I’ve got no idea if this will work.
I think that if I am online, I will get my photos up anyway, because I will link directly back to my photos on my hard drive ■■?
Early this year (Feb 04), I had a load to Italy, routed via the Mont Blanc tunnel both ways.
These photos are from that trip, starting at Aosta (because thats where I bought the camera), heading up to the tunnel from Italy and down the other side into France.
My wagon, parked in front of the Autoport at Aosta.
A view up the hill just before the top.
Parked up for another break , right in front of the entrance, (In a parking area )
This is a shot of the memorial to the drivers who died in the fire. I was too late to get the shot from the bend before, so this will have to do you.
These last three are of the Stilts, the start of the Italy bound climb up the the Mont Blanc Tunnel. They where taken from the driving seat, whilst descending the old road into France.
I really enjoy these “travellogues”, since I no longer get out on the road. Maybe some day I’ll scan a few of my old pic from back when I drove in Quebec…
BTW, are there problems with nervous drivers panicincking on that raised highway? There was a high bridge built a few years ago in Canada connecting PEI to the mainland, and hardly a day goes by when somebody doesn’t freak out when they see how high the bridge is.
AlexxInNY:
I really enjoy these “travellogues”, since I no longer get out on the road. Maybe some day I’ll scan a few of my old pic from back when I drove in Quebec…
BTW, are there problems with nervous drivers panicincking on that raised highway? There was a high bridge built a few years ago in Canada connecting PEI to the mainland, and hardly a day goes by when somebody doesn’t freak out when they see how high the bridge is.
Alex, that raised highway is a ■■■■ sight easier to drive on than the old road up to the tunnel. than it was a two way mountain track with barely room for a trucks mirrors to pass. There were several trucks and drivers fell off the old road or just hit the mountain as they drove round the hairpin bends.
I was just wondering on jobs like
that are there 2 drivers as It got me
thinking when I seen the shot from the
bend It looks like the pic was taken from
passenger side .
It was taken from the drivers side, the way the road is laid out there the ‘down’ road is to the right of the ‘up’ road (the one on stilts) as you go up. If you look at Simon’s last picture where the road on stilts rejoins the hillside, right hand edge of the picture, you can just make out the down road to the right of it.
Alex, as far as I know, nobody has panicked on the way up the hill, on the stilts. Bear in mind, its a pretty steep climb, the majority of wagons will be traveling fairly slowly and its two lanes.
As WheelNut says though, there have been many accidents on the old road, which was two lanes, one each way, but is now the north (?) bound carriageway of a dual. Mainly caused, I think, by overheating the brakes and the truck running away. I missed out on a job because of one of them (no fatalities, just the truck written off).
Coffee’ s right, those pics where taken from the drivers seat as I was coming down on the old road. If I get the chance, get the right shot and my bottle doesn’t go , I’ll try to get one which shows both roads. All of these where taken using single use cameras, most of them on the move.
I hate double manning Convoy. The odd trip I could put up with but not as a regular thing. I wouldn’t take a job double-manning. In a Scania especially, there is only enough room for me and my gear, another driver with his (or her ) gear wouldn’t be practical.
Is the “old road” still open to trucks? Considering the size of that toll, I’d be tempted to drive over thr top rather than pay $250. Here in the US, we have a long tunnel on I-70 in Colorado, but it’s free. Still, the road over the mountain is used by flammable hauliers every day. When I was a kid, that was the only way you could go. We once got stuck in the snow during a storm in June on that road, even with tyre chains.
Alex, what is being referred to as the old road is in fact now the down road, it used to be both ways before the road on stilts was built hence it being called the ‘old road.’ Driving over the top isn’t an option due to weight restrictions etc. The toll is a bit steep, bearing in mind that the Gotthard tunnel in Switzerland is some 6 or 7 Km longer than the Blanc and is free.
, right in front of the entrance, (In a parking area 
)
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