Phil
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Post by Phil on Jul 31, 2012 21:40:09 GMT
Just to confirm, the majority of drivers are Stagecoach employees from all over the country (including three from our local town out of a total workforce of only 45 drivers). While they are there they still receive their wages from Stagecoach, though where that money originates from I'm not sure - but I think SC got the big contract to supply bus transport within the complex, and it was then left up to them how to fulfil that contract in terms of both vehicles and staff.
And importing the newest vehicles is nothing new - just watch the Cheltenham Festival (racing) buses; new ones due for London etc. brought in, while local depots have all their best buses pinched and 15yo rubbish brought out of store for the week.
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Phil
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Post by Phil on Jul 13, 2012 9:35:19 GMT
Sorry, I might have been a bit confusing.
The W&C was always unit stock, though it appears that in the early days only one motor car was powered at any one time - power cables over the top of the trains only came later it seems (all a bit vague though).
The CSLR had locos until the advent of Standard stock in 1923 (which was delayed owing to the need to widen the running tunnels to the Yerkes gauge), though a motor car train was run as a (not successful) experimental train in 1899. Indeed the locos had extensive rebuilds as late as 1912.
The Central had locos until the first multiple unit stock in 1903.
The others were the Yerkes tube lines, multiple from the start, from 1906 onwards.
Source - J.Graeme Bruce
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Phil
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Post by Phil on Jul 13, 2012 6:05:19 GMT
I can't remember which one it was now, but one of them showed 09ts in build in the factory.......then it being delivered by road and lowered in through the whole at Waterloo.......major faux pas!! Yes - inaccuracy in detail, but the actual shots of the 92ts being lowered in after refresh was great to watch - I'd not seen it from that angle before. The programme seemed to be suggesting the London tube system had to wait till the NYC Subway opened in 1904 before it got electric traction. So was it steam before then? ;D But any comment about waiting until the NY subway gives the wrong impression, electrification came when the technology and time were right, without reference to developments elsewhere. In part, yes. The Sub Surface Lines (Metropolitan and Metropolitan District Railways were steam from opening (from 1863 on), electrified mainly in about 1905 (north from Harrow later), one or two bits slightly earlier. Actually they explained that bit in great detail (but it wasn't esay to listen to). They made it clear that the great leap was multiple unit control that was the changer. CSLR and central were indeed electrical from the start but used (very heavy) locos which had to run round at each end every time. And yes, the Met and district WERE steam until the Sprague system was advenced enough to apply it here - after a few dabbles testing third rail vs overhead.
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Phil
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Post by Phil on Jul 12, 2012 18:04:49 GMT
Tried to see if anyone has started a similar thread, but the ever-helpful search facility comes up with nowt....... Programme was on Channel 5 wednesday, but is repeated Friday (13th) at 1900 (Channel 5). Good basic programme in teh usual vein of C5 engineering documentaries. Excellent description not only on the building of Canary Wharf stations but also things like how (and why) they built one of the stations on the Paris Metro on the surface then gradually sunk it into the earth............. Worth a watch if you're that way inclined .
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Phil
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Post by Phil on Jul 8, 2012 8:17:24 GMT
New drivers won't necessarily want to admit they need help because its instilled in them that their training means they should be able to act alone and get the thing moving again. Whilst that might well be true, drivers are only human and forgetting something shouldn't mean they automatically face the firing squad. Asking for help from a fresh perspective can actually be a good thing, and if it gets the train moving....well wasn't that the aim in the first place?!!!! Yes, going from personal experience of (old) BR-standard training on driving first generation DMUs, your exam involved all sorts of faults and failures and you were expected to remember how to fix them all - - - but it didn't stop them giving you a little booklet on "Faults and Failures", which you were encouraged to carry with you in the cab!!! The logic is faultless - you should know how to do it all, but if as said above you don't see a particular fault for five years you'd be lucky to remember the sequence to test/fix it, especially if it goes to eight or nine stages. As said above, we're all human and our brains have limited storage (in most cases).
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Phil
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Post by Phil on Jul 6, 2012 8:48:05 GMT
On an unrelated note does anyone know of journeys were faster due the lack of Canada water station stop? ELL? Speed? What's the link? ;D ;D ;D .
