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Old 25 Jun 2003, 19:32 (Ref:642994)   #1
Carrie
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Nightmare Journeys

I'm sure we've all had a nightmare journey. Anyone who travels on Britain's motorways will know that sometimes it takes very little for the traffic to start backing up and before you know it, you're stuck in a jam.

We had one evening a couple of years back where a wagon ended up hanging off the top of Barton Bridge (complete I should think with one very shocked driver!). Luckily I heard about that one on the radio and went home through Manchester in 2 3/4 hours, a work colleague didn't hear, headed for his usual M60 journey and spent 8 1/2 hours getting home.

Well, it was a nice day and we've just completed a major project at work, so this afternoon my boss suggested I finish a bit early. So, I left work early today at 4:20. As I got on the M60 I heard about an accident at jct 10 (the two lane section between the Eccles interchange and Barton Bridge). The accident was anti-clockwise and the motorway was closed in that direction and had been closed clockwise (the direction I was going). Diversion needed, so I pulled off at jct 7 to go through Trafford Park. Erm, nope, that was at a standstill with Trafford Centre security and police on the roundabouts. Right, turn round, head further into Trafford Park, more traffic going nowhere, divert again. Although I didn't intend to, I got shoved onto the M602, hey, this is good, past the closed junction for the M60 and I'm heading along the M62 towards Liverpool. Okay, I'll pull off at Warrington, no problems, I used to work in Warrington, I can cut through all the back roads (at that point the radio announces that shoppers are being told not to attempt to leave the Trafford Centre, the M60, 602, 62 and 61 are car parks and Warrington is also suffering the effects of the M60 crash). So, I joined the Warrington traffic jams. Just as I think I've got clear of all the traffic, more queues, I could see a huge mill fire nearby, so wonder if that was the cause of this queue.
Well, leaving early, my journey home from work should have taken 20 minutes. Instead, I got home at 7:20
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Old 25 Jun 2003, 20:11 (Ref:643038)   #2
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The M60 accident sounds like a bad one - van lost control, hgv swerved to avoid it, left the carriageway, landed on a slip road and exploded. M60 anticlockwise will be shut from J11 to J9 'til at least midnight.

At 6.30, as I was leaving work in Cheadle, 2 mins off J2, a colleague was just returning from the Trafford Centre having left at 4.00. I was lucky - going south on the A34 wasn't affected, but M6 over Thelwall was solid, M62 was solid eastbound from the M6, roughly half the entire M60 loop was a car park... Probably not clear now 3 hours after rush hour.

I don't have to travel for work all that much, but when I do it's usually from Cheadle (South Manchester) down to our UK HQ at Stockley Park, just near Heathrow. One such morning, I left Cheadle around 7am to get south in time for an hour or two logged on, lunch and a 2pm meeting. M6 south thru Staffs started backing up almost straight away, then radio traffic news explained why - M40 shut near Oxford AND M1 shut near Northampton. Now I've a good nose and I've been around a bit over the years, so I took every back road and short cut I knew. But so did everyone else and I missed the first hour of the meeting - 200 miles in 8 hours.

A similar trip was over 7 hours from Wilmslow to Silverstone one Saturday - M1 was shut south of Leicester. Made up for it coming back Sunday evening - clear road, cruise set, home in just under 2 hours... (oh - ought to mention - someone else was towing the racecar back... )

Last edited by garcon; 25 Jun 2003 at 20:13.
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Old 25 Jun 2003, 21:02 (Ref:643089)   #3
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It used to be that ANY journey that involved negotiating Newbury was a nightmare; thankfully the bypass has now resolved that issue.

