David Holman Posted January 23 Posted January 23 Good luck to everyone on the north west coast tomorrow. Just checked Belmullet, where the wind is peaking at 116 mph! 2 2 Quote
jhb171achill Posted January 23 Posted January 23 8 minutes ago, David Holman said: Good luck to everyone on the north west coast tomorrow. Just checked Belmullet, where the wind is peaking at 116 mph! They’ll need West Clare carriages on the Ballina branch, with their concrete weights under the seats! 2 1 Quote
Broithe Posted January 23 Posted January 23 Thursday is my standard shopping day, so I'm stocked up for a week+. I've got the shed nice and warm, in case I need it as a lifeboat. The house is oil heated, but having a tank of oil is little use if the electricity to run the burner drops out. Cooking is bottled gas in the house and the shed, so I'll be OK, as long as the roofs stay on. I always keep a few gallons of water straight from the pipe, but there is a large tank in the roof for bulk supplies, if the storage bottles run out. The practice run before Christmas was handy, a lot of the 'battened down' stuff from that is still in place, having not been needed since. I'm well inland and in a fairly sheltered location - I had no effects in the last big storm, but this one looks a bit more violent still. The wheelbarrows are upside down, with blocks on, and the outside worktable has been demolished and placed in a sheltered spot. My nice new drain in the road has a small mud dam, which forms a large puddle. I'll go out now and clear that, while the rain is stopped. All I've got left to do then is worry... 4 1 Quote
skinner75 Posted January 23 Posted January 23 I have a generator in the boiler house that I can fire up to run the oil burner & pump if the power goes. Plan is eventually to wire it back to the fuseboard, so I can run the whole house off it if needs be 2 Quote
Horsetan Posted January 23 Posted January 23 3 hours ago, David Holman said: Good luck to everyone on the north west coast tomorrow. Just checked Belmullet, where the wind is peaking at 116 mph! If anyone has a basement or similar well-drained sub-surface accommodation, now might be a good time to use it.... Quote
airfixfan Posted January 23 Posted January 23 5 hours ago, jhb171achill said: They’ll need West Clare carriages on the Ballina branch, with their concrete weights under the seats! You mean Lough Swiily? Owencarrow anniversary of 1925 next week 1 Quote
jhb171achill Posted January 23 Posted January 23 6 hours ago, airfixfan said: You mean Lough Swiily? Owencarrow anniversary of 1925 next week The West Clare had several carriages with concrete blocks under some seats, as a result of a train blown on its side, plus a wind anemomenter in Quilty station. If the wind reached a certain speed, only these carriages were allowed to be used. If it rose above an even higher speed, all trains were cancelled. The anemometer is at Malahide Castle in storage - Cyril Fry somehow got hold of it. I am hoping it can be displayed at some stage. Tis getting a bit breezy out, boys'n'girls. Time to put the kettle on before a power cut. 4 1 1 Quote
commerlad Posted January 24 Posted January 24 To everyone still able to read these posts (ie. those with power!) Stay safe. 2 Quote
Broithe Posted January 24 Posted January 24 I've survived pretty much completely unscathed. Not even a blip with the electricity. No damage as such, but the windows are covered in sand. It's still fairly windy, with occasional really gusty minutes, so I'll leave the precautions in place for now. Power off all around the area here, but a lot seem to be coming back on quite quickly. A great number of trees down on roads in the area and very little traffic passing by. I've only been out of the gate to look up and down the road, to see if there is anything to be aware of. I've contacted the (even more) elderly neighbours, to see if anything is needed, but they're all in much the same boat as me, so all is well here. 9 Quote
David Holman Posted January 24 Author Posted January 24 Good to hear! We survived the '87 Michael Fish hurricane that wasn't supposed to be. Trees down everywhere, but only lost a few fence panels, though without power for a week. My wife, a notoriously light sleeper, slept right through it, while I was awake most of the night listening to the wind roaring outside. Whether the wind got to 100mph hereabouts I don't know, but it was scary stuff. More recently, we had a red warning, but the eye of the storm passed right overhead - I know this because our aneroid barometer needle actually fell off the bottom of the scale. The pressure was probably about 950, but the wind was negligible, whereas a few miles north and south it was a howling gale. 3 3 Quote
jhb171achill Posted January 25 Posted January 25 5 hours ago, WRENNEIRE said: Looks like all me milk bottles are gone? There’s one in Omagh, at the top of a tree, another wedged in someone’s chimney in Abbeyfeale, half of one in Donegal, and the other is floating in the Atlantic off Venezuela…. 5 Quote
