Gareth Lee wrote:
What's a PunchBuggy? When I was a kid, they were a band I heard of and listened to.
Now I'm not so sure.
Gareth
Answer: The name comes from a game kids play in North America when travelling by car - if they spot a Volkswagen Beetle for example they exclaim "Punchbuggy, Punchbuggy, no punch back!" while giving their friend/sibling a punch.
This is akin to the game in England of gaining points by spotting trucks from Eddie Stobart and Norbert Dentressangle (sometimes also played by adults).
The ultimate PunchBuggy for me is the Smart car (see below).
Saturday, December 30, 2000
More Smart
Production of the Smart car reached 101,000 units in 2000 up from 80,000 the previous year. The Smart car, produced at "Smartville" in eastern France, is expected to reach profitability in 2004.
London Eye to close
The London Eye, aka the Millennium Wheel, is to close for safety checks from January 15 to February 9. The welds on the wheel will be checked over and the air conditioning filters changed. The latter is welcome as the pods can be extremely hot on a sunny day as my trip last spring confirmed.
The wheel opened late in March 2000 and has been a roaring success, unlike the dismal Dome, attracting 3.4 million visitors against a first year target of 2.2 million.
The wheel opened late in March 2000 and has been a roaring success, unlike the dismal Dome, attracting 3.4 million visitors against a first year target of 2.2 million.
Thursday, December 28, 2000
Light snow causes rail chaos
Off to Lewes station at 06:30 with a tiny snowfall in the last half hour. No sign of the 06:49 to London and passengers are told over the public address system to divert via Brighton. They reach Platform Four in time to see the Brighton service departing.
Around 07:25 a London train pulls in and off we go in fits and starts with the train struggling to pick up the juice from the third-rail system. Constant apologies from the Connex staff - slogan "a good day out for everyone."
We come to a full stop south of Keymer junction and eventually reach Wivelsfield, not a quarter of the way to London, at 10:26. At this point your correspondent has a sense of humour failure and walks to Burgess Hill in search of brunch.
My girlfriend Annette, here from Toronto and looking forward to a day out in the big city, marvels at how the railway comes to a juddering halt for so trivial a cause.
Around 07:25 a London train pulls in and off we go in fits and starts with the train struggling to pick up the juice from the third-rail system. Constant apologies from the Connex staff - slogan "a good day out for everyone."
We come to a full stop south of Keymer junction and eventually reach Wivelsfield, not a quarter of the way to London, at 10:26. At this point your correspondent has a sense of humour failure and walks to Burgess Hill in search of brunch.
My girlfriend Annette, here from Toronto and looking forward to a day out in the big city, marvels at how the railway comes to a juddering halt for so trivial a cause.
Virgin on the case
For the past year and a half I have been fretting at the lack of competition on the London-Toronto air route. The merger of Air Canada and Canadian Airlines plus the codeshare with British Airways makes for precious little consumer choice. Catching up with the papers on a cold train (see above) brings news of a possible Virgin Atlantic service in 2001. I hope it departs from Gatwick airport, in need of a boost after recent cutbacks there by British Airways.
Wednesday, December 27, 2000
Integrated transport
John 'Two Jags' Prescott's integrated transport policy excelled itself last night, stranding 600 arriving passengers at London's Stansted Airport with no trains to take them home.
Back to work for me today and my late-running Thameslink train home terminates at East Croydon - due to staff shortage or a broken-down train outside the station depending on which excuse you believe. So an early finish turns late.
The Government are still hoping that voters will blame Railtrack, the Train Operating Companies - anyone but themselves - but word-of-mouth on the trains is that people are heartily sick of the constant delays and manifest mismanagement and will remember when election-time rolls around.
Back to work for me today and my late-running Thameslink train home terminates at East Croydon - due to staff shortage or a broken-down train outside the station depending on which excuse you believe. So an early finish turns late.
The Government are still hoping that voters will blame Railtrack, the Train Operating Companies - anyone but themselves - but word-of-mouth on the trains is that people are heartily sick of the constant delays and manifest mismanagement and will remember when election-time rolls around.
Sunday, December 24, 2000
Dublin's fair city
To Dublin, Ireland on Wednesday to see a supplier with the day job. The plane was over an hour late taking off from Gatwick on a foggy morning with aircraft queuing for the single runway. Stayed the night at The Morrison hotel on the banks of the Liffie, which has minimalist Japanese-style decor, and dined at "La Stampa" a large open-plan place in pleasant surroundings. Early start back at 07:30 with a cheerful Irish cab driver telling tall tales about partying in the Republic. Good to see Dublin is booming with the IT industry a big component in that success.