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Phil
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Post by Phil on Jul 6, 2012 8:38:40 GMT
This post is a digression to the main thread, but totally relevant to the person involved. Please ignore if not interested.
Note: this post is ANTI-discriminatory so please don't interpret it the wrong way round
I have worked with quite a few guys, mainly on the buses, who are 'thick'. They are without exception genuine nice friendly guys who' do anything to help you out and who everyone gets on well with, coz it's impossible not to. But some of them KNOW they're 'thick' and feel embarassed about it (even though the rest of the workforce don't care a jot). These guys always feel they have to PROVE they're up to the job in hand so often try extra hard - perhaps too hard - in difficult situations. In bus terms this meant keeping driving in really hazardous weather when all else had stopped; bringing home a bus with a potentially serious defect "so's not to let anyone down"; not claiming overitme when late and all sorts of thing trying to prove they were as good as the rest - - - when all the rest of us knew that anyway.
I suspect that was the psychological profile of the t/op involved here. He (felt he) HAD to get the train home or his mates would have thought him stupid. By going too far and doing what he did, in fact he proved the very point he was trying to contradict.
No wonder I feel sorry for him.........Edit: I have now been told by someone who knows him well and has worked with him that the above profile is, in his words, "spot on" .
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Phil
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Post by Phil on Jul 6, 2012 8:19:10 GMT
As regards the investigation, I consider the main cause to be the operator and levels of competency and training. At the end of the day, the door interlock cut out was operated incorrectly. If easily confused, there could have been any number of things that led to the operator switching the wrong switch. The Round Train was also cut out incorrectly, which could also have led to an incident. It's too easy to judge - yes he was a person easily confused in a crisis *, but there again the modifications to the system changed the SE warning light so it would go out if the relevant button was pressed even if the fault was still there - - - - - and nobody thought it necessary to retrain the t/ops on the change. So there he is, he's got a sensitive edge fault. He goes through procedures and the warning light goes out. But he still can't get power and the book says nothing about the situation. No wonder he panicked if he was a nervy sort of guy. But it seems he was TOO conscientious, unlike most. Almost all other t/ops would have taken the train out of service there and then - but for the sake of the passengers (and the full platform after over 2 min dwell time) he decided to try to make it go with all the cutouts isolated - - "THAT WAY BE DRAGONS" . The rest was virtually inevitable after this. Having been through the t/op technical selection process myself, I doubt he'd have a chance of passing the tests now - but you can't sack a guy who's passed all procedures at the time of his recruitment. Technology moves on apace - perhaps his brain is just not wired to. Despite all that, if the change in the warning light process had been passed on to drivers he would almost certainly have been able to follow procedures and get moving properly. I have a lot of sympathy for him. * See below
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Phil
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Post by Phil on Jul 5, 2012 15:58:02 GMT
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Phil
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Post by Phil on Jul 5, 2012 10:58:57 GMT
That's great fun. Shame the criminals couldn't even resist that one - I presume they're the type that destroy the public play equipment specially set up for the use of their own younger brothers and sisters.....
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Phil
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Post by Phil on Jul 5, 2012 10:54:45 GMT
Yes - in those days the idea was, that if a train became defective, just the half that was defective could be removed and another good 'half' attached.
Obviously, since on a given train either half could be the defective one, the spare 'halves' needed to be able to couple at either end, so themselves needed a cab at both ends.
Since then it has been considered cheaper to keep no spare 'halves' (double ended units) and instead treat each train as a single 6- or 7-car unit. So if one car becomes defective the whole train is out of service till it's fixed........
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Phil
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Post by Phil on Jun 22, 2012 21:52:52 GMT
With the use of a strobe light and the markings on the wheels they actually proved, somehow, that there is a point at which one wheel moves in the opposite direction to the other at a certain radius of curve. The wheel itslef can't be travelling in the opposite direction - obvious!!! (ALthough it CAN be stationary at minute times). What the experiment showed was that the FLANGE of the wheel would under certain conditions be moving opposite to the directi0on of the train.
