Channel Tunnel ancedotes... I "beta tested" the tunnel a few times before it opened.
One bug we discovered was that it was common for us in the South-East of England to travel regularly over to France, fill our cars up to breaking point with duty-free booze and cigarettes and come home. The problem with the Chunnel trains is that the cars enter at one end and drive through the train. On the way back from France none of our cars could get over the "hump" between the coaches.
They look flat now, so they must have reengineered them:
Second bug was getting out halfway through and walking through the fire escape tunnels. They have a PA system for the fire crews to issue instructions. But it has a 26 mile long echo. So you can't hear anything.
> none of our cars could get over the "hump" between the coaches.
Sounds like feature for the border control to ”randomly” select such cars for a search, to be honest. I don’t think the alcohol-across-borders amounts have changed that much since then.
Back in the days of peak "booze cruise"[1] the ferry companies used to issue every passenger with a leaflet describing exactly what the duty free limits were. You'd go over, max it out and come back.
If border control were to select on this basis they'd spend all day pulling over bearded men in anoraks driving volvo estates, searching their cars and discovering that they have exactly the "right" amount.
One bug we discovered was that it was common for us in the South-East of England to travel regularly over to France, fill our cars up to breaking point with duty-free booze and cigarettes and come home. The problem with the Chunnel trains is that the cars enter at one end and drive through the train. On the way back from France none of our cars could get over the "hump" between the coaches. They look flat now, so they must have reengineered them:
https://runwaygirlnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Ins...
Second bug was getting out halfway through and walking through the fire escape tunnels. They have a PA system for the fire crews to issue instructions. But it has a 26 mile long echo. So you can't hear anything.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/jaguarcarsmena/43994120214/in/...
https://www.theheritageportal.co.za/sites/default/files/styl... (the crossover cavern halfway through)
reply