Can my roof withstand the 'Beast from the East'

[mikestrivens]

One of my colleagues at work is from a village north of Irkutsk on lake Baikal in Siberia where the temp regularly goes to minus 50. She considers this bikini weather.

 

[Frosty149]

Easy now...
I feel some stick coming

-7 last night, the rail companies answer: close the stations!

 

[LostKiwi]

Minus 7 here over night. Only about 1/2" of snow but it's sooo icy.
Going to try to head to work but completely prepared to turn round if necessary...

 

[ajlsl600]

I hope you are right, temperatures are dropping and my boiler pipes outside are trying to freeze. Think the temperatures are going to be more trouble than the snow.
Lets see what the morning brings

frozen roof might help..... its 45 here lovelly says 0 in normandy this am .three weeks to go .cant wait!!!

 

[keefysher]

Why is it a red warning when snow is white?

School closed today, so sorting out daughter to get ski gear ready to go sledging later. Like pushing an elephant up hill.

Started to snow here last night. Got snow shovel out of storage ready. Snow boots, jacket, gloves on the hallway radiator. Hoped someone younger would spread the rock salt on the junction with the grit bin across the road. Went to bed expecting to have to drop Mrs at work.

Woke to about 3 inches of fluffy snow. Put snow gear on, cleared driveway and pavement with snow shovel. Quick brush off of snow from car to clear roof, bonnet and windows to save dumping it in front of some unsuspecting driver behind me just because I can't be arsed to, like the 100's of other cars out there as I drove Mrs to work.

Some tw4t sliding down the road. Guess wot, no grit on the junction, so a quick 4 shovel loads and it starts to clear. It boils my p155 that youngsters can't be arsed to do it.

Lovely drive out in the country to drop the Mrs at work. Perversely no one overtaking on blind bends, dips and brows like on a normal day. Took a non treated lane on the way back, cos I can. Car looks cool with snow filling the running boards, in the wheel arches, right good fun.

I did, on the way back just before home, watch a bloke in a W213 sit polishing the snow to ice as he span one wheel. I really think that people that can't drive in snow should surrender their licence and stay at home instead of causing gridlock.

Due more snow later, so collecting the Mrs will be another bit of fun.

 

[Craiglxviii]

Minus 7 here over night. Only about 1/2" of snow but it's sooo icy.
Going to try to head to work but completely prepared to turn round if necessary...

-7? Luxury! We had -12 overnight! And that was in Kelvin!

 

[mikestrivens]

Trains and buses running normally around here.

 

[LostKiwi]

Made into the office and it wasn't too bad. Do need to keep a close eye on the weather to get home now though as its 40 miles cross country.....

 

[keefysher]

Easy now...
I feel some stick coming

-7 last night, the rail companies answer: close the stations!

Notwork Fail, who are the infrastructure owner and operator recently implemented 2 policies. One was to decentralise to Routes, with Route Managing Directors. The second was to employ 50% of non white males in roles.

Anglia has a non white male MD. She believed the weather forecast last week ie last friday, probably believes financial forecasts too, and took the decision to not run trains based on that forecast, that as we know changes at least daily, if not hourly this past week.

The way the railway works is a bit like the roads. Traffic runs to keep the running line clear, with before service rail head treatment vehicles, not necessarily passenger trains, although passenger trains are fitted with railhead treatment systems. Or big buckets of sand (OK a bit more technical). In the days of yore when it was steam, the ash (or residue of combustion in a motor car analogy) was dumped by the crew on the line where local knowledge learned on the job (this was before lardy arses sat at computers and pushed keys) dictated snow/ice would cause railhead traction problems. This also worked to prevent growth of trees at line side which in turn meant there weren't leaves on the line like since steam was phased out.

Things like points heating have been talked about for eons, but it's not that specialism (signals and telecoms, or P'way, or Electrifcation and Plant) to fit and maintain them, so it don't get done. Some parts of the railway are still in the victorian age.

But the Train Operating Companies don't give a sh1te as they then claim schedule 7 (otherwise known as the 'Bisto Effect', payments for delays).

'What about the customers?' I hear you ask. 'wtf are customers in terms of the railway', just mugs to rip off.

Mind the gap.