Folding stuff
Last week I took delivery of a Brompton folding bike, an early Christmas present to myself. An inaugural trip from Lewes to nearby Kingston and back convinced me that this is the right piece of kit to tuck in the car for those excursions to France and I can't wait to get loose on it when covering the Le Mans 24 hours next June. I saw a chrome yellow one and it had to be that colour.
Smart in Japan
The Smart two-seater town car made by Daimler-Chrysler has recently been launched in Japan. Marketed as a chic form of basic transport the car is manufactured at "Smartville" near Hambach, eastern France, close to the German border. On a factory visit in the summer they proved to be a friendly bunch - check out their website here.
I saw a Smart car on my recent visit to Macau so they are spreading far and wide and with plans for a two-seat sportscar and a four-seater compact Z-car this is one brand we will be hearing a lot more about.
I saw a Smart car on my recent visit to Macau so they are spreading far and wide and with plans for a two-seat sportscar and a four-seater compact Z-car this is one brand we will be hearing a lot more about.
Monday, December 18, 2000
Opportunity lost at Greenwich
Tony Blair is to visit the Millennium Dome at Greenwich before it closes at the end of the year - continuing a fine British tradition of celebrating abject failure. He is to be accompanied by businessman and former Tory minister, Michael Heseltine, who played an early part in the project which lost £800m.
The timing of the trip is too late to have any impact on the visitor numbers - 6m for the year (5m paying) against a forecast of 12m.
Staff at the site are left with the feeling that the US Cavalry are arriving long after the massacre. The moral - beware of governments running visitor attractions because they have got their hand in your pocket.
Meanwhile the Cutty Sark, the historic 130 year-old tea clipper, lies deteriorating at Greenwich Pier, after it failed to secure a £4.2m Lottery-funded grant for restoration. The area attracts 3 million visitors each year. The project was crowded out by the huge amounts of Lottery money poured down the drain at the Dome.
The timing of the trip is too late to have any impact on the visitor numbers - 6m for the year (5m paying) against a forecast of 12m.
Staff at the site are left with the feeling that the US Cavalry are arriving long after the massacre. The moral - beware of governments running visitor attractions because they have got their hand in your pocket.
Meanwhile the Cutty Sark, the historic 130 year-old tea clipper, lies deteriorating at Greenwich Pier, after it failed to secure a £4.2m Lottery-funded grant for restoration. The area attracts 3 million visitors each year. The project was crowded out by the huge amounts of Lottery money poured down the drain at the Dome.
Friday, December 15, 2000
Concurrent engineering
An interesting article on the use of computers and CAD/CAM in Formula One motor racing.
Teams can design and manufacture a complete vehicle in five months using concurrent engineering techniques.
Teams can design and manufacture a complete vehicle in five months using concurrent engineering techniques.
Mend the gap
The Sussex Express reports the sad demise of Uckfield railway station, a victim of public neglect, vandals and the recent floods. The Victorian station went the way of the Lewes-Uckfield railway line, which closed on February 23, 1969. Strenuous attempts by campaigners to reinstate the line, thereby opening up another route to London from the south coast, have resulted in much talk from the many authorities involved but to date no action.
Concorde to return
News today that the Concorde, another example of publicly-funded largesse, should be back on the North Atlantic route in the spring, following a safety upgrade and interior refurbishment. Grounded after the Paris air disaster which claimed 113 lives last July, modifications to the plane may earn a certificate of airworthiness so that British Airways and Air France can resume the luxury supersonic service.
Steelyard blues
General Motors were much in the news this week announcing plans to retrench in North America as well as in Europe. Most noteworthy was the demise of the Oldsmobile brand. Like Vauxhall, suffering with a somewhat stuffy image, the Olds will be phased out joining other brands like Plymouth, Rambler and Hudson in the great wrecking yard in the sky.
The company was founded by Ransom Eli Olds who produced the Curved Dash, from 1900 to 1904, the first car to carry the name Oldsmobile. Olds sold out to GM in 1908 and later manufactured trucks, giving his initials to the REO Speedwagon.
Post-WW2 Oldsmobile were known for their chrome trim and automatic transmissions; they also pioneered the use of the air bag in the seventies. U.S. sales peaked at over one million in 1985 with the success of the Cutlass and the 88. More recently country-singer Kathy Mattea sang nostalgically of the "455 Rocket."
Today GM produces 8.3 million vehicles annually or approximately 35,000 vehicles a day.
