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Looks like the NRMA is starting to hurt
from competition from all the other breakdown services or is this just
another marketing campain? (g?) They sent out an interesting (not really*) list of places that currently rort you and can afford to give NRMA members a 15% discount. I must write and thank the brain dead board members who name was attatched. Stuff on motoring, travel(who can afford that), home&lifestyle(OVERLOAD) and online (mynrma.puke and more4members.reech). i wonder if I will really be able to truely share my thoughts like they say. I already know about the RACV bicycle breakdown assistance. Any other suggestions of real benefits that i could suggest? * that is we never shop at any of them. |
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#2
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Looks like the NRMA is starting to hurt
In article ,
terryc wrote: from competition from all the other breakdown services or is this just another marketing campain? (g?) They sent out an interesting (not really*) list of places that currently rort you and can afford to give NRMA members a 15% discount. I must write and thank the brain dead board members who name was attatched. Stuff on motoring, travel(who can afford that), home&lifestyle(OVERLOAD) and online (mynrma.puke and more4members.reech). i wonder if I will really be able to truely share my thoughts like they say. I already know about the RACV bicycle breakdown assistance. Any other suggestions of real benefits that i could suggest? * that is we never shop at any of them. I quite often use the driving route trip planner for planning rides. It is handy being able to print out the directions with distances. Not cycling related unless you cycle at night on country highways but how about getting them to promote transport of cars by train. It would be good to chuck the car on a flat-bed and sit in a carriage overnight to somewhere in Queensland then unload and drive to various attractions. Probably more environmentally friendly too. I saw a TV program about a scheme in Germany where they do not allow B-double trucks to drive across Germany at night so they drive them onto a train and the drivers sit in a carriage and snooze until morning when they unload their trucks and continue the journey. Would NRMA support rail trails if it meant getting bikes off roads? There are plenty of potential train-lines in NSW because the state government run down infrastructure until it has to be repaired or closed. So they close it. The railway line around Byron Bay is a classic example of a suitable rail trail but it needs money and manpower to get it going. regards, 20cents |
#3
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Looks like the NRMA is starting to hurt
On Fri, 22 Aug 2008 03:30:40 GMT
20cents wrote: Not cycling related unless you cycle at night on country highways but how about getting them to promote transport of cars by train. It would be good to chuck the car on a flat-bed and sit in a carriage overnight to somewhere in Queensland then unload and drive to various attractions. they actually had a scheme like this in Qld, I think it died a natural death, though future fuel prices might resurrect it. -- Owen |
#4
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Looks like the NRMA is starting to hurt
On Fri, 22 Aug 2008 03:30:40 +0000, 20cents wrote:
Not cycling related unless you cycle at night on country highways but how about getting them to promote transport of cars by train. It would be good to chuck the car on a flat-bed and sit in a carriage overnight to somewhere in Queensland then unload and drive to various attractions. Probably more environmentally friendly too. Cars are doable, but the NSW gauge is different to the QLD and that means everthing would need to be transshipped at the border (so to speak). I believe the North Coast motorail was dropped because of lack of patronage. Timeliness is that major factor. Basically rail lines in this country are a combination of 18th Century political lobbying and payment per curve installed, followed one by a century plus of poor maintenance and lack of extra investment. FYI, every interstate route out of Sydney going interstate still has a spiral in it (or close to it.West/BM?) The North Coast Motorail, which traversed a single track route for most of the journey, had to compete with the continualy upgraded, rebuilt and realigned Pacific Highway that has been given billions of dollars in the same time. In sections, you could ride your bicycle between towns in a shorter time than the train took. woops... a TV program about a scheme in Germany where they do not allow B-double trucks to drive across Germany at night Weird? That is the best time, when other traffic is off the road. so they drive them onto a train and the drivers sit in a carriage and snooze until morning when they unload their trucks and continue the journey. umm, the program I remember seeing was about overcome the difficulties imposed by that great opportunity for scenic opportunites whilst bicycle touring Europe, more commonly known as the Alps. The problem being that road tunnels through the Alps were choked and that providing the service you described above, it allowed trucks to cart their cargoes to destinations either side of the Alps. This would not be possible in NSW as the existing tunnels just do not allow a rail waggon to caryy a truck carrying a container. Far easier to just stick the container on a rail waggon and collect it at the other end( usually by shunting to a container unloading depot in my neck of the woods now). They also avoid paying for a driver to sleep on the job. That works well for containers travelling Melbourne -- Sydney, but anywhere else, it is far faster to truck it. Would NRMA support rail trails if it meant getting bikes off roads? You are entering a