Show notes 185
Added 2023-11-12 18:01:00 +0000 UTCIn pics this week we start with a nice photo of an Intercity 125 / HST / Class 43 train in classic livery (for reasons that will become clearer when you hear the podcast). Then we have some shots of these trains being loaded on a boat, sadly not by the method Jonny suggested. Next we have that extraordinary Prelude shifter sent in by several listeners, a very neat mk1 SEAT Ibiza, the Honda Jazz Crosstar complete with large print touchscreen, and a Pendolino / Class 390 train which doesn’t look very similar. Finally, the new Honda Motocompacto (Honda UK being not really arsed to import one for Jonny, not pictured). Now, some linkage…
Running machine mishaps (sadly not with the man being fired into a weight rack)
A classic of the running machine mishap genre
Count the samples! It’s Pump Up The Volume
Remy Julienne jumps a Fiat 124 onto a ferry
And drives a Fiat 127 on a moving train
And does various other bits of batshit driving in Fiats
Comments
Take the night train from Rome to Sicily and you end up on a ferry.
Olly Lord
2023-11-19 21:29:31 +0000 UTCIt still happens on the China/Mongolia border. My carriage was lifted and re-wheeled in the same way. Was quite the experience.
Olly Lord
2023-11-19 21:27:59 +0000 UTCYou have enlightened me to the world of treadmill fails. This month's quid has been a sound investment. Thank you for your service gents 😂
Rich Gee - Gee's Drive
2023-11-17 16:31:34 +0000 UTCIt needs to be a Pedalec, ie pedals and cranks to provide propulsion.
Simon Smyth
2023-11-16 13:11:52 +0000 UTCNot if it is restricted to 15mph and less than 250w motor.
TD
2023-11-16 12:03:25 +0000 UTCThere is a time and a place for an auto, a Prelude isn't it! Also not sure about the motives of someone that wants to grasp a particularly thick and heavy bell end looking shifter when they slide it into D!
Philip Bain
2023-11-16 05:31:28 +0000 UTCWe had a 1st gen one, brilliant car, actually quite fun on the road for what it is because it was so small and light. Once you get all the seats down it had a surprising amount of space in it too. Got a newer one now couple years old and it is somewhat disappointing in comparison. Heavier so not as much fun on the road and some annoying things like the mirrors don't auto fold in. But it feels like there is some bad juju with this car had some minor accidents like taking a mirror off and curbing a wheel that has spoiled the experience.
Stephen Voss
2023-11-15 04:00:42 +0000 UTCThis episode reminded me why I drive old cars. My youngest is nearly 16. Anything that thinks it can steer better than me or monitor my alertness can do one, especially if it's trying to give me valuable information on a screen that's nowhere near me or wants me to scroll through a menu for anything I need whilst driving.
Andy Laurence
2023-11-14 19:57:32 +0000 UTCDoes anyone not sing along? Whenever someone says "like and subscribe" on any platform, I burst into song.
Andy Laurence
2023-11-14 19:52:35 +0000 UTCI also bought my car without ever being in one (cazoo). I have access to so much data via forums, YouTube, etc and had a no-questions 14 day return. Not gonna lie it was weird to spend almost 20k without even seeing the car or ever getting inside one. but I didn't feel I was getting less comfort than when I physically went garage to garage for the car before that. I don't know if I'd do it with a brand new vehicle that hadn't had years of test though...
Rich
2023-11-14 17:04:41 +0000 UTCYeah most windfarm bits would come in from china or Europe by sea. Yeah i assume a train is longer 50ft so it would be special Lorries to move them.
Robin White
2023-11-14 15:54:13 +0000 UTCThis is true, but in terms of rail connections it is pretty poor. I gather they've had to use special trucks to bring the trains to the docks. However it's probably the closest port to Ely, which is where many of the units have been in long term storage.
John Hammond
2023-11-14 15:49:33 +0000 UTCI've heard that rumour but never found any concrete evidence for it. You can find Giugiaro's early drawings for that car and they don't look very VW-ish but perhaps he threw those in the bin and did everything again when SEAT called. Richard
Smith and Sniff
2023-11-14 13:12:15 +0000 UTCI do. And the line that always gets me is "We might Daihatsu." Misheard lyrics are the best, double so when they are topical.