More than 16,000 jobs will go, nearly 4 percent of its worldwide workforce.
The company was founded by Ransom Eli Olds who produced the Curved Dash, from 1900 to 1904, the first car to carry the name Oldsmobile. Olds sold out to GM in 1908 and later manufactured trucks, giving his initials to the REO Speedwagon.
Post-WW2 Oldsmobile were known for their chrome trim and automatic transmissions; they also pioneered the use of the air bag in the seventies. U.S. sales peaked at over one million in 1985 with the success of the Cutlass and the 88. More recently country-singer Kathy Mattea sang nostalgically of the "455 Rocket."
Today GM produces 8.3 million vehicles annually or approximately 35,000 vehicles a day.
More than 16,000 jobs will go, nearly 4 percent of its worldwide workforce.
Vauxhall reaches end of the road in Luton
The wrecking ball continues to crash its way through the UK car industry. Vauxhall announced the end of production at their main plant in Luton, north of London, with the loss of 2,500 jobs. The mid-range Vectra made at the plant never quite achieved the profile of its predecessor the Cavalier. An unremarkable car with little brand profile, I drove the equivalent Opel Vectra 1.6 on a long week-end in Holland and, while it was practical transport, I was happy to hand it back to the rental company with no intention of ever putting it on my shopping list.
Stephen Byers, Industry Minister, with his inspired backing for the rip-off Britain campaign has seen the price of cars coming down and wholesale plant closures and layoffs. The problems at Rover in Longbridge, the Ford closure at Dagenham, the pullback by Honda in Swindon and the threat of a Nissan closure in Sunderland have all looked like an own goal for the government. Beware the law of unintended consequences.
Stephen Byers, Industry Minister, with his inspired backing for the rip-off Britain campaign has seen the price of cars coming down and wholesale plant closures and layoffs. The problems at Rover in Longbridge, the Ford closure at Dagenham, the pullback by Honda in Swindon and the threat of a Nissan closure in Sunderland have all looked like an own goal for the government. Beware the law of unintended consequences.
Counting the cost of Cool Britannia
We learnt this week from tourism minister Janet Anderson, answering a parliamentary question, that the wretched Millennium Dome had reached a total forecast cost exceeding £800m.
Later it emerged that the plan could have been axed by Tony Blair when he came to power for around £50m. Only five Ministers out of twenty-two supported the go ahead - Blair, John 'Two Jags' Prescott, Mo Mowlam, Chris Smith and Harriet Harman. When you're in a hole stop digging.
Meanwhile the wobbly Millennium Bridge remains closed so that shock absorbers can be fitted. The pedestrian bridge across the Thames in central London may be open by late summer 2001.
Later it emerged that the plan could have been axed by Tony Blair when he came to power for around £50m. Only five Ministers out of twenty-two supported the go ahead - Blair, John 'Two Jags' Prescott, Mo Mowlam, Chris Smith and Harriet Harman. When you're in a hole stop digging.
Meanwhile the wobbly Millennium Bridge remains closed so that shock absorbers can be fitted. The pedestrian bridge across the Thames in central London may be open by late summer 2001.
Monday, December 11, 2000
Last lap for Murray
Veteran motor racing commentator Murray Walker has announced that he is to hang up his microphone at the end of the 2001 season.
The voice of Grand Prix motor racing in the UK has finally decided to quit at the age of 77 before, as he says, "I'm past it."
Murray has been covering motorbikes and cars for the last 51 years. Latterly he has worked for ITV-Formula One, covering a hectic schedule of races throughout the world, after deftly switching from the BBC when they lost the contract to cover Grand Prix racing.
His likely replacement is ITV pitlane reporter James Allen, who took over from Murray Walker at short notice when he suffered a dislocated hip before this year's French Grand Prix. James Allen is known in the Far East for his coverage of up-and-coming drivers at the season-ending F3 Macau Grand Prix.
The voice of Grand Prix motor racing in the UK has finally decided to quit at the age of 77 before, as he says, "I'm past it."
Murray has been covering motorbikes and cars for the last 51 years. Latterly he has worked for ITV-Formula One, covering a hectic schedule of races throughout the world, after deftly switching from the BBC when they lost the contract to cover Grand Prix racing.
His likely replacement is ITV pitlane reporter James Allen, who took over from Murray Walker at short notice when he suffered a dislocated hip before this year's French Grand Prix. James Allen is known in the Far East for his coverage of up-and-coming drivers at the season-ending F3 Macau Grand Prix.
