DD MOTORING: BRIAN MCDAID EMBARKS ON THE ITALIAN JOB

Working from Home – Motorhome that is:

This week our motoring column comes from the comfort of two brand new motorhomes which we drove for or summer report special in Donegal this week. Mention the brand Hymer to anyone slightly interested in camper vans or motorhomes and you  will have an audience right away. The Hymer are the premier of motorhomes. We had the pleasure of driving a Hymer and also drove a relatively  new brand to the market called Knaus  and tested their  Boxstar 600 Solution.

The plan was only to drive the Hymer but as any motorhome fan will tell you there are so many different types of motorhomes on the market, So the Knaus brand also gave us a lot of food for thought.

As we were waiting to get the Knaus ready for the road at Donaghey Motorhomes in Letterkenny one couldn’t help but notice how many tourists were milling about the outdoor showroom.

After chatting to a few of them they told us that they were part of  a motorhome group of tourists from both the Southern and Northern Ireland and made their way to Donegal for a long week end and made  Donaghey’s Motorhomes  their base for the weekend.

Michael Donaghey  and his staff provide a power supply hookup and with water supply and toilets next door to the their premises in a secure area which is just heaven for holidaymakers to stop and maybe shop for a new motorhome.

The Knaus Boxstar Motorhome:

The best way to describe Knaus Boxstar 600 which we tested is that it is a very high quality built converted high-roof long wheel based panel van. If you are used driving a van these are very easy to drive.

The Knaus that we drove can sleep four in comfort and also has four seat belted seats for when you are on the road. With the temperature heading close to 20 degrees for the first time this year it was nice to avail of the on board air condition in the motorhome as we headed off.

A quick stop  at a filling station to get  coffee and a croissant also gave us a good test to see how good we were at parking this motorhome, You could probably park the Knaus anywhere you could park a van, but because this motorhome was built on a long wheel base van,you might have to plan a bit before you attempts a parking manoeuvre but with the aid of the reversing camera which appears as soon as you select reverse, parking was made easy.

We went down to Grianan of Aileach fort and parked up to enjoy our morning coffee and croissant. On the way there we didn’t notice that the radio was tuned into medium wave or something, so all it would tune into was the cricket, England were playing Sri Lanka !. When I pulled up at the car park I had the door open on a beautiful sunny morning when an English tourist landed over at the door of the motorhome to listen to the game. How are we doing then? he inquired ,as he had a wee nosy around the interior. Grand i replied .

Thankfully the cricket was soon over and my new friend disappeared again. I was  just about to get to work on figuring out how the radio worked when the shipping forecast came on. I just love listing to the shipping forecast, it seem to be for all of Europe, I was sitting looking straight up Lough Swilly from the view point of An Grianan which was like a mirror image of Inch Isle and the hills of Innishowen. then the forecast  comes in for  Spain . gales in the  Bay of Biscay.  I am waiting on Donegal to get a mention, and true to form, after the Faroe’s, Hebrides and Rockall , Malin comes crackling through,
 Malin Head:

Wind, Northerly 4 to 5 occasional 6 later in the east.

Sea State, Slight or moderate.

Weather  Fair.

Visibility Good.

Sure didn’t I know  the visibility was great taking in that great view through the window of our motorhome for the day. Its at times like this that I think of an old man who travelled into Letterkenny on a horse and cart past our home when we were wains and would call out to everyone he met. “ It’s Good to be living”

The Hymer Motorhome 688 Premier Line:

I was a bit nervous when I pulled out with the luxury Hymer onto the open road, The one we drove was finished in a lovely shade of metallic slate grey. You are aware of the wider stance on this coach built motorhome right away but after a couple of miles on a good stretch of road the judgement of it comes quick enough. The 2.3 multijet Diesel Engine has 150 brake horse power which seemed ample to move the luxury motorhome with ease. We are heading over the west of Donegal for the photo shoot of this model and make our way through Kilmacrannan. Just before the turn off for Doon Well a thought flashed through my mind,  I hope I don’t meet anything big on this next narrow section of the N56.

