The TR that hardly started.



J

Jhimmy

Guest
Everything was planned for a week in Glen Affric/Glen Shiel starting Sunday.
I got up planning to reach Glen Coe by 10:30am, however, just before Lix
Toll I skidded off the road and it looks like the car's gonna be a write
off.

This was a strange accident, a foreboding happened just after Wooler on the
A697, the roads were very water logged, not something I've seen in many
years driving up and down there, spring and winter. On the A720 Edinbugh
ring road I also saw lots of fields waterlogged, and again on the A85 the
same. Now, I had been looking at the weather forecast for the past week and
never noticed heavy rain!

At Lochearnhead/Glen Ogle (where the huge landslide happened last year) the
water was coming down in torrents in those water channels. I noticed all of
this and (somehow) felt strange and a bit uneasy. Over the summit of Glen
Ogle and just before Mid Lix there is a cambered left hand bend, I remember
braking, then suddenly finding myself on the nearside kerb, I braked a bit
more, slowed down, then the rear flipped around and I slowly slidded across
the road, went over the angled kerb, and gently slid down a 6 foot ditch.

Not a scratch on me, no neck injuries or anything - apart from pride being
hurt.

The policeman said this was the 6 or 7th accident at the same spot over the
weekend. He said the road must have been very greasy as mud was lying on
the surface and they've complained to the council to get this section
resurfaced.

Who or what was to blame for the accident? Don't know. However, I have
never really been happy with the handling of the Almera, it had very light
steering - I was never able to effectively reverse park straight (never
had any problems with company hire cars I drove last year) and always
suspected some steering fault or alignment despite the Nissan garage
checking it. The was a lot of oversteer on some bends and I was always
careful.

Anyway, if you're approaching Lix Toll from the south, be extra careful
chaps and chapesses.

Jhimmy.
 
On Mon, 06 Jun 2005 19:03:17 GMT, "Jhimmy" <[email protected]>
wrote:

>Everything was planned for a week in Glen Affric/Glen Shiel starting Sunday.
>I got up planning to reach Glen Coe by 10:30am, however, just before Lix
>Toll I skidded off the road and it looks like the car's gonna be a write
>off.


Oh dear. :-(

I hope you're OK, Jhimmy. It must've been quite scary.

How did you get home?

Judith
 
"Jhimmy" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Everything was planned for a week in Glen Affric/Glen Shiel starting

Sunday.
> I got up planning to reach Glen Coe by 10:30am, however, just before Lix
> Toll I skidded off the road and it looks like the car's gonna be a write
> off.
>
> This was a strange accident, a foreboding happened just after Wooler on

the
> A697, the roads were very water logged, not something I've seen in many
> years driving up and down there, spring and winter.



Bizare weather in the Borders Sat evening, 6pm ish. Havn't seen rain like
it in a long time. A friend of mine recorded 72mm in one hour on his new
weather station!

Must be an extra sickener for you seeing the excellent wethar up north this
past few day's. Hope it lasts I'm about to head off up to the Cairngorms
for tommorrow!
 
"Judith" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On Mon, 06 Jun 2005 19:03:17 GMT, "Jhimmy" <[email protected]>
> wrote:
>

Luckily a bus from Lix Toll @ 16.22 to Edinburgh. Then Train. Made it back
home at 20:15pm - actually this has me thinking about taking the train/bus
to many routes if it's this quick on a Sunday!

Jhimmy
 

> Bizare weather in the Borders Sat evening, 6pm ish. Havn't seen rain like
> it in a long time. A friend of mine recorded 72mm in one hour on his new
> weather station!
>
> Must be an extra sickener for you seeing the excellent wethar up north
> this
> past few day's. Hope it lasts I'm about to head off up to the Cairngorms
> for tommorrow!
>

This must have been the rain that was still standing.

Yes, it's a sickner, I hope I can get a hire car soon, then pop off a few
Wainrights at the end of the week if I have time!

Jhimmy.
 
On Mon, 06 Jun 2005 19:03:17 GMT, "Jhimmy" <[email protected]>
wrote:

[...]
Nightmare! I'm glad to hear you're still in once piece, though!


Best wishes,
--
,,
(**)PeeWiglet~~
/ \ / \ pee AT [guessthisbit].co.uk
 
Jhimmy wrote

> The policeman said this was the 6 or 7th accident at the same spot over

the
> weekend.


Came through Lix on Saturday afternoon and noticed the downside verges and
trees smashed up. That explains it. Also, going north the previous weekend
we
were held up while they recovered a vehicle. Torrential rain then, too.

Chris
 
[email protected] said...
> I slowly slidded across
> the road, went over the angled kerb, and gently slid down a 6 foot ditch.
>
> Not a scratch on me, no neck injuries or anything - apart from pride being
> hurt.
>
>

Never mind the car - it's replaceable. Thank goodness you're OK though.
--
/
Fran O(<|={
\
 
Jhimmy <[email protected]> wrote:
> [details of accident snipped]


Very glad to hear you're completely okay.

> Anyway, if you're approaching Lix Toll from the south, be extra careful
> chaps and chapesses.


Many thanks for the advice, Jhimmy; I shall be heading that way soon,
and forewarned is forearmed.

I had a TR which didn't start on Saturday, too. I'd got up at 0230
as usual to leave Cambridge for the Lakes. The car started squeaking as I
left the A14 for the M6, so I turned round and headed back. Seized brake
calipers, apparently. So I had a very early start, and a 175-mile round trip
for nothing!

Mark
--
Mark Manning [email protected]
 
On 7 Jun 2005 08:28:36 GMT, Mark Manning <[email protected]> wrote:

[...]
> I had a TR which didn't start on Saturday, too. I'd got up at 0230
>as usual to leave Cambridge for the Lakes.


0230?! Horrendous!

>The car started squeaking as I
>left the A14 for the M6, so I turned round and headed back. Seized brake
>calipers, apparently. So I had a very early start, and a 175-mile round trip
>for nothing!


Commiserations. What a major pain :-(




Best wishes,
--
,,
(**)PeeWiglet~~
/ \ / \
 
<SNIP>
>
> Many thanks for the advice, Jhimmy; I shall be heading that way soon,
> and forewarned is forearmed.
>

<SNIP>
> Mark
> --
> Mark Manning [email protected]


Just spoken to the Recovery guy at Lix Toll and he said there was a council,
highways and police meeting at the very same spot and temperary warning
signs have been put up.

Safe journey.

Jhimmy.
 
whoops - should also have posted the grid ref in case you have a GPS.

NN 555 297

From this point the dangerous section is about 400 metres long,, travelling
northwards.

Cheers.

Jhimmy
 
Jhimmy <[email protected]> wrote:
> whoops - should also have posted the grid ref in case you have a GPS.
>
> NN 555 297


Many thanks for this, Jhimmy; I'll have my GPS with me and will
drive with caution! I'm particularly grateful for the heads-up because
that particular stretch of road is not the one I tend to think of as the
most likely to cause problems on the way to Glencoe (with my limited
experience of the roads).

Many thanks again!
Mark
--
Mark Manning [email protected]
 
[email protected] said...
> The car started squeaking as I
> left the A14 for the M6, so I turned round and headed back. Seized brake
> calipers, apparently. So I had a very early start, and a 175-mile round trip
> for nothing!
>

Not so. Consider if you'd continued and then had the brakes fail later
on when you were miles from anywhere useful. We're already mourning the
loss of one of our number - congratulations on having the good sense to
turn back when you did.

--
/
Fran O(<|={
\