosmetically, whereas others take great care and don't drive it much. Though they get full dealer level services each year etc at least so you can trust those aspects of the car. Though if you saw the prices the garages that support Motability charge for various parts your eyes would water! they do to my mind milk the costs as much as they can with public money (the person eligible for it loses their £57.45/week DLA/PIP mobility element to pay for it).

 

Not sure what I'll replace the Mondeo with when the time comes (hopefully not for a few more years yet!), at the time it was bought the mobility scooter was big enough to completely fill the boot (estate), the replacement scooter barely fills 1/3 of the same sized boot space. In theory I could drop down to a Focus sized car, but I found when it has been put in Richard's Focus estate (the scooter), it left very little room for anything else. The mondeo is a bit tank like in some remarks though, the newer ones even more so, but big and powerful.

[PhilJ W]

Evening all from Estuary-Land. I drive a Hyundia i10 which is a Kia Picanta with all the flutes and whistles that are extras on the Kia. It is always reliable despite being now 8 years old. The dealer I purchased it from and where I have always had it serviced no longer has the franchise, they now sell Dacias. So if I ever want to replace my car I know where to go. Did go into town today and bumped into my former next door neighbour. I was aware that about 10 years ago he had his prostate removed primarily because both his father and grandfather had died of prostate cancer. He informed me that his prostate had grown back! Apparently like the liver the prostate can regenerate. Sadly he will have to have his new one removed as it is cancerous.

 

According to a friend of mine who is very wise when it comes to vehicles is that the advantage of a Transit is you can go anywhere in the world, and if in trouble, find someone local who can fix it.

In the developing world its usually Japanese pick ups. And a lot of ex UK/Europe heavy trucks, there is a Youtube video of a truck (from a neighbouring country) stopped by South African vehicle inspectors that was in such a decrepit state that as it was carrying scrap metal they didn't bother to unload it at the scrapyard, they just sent it in load and all. Reminds me of the fate of some BR steel mineral wagons that ventured into some steelworks.

[New Haven Neil]

130K miles here, all on narrow and very bumpy roads,  no dual carriageways etc, is a lot, lot harder on a car than in the UK, Kelly.  The suspension was totally clapped, the engine was fine (it had a DMF replacement at huge cost a couple of years ago) but heading towards needing injectors, which are very expensive too.  It was a good car really, bar the standard fitment 'misfire' (really a hole in the fuel map) at very small accelerator movements - 'they all do that sir'. (even with the re-map)  A newer one would have been fine, except they now have the Renault 1.6 diesel, which isn't as good as the TDCi and due to mobility issues we both have, we wanted another taller car - Debs has a Picasso for the same reason.  The B MAx is OK for what it is, the lack of a B pillar enable it to be loaded with all sorts of things you wouldn't expect to get in what is a small car!

 

Oh, and I don't trust the new Ecoboost 3cyl 1L engine - lot of horror stories about!

Edited October 14, 2016 by New Haven Neil

[Barry O]

so starting 7 minutes late the Trans Pennine Express(are they sure its an express) is now 26 27minutes late... is there a go slow from Hull to Selby?? 

 

Baz

[New Haven Neil]

Phil, I have never hear a bad word about the reliability of the Korean cars.  Suzukis are made there too I think.  One of my bikes is a Honda made in Thailand, and that is as good as any of the Japanese made ones.  On the other hand, google for the automatic transmissions on Fiestas B Maxes!

so starting 7 minutes late the Trans Pennine Express(are they sure its an express) is now 26 27minutes late... is there a go slow from Hull to Selby?? 

 

Baz

 

It must be the hills.

 

Oh.........

[New Haven Neil]

Just watching great bridges on the Beeb.  The train clips to go with the Tay bridge were a GWR 2-8-0 tank, and an large American loco.  The previous one to go with the Forth bridge were GWR Panniers banking on Lickey. Words fail me.

[Kelly]

130K miles here, all on narrow and very bumpy roads,  no dual carriageways etc, is a lot, lot harder on a car than in the UK, Kelly.  The suspension was totally clapped, the engine was fine (it had a DMF replacement at huge cost a couple of years ago) but heading towards needing injectors, which are very expensive too.  It was a good car really, bar the standard fitment 'misfire' (really a hole in the fuel map) at very small accelerator movements - 'they all do that sir'. (even with the re-map)  A newer one would have been fine, except they now have the Renault 1.6 diesel, which isn't as good as the TDCi and due to mobility issues we both have, we wanted another taller car - Debs has a Picasso for the same reason.  The B MAx is OK for what it is, the lack of a B pillar enable it to be loaded with all sorts of things you wouldn't expect to get in what is a small car!

 

Oh, and I don't trust the new Ecoboost 3cyl 1L engine - lot of horror stories about!

 

That will make a big difference, my mondeo by comparison doesn't do much during a given year generally as I don't tend to drive very far these days, though sometimes lengthier journies to Manchester/London etc occur.