Margo
2023-11-14 13:10:21 +0000 UTCWas not expecting to get fully called out for my battery life. Will crop next time!
Sam Warren
2023-11-14 12:50:46 +0000 UTCThe Honda Suitcase would need type approval, tax, Insurance, Moped licence, Motorcycle helmet etc. to be used on UK roads.
Simon Smyth
2023-11-14 10:15:07 +0000 UTCHonda Jazz MK2 is one of the best cars our household has owned. Outlasted everything else, never serviced really and more versatile than many larger 5dr we have owned. We ended up with it accidentally and I'm always going on about how it's actually a good buy as a dad car.
Rich
2023-11-14 08:13:34 +0000 UTCIt's fun dropping the Abarth 500 for a service: "Do you need a loan vehicle?" "No, have in the boot" as unfold a Tern BYB Folding Bike...
Robin Capper
2023-11-14 00:43:02 +0000 UTCBut they are!
Robin Capper
2023-11-14 00:39:59 +0000 UTCSeems there really is a XKCD for everything!
Robin Capper
2023-11-14 00:38:28 +0000 UTCLove that Poliziotto Sprint is based on a real guy.
Brendan McAleer
2023-11-13 20:07:42 +0000 UTCYes I popped on here because the WTYP pod on these is terrifying.
Brendan McAleer
2023-11-13 20:06:49 +0000 UTCThis is the second time I have heard about those Mexican-imported HSTs in a few weeks. Sadly, the first time was on a podcast about engineering disasters, which was three hours of hair-raising foreshadowing by people in the rail industry. Suffice to say, HST survivability running on a hastily-built long-distance MX rail that also carries North American heavy freight rail cars is very likely no bueno.
Brendan McAleer
2023-11-13 20:06:01 +0000 UTCGreat Yarmouth is super busy place for Windfarm development works. Lots of big cranes to lift long things, like trains.
Robin White
2023-11-13 19:42:48 +0000 UTCScotrail runs a fleet of refurbished HST as Inter7City,
ALAN MCPHERSON
2023-11-13 19:02:01 +0000 UTCSome say the Ibiza was Giugiaro’s design for the mk2 Golf that VW rejected. If only there was a car trivia person who could confirm?
MarkWilliams
2023-11-13 18:57:44 +0000 UTCI had a Jazz Crosstar as a courtesy car once and found it quite charming. Not sure whether it was due to the excellent visibility, purposeful nature of the build quality and interior, or the unexpected (and hilarious) one-wheel peel it managed as I overestimated its abilities while joining a busy roundabout right outside the Honda dealer.
Daniel Thorn
2023-11-13 17:47:02 +0000 UTCThat Seat looks like a cut down MK2 Golf or Izuzu/Geo I Mark? I guess they would since they all were designed by the same people.
david marden
2023-11-13 17:27:00 +0000 UTCDoes anyone else sing along at the end of the podcast?, I sometimes find myself singing several hours later.
Andy Faulkner-Clegg
2023-11-13 16:54:08 +0000 UTCOn the question if people test drive cars anymore, my partner bought a e2008 off the internet having never driven one or sat it one, it all worked out completely fine apart from I’m a long broad chap and can only fit comfortably in the drivers seat as my arms aren’t next to me due to the cabin being pretty narrow. We did test drive other cars but since she was car shopping with me she got pretty bored of me nerding out in a car supermarket. Drove a DS3 electric thought it drove lovely but interior was fucking horrific, so settled on the e2008 without seeing one.
Ollie Todd
2023-11-13 15:28:40 +0000 UTCWhilst Interailing I got an overnight train from Berlin to Copenhagen. Was woken up in the middle of the night to find the carriages on the car deck inside a ferry.