 

[Craiglxviii]

And that, boys n girls, is why I drive cars.

 

[00slk]

Lol and how many mpg you get..................

It was saying 4 mpg, by the time we got to the hotel this became very fuel efficient and now said 9 mpg

 

[LostKiwi]

It was saying 4 mpg, by the time we got to the hotel this became very fuel efficient and now said 9 mpg

Have you managed to escape yet Peter?

 

[00slk]

No Alistair we are still in Glasgow, going for a walk shortly in the snow, we're booked in the hotel till tomorrow.
Really need to get back for Saturday morning as the 500 is booked in for MoT

 

[LostKiwi]

No Alistair we are still in Glasgow, going for a walk shortly in the snow, we're booked in the hotel till tomorrow.
Really need to get back for Saturday morning as the 500 is booked in for MoT

Good luck with that - from what I've seen the worst is yet to come....

 

[keefysher]

Is MotorRail service still available?

 

[Noelmc]

Notwork Fail, who are the infrastructure owner and operator recently implemented 2 policies. One was to decentralise to Routes, with Route Managing Directors. The second was to employ 50% of non white males in roles.

Anglia has a non white male MD. She believed the weather forecast last week ie last friday, probably believes financial forecasts too, and took the decision to not run trains based on that forecast, that as we know changes at least daily, if not hourly this past week.

The way the railway works is a bit like the roads. Traffic runs to keep the running line clear, with before service rail head treatment vehicles, not necessarily passenger trains, although passenger trains are fitted with railhead treatment systems. Or big buckets of sand (OK a bit more technical). In the days of yore when it was steam, the ash (or residue of combustion in a motor car analogy) was dumped by the crew on the line where local knowledge learned on the job (this was before lardy arses sat at computers and pushed keys) dictated snow/ice would cause railhead traction problems. This also worked to prevent growth of trees at line side which in turn meant there weren't leaves on the line like since steam was phased out.

Things like points heating have been talked about for eons, but it's not that specialism (signals and telecoms, or P'way, or Electrifcation and Plant) to fit and maintain them, so it don't get done. Some parts of the railway are still in the victorian age.

But the Train Operating Companies don't give a sh1te as they then claim schedule 7 (otherwise known as the 'Bisto Effect', payments for delays).

'What about the customers?' I hear you ask. 'wtf are customers in terms of the railway', just mugs to rip off.

Mind the gap.

I’m surprised I’m saying this in defence of a train operating company, but I’m in the Anglian region and the M.D. was on the regional tv news, and she was quite specific in saying, very clearly, several times, that they were told to stop running trains by Network Rail.

 

[keefysher]

I’m surprised I’m saying this in defence of a train operating company, but I’m in the Anglian region and the M.D. was on the regional tv news, and she was quite specific in saying, very clearly, several times, that they were told to stop running trains by Network Rail.

I'm referring to the Notwork Fail (NR / Network Rail) Route MD, not the TOC (Train Operating Company) MD who was continuing the traditional railway blame game on the national tv news on Tuesday after being questioned why trains were cancelled, notifications issued Sunday, in advance of the snow forecast for Monday, that didn't arrive on Monday. It's a moving feast, why didn't the Route (NR) & the TOC review regularly during the day, as their incident management protocol requires? Or were they all taking a snow day?

The railway is supposed to be working collaboratively as launched with great fanfare at the launch of the winter timetable last autumn. The Route operations were at the behest of the TOCs to improve the service. But, as usual at the first event, revert to form and play the blame game. Schedule 7 is worth too much to TOCs for them to change behaviour. A long way to go.

The NR CEO role is open for applicants, but is surely the poison chalice of British Industry. Too many puppet masters in the chain. The sooner wheel and rail are re-joned, the better for the travelling classes.

 

[splitshift]

I hope the roof is ok, mine lives outside all the time! Drove from Peterhead to grangemouth yesterday in hgv, interesting but no worries, there’s drivers and drivers!!

 

[00slk]

Good luck with that - from what I've seen the worst is yet to come....

We're keeping our fingers crossed, breakfast in the morning and then heading south, that's as long as we can escape the car park

 

[mercedes13156]

Here's our CLK Convertible last night.