The Night Mail

[SM42]

36 minutes ago, AndyID said:

 

And the problem here is they do not deliberately introduce bends in the Motorways just to keep you awake like they do in the UK.

 

The Germans like to put in bends with ridiculously low speed limits (80 kph) and add a speed camera that blinds you if you set it off. 

 

"See, they were going too fast that's why they crashed" ( in German) Nothing to do with the blinding flash part way through thd bend that surprised and dazzled the unfortunate driver. 

 

( yes I did set it off once. It was a mobile unit then. It was 6am. I was doing about 90kph, slowing off the previous 100kph. Scared the daylights out of me and I did do a bit of a weave as result ( I wonder what the reaction  would have been from the police van if I had crashed )

 

This is on a gentle right hander under a bridge on the Berliner Ring ( doughnut ring? 😁) 

 

In the UK such bends are national speed limit and can be safely negotiate at 70mph ( 110kph) and often a little more.  (Not me, obviously)

 

Andy

Edited March 24 by SM42

[pH]

49 minutes ago, SM42 said:

This is on a gentle right hander under a bridge on the Berliner Ring ( doughnut ring? 😁) 

 

As in the famous JFK speech “I am a jam filled doughnut”?

Edited March 24 by pH

[TheQ]

Which brings the classic comment to a visitor from France on the victory.

Who asked " Are those the cannon balls used at Trafalgar?"

 

Reply...

"No madam your Navy still has those"

[SM42]

This week's plans are in discussion. 

 

So far i have a pass out on Monday afternoon, all day Wednesday, Thursday afternoon and all day Friday 

 

Pila and Znin are on my list of places to mooch about. 

 

I'll have to find some more places to explore with all that time. 

 

Andy

[Happy Hippo]

3 minutes ago, SM42 said:

This week's plans are in discussion. 

 

So far i have a pass out on Monday afternoon, all day Wednesday, Thursday afternoon and all day Friday 

 

Pila and Znin are on my list of places to mooch about. 

 

I'll have to find some more places to explore with all that time. 

 

Andy

Remember the PP maxim on such jaunts

 

(Painting Permitting)

[SM42]

2 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

Remember the PP maxim on such jaunts

 

(Painting Permitting)

 

That includes painting time, although it seems this may be postponed till May.

 

The MiL and FiL, when they come here this afternoon, will walk to a bus stop, catch the bus one stop and then walk from there. 

 

This sounds OK till you realise that both stops are the same distance from here.  

 

Maybe they are closet bus enthusiasts. 

 

Andy

[DenysW]

6 minutes ago, SM42 said:

In the UK such bends are national speed limit and can be safely negotiate at 70mph ( 110kph)

Or as signed, especially on the older exits.

 

The French design is to force you to slow off with progressively lower limits and harsher bends. Each to their own.

 

[Oldddudders]

13 minutes ago, DenysW said:

Or as signed, especially on the older exits.

 

The French design is to force you to slow off with progressively lower limits and harsher bends. Each to their own.

 

As well as telling you as you exit a 130 kph autoroute, that the slip road is 70 kph. With no braking zone. 

[SM42]

45 minutes ago, DenysW said:

Or as signed, especially on the older exits.

 

The French design is to force you to slow off with progressively lower limits and harsher bends. Each to their own.

 

 

The M42 at the M40 junction  is much tighter than Berlin's limited example, yet is NSL and can be quite safely negotiated at 70mph. 

 

Here in the motherland there is a limit on any road feature from crossings to junctions and bends. 

 

It's hard to tell what the limit actually is at any given point after a sign. 

 

Does the limit apply to just the hazard or not is the question  I can't get the sensible answer to.

 

Most ignore them anyway. 

 

The variable limits on the M25 were on top form as usual. 

 

First up coming off the M40, a 50mph right 9n the entrance to the M25, nothing before, due to congestion. Really? At 2330? It was quite empty compared to normal. 

 

Then a bit later

 

"Pedestrians reported. 40mph" 

 

Next gantry 50mph

 

Next 40mph

 

Next 6 blank. 

 

Next one NSL. 

 

Now a blank gantry means NSL ( national speed limit)  according to the regs ( no limit shown indicates NSL applies)  and any speeding ticket would show the limit on the sign as blank ( NSL) so is it 40 till the NSL sign ( several miles later) or only till the next blank sign. 

 

The result is some doing 40 and some 70 ( or more) as the contradictory signage is confusing.

 

The intervening junction didn't help

 

The cameras on the signed limits were doing a roaring trade too. 

 

Andy

Edited March 24 by SM42
Forgot to mention the junction

[Happy Hippo]

30 minutes ago, SM42 said:

 

The M42 at the M40 junction  is much tighter than Berlin's limited example, yet is NSL and can be quite safely negotiated at 70mph. 

