Unusual Babysitting

[stan_deezy]

So there I was yesterday, first day back on duty after a fortnights leave and immediately got deployed to babysit a tank :^

Our local army garrison has a mechanised unit attached and they had been out on basic road driving training when one of the vehicles broke down on a small slip road exit off a busy dual carriageway.

Chatted with the commander, who informed me it was a common problem, a simple nut and bolt holding the accelerator together had come adrift. they could fix it at the roadside but it would take an hour due to the amount of internals that would need to be removed to access the failed part.

While we were waiting for the repair I got chatting to the vehicle commander: turns out the six guys with him had just completed basic training and this was them getting taught how to drive tracked vehicles before deployment to Iraq. The "tank" was actually a tracked APC built in 1956 :^ I laughed and commented that at least they'd get "modern stuff" when they got to Iraq. The commander just shook his head and said "No, it'll be the same age as this one"...................now that is shocking!

The story doesn't have a happy ending either: once they'd fixed the accelerator linkage we arranged to give them an escort due to the heavy traffic to get them off the road at the next service station.................as they pulled out onto the main road the blooming thing broke down completely with suspected gearbox failure.

You should have seen the traffic jam :''(

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Unusual Babysitting

Wow. Obviously older than the mechanics and operators. You probably would have done them a favor and let someone steal the APC.

Makes you think what else are they using that is that old.

 

[alden135]

Re: Unusual Babysitting

on a small slip road exit off a busy dual carriageway.

Got tons of those here in NH.d

 

[Kenneth Brown]

Re: Unusual Babysitting

I just like to listen to Stan talk.

 

[stan_deezy]

Re: Unusual Babysitting (Updated!)

Re: Unusual Babysitting (Updated!)

I just like to listen to Stan talk.

Thank you KB, I bet it must be fun trying to dechiper half the terms I use d

Well, last night produced a cracker.......a definite contender for the Darwin Awards :^

On patrol we spot a small recovery truck (aka a Beaver Tail). It was on the shoulder but was being pushed by two young guys. Problem was that the driver wasn't doing a good job of steering it and it was drifting into the live lane (running lane) of the motorway :^

Stopped them and asked what the problem was: answer, a seized engine. Oil and water was pouring out from the engine. Asked them where they were headed and the response was "London". Hmmmm, that's about 300 miles away d

I asked if they intended to push the vehicle all the way there and they replied that they would if no-one stopped to help them with a tow...................now one of the many problems with that plan is the shoulder doesn't run much more than another mile before it stops for a few miles and you are in five lane highway

I said "You're not from around these parts are you?" to which they replied that they were from Poland, ah ha! The plot thickens. Turns out they had tried to wave down a passing truck but no-one would stop (well, it's difficult to stop a 44 tonne vehicle at 60 mph for two nutters isn't it?
Now the solution was simple, they just needed to join a recovery service at the roadside and they'd get towed off my motorway and I'd be happy but they were insisting on being towed to London. They even offered me a bribe to tow them 8) but I declined (I prefer to keep my job!).
Eventually they got a recovery truck to come out and after some pretty heated negotiations agreed a huge price and were towed back to London.

You can guess the cost of being towed 300 miles? No change from US$1800 (£1000 for my UK buddies!)

The vehicle itself was a wreck and probably worth US$500 max o

 

[Kenneth Brown]

Re: Unusual Babysitting

It is Stan, lots of fun. They say us Texans talk funny but I don't know, you Scots are pretty hilarious.