 

The injectors are a known costly factor for a lot of diesel engines, more to do with the set up than the actual parts iirc.

 

I find the difference (not that great) between a Focus and a Mondeo in height makes just that bit of difference for me to struggle with the former, but less so with the latter. I looked at a Picasso when I was looking at getting the Mondeo, but rejected it due to space (it wouldn't fit the scooter I had at the time).

[roundhouse]

so starting 7 minutes late the Trans Pennine Express(are they sure its an express) is now 26 27minutes late... is there a go slow from Hull to Selby?? 

 

Baz

Maybe they have caught Southernitis

[JohnDMJ]

Good evening all, and a bit of catching up from the day!

 

I did once discuss the practicality of developing a perfume based on steam, coal smoke and hot oil, called eau de loco, as this is so attractive to so many men. I did suggest to a couple of ladies that were present that this would obviously be an ideal perfume if they wanted to attract a man. For some obscure reason the idea didn't go down very well.

Jamie

 

This probably wouldn't go down well, I guess!

 

Doing A bit of dog child minding today for No1 Daughter I thought the boys had got out so I checked upstair first before running round the estate to her house as they have ran back home before and look what I found .

 

WP_20161014_08_44_29_Pro.jpg

 

Cheeky bu99ers.

 

They're exhibiting their feline side and taking you over!

 

All the exotic cars round here seem to have disappeared.

 

Probably in containers at Tilbury Docks with false VINs!

 

In other news: this week a major motorway bridge was condemned due to minute fractures in the structure (there have been recent examples of same in the UK!) and prohibited for heavy vehicles (including all types of lorries and buses). At the same time, in part of the country Autumn break has commenced. This leads to a massive diversion on a nearby bridge, causing an enormous traffic jam: 42 km (that's 25+ miles!) of stationary and slow moving traffic
 
Fortunately, I'm not in it
 
On the subject of cars, Dutch testing revealed more then half of tested diesel cars failed the emissions test! Here's the table:
 
PASSED:

• Suzuki Swift
• Volvo V50
• Volvo V40 (4x)
• Volvo V40 Cross Country
• Isuzu D-Max (2x)
• Chevrolet Captiva
• Hyundai H-1
• Hyundai IX20
• Kia Venga
• Opel Antara

FAILED:

• Jeep Grand Cherokee Van
• Hyundai I40
• Kia C'eed
• Kia Optima
• Kia Sorento
• Suzuki Vitara
• Suzuki SX4
• Opel Mokka (2x)
• Chevrolet Orlando
• Chevrolet Cruze
• Chevrolet Aveo
• Volvo XC90 (2x)

HTH!

 

My comments about VW have already been pre-empted!

 

Imagine my surprise on arriving home this evening to find a card suggesting that an attempt to read my gas and electricity meters had failed; AFIK, they are read every 1/2 hour automatically as they are both these smart metery things!

 

Ah! The wonders of modern technology, and, Oh boy, do I wonder about modern technology!!

 

More test track work ensues this weekend; scenery on the N Gauge one nearly complete - the cork mats are glued down and ready for trimming to receive the sheets of ballast paper matting before the frame is fixed and the track and wiring installed!

Edited October 14, 2016 by JohnDMJ

[Barry O]

Train only 25 minutes late.. but Leeds Station chaos due to huge numbers of Joe Baxies with no idea of where to go...do they really all have valid licences?

 

Any roads up.. Roundhouse - it would appear I am at the Kings Arms in Borough Market on Thursday for the Annual Challenger 2 Vicker/MoD team drinking  talking  get together. The change from the WHite Hart (which was opposite the MoD in St Christopher House) is due to the landlady moving. It says it serves Harveys.. I hope its OK.

 

Currently, after a crazy day I am having a bottle of Titanic Plum Porter. Very nice and very calming.

 

Sleep well!

 

Rick, have a great Saturday!

 

Baz

[Tony_S]

There don't seem to be many Mondeo's round here. The Ford Focus seems quite popular. The current Focus model, seems quite large. Even Aditi's Fiesta seems much bigger than the original.

My neighbour has original and current Fiat 500s. The new one looks quite large compared to original.

Edited October 14, 2016 by Tony_S

[Kelly]

There don't seem to be many Mondeo's round here. The Ford Focus seems quite popular. The current Focus model, seems quite large. Even Aditi's Fiesta seems much bigger than the original.

My neighbour has original and current Fiat 500s. The new one looks quite large compared to original.

 

Generally the Mondeo tends to be sold to fleet usage etc, so in more rural areas less likelihood of them turning up i'd imagine.

 

Richard's '10 plate Focus is not that much smaller than my '05 plate Mondeo, both estates, but there is a definite difference in the length/height in favour of the Mondeo. The equiv. '10 plate Mondeo is noticiably bigger than the Focus of the same year, the cars seeming to get bigger every new year launch due to extra crumple space etc and other factors.

[The Stationmaster]

G'night all