Saturday, December 09, 2000
Canal arrives two hundred years late
The construction of a link between the Lancaster Canal and the River Ribble started on Thursday. First authorised by an act of Parliament in 1792, the four-mile cut will be called the Millennium Ribble Link. To be completed in autumn 2001 it will be the first canal built in the UK for a hundred years.
The second phase costing £30 million will complete the restoration of the Lancaster Canal, severed by the building of the M6 motorway. This will open up the intriguing possibility of travelling from London to the Lake District via the inland waterways by pleasure boat.
The second phase costing £30 million will complete the restoration of the Lancaster Canal, severed by the building of the M6 motorway. This will open up the intriguing possibility of travelling from London to the Lake District via the inland waterways by pleasure boat.
Meanwhile back on the trains
Lord Macdonald of Tradeston, the Transport Minister and safe pair of hands brought in to mind John 'Two Jags' Prescott, put both feet in his mouth this week by saying in an interview with the New Statesman that there was no crisis on the railways. The Evening Standard went into a frenzy leading on Thursday with "Minister goes off the rails." The government were busy backpedalling later in the week fearing a backlash at the general election from weary rail travellers.
The Evening Standard also brings news of massage (fully clothed) offered by the East Japan Rail Company - dream on.
The Evening Standard also brings news of massage (fully clothed) offered by the East Japan Rail Company - dream on.
More Airports
Busy week so no chance to post........
More airports
General angst this week about airports in the south-east with British Airways all but abandoning Gatwick with its unhappy combination of one runway and two terminals. Although still Europe's fifth biggest Airport Gatwick seems destined to become a regional airport with a diminishing international role.
A pity as it has finally got some decent modern trains on the Gatwick Express line offering convenient access to central London.
A UK government report is expected before Christmas backing the development of the £2 billion Terminal Five at Heathrow Airport. In any event it will not be operational until 2007.
The Times points out the potential of Manston airport near Ramsgate, 75 miles from London on the Kent coast. This former RAF base could add a sixth airport to the five already serving London - Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Luton and City.
More airports
General angst this week about airports in the south-east with British Airways all but abandoning Gatwick with its unhappy combination of one runway and two terminals. Although still Europe's fifth biggest Airport Gatwick seems destined to become a regional airport with a diminishing international role.
A pity as it has finally got some decent modern trains on the Gatwick Express line offering convenient access to central London.
A UK government report is expected before Christmas backing the development of the £2 billion Terminal Five at Heathrow Airport. In any event it will not be operational until 2007.
The Times points out the potential of Manston airport near Ramsgate, 75 miles from London on the Kent coast. This former RAF base could add a sixth airport to the five already serving London - Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Luton and City.
Sunday, December 03, 2000
Heathrow Airport - what are they waiting for?
My girlfriend Annette in Toronto says:
"an Olympic Games bid...that would motivate them to put things
right...just like it has, finally, in Toronto."
"an Olympic Games bid...that would motivate them to put things
right...just like it has, finally, in Toronto."
Heathrow Airport - different train of thought
My unfavourite airport at London Heathrow (LHR) has risen to fourth in the busiest airports list according to Airline Business magazine.
The airport, to the west of London, handled 30.8 million passengers in the first half of 2000, experiencing 11.5% growth when compared with the same period last year.
That moved LHR up one place to fourth in the rankings on the world list behind first-placed Atlanta Hartsfield International (ATL), Chicago O'Hare (ORD), and Los Angeles International (LAX). London's Gatwick Airport is in 26th place.
All this begs the question when are they going to connect Heathrow with the southern rail network? A four mile spur line to Feltham, on the drawing board for many years, would open up many routes to the south, including a connection to Gatwick.
This would encourage passengers to reach Heathrow by public transport, a stated policy aim, and alleviate pressure on some of the busiest motorways in the world. It would also be a money making opportunity. What are we waiting for?
The airport, to the west of London, handled 30.8 million passengers in the first half of 2000, experiencing 11.5% growth when compared with the same period last year.
That moved LHR up one place to fourth in the rankings on the world list behind first-placed Atlanta Hartsfield International (ATL), Chicago O'Hare (ORD), and Los Angeles International (LAX). London's Gatwick Airport is in 26th place.
All this begs the question when are they going to connect Heathrow with the southern rail network? A four mile spur line to Feltham, on the drawing board for many years, would open up many routes to the south, including a connection to Gatwick.
This would encourage passengers to reach Heathrow by public transport, a stated policy aim, and alleviate pressure on some of the busiest motorways in the world. It would also be a money making opportunity. What are we waiting for?
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