Jesus, Mary and St. Joseph, not one but three Feda O’Donnell busses heading my way. The drivers all kitted in white shirts and sunglasses. I take a quick look in the two drop down wing mirrors to see if I can get any closer to the verge without falling into the field below the road. I am sure I am going to loss a mirror or two,  which will probably end up in Eyre Square in Galway attached to one of these expresses . I am screaming into myself, move over a bit boys. The first bus got past and nothing happened and the other two flew past with no connections made. I would say the three drivers didn’t even know the panic I was in. Their judgement was classic  mine was on a steep learning curve but I have to say that the controls on these motorhomes are so easy operated its  nearly like driving a car really, but just a slightly bigger car.  As we head in to the remote Donegal hillside, the panoramic view out the windows of or motorhome shows just how beautiful our county really is.

The Italian Job:

In summing up these two motorhomes on the road They both are built or powered by Fiat 2.3 multi jet diesel engine, The Knaus has 120 brake horse power and the Hymer had 150 brake horse power, the Knuas would feel slightly more powerful on the road even though it has the lower powered engine. Donaghey’s are also now Donegal’s agent  for Fiat Commercials and with most motorhomes built on Fiats be it converted vans of full-blown coach built  A or B class motorhomes, its a comfort to know that they will be able to cater for most if not all of your needs.

On  the day we were out we met up  with the well known celebrity, Fergus Cleary who was out in his Hymer Motorhome that day, Asking him what was the fuel economy like driving them around, he replied , it would depend on who was driving the bus, He could manage up to 40 miles to the gallon tipping about with ease. but if you drive them on, the fuel consumption would drop. We ask Fergus had he any tips on driving them and he replied Look out for houses! He then showed us were he caught the roof of his motorhome on the spouting of his own house when he was parking his motorhome at the side of his own house.

Chance meeting:

While out on the road this week we could not believe our luck when we met a member of the  County Donegal Railway staff while stopping off for a cuppa in the old village, museum and tearooms in Kilmacrannan,

George McLaughlin originally from Leganahoorrey, Kilmacrannan.was a guard on the County Donegal Railway working on the old trains and railcars up until the last day of December in 1959 when the railway closed for good.

A guard  on the old trains was responsible for the safety of the train and it was the guard’s duty to see that the doors were properly closed and the train is safe to depart, and signal ‘right away’ or clear to depart,was given to the driver. The guard was responsible for seeing that the train ran punctually and if there was a delay the guard had to account for it. They also had to do safety checks involving the train brakes and couplings ensuring they were in good order. The guard was also responsible for checking passengers’ tickets and at the end of the day was responsible for filing a report of safe completion of the journey.

George worked as a guard on County Donegal Railways (CDR) for nine years until it closed in 1959. With no work available for him in his native county he immigrated to Scotland where he got work in Glasgow on there transport system as a bus driver. Its 56 years since the last train ran in Donegal and George remembers  working on the railway as if it was yesterday. He remembers specials or excursions as they were called on the day  to Rossnowlagh  The headed from Letterkenny to Strabane then on to Stranorlar where extra carriages were loaded on the train,  then on to Donegal and eventually to Rossnowlagh, That train had to go on as far as Ballyshannon to the end of the line in order to get the train or railcar turned on the turntable.

He remembers loads of Americans on the train at that time and particularly of them going through Barnesmore Gap. At the time they were considered a bit of a nuisance as they wanted to photograph everything about the old trains and railcars. Thinking about that now he says they were right to record a piece of Irish history. George said it such a pity that the railway closed as it would be such a tourist attraction now for or beautiful county. He is pictured having a bit of craic on the runner board on the present day mode of transport our motorhome as he signals to the driver, (me) to get this yok moved out of the way, as I am blocking in his daughter’s car. It was lovely meeting George and great to hear about the trains that are sadly not a part of our transport system in Donegal no more.

Fuel Watch:

Our fuel prices comes from the capital this week, Lifford.  This week and also join in  celebration of a complete new business.  Conor and Sandra McGettigan have opened a new state of the art filling station with deli and shop, on the approach to LIfford from Letterkenny, which will be opened 24hrs a day. Along with being a great boost to the local economy in providing employment, it also gives motorist from Donegal heading to Dublin at any hour of the day or night a bit of comfort to know that they can fuel up, both their car and also get a bite to eat before the depart  from Donegal. Fuel prices from the new Applegreen outlet will also be very competitive and a check on them proved that this week.  Diesel was 115.9 and Petrol at 131.9 which are some of the best prices for fuel in Donegal we have seen this week.

Happy Motoring folks!

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