 

 

 

 

 

Now a blank gantry means NSL ( national speed limit)  according to the regs ( no limit shown indicates NSL applies)  and any speeding ticket would show the limit on the sign as blank ( NSL) so is it 40 till the NSL sign ( several miles later) or only till the next blank sign. 

 

 

There is an anomaly to this, especially on a truly 'smart motorway' (a real oxymoron) where I have seen, from left to right, X- 40- 40- Blank.

 

Theoretically that means:

 

Hard shoulder in use

Lane 1 40 mph

Lane 2 40 mph

Lane 3 NSL applies.

 

I'm sure Nick Freeman (Mr Loophole) would have a field day in court over this one, but I'd be minded to stick to 40 and avoid the potential aggravation of defending the theory in court.

 

A clear gantry, as you say, is NSL applies.  Perhaps the Highways agency ought to have the gantries illuminated at all times even thought they would be showing NSL.

 

It would remove all doubt and reinforces to drivers what maximum speed they can legally travel at.

 

This then begs the question what happens with gantries that fail, or there is a serious power outage?

 

Inserting a lower limit where no gantry electronic signage is visible would probably be seen as too complicated to put into law, so we then revert to blank sign = NSL:  No doubt a power saving function🤣.

[SM42]

13 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

There is an anomaly to this, especially on a truly 'smart motorway' (a real oxymoron) where I have seen, from left to right, X- 40- 40- Blank.

 

Theoretically that means:

 

Hard shoulder in use

Lane 1 40 mph

Lane 2 40 mph

Lane 3 NSL applies.

 

I'm sure Nick Freeman (Mr Loophole) would have a field day in court over this one, but I'd be minded to stick to 40 and avoid the potential aggravation of defending the theory in court.

 

A clear gantry, as you say, is NSL applies.  Perhaps the Highways agency ought to have the gantries illuminated at all times even thought they would be showing NSL.

 

It would remove all doubt and reinforces to drivers what maximum speed they can legally travel at.

 

This then begs the question what happens with gantries that fail, or there is a serious power outage?

 

Inserting a lower limit where no gantry electronic signage is visible would probably be seen as too complicated to put into law, so we then revert to blank sign = NSL:  No doubt a power saving function🤣.

 

I read once  that differential limits across lanes were queried once with  Highways. 

 

Their response was that it doesn't happen and is impossible to set up a gantry to show them.  

 

Now if this report is true, I wonder how it happens. 

 

Obeying the lower limit makes sense for the wallet, not sure about being physically  safer though. 

 

Back in the days when they were quite new on the M42  I did see a 40 40 20 signed from left to right

 

Andy

[PhilJ W]

When I went to Germany, over 50 years ago there were still a few of the 1930's Autobahns in use. Some had been widened from 2 lanes to 3 but the bridges hadn't been altered and there was no hard shoulder so the bridge piers were in the inside lane.

[SM42]

The main problem with smart motorways and variable speed limits are they actually make congestion worse. 

 

There the traffic is moving along at 70mph.

The gantry changes to 50mph for whatever reason, approaching traffic brakes sharply to avoid a speeding ticket. 

 

4 gantries back the traffic stops,further back signs say caution queue ahead and another limit pops up. 

 

Repeat process. 

 

The M42 and M6 make it worse with traffic lights on slip roads releasing a sudden glut of slow moving traffic that wants to merge in rather than it come in natural, fastrr moving, dribs and drabs.  

 

Cue another limit as traffic slows and jockeys for position and somewhere a mile or so back traffic stops. 

 

Andy

Edited March 24 by SM42

[SM42]

14 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

When I went to Germany, over 50 years ago there were still a few of the 1930's Autobahns in use. Some had been widened from 2 lanes to 3 but the bridges hadn't been altered and there was no hard shoulder so the bridge piers were in the inside lane.

 

There are one or two in Belgium where the bridge is hard up against the edge of the inside lane. 

 

Andy

[jamie92208]

2 hours ago, TheQ said:

Which brings the classic comment to a visitor from France on the victory.

Who asked " Are those the cannon balls used at Trafalgar?"

 

Reply...

"No madam your Navy still has those"

In the middle of La Rochelle there is a  big statue of a French Admiral, Villeneuve IIRC'. Not many victories listed on the plinth.  When we went to Versailles I did suggest to Beth that they should employ me as a historical consultant as they seemed to have missed out, Vittoria, Waterloo and several others. 

 

Jamie

[Happy Hippo]

I have been reworking film titles to include a GWR/BR(W) theme. 

 

The first two required no change!

 

The King and I

A tale of two Cities

The Magnificent Panniers

Seven Panniers for Seven Brothers.

How  the Western was won.

Driving Miss Daisie the diesel railcar.

Trainspotting (Swindon edition).

How Green was my Pannier tank?.

Pride and Predjudice against Panniers.

Gone in 66xx Seconds.

Alice in Pannier land.

The Wizard of Swindon.

Where Panniers Dare.

