The Bus Drivers introduction

[Western SMT]

Great stories Energumen - your writing them faster than I can read them.
Worked with an ex bus driver for many years and each time it snowed all you heard was 'this will sort the men out from the boys'.
Our normal work entailed driving vans but some had trailers and one day he quietly asked me to reverse a trailer for him as he couldn't do it - louder they are harder they fall.

[G-CPTN]

Talking of snow, our wrecker was a special 6x4 with DDAD 6V-71 six-speed synchro and Eaton three-speed rear axles (lo-lo, lo-hi, hi-hi) Hendrickson RT equalising-beam bogie rear suspension - oh and full cross-axle diff-locks.
I set off one evening in heavy falling snow to drive down M1 from J13 TO J10.
There were no other vehicles on the road. None. The snow was accumulating rapidly and I'd selected diff-locks to maintain traction, but the short wheelbase (it had been built primarily as a tug, though it could lift-and-tow 6 tons - ie front axles only) meant that the blighter wanted to go straight-on and not respond to the front wheels steering on the (now) deepening snow.
There had been no salting, just ploughing (a good while previously), but the ploughing hadn't followed the carriageway lanes but meandered from hard-shoulder to central-reservation.
Great fun!
This must have been around 1968.

[Energumen]

Aye, we can all come unstuck, better to admit to it than put up this front.

There is something about most men, where you can say they are no good at a sport, or d.i.y. or even, not that good a lover, but criticise their driving and watch out.Ha ha.

Re the snow, my most recent unnerving experience on snow, was about 7-8 years ago, and funnily enough I was on a little 17 ton rigid, delivering around Gloucestershire, Worcestershire, Warwickshire, the snow was extremely fine, but absolutely intense and dense, it was settling on the tree branches and overhead wires, making the wires about 8 inches in diameter, in no time and dipping virtually, and in many cases actually to the ground. I kept ploughing on and eventually came in to the back end of Redditch heading for the M5.

Well, Redditch had big wide dual carriageway, there was nothing moving, just a totally undisturbed and beautiful carpet of snow, unnerving, I'll say, there was absolutely no indication of where fields started, verges lay, or carriageways, started, finished, curved or anything for quite a way, I haven't done much above Yorkshire, but I imagine it was like a Scottish white out, or being in cloud in a light aircraft with no instrument awareness.

Regards
Enurgumen

[billyboy]

I always found Snow driving to stressful. Its hard on the eyes and the effort you had to make to avoid invisible kerbs was worrying too.
Anyone remember those days snowed in on shap? go out to the truck each day and perhaps gain another 100 yards on the hill before returning to the cafe for the night. Then try to get a wee bit further up the next day.
Was't life fun back then

[G-CPTN]

Driving in heavy falling snow (particularly at night using headlights) could lead (especially if you were tired) to 'tunnel vision' where the surroundings seemed to be stationary and the snow driving towards you rather like watching a film or computer game. All sense of reality is suspended and it an be heightened by the absence of sound (due to the packed snow on the road surface).
Potentially dangerous . . .

[Energumen]

Found this on the M4 near Membury Services Westbound one night and also on the M4 Eastbound in Wales at Sarn Services, it is exactly as you say, but was a few years ago now.

[dmackay]

Anyone experienced the A9 north of Perth plenty snow up there

[Energumen]

Ne'er crossed the border, nor even climbed Shap, in all the years, That was night out stuff from the south coast, that was never my scene.

That was for the hardy and some would suggest foolhardy, considering the pay on general haulage in those days. There again, needs must, but in my case not needy enough, thank goodness. Too much of that as a kid.

[Western SMT]

Originally Posted by dmackay

Anyone experienced the A9 north of Perth plenty snow up there

The old A9 was a pain of a road with the bridges forcing trucks and buses into your path causing many an accident. Memory is going here but there was a garage about half way up the A9 and it was littered with wrecks.

[dmackay]

That was Calvine, its bypassed now