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Phil
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Post by Phil on May 29, 2012 6:46:50 GMT
I can see why Buses are restricted but why are vans/Minibuses restricted? I know my minibus which we rented once was restricted to 62mph it was a 16 seater iveco daily. However with it being non- comerical I can't understand why it was? OH, poor, poor jardine01. Speed obsessed AGAIN!!! The reason is simply risk assessment. A coch or bus travelling at 70mph has 27% more (kinetic) energy than at 62mph so the effect on passengers in a crash is much higher. And a line has to be drawn somewhere so 62 (a nice round 100 in metric) is deemed appropriate. And why should non-commercial passengers be at more risk than commercial ones? Why are there any speeds? Why still no 80mph on motorways despite many of the safety organisations say it would be safer (though some don't)? The answer is calculated risk by the risk experts.
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Phil
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Post by Phil on May 16, 2012 21:56:27 GMT
I am going to keep quiet on this post but at least I don't feel as bad as other users are getting a telling off! Thread drift does happen on forums its quite easy to talk about something else and make it an issue Two things to cheer you up: First, in this case there was no thread drift. The OP was so vaguely worded thaat almost any answer could have been given. All the later posts were well within the topic of the orginal. Second, on this forum we have some pretty efficient mods. They watch, and if a thread drifts into something else interesting they pretty rapidly split it off and start a new thread leaving the old one to continue. Only if a thread drifts into something irrelevant to LU, or people start sniping at each other, do the mods step in to sort things out.
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Phil
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Post by Phil on May 15, 2012 6:40:35 GMT
I suggest you lock this thread now the topic has evolved beyond my original question and now has no relevance. ADMIN COMMENT: sorry, you are totally wrong my friend. The question you asked in the thread title has not only been answered but far more than answered and you should be truly grateful. There are not many forums where you can ask professionals (T/ops in this case) and get back direct complete answers within hours.
And as for thread drift? Impossible because you made the title so vague - our Central drivers could have told you anything and still answered the question as per thread title.
Despite that, and your complaints, your question has been answered more than once by our professionals - the fact that there is no record of the relevant DVA does not seem to have struck you yet.......
.......And after you demanded we lock it you have still made TWO more contributions so it can't be that uninteresting to you.I suspect there's more good stuff still to come here, so carry on folks: I for one am enjoying it and am learning .
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Phil
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Post by Phil on May 14, 2012 21:56:27 GMT
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Phil
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Post by Phil on May 12, 2012 22:45:45 GMT
The whole film is propaganda at its best - "War? - What war?" If we weren't told the date we'd never know that things were not just as they'd always been. Mind you - some of those low-down close-up shots of moving trains beggars belief considering the crudity of the filmiing equipment at the time. H&S? What's that? ;D
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Phil
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Post by Phil on May 12, 2012 22:39:11 GMT
Somebody did say some decades ago that computers without eyes could be more of a problem than a solution - - - how true!!!
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Phil
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Post by Phil on May 12, 2012 22:32:22 GMT
Trains need current to move. You can have a HUGE voltage (remember the Van De Graaf generator from school?) but if there is no current there will not be any motion. So, disconnecting/tripping may remove the voltage but it's the lack of current that stops the trains moving. *Of course, for the specialists, resistance is part of the equation, but electrical power is defined as (current 2x resistance) - voltage does not appear here in its own right . *That's why you can be killed by a mains current at 230V but only get tickled by the Van de Graaf generator at 50 000V.
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Phil
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Post by Phil on May 9, 2012 21:45:09 GMT
...in fact,the picture posted by Phil seems to lead us to conclude that people have become less educable over time,rather than more... In real terms, what's happened it that common sense (education) has been totally replaced by elfin safety (other officials' thoughts) and we all know that elfins can go where they like and do what they want........
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Phil
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Post by Phil on May 7, 2012 5:36:03 GMT
Would not be allowed, might bruise someone.... It would be successful though at keeping people out of doors, get hit and you would not do it again! How about a Boris train with the doors left open. Time for this pic again - see, there's nothing new! Regular occurrence with hand-worked doors in the summer. And as for faster closing doors, you should have tried using the EDO set of 59ts on the Picc. No warning, lightning-fast closing and being electric motors no way of forcing them back or keeping them open ..........but then nobody bothered much about the visually mattered here at least...