In the meantime, my traumatic journeys are:

The M1 on a Sunday evening
Any journey into Oxford at any time of the day on any day of the week (requires valium prior to departure)
Trying to find my way out of Northampton!
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Old 25 Jun 2003, 21:38 (Ref:643135)   #4
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You're certainly right about the difference the Newbury bypass has made. I just wish it had been there when I was living in Winchester. One time my dad's journey home from Winchester took him 9 1/2 hours rather than the usual 3 1/2. The reason, he was stuck approaching Newbury on the A34.
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Old 25 Jun 2003, 21:39 (Ref:643137)   #5
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Some of us can remember many hours stuck in Newbury - usually on our way to/coming back from the Isle of Wight. Worse still, we were invariably transporting budgies so keeping them cool was hard work!
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Old 25 Jun 2003, 21:47 (Ref:643146)   #6
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Quote:
Originally posted by Suzy
we were invariably transporting budgies so keeping them cool was hard work!
They tend to get in a bit of a flap























.......I'll get my coat.
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Old 25 Jun 2003, 21:49 (Ref:643147)   #7
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Old 26 Jun 2003, 05:39 (Ref:643364)   #8
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Quote:
Originally posted by Suzy
we were invariably transporting budgies so keeping them cool was hard work!
So budgies retire to the Isle of Wight too ???
A nice little perch in Sandown perhaps.....










/rim shot and exit stage left....
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Old 26 Jun 2003, 08:30 (Ref:643449)   #9
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Actually we had to take them on holiday with us. There were 5 at the time (the ancestors of the 39 that we ended up with later - no we didn't take those anywhere) as it was unfair to expect people to look after so many.

But keeping this on topic: Newbury was always a nightmare. We would sit there for up to 2 hours on a SUNDAY just trying to get down the hill into the centre. Now, that the bypass has been built, we can leave the house at 7am and be on the Isle of Wight by 9.00am (including the hovercraft ride)!! Fantastic!
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Old 26 Jun 2003, 09:58 (Ref:643519)   #10
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Nightmare journeys usually happen in the winter here. Anything over 6 inches of snow, and a 10 minute drive home can take over a hour.My personal nightmare was helping a friend drive his truck and 25 ft trailer (caravan) through northern Ontario in the snow . A brake on the trailer froze and it dragged us off the road,down the side of hill and into some small trees. It took us over 3 hours to disconnect the trailer ,change a flat tire on the truck and get back onto the road.We didn't see another car in those 3 hours . It was colder than -20c and snowing . I was scared. Somehow we managed to get to the next town (Wawa) . The next day we drove back to the trailer with a large tow truck ,and he pulled the trailer back onto the road.
Traffic jams are a pain , but driving in the winter here can be much worse...
..almost as bad as the Magic Roundabout in Swindon !
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Old 26 Jun 2003, 16:03 (Ref:643848)   #11
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My worst one was about 8 year's ago driving from Northampton to Cornwall and back with my then girlfriend in my'69 Humber Sceptre to look at a '49 Humber (which I subsequently bought) and due to my old Sceptic developing a fuel feed problem the trip took two and a half day's! The young lady woke up at 5am on the second night, cold and hungry, in the middle of nowhere and promptly burst into tear's.

I went back for the '49 on the bus (9 hour journey including connections) with a mate (girlfriend was strangely disinterested) and promptly ran out of fuel in the middle of a rather bleak Bodmin moor at 11:00pm (no 24 hour service station's on that stretch back then).
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Old 27 Jun 2003, 17:32 (Ref:644962)   #12
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It normally takes about 3 hrs max to get to alton towers from where I live but the last time I went it took 5 & a half each way (ie 11 hrs) & I've no idea why. Plus on the way back the M1 was single lane traffic & the police stopped my car so the crash could be cleared.

