MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
We will be in touch
Kind of a PSA like.
Left Perth at 10.30am. Arrived Edinburgh (50ish miles) at 4:30.
Total chaos: no snow plough just south of Perth so maybe 6" of snow on the steep hill bit - and a queue of jack knifed trucks and buses in the ditch and then some abandoned cars.
The police were doing a great job tbf (even out on a quad). But what numptie decided not to snow plough the steepest bit I'd love to kick his dimwitted ass!
You could have biked it in half that.
Artic drivers need to get a grip. Always them causing the chaos.
Where have the plows been? Both the M90 and A9 are closed south of Perth. Glad I'm not in work tomorrow, I predict carnage.
Where have the plows been?
send a FOIA request into the local authority to find out
send the answer to the local paper/ TV news
watch the council blame "the cuts"
Where have the plows been?
Stuck behind a jacknifed artic?
For the 4 hours we sat stationary the ploughs went up and down the northbound carriage (including against the traffic which impressed me!).
One did go southbound on the hard shoulder - but most folks assumed this was for the emergency services so didnt use it.
The problem was that (according to the Tescos drivers I was chatting to) was that when they drove north during the night there were no ploughs and and until 10am the snow was allowed to accumulate. But just on this one big hill! After that point it was fine. Bastards!
I really felt it for the police. Freezing, red faces but patient, even good natured.
Hmmm... wonder if trying to get from Dalkeith (well, the other side of it) to Glenrothes in the morning will be folly...
and that'll be why i stuck with the trainer today...
nd explains why the roads in perth were quite so bad. saw some jaw droppingly bad driving. as i walked by.
That's pretty poor - the journey feels like an adventure when that happens, albeit one you don't really need.
I have a flight to gatwick tomorrow morning at 6.20am from Edi - not looking too realistic atm. Is it meant to snow tonight as well?
I have a flight to gatwick tomorrow morning at 6.20am from Edi
Edinburgh Airport is closed.
the journey feels like an adventure when that happens,
You're right! I havent seen so many snowmen in ages! And never one on a motorway.
We were "lucky" though as we had no real deadline. In our 'car park' there was a couple trying to get a flight with hours to spare (so they thought), a couple on their way to a wedding, and the commercial guys wondering about their overtime!
Most folk turned quiet socialable after about an hour, offering around drinks and snacks. Some folk northbound even stopped to compliment some of the snowmen! Small stuff but it made a difference. Anyway's I'm home now and it's now longer the end of the world. For me. I'm sure there's others still out there.
I'm due to go to London on the sleeper tomorrow night (from Perth) - even that isn't looking good at the moment.
It reopened an hour or two back. So I guess there's a slim possibility it could be functional tomorrow am.I have a flight to gatwick tomorrow morning at 6.20am from EdiEdinburgh Airport is closed.
Where's the best places to check for train delays/cancellations ??
Can't find anything on the Scottish train chaos, and people keep telling me they're all off !
couldashouldawoulda - unlucky mate!
We left Perth at about 14.15 and were home in Edinburgh by 16.00.
Went via A912-A91-M90. None of the roads were too bad. Really glad we didn't try to get onto the M90 at Bridge of Earn.
I just had possibly the most awesome journey ever on the A90 from brechin to dundee.
Total gridlock. Had to cruise down the verge until I got to the police roadblock/digger trying to clear the way.
unusually helpful policeman: 'sorry, the roads closed'
me: 'I just drove from forfar on the verge, six inches on the road isn't really a problem'
unusually helpful policeman: 'fair enough, on you go'
Result! Only car on the road in a lightning/blizzardfest!
kenneththecurtain - you driving a piste basher or something?
NRT - Nah, elderly land rover. Did have to get my dig on at one point, I'll admit...
Chrisdb..
Do you think the lorry drivers want to be out in this weather? Perhaps it is the employers as opposed to the employees wanting the drivers to go out in these conditions.
Alot of companies in the transport industry have an attitude like "well if u don't go out and do the job ill find somebody who will, clear ur truck out and don't let the door hit u on the way out"
Have you ever driven a truck? Let alone in the snow? Yes there are bad drivers out there but for every bad lorry driver i see 10 ****s in cars driving worse!
Always causing chaos? or are you just an arse in a car cutting up drivers, tailgaiting, undertaking, jumping lights and general skullduggery.