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Phil
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Post by Phil on May 6, 2012 17:09:01 GMT
vic09; jardine01:
Please in your youthful igonrance will you stop slagging off stuff you don't understand in detail.
Firstly, assuming the simulator (at great cost as mentioned above) was the same as deisgned for training drivers and you, the public ought to be grateful that such a thing was released for the LTM - I remember when the LTM 'simulator' was a black-and-white film behind a desk - no controls at all and just Kings Cross to Farringdon.
Secondly, the simulators are primarily designed for driver refreshers rather than initial training (to simulate impossible events like trees falling on front of trains......) so things like 'feel' and correct saound is irrelevant to those using it.
I know what I am talking about - I was privileged to spend a whole afternoon on the Northern sim at Edgware a couple of years ago, and even to me, an experienced diesel driver, the lack of 'feel' made it almost implssible to for me stop on the mark. But to those driving the 95s every day it didn't make a scrap of difference since they drove by 'look' and other things.
A lot of the older forum members are getting a bit fed up with some of our 'know-it-all' youngsters who criticise destructively anything they happen not to find totally acceptable: these youngsters should be grateful for what IS available to them.
And, by the way, how can a 14 or 16 year old know how "unrealistic to the real thing" the sim is? Unless of course they have had the privilege of official cab-rides AND taken the controls??
And if you want brand new ones all you have to do is find the (huge amount of) money then donate it to the LTM - I'm sure they'll be ever-so-grateful.
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Phil
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Post by Phil on May 4, 2012 10:04:06 GMT
Does the Evening Standard offer an online version of their paper? One click on Google search, laddie : www.thisislondon.co.uk/
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Phil
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Post by Phil on Apr 28, 2012 7:15:57 GMT
I thought that Ben was saying that TfL are sometimes (or I think often) economical with the truth and that LU staff on here either do or want to tell the truth [but are then fearful of disciplinary action using LULs Code of Conduct. This was how I read Bens post. Thanks for that input guys - there's often more than one way of reading a post and the pressure on LU staff must be huge at times, and the admin team are very protective of our LU staff members - but aren't you two still (politely) making the same allegations about a "respected" employer ? It's damned if you do, damned if you don't. IF LU genuinely didn't know EXACTLY what that train hit for a while, then they really were on the biggest loser, at the mercy of the press and the social media freaks, and in a way the most responsible (least irresponsible) thing to do was to say absolutely nothing till some facts were known......................but that then starts the rumour/disaster mill.
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Phil
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Post by Phil on Apr 26, 2012 21:51:15 GMT
Common sense is really lacking in some people these days... Yes, but look what sort of a 'car' he is driving and you'll see the truth of your own comments ;D .
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Phil
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Post by Phil on Apr 26, 2012 11:55:52 GMT
It's funny we are surrounded by all this media yet we have come to the conclusion of: absolutely nothing. All these websites may as well be pure speculation, there are now tonnes of pages worth of reports on a google search about everything from a "bulging wall due to heavy rainfall" to a "minor defect". I'm not going to believe TfL, RMT or anything the papers say until some solid facts come out. In view of the current hype and stupidity of the press, reporting without any facts, it's well to remember it's not new and could be far worse............... .......................like as in the (current so relevant) reporting of the Titanic disaster at the time. Several publications produced articles, just to fill space, of the "lucky events that meant no lives were lost". That included one or two of the 'respectable' ones at the time. Total reassurance to worried relatives - - BEFORE any of the facts were known. And another reminder of "things in tunnels". Remember the incident on the Central where a heavy bag was disturbed from its resting position in a recess after engineering works - and caused total chaos on the line for hours? www.raib.gov.uk/publications/investigation_reports/reports_2008/report032008.cfmWhy not something similar here - OR NOT? We don't have the facts yet, do we? But the world and his dog all want answers now - seemingly regardless of the facts in the view of certain of the press....