Last edited by sunflower; 27 Jun 2003 at 17:34.
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Old 30 Jun 2003, 22:38 (Ref:647840)   #13
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i once had a clutch go somewhere near Doncaster and I had to get home through London.
The motorwat was OK, but London! Traffic lights were hell. Fortunately there was still a bit of movement so I could rev it up in neutral shove down on the clutch, bang it into gear and hope it would jump enough not to stall. Alternatively put it into 1st and crank the starter.
I got home. But never again!
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Old 1 Jul 2003, 13:07 (Ref:648386)   #14
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Years ago I had to drive a big old Thames Trader truck laden with scaffold poles to somewhere called Castle Bromwich, halfway up the M1 I shed my load if you'll pardon the expression. Luckily an Asian bloke with a broad Brummie accent and a fork lift truck got me back on my merry way and I duly delivered my consignment although I was attacked and subjected to a serious sexual assault by a bunch of Northern geezers with dodgy teeth and wielding banjos. (u cant trust 'em u know) oink oink!
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Old 2 Jul 2003, 11:24 (Ref:649460)   #15
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D-Type, I had a friend whose clutch let go completely just as he left work to pick his wife up from sainsbury's with the weekly shop. He had no option other than to keep moving and he managed to drive through Northampton on a Saturday morning without stopping, drove round sainsbury's car park, wound his window down and as he passed his wife who was waiting in the pick up point yelled "get a taxi" then he actually got the car home. He bought her a mobile phone not long after.
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Old 2 Jul 2003, 12:41 (Ref:649571)   #16
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Nightmare journey? That would be any journey in a Peugeot 306 DTurbo. Especially one like mine, that had an immobiliser of such ferocity that it wouldn't even let the rightful owner start the car.
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Old 4 Jul 2003, 03:23 (Ref:651612)   #17
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My father one time, flew into the local airport (this was in california), and proceeded to start his drive home. Halfway there, up in the mmountains that ed to the valley where our house was, he had to stop because of a forest fire. He turned around and followed a fire truck back out with 10-15 ft. flames on either side of his car. The car was so badly damaged from the heat, that we had to replace some of the light casings and have it totally repainted. by the time he got back into santa barbara (where he flew into) , the other road around by the coast to our house was closed in one direction to make it easier for firetrucks to move around and fight the fire, meaning it was one lane in each direction for all the people on the road (the 101 for anyone familiar with the area). Several cars on the road then proceeded to overheat causing even more delays. He left the airport at around 6 PM and got home at about 9 in the morning. It is normally a 45 minute drive. He had to stop for gas twice, luckily he was near gas stations both times although he said one time it took him over an hour waiting in line
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Old 6 Jul 2003, 21:51 (Ref:654226)   #18
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Nightmare journey. Every day driving into Croydon to my place of work, from the South in the early morning. Why? Because a large number of drivers within a 10-15 mile radius of Croydon don't know what 30mph means (they think it is 50mph minimum), they have no lane discipline, don't know what indicators are and have never heard of road manners. Thank God, I'm shortly to be made redundant!
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Old 7 Jul 2003, 07:37 (Ref:654465)   #19
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Sounds about right for M23/A23. You probably meet the same drivers - I'm staying on the outside up to the Little Chef?, am not going to indicate and you can make room for me!
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Old 7 Jul 2003, 14:13 (Ref:654845)   #20
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I learned to stay off the M23/A23 some years ago. I head up through Godstone and onto the Caterham By pass, Sanderstead etc. Both ways probably as bad as each other!
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Old 30 Jul 2003, 05:03 (Ref:674934)   #21
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We Aussies like to complain about the poor state of our roads, but we can't hold a candle to you guys with traffic jam stories like these.
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Old 30 Jul 2003, 13:26 (Ref:675301)   #22
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Take a drive in Los Angeles, Chicago or Houston at any time near rush hour.

I have seen a 12 lane road way, thats six lanes of traffic each way, completely stopped on Interstate 45 going into Houston as far as you could see.

I've driven on the Bypass 635 in Dallas at 85 mph bumper to bumper like a NASACR race. That thing is three lanes wide. If you leave a little safety gap in front of you someone will jam their car or truck into it. Better to stay tucked up on the car in front and hope no one blows a tire or decides that they need to stop.

Worst drive I ever took was from Gladewater, Texas to Tulsa, Oklahoma in an ice storm. Normally a 5 hour run, it became a 12 hour crawl dodging downed trees and powerline in the road. Lots and lots of overturned cars in the ditch and stranded on the shoulder unable to get moving again.
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