Please excuse us lorry drivers for trying to make a living, let us know your joiurney details so we can all get off the road to let u drive in a faultless manner!
Without trucks how would your bike bits get to the shops? Or how would your laptop have reached you to post frankly stupid generalizations!
Life would be far easier without halfwits posting stuff like that when we are all having to endure the conditions to make a living.
Rant over, back to normal life now.
Well said. Here's a thanks to all the lorry drivers that keep our shops stocked with cheese, beer and essential pork products despite these adverse weather conditions.
currently stuck in dundee at m in laws, better than being stuck on the m90 for the last 6hrs like my wifes boss is right now!!
Thanks j_me, some people can't see past the end of their noses or don't consider other people!
We do try. I dnt keep the shops stocked up, i do keep the distilliries in oil though, as well as oil to the ferries and bitumen to quarries all over Scotland.
Well done me i say! Ha ha.
There must be a market for a Sim Gritter game. Everyone is an expert at it.
You have 12 snowploughs to keep Perth & Kinross moving. The Met Office has forecast 30cm of snow in the next 6 hrs, and you've presalted all major routes to 50g/m^2. Remember that snow accumulations of greater than 2cm per hour will overwhelm grit on even very busy roads, and you need to keep 2 snowploughs in reserve to aid emergency services and social services.
Hit ENTER to begin.
😆
Best post of the week!
Easy - you get glaswegian bus drivers to drive them.
Perth must look lovely in the snow today!
Yes its a delight ! Temperatures rose to just above freezing for about an hour or so before plunging to minus 5 overnight. A perfect freeze thaw to bed everything down for today's snow! I'm not going anywhere.
However the gritter did go past the house at about 8 o'clock last night with the added bonus of the blade facing away from us. So my drive is pretty clear while the nieghbour's have an extra 3-4ft to dig out.
I guess I'd better get dressed and off to the shoppe then....
Should I start a sweep on how many customers we'll see today??
Well that's me having a snow day. Trains are not running between Edinburgh and Queen Street.
I was thinking of putting in a Tesco's online delivery. Do they have to deliver it free if they don't make it in their allocated time slot?
1981 miked.
All I'm asking is that when the conditions aren't good the artics pull over and accept that they are not in a suitable vehicle for the conditions. If a car slides off the road it might close the road for an hour. If an artic jacknives we all end up sitting around for hours.
And what! Sit and get more stuck? We have home and families aswell. Like i said 99% of the time it is the employer putting the pressure on the driver to get home.
Maybe people like u need to remember that our job involves driving all day every day in all conditions, and that Sometimes conditions change overnight, so a journey that started out in good conditions ended up treacherous and the only option was to try and get home. Nobody wants to be stuck in a truck with no food, no bedding (depending on the truck), not much in the way of heat and miles from home.
Cars are no more suited to these conditions, very much driver dependant. I had to push, tow and shunt many a car driver bck on the road last winter when i was up the North of Scotland in 4 - 5 ft snow drifts! And guess what i was driving? Yep a 44 tonne articulated lorry!
I was the vehicle making tracks for everybody else, i beat the snow ploughs. It was very slippy but like i said, a light right foot, hight gear, diff lock and driver awareness, i managed just fine. Saw far more abandoned cars than HGV's.
💡 The councils should hand out snow plows to the HGV drivers* to fit to their cabs, hand them in on your way home, job done. 😉
* I have no idea if it's a good idea and I know that the cabs don't have the fittings.
Not a bad idea at all mate, im pretty sure somebody could come up with a fitment to attach a snow plough, bung on a set of winter tyres and id do it.
What's it like out that way at the moment?
I'm meant to be driving from Stirling to Aberdeen tomorrow morning and after speaking to Edinburgh-based colleagues beginning to suspect I might not be.
druidh - Member
I guess I'd better get dressed and off to the shoppe then....Should I start a sweep on how many customers we'll see today??
You went past me at Ardmillan turning down to Dalry this morning, I take it the roads were fine? I'm thinking I'll bike tomorrow.
Schools closed again tomorrow and my trip to London binned.
More sledging tomorrow I guess! 🙂
Left Glenmore lodge yesterday at 1040 arrived Edinburgh 1415 today. Spent the night in the van and awoke to heavy snow and several packs of Huskies.