spudfan Posted January 25 Posted January 25 (edited) Our entrance. There is another one down just around the corner. Some minor stuff up at the house. We lost power 9.00am on Friday but it came back on at 11.15pm. Always have a stock of candles in. Regarding heat, I had on a modest sitting room fire and a small one in the kitchen range. I ran the hot water occasionally to keep things right. We are well used these things up here. It was not quite a "Little House on the Prairie " situation as we had a small wind up radio to keep in touch with the outside world. Internet and mobiles were out. We have a landline but since Eircom "upgraded" the broadband the landline now comes through the broadband, ergo no phone. So much for progress. About 9.30pm the snow started. I was beginning to wonder if I had inadvertantly offended someone called Moses. I consoled myself with the thought that the snow would no doubt keep the locusts at bay. At 11.15 pm power was restored so we were lucky. I hear there is another storm brewing.... Edited January 25 by spudfan 7 Quote
Gabhal Luimnigh Posted January 25 Posted January 25 Perfect landing on our chimney, missed the house roof and the glass sunroom roof just behind 12 Quote
spudfan Posted January 25 Posted January 25 Like me, you will console yourself with the knowledge that anything you cut up after this storm will keep you warm during the next one! Tricky enough job to cut that up. Thread safely 2 Quote
commerlad Posted January 25 Posted January 25 41 minutes ago, Gabhal Luimnigh said: Perfect landing on our chimney, missed the house roof and the glass sunroom roof just behind Un Funnily enough, I had just seen your post on NGRM. Might cause a problem to your gutters on that gable when it is cut though. Quote
jhb171achill Posted January 25 Posted January 25 (edited) 4 hours ago, spudfan said: Like me, you will console yourself with the knowledge that anything you cut up after this storm will keep you warm during the next one! Tricky enough job to cut that up. Thread safely We’re in a modern house, so 100% electric and no open fire or oil or gas heating. Our power went off about 7 am, came back about 6pm - for five minutes - then off again. Finally back about 8pm - we were among the lucky ones. Apparently some will be without it for days…. Edited January 25 by jhb171achill 2 Quote
Colin_McLeod Posted January 25 Posted January 25 1 hour ago, jhb171achill said: Apparently some will be without it for days… We were without power from 2:30am Friday until 1pm Saturday. During the recent heavy snow we were without power for four days and without water for three. Hopefully we have now done our share. 3 1 Quote
Broithe Posted January 25 Posted January 25 55 minutes ago, jhb171achill said: We’re in a modern house, so 100% electric and no open fire or oil or gas heating. Whilst I can see why there is a push in that direction, especially for urban housing, I do like the idea of "multiple sources". Power cuts in urban areas will generally be fixed more quickly. I have the (wood-fired) stove in the shed - and an open fire in the house, this is little used and I will fit an inset stove one day, which might see a bit more use from it. Oil-fired Stanley in the kitchen for heating the house, although that does require the electrical supply for it to burn. Gas cookers in the house and shed, from LPG bottles, plus a few camping burners, if things get really desperate. A 'mains failure' light in the shed and in the house - it's fairly dark here, if everything goes* on a dark night. A few torches scattered around. I'm very close to the local substation and, for historical reasons, the spur that I'm on actually only supplies here and one other house, which I can't see clearly from here. Occasionally in the past, it was only just the two of us, but the offending item was eventually replaced and we've had no issue since then. * A year ago next week, I fitted a motor-driven timer for the light in the hall, this is calibrated to turn the light on at sunset, and a cam alters the time to automatically follow the variations of the sunset through the course of the year. This is still operating bang on time, so I know there has been no power cut in that time, even for a few minutes when I've not been here. In fact, I think it is at least four years since the power last went off, apart from when the meter was changed. 2 Quote
jhb171achill Posted January 25 Posted January 25 I think the moral of the story is that we need STEAM as well as diesel. 24 minutes ago, Colin_McLeod said: We were without power from 2:30am Friday until 1pm Saturday. During the recent heavy snow we were without power for four days and without water for three. Hopefully we have now done our share. Masochist!! 2 Quote
airfixfan Posted January 25 Posted January 25 On 23/1/2025 at 12:23 PM, jhb171achill said: They’ll need West Clare carriages on the Ballina branch, with their concrete weights under the seats! You mean Lough Swiily? Owencarrow anniversary of 1925 next week Translink only worked to open Bangor and Portadown line today. New elf and safety rules do not permit railcars to be used for clearance tests! Cannot use blue GMs either as there are no passed drivers left either! Quote
jhb171achill Posted January 26 Posted January 26 42 minutes ago, airfixfan said: You mean Lough Swiily? Owencarrow anniversary of 1925 next week Translink only worked to open Bangor and Portadown line today. New elf and safety rules do not permit railcars to be used for clearance tests! Cannot use blue GMs either as there are no passed drivers left either! Eh? Must be SOMEONE who can drive ballast trains? 1 Quote