logical inconsistency here. You can not have an effective public rail transport system if you go around ripping up allthe under used rail lines. You are also inviting a tar and feather party. Bicycles are a valid transport mechanism right throughout Australia. that saga of riding on the sheeps back was made possible in part by shears who rode bicycles abetween sheds and people who used bicycles in other areas. Not everyone could afford to buy and keep a horse. Bicycles belong on the road. The NRMA would not have existed if bicycles did not exist. They certainly found them easier to use to provide the intial road service than horse and carts. Note, they seem to be now hiding theose picture of the NRMA bicycle service vans. There are plenty of potential train-lines in NSW because the state government run down infrastructure until it has to be repaired or closed. So they close it. My 2c is that it is wiser to wait until a self sustaining petroleum oil replacement has been found before alienating possible mass transport routes. The railway line around Byron Bay is a classic example of a suitable rail trail but it needs money and manpower to get it going. Just another rail line established by political lobbying. I have forgotten what the long ago reason was for the establishment of that spur line. If you bury it under a bicycle path, how do you recover its use to provide a train service without destroying the bicycle facilities? Further, I certainly wouldn't trade my right to ride my bicycle on the roads around Byron Bay for a single off road route. |
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Looks like the NRMA is starting to hurt
On Fri, 22 Aug 2008 15:11:55 +1000, Owen wrote:
On Fri, 22 Aug 2008 03:30:40 GMT 20cents wrote: Not cycling related unless you cycle at night on country highways but how about getting them to promote transport of cars by train. It would be good to chuck the car on a flat-bed and sit in a carriage overnight to somewhere in Queensland then unload and drive to various attractions. they actually had a scheme like this in Qld, I think it died a natural death, though future fuel prices might resurrect it. Qld had the same problems as NSW, pokey old rail lines meandering across the country side. whereas NSW had all rail routes radiating from Sydney, Qld had a spine up the coast and very little stuff running west. Coal lines mostly. That route up the coast died for the same reason it did in NSW, the slow old railways had to compete with a nice new double lane both way highway up the coast. I think it was 48 hours Cairns to Brisbane in the 70's unless you were very rich and planned an booked ahead. Part of the current problem that is is still easier, faster and just as econmical to FLY to your destination and rent a car for the duration of your trip/holiday. BTDT a few times now. |
#6
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Looks like the NRMA is starting to hurt
Hi
In article 20080822151155.0118cc8f@owens, Owen wrote: On Fri, 22 Aug 2008 03:30:40 GMT 20cents wrote: Not cycling related unless you cycle at night on country highways but how about getting them to promote transport of cars by train. It would be good to chuck the car on a flat-bed and sit in a carriage overnight to somewhere in Queensland then unload and drive to various attractions. they actually had a scheme like this in Qld, I think it died a natural death, though future fuel prices might resurrect it. I presently am living in Finland, where the Finnish Rail has the sama arrangement (cars on a tray back) for getting to Lapland. Given that fuel here is AU$2.57 per liter its unsurprising that its popular. Also (I have to say) that Finalnd has fantastic and well used bicycle paths. I suspect they would be 10 times higher bike usage than Australia. Given the (almost) constant drissel here I think its a great system here. See Ya (when bandwidth gets better ;-) Chris Eastwood Photographer, Programmer Motorcyclist and dingbat blog: http://cjeastwd.blogspot.com/ please remove undies for reply |
#7
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Looks like the NRMA is starting to hurt
20cents wrote:
Not cycling related unless you cycle at night on country highways but how about getting them to promote transport of cars by train. It would be good to chuck the car on a flat-bed and sit in a carriage overnight to somewhere in Queensland then unload and drive to various attractions. Probably more environmentally friendly too. You mean like the trip my CEO and I took last month?. Drove the campervan to Brisneyland, then put it on the train to Longreach before driving back to Melb. The 24 hr train trip was a welcome and (compared to trains like the Ghan and Indian-pacific) relatively inexpensive respite. Moike |
#8
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Looks like the NRMA is starting to hurt
Owen writes:
On Fri, 22 Aug 2008 03:30:40 GMT 20cents wrote: Not cycling related unless you cycle at night on country highways but how about getting them to promote transport of cars by train. It would be good to chuck the car on a flat-bed and sit in a carriage overnight to somewhere in Queensland then unload and drive to various attractions. they actually had a scheme like this in Qld, I think it died a natural death, though future fuel prices might resurrect it. The number of times I've driven up the Hume hwy and wished I could just flag down one of the half-empty flat-bed semis, drive up on the back and ask to be let off somewhere near my destination. Sure would beat the mindnumbing drive and avoid having to play the game of; do I a) slow to 80 in the roadworks and run the risk of having a "professional truckie" go right over me at 100 while flashing his driving lights, or b) stay on 100 and run the risk of hitting the gravel or being booked by NSW's finest. Owen Adrain |
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