James Blonde Posted December 31, 2021 Share Posted December 31, 2021 The pie and mash choo choo got stuck at Santon last night due to a fallen tree. It appears they called a local minibus company to return some of the passengers back to Douglas. It's good to know the large fleet of very expensive minibuses owned by the same operation are being put to good use! At least the Cabbage diesel was able to go and pick up the carriages... oh no it didn't. The expensive farce continues! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Banker Posted December 31, 2021 Share Posted December 31, 2021 27 minutes ago, James Blonde said: The pie and mash choo choo got stuck at Santon last night due to a fallen tree. It appears they called a local minibus company to return some of the passengers back to Douglas. It's good to know the large fleet of very expensive minibuses owned by the same operation are being put to good use! At least the Cabbage diesel was able to go and pick up the carriages... oh no it didn't. The expensive farce continues! Don’t think you can blame DOI for fallen tree! Seems like they handled situation quite well 4 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Blonde Posted December 31, 2021 Author Share Posted December 31, 2021 7 minutes ago, Banker said: Don’t think you can blame DOI for fallen tree! Seems like they handled situation quite well They do however have a massive fleet of minibuses littering various school car parks and other locations around the island. It's an example of the failings and inefficiency of the public sector - they're happy to take on the taxi sector but only during business hours and not on public holidays. 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shake me up Judy Posted December 31, 2021 Share Posted December 31, 2021 A bit stupid running that service at this time of year and in the middle of Omicron. 2 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manxman1980 Posted December 31, 2021 Share Posted December 31, 2021 2 hours ago, James Blonde said: The pie and mash choo choo got stuck at Santon last night due to a fallen tree. As has been said this is hardly the DOI's fault. These things happen. 2 hours ago, James Blonde said: It appears they called a local minibus company to return some of the passengers back to Douglas. It's good to know the large fleet of very expensive minibuses owned by the same operation are being put to good use! Presumably they do not have the minibus drivers on standby and probably have no call out arrangements. Using a local minibus company would therefore have been a quicker solution than trying to contact a driver and overall was probably less expensive. 2 hours ago, James Blonde said: At least the Cabbage diesel was able to go and pick up the carriages... oh no it didn't. The expensive farce continues! Presumably the locomotive that took the train simply returned to Douglas with the carriages? If the loco had not failed why would you need another locomotive and crew to recover the coaches? It sounds like it was all handled efficiently and you are just looking for a whinge because you don't like the railways. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Onchan Posted December 31, 2021 Share Posted December 31, 2021 1 hour ago, manxman1980 said: As has been said this is hardly the DOI's fault. These things happen. Presumably they do not have the minibus drivers on standby and probably have no call out arrangements. As it's the same Department why wouldn't they have standby vehicles, drivers and call out arrangements? They have both the equipment (significant assets stock) and manpower. What happens when a bus breaks down, for example? Or don't they plan for that eventuality? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manxman1980 Posted December 31, 2021 Share Posted December 31, 2021 2 hours ago, Andy Onchan said: As it's the same Department why wouldn't they have standby vehicles, drivers and call out arrangements? They have both the equipment (significant assets stock) and manpower. What happens when a bus breaks down, for example? Or don't they plan for that eventuality? Fair point & I don't know the answer, however, the rest of the OP's complaint is utter drivel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ManxTaxPayer Posted December 31, 2021 Share Posted December 31, 2021 My name is Blonde. Dumb Blonde. 1 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WTF Posted December 31, 2021 Share Posted December 31, 2021 5 hours ago, manxman1980 said: If the loco had not failed why would you need another locomotive and crew to recover the coaches? the loco's don't 'push' coaches on the main line , they pull them, either chimney first or cab first as we don't have turntables. on short journeys like to santon and back for the santa train the loco 'runs round' the carriages to pull them back to douglas. i think ( IIRC ) that the usual orientation is chimney first out of Douglas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Blonde Posted December 31, 2021 Author Share Posted December 31, 2021 1 hour ago, ManxTaxPayer said: My name is Blonde. Dumb Blonde. Hahaha original. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Blonde Posted December 31, 2021 Author Share Posted December 31, 2021 1 hour ago, manxman1980 said: Fair point & I don't know the answer, however, the rest of the OP's complaint is utter drivel. Except it's not. It highlights the massive waste of assets and resources within DOI and their continued inefficient utilisation. Tim Crookall needs to stop Longworth and Co. from playing taxis and sell the minibus fleet. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Wright Posted December 31, 2021 Share Posted December 31, 2021 6 minutes ago, James Blonde said: Except it's not. It highlights the massive waste of assets and resources within DOI and their continued inefficient utilisation. Tim Crookall needs to stop Longworth and Co. from playing taxis and sell the minibus fleet. Or use it properly. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boris Johnson Posted December 31, 2021 Share Posted December 31, 2021 2 minutes ago, John Wright said: Or use it properly. No Just stop it. Competing with private taxis is wrong. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Wright Posted December 31, 2021 Share Posted December 31, 2021 46 minutes ago, Boris Johnson said: No Just stop it. Competing with private taxis is wrong. Using the minibuses properly as scheduled feeder services to main bus routes needn’t be in competition to taxis. We could much improve connectivity to smaller communities. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manxman1980 Posted January 1, 2022 Share Posted January 1, 2022 8 hours ago, WTF said: the loco's don't 'push' coaches on the main line , they pull them, either chimney first or cab first as we don't have turntables. on short journeys like to santon and back for the santa train the loco 'runs round' the carriages to pull them back to douglas. i think ( IIRC ) that the usual orientation is chimney first out of Douglas There is nothing stopping then pushing coaches if the line is clear and they can easily swap ends at the next available loop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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