Edited March 24 by Happy Hippo

[Dave Hunt]

10 hours ago, AndyID said:

 

A lot of people get a bit confused about this stuff. For example Glasgow is as far North as Moscow and New York City is further South than Barcelona.

I once won a bet with a pub landlord that Rome was further north than New York and had a free evening’s beer.

 

Dave

[Dave Hunt]

4 hours ago, AndyID said:

 

I can drive 750 miles from here and make one right-turn 🤣

 
I remember driving in Canada from Prince Rupert to Jasper and as we reached the edge of town the satnav said, “In 100 yards turn right then continue for 660 miles.”

 

Dave

[Dave Hunt]

Many years ago there was a crazy situation when heading west out of Düsseldorf where the slip road joined the autobahn on the fast lane. I don’t know if the were accidents there or how many but with traffic doing in excess of 150 kph at times on the autobahn it was a nerve jangling situation. We used to avoid it like the plague, even though it meant a longer journey.

 

Dave

Edited March 24 by Dave Hunt

[Northmoor]

2 hours ago, SM42 said:

 

The M42 at the M40 junction  is much tighter than Berlin's limited example, yet is NSL and can be quite safely negotiated at 70mph. 

 

Here in the motherland there is a limit on any road feature from crossings to junctions and bends. 

 

When driving/riding in Scotland nearly 30 years ago, a real favourite was the exit off the M9 for the Forth Bridge (then A8000, now the M90); coming from Edinburgh this involved a 270deg loop to go North.  I used to get my old (RWD with 1960s suspension) car into almost a four-wheel drift through much of it, while on the bike the challenge was how far over you could lean.  

Near home now we have a road with a 50mph limit but 40mph advisory through some S-bends with a junction on the left just as you exit them.  When there's no traffic I actually think 60 is a comfortable maximum through them, although judging by the number of times you follow someone doing 35, many have less confidence.  This is probably a good thing; the road was shut for a day by the police the other week and yesterday, I noticed two collections of flowers by the roadside (actually on the straighter section) so it looks like someone's confidence exceeded their ability, with tragic consequences.  I think there have been about four fatal RTAs on that road in the 26 years we've lived here; the first in that time was actually a policeman on a blue light call.

[Dave Hunt]

1 minute ago, Northmoor said:

When driving/riding in Scotland nearly 30 years ago, a real favourite was the exit off the M9 for the Forth Bridge (then A8000, now the M90); coming from Edinburgh this involved a 270deg loop to go North.  I used to get my old (RWD with 1960s suspension) car into almost a four-wheel drift through much of it, while on the bike the challenge was how far over you could lean.  

Near home now we have a road with a 50mph limit but 40mph advisory through some S-bends with a junction on the left just as you exit them.  When there's no traffic I actually think 60 is a comfortable maximum through them, although judging by the number of times you follow someone doing 35, many have less confidence.  This is probably a good thing; the road was shut for a day by the police the other week and yesterday, I noticed two collections of flowers by the roadside (actually on the straighter section) so it looks like someone's confidence exceeded their ability, with tragic consequences.  I think there have been about four fatal RTAs on that road in the 26 years we've lived here; the first in that time was actually a policeman on a blue light call.

Having lived for many years off and on in Lincolnshire I got used to roads that were dead straight for many miles then suddenly did a 90 degree bend with the sort of radius usually associated with footpaths. The fact that many of the bends were associated with junctions in drainage canals only added to the fun.

 

Dave

[Willie Whizz]

My occasional holiday drives through Norfolk have been an education of sorts. Irrespective of the speed limit on any road, they only ever seem to drive at exactly 40mph. Since there aren’t any motorways and not a lot of dual carriageways and safe overtaking spots, it can get rather frustrating. 

[SM42]

Not far from here is what, at first glance,  appears to be a slip road onto the 92 but has two way traffic for all but the last 50 yds. 

 

I've been checking the map and I might head out to Plesew on one of my free  days to have alook at the 750mm railway there. 

 

A call in at Jarocin on the way back is also a possibility . 

 

Andy

[Compound2632]

54 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

I have been reworking film titles to include a GWR/BR(W) theme. 

 

Huh. Just to start the alternative ball rolling, how about:

 

North by (London &) North West(ern).

The Hunt for Red Engines.

[SM42]

1 hour ago, Happy Hippo said:

I have been reworking film titles to include a GWR/BR(W) theme. 

 

The first two required no change!

 

The King and I

A tale of two Cities

The Magnificent Panniers

Seven Panniers for Seven Brothers.

How  the Western was won.

Driving Miss Daisie the diesel railcar.

Trainspotting (Swindon edition).

How Green was my Pannier tank?.

Pride and Predjudice against Panniers.

Gone in 66xx Seconds.

Alice in Pannier land.

The Wizard of Swindon.

Where Panniers Dare.

 

Surely the last one should be

 

Where Aber Dare

.

Just thought of another

 

Quadrapannier

 

 

Andy

Edited March 24 by SM42
Add another