airfixfan Posted January 26 Posted January 26 No NIR drivers are now signed off to drive the Blue GMs! Bonkers 1 1 Quote
Galteemore Posted January 26 Posted January 26 (edited) That’s part of the RPSI’s current problem. No one in NI qualified to drive main line steam! Edited January 26 by Galteemore 1 1 1 Quote
Mol_PMB Posted January 26 Posted January 26 I suppose you can't have too many drivers qualified on locos because there isn't enough loco work to maintain their competency. But it ought to be possible to have a few. I'd have thought that for the blue GMs could be in a competence category with the Enterprise GMs. 1 Quote
Thomas Posted January 26 Posted January 26 Think of all of those people with A rated houses that have no power. The green agenda strikes again. Will not have power until next Saturday and water 2 days later. Quote
airfixfan Posted January 26 Posted January 26 Translink have different competence rules for the Blue GMs. Last drivers judged competent were allowed to lapse last year plus another driver retired 1 Quote
Galteemore Posted January 26 Posted January 26 Amazing to think those blue GMs have done longer in service than the SG3 class ! 2 1 1 Quote
spudfan Posted January 26 Posted January 26 5 hours ago, Thomas said: Think of all of those people with A rated houses that have no power. The green agenda strikes again. Will not have power until next Saturday and water 2 days later. Our house was built in 1976 so not a great BER rating but funnily enough it will hold the heat. A lot of people pushing the GREEN agenda live in urban areas. They rarely get long power outages owing to storms and only lose water due to burst mains or low reservoir levels during the summer months. Anyone in a rural area effected by the storms who has no power or water sees things from ground level. If you are in an area without power with an electric car that needs charging you are probably wondering why you spent so much on it and it sitting in your yard. You have no water and Irish Water are hoping to get a gererator to the pumping station to get you water. This will be diesel powered. The blokes and ladies out there in the thick of it trying to get your power sorted will be driving diesel vehicles. I have yet to hear anyone without power saying "I do not want anyone working to get my power back unless they are driving an EV vehicle." Also the crews being drafted in from overseas to repair our network will be driving diesel powered vehicles. We subsidise people investing in putting up windmills to generate electricity who are in it to make a profit. Our power went off this morning and has just come back on. This is probably due to someone out there in this inclement weather working to get more people on to the network. Like I said before we, and others in rural areas, are prepared for these little emergencies but there is another thing I must get for the next one, A clock work train set! 2 4 Quote
jhb171achill Posted January 26 Posted January 26 9 hours ago, airfixfan said: No NIR drivers are now signed off to drive the Blue GMs! Bonkers So what happens when they need a ballast train? Quote
Kevin Sweeney Posted January 26 Posted January 26 My power and communications came back early this afternoon. I was well preped for an event like this, I have a Stanley 8 range for heating and cooking, a rainwater tank for water and a small back up power system, three solar panels, batteries and an invertor. Thanks to my power back up I able to keep my computer and printer working, so the modelling never stopped. Almost as important I was able to keep my e-bike battery charged. Ironically several of my neighbours have big arrays of solar panels on their roof which only feed power to the grid, so they had huge power generation capability but no way to use it. I was at a party on Friday night and cycled home at about 3 am. It was a beautiful starry night and the night sky was amazing to see with no light pollution. 5 Quote
ttc0169 Posted January 26 Posted January 26 Still no power here in south Sligo, however it did give me the chance to complete some Medcalfe building kits both N gauge and OO gauge during daylight hours-with no distractions, No phone,internet access or television has its advantage-the battery operated radio was a welcome addition. 5 Quote
Broithe Posted January 26 Posted January 26 40 minutes ago, Kevin Sweeney said: I was at a party on Friday night and cycled home at about 3 am. It was a beautiful starry night and the night sky was amazing to see with no light pollution. I walked home a couple of hours before that. A minute or so into the kilometre that it takes to get home, I was engulfed in a veritable blizzard. It was of such theatrical proportions that several of the local Brazilian community felt obliged to video the event. It only lasted about fifteen minutes, but if it had gone on for a few hours, it would have been a significant thing, probably surpassing the wind event in people's minds here. We still had the aftermath of it into the afternoon of Saturday, with any hard surfaces being very entertaining to travel over. 1 1 Quote
airfixfan Posted January 26 Posted January 26 1 hour ago, jhb171achill said: So what happens when they need a ballast train? Exactly Quote
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