MarkWilliams
2023-11-13 14:42:26 +0000 UTCThe Prelude shifter screenshot reminds me of this xkcd post: https://xkcd.com/1373/
Chris Squirrel
2023-11-13 14:11:12 +0000 UTCI can’t imagine there being that many issues with gauge. The Flying Scotsman has done many tours of the USA, and I’ve never heard of them messing around with axle/bogey width
Dave Harding
2023-11-13 13:44:36 +0000 UTCThe same was in operation in Dover Western Docks, with Sealink as part of British Railways. The Channel Tunnel ultimately put paid to the movement of freight wagons by boat and the infrastructure has all been demolished now.
John Hammond
2023-11-13 13:23:24 +0000 UTCIn Dublin they used to be able to RORO full train cars, you could drive a train on to a boat directly. Hang on, I’m wrong it is set up to but never has been used as Ireland has a different gauge so it won’t work.
Tim Murphy
2023-11-13 11:59:39 +0000 UTCFor more information on the shit-show of a project that is the destination of the HSTs, see here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BMQTdYXaH8
Rich Tysoe
2023-11-13 09:58:29 +0000 UTCYes, same track gauge. US loading gauge, which is much bigger so an HST will fit.
Rich Tysoe
2023-11-13 09:56:15 +0000 UTC“It must be reliable… …. That is why I only choose Fiats”.. Sorry, what??!
Adam
2023-11-13 08:30:21 +0000 UTCAs a child my mum used to take me most years to visit family in Taunton. I can always remember the fug of diesel fumes that hung over Paddington Station, with a line up of HSTs all sat chugging away. The original Paxman engines were heavily turbocharged V12 diesels and when they'd spool up they made the most ear splitting noise and huge clouds of black smoke. The refurbishment in the early 00's saw most of them refitted with German built engines which definitely changed the character of these trains.
John Hammond
2023-11-13 08:29:31 +0000 UTCDoes Mexico have the same gauge as the UK? They tend to use US standards which seldom match up with the rest of the world. when my wife was a child going to Russia by train meant that at the Polish/Russian border the train’s cars/cabins were lifted up and the entire undercarriage/bogeys were swapped out. A process done while the passengers remained in the train for the most part.
Andy Pinchock
2023-11-13 04:02:50 +0000 UTCQuite like the idea of the Motocompacto… but isn’t a Brompton bike better in every way for the same job? And carries a bag. And weighs much less. Half of much, for some models
Adam Francis Smith
2023-11-13 00:26:55 +0000 UTChttps://youtu.be/k-Fd_GvL_Wk?si=4Dj1fpvByIg5cIhn Remy Julienne is evidently massively talented and possibly insane! Though disappointed to see his helmet wasn’t open face…
Richard Jenkinson
2023-11-12 22:02:15 +0000 UTCI'm also missing the HSTs, I used to ride one to work every day. The train back was always more modern and much worse, now it's that same rubbish train both ways. There's a fantastic old Intercity advert featuring a 'police' Class 37 nicking an HST driver for speeding.
Matt Tester
2023-11-12 21:42:04 +0000 UTCIf you look at the HST prototype (class 41) it has a huge front window but no quarter light windows. The front was extensively restyled by Kenneth Grange and the quarter lights added, creating a much better look. The HSTs have been faithful servants to the railway, in my opinion it's a shame that we no longer lead in the design and production of trains. In the quest to fit more people in, our trains have become claustrophobic. High pitch seats which block your forward view and window pillars placed to block your outside view, even the refurbished HSTs suffered in the end.
John Hammond
2023-11-12 21:36:46 +0000 UTCI am a huge fan of those Italian/French car chases by the likes of Remy Julienne and his stunt team. I am sure you probably have, but have you seen the tank slapper stunt in the Ferrari 250 GTE in Poliziotto Sprint (Highway Racer) - 1977. https://youtu.be/knyjh2h-x0c?si=2fQ1iNFY9zNWuY-i&t=1755
Tom Lanigan
2023-11-12 21:02:56 +0000 UTCCan’t wait for Monday so I can listen to this latest episode on the school run.
Hank The Tank
2023-11-12 18:14:40 +0000 UTCThe good class 43. A great train 🚆
Nathan English
2023-11-12 18:14:05 +0000 UTC