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Phil
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Post by Phil on Apr 24, 2012 9:59:55 GMT
In a somewhat bizarre solution to the problem, I finally, more in hope than expectation, swapped the router for another one absolutely identical apart from the serial number (it had previously been used as a repeater until the system was changed some months ago). And the problem disappeared.
I guess one of our computer boffins will be along to explain at some stage, but also the download speeds have increased by 10% simultaneously.
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Phil
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Post by Phil on Apr 21, 2012 12:20:50 GMT
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Phil
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Post by Phil on Apr 19, 2012 13:24:59 GMT
Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600] (C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp. C:\Documents and Settings\Phil>tracert www.districtdave.co.ukTracing route to www.districtdave.co.uk [213.171.218.9] over a maximum of 30 hops: 1 1 ms 1 ms 1 ms voyager.home [192.168.1.1] 2 34 ms 33 ms 32 ms lns11.the.dsl.enta.net [188.39.0.2] 3 32 ms 33 ms 32 ms gi1-1.the.dist.dsl.enta.net [188.39.0.1] 4 32 ms 32 ms 32 ms te2-2.telehouse-east3.dsl.enta.net [78.33.141.81 ] 5 32 ms 33 ms 32 ms te5-2.telehouse-east.core.enta.net [62.249.192.1 21] 6 33 ms 33 ms 36 ms linx.bb-c.the.lon.gb.oneandone.net [195.66.224.9 8] 7 37 ms 41 ms 37 ms te2-1.prt0.fhcon.fasthosts.net.uk [88.208.255.57 ] 8 38 ms 38 ms 38 ms po-96.prt0.fhdis.fasthosts.net.uk [88.208.255.97 ] 9 38 ms 39 ms 38 ms te2 [88.208.255.5] 10 38 ms 39 ms 41 ms server213-171-218-9.livedns.org.uk [213.171.218. 9] Trace complete. C:\Documents and Settings\Phil> C:\Documents and Settings\Phil>tracert www.images.districtdave.co.ukTracing route to www.images.districtdave.co.uk [213.171.218.4] over a maximum of 30 hops: 1 1 ms <1 ms <1 ms voyager.home [192.168.1.1] 2 33 ms 33 ms 32 ms lns11.the.dsl.enta.net [188.39.0.2] 3 32 ms 32 ms 32 ms gi1-1.the.dist.dsl.enta.net [188.39.0.1] 4 32 ms 33 ms 32 ms te2-2.telehouse-east3.dsl.enta.net [78.33.141.8 ] 5 32 ms 33 ms 32 ms te5-2.telehouse-east.core.enta.net [62.249.192. 21] 6 33 ms 32 ms 33 ms linx.bb-c.the.lon.gb.oneandone.net [195.66.224. 8] 7 37 ms 38 ms 37 ms te2-1.prt0.fhcon.fasthosts.net.uk [88.208.255.5 ] 8 38 ms 37 ms 38 ms po-96.prt0.fhdis.fasthosts.net.uk [88.208.255.9 ] 9 38 ms 37 ms 37 ms te2 [88.208.255.5] 10 38 ms 38 ms 38 ms server213-171-218-4.livedns.org.uk [213.171.218 4] Trace complete.
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Phil
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Post by Phil on Apr 19, 2012 11:23:08 GMT
FIRST: Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600] (C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp. C:\Documents and Settings\Phil>nslookup Default Server: voyager.home Address: 192.168.1.1 > www.images.districtdave.co.ukServer: voyager.home Address: 192.168.1.1 Non-authoritative answer: Name: www.images.districtdave.co.ukAddress: 213.171.218.4 > server8.8.8.8. Server: voyager.home Address: 192.168.1.1 *** No address (A) records available for server8.8.8.8. > images.districtdave.co.uk Server: voyager.home Address: 192.168.1.1 Non-authoritative answer: Name: images.districtdave.co.uk Address: 213.171.218.4 > SECOND: > tracert www.images.districtdave.co.ukServer: www.images.districtdave.co.ukAddress: 213.171.218.4 DNS request timed out. timeout was 2 seconds. *** Request to www.images.districtdave.co.uk timed-out > Router is BTVOYAGER 2100
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