Railway Road Vehicles.

[48111]

Now,this being a Railway Forum, we do discuss mainly trains and train operations plus a variety of other railway things, which is good and enjoyable, that is what makes this Forum such a good place to be.

However, there is a railway subject which very rarely gets talked about, and yet in the heyday of British Railways, its operation was basically as important as the running of trains.

That subject being the Road Vehicles of "BR" and previous to that the four companys that made up the railways of Gt Britain.

I am sure that if a retired railwayman who never worked on the trains or stations but worked on the road "cartage", joined this forum, he would be most welcome.

Take for instance the LMS EXPRESS PARCEL TRAFFIC.
The Major Player in the road transport for a start was without a doubt the Midland Railway and their vehicles, all of which accounted for over half of the stock taken over by the LMS in the grouping years of 1923.

We should not forget also, that the railway companys, especially the LMS and the GWR actually owned their own buses.
But Railway Road Cartage was a very busy job and one which a lot of people made a career out of, the same as the people on the trains and stations.

A typical LMS goods depot in the 1950s, was a non stop hive of activity 24 hours a day seven days a week and the types of lorries used was a huge variety.
Normal Parcel deliveries, House Removals, Heavy Haulage, etc etc, the list goes on, they, like the other companys moved everything and anything by road.

So the railway did not just revolve around trains and stations, but also the Road fleets, which never got a lot of recognition even in their day. They just got on with the job, in the background and it was amazing how well it worked.


Finally dont lets forget the RO- RAIL bus, an LMS Karrier design and was first tested on the rails on the "Stratford & Midland Joint Line".
Sadly it did not have a long life, it fractured an axle and was withdrawn in July 1932.

All good stuff, and still all Railway.


48111

[wyvern]

Not forgetting the Burton & Ashby Light Railway

[wyvern]

LINKY: Remember the Scammel Scarab?

There's a page on the subject Railway Owned Road Vehicles

[springs branch mickey]

I would have thought that up'til Beeching/Marples, that virtually all road haulage was under railway control. Even BRS was under the railways umbrella. It was only after the Beeching era, that railways went into decline and the private haulier came into being. After this time
bigger lorries displaced the Scammel. Prior to then, the average rail worker, and the railway operated lorry drivers must have felt he had a job for life. Now we have congestion, and a rail network which is a shadow of what it once was. Progress?
mickey

[wyvern]

There were a lot of private road hauliers around before and during the war., but they were in the same run-down state as the railways. However there were lots of ex-army lorries going cheaply on the market and people wanted to start on their own account. You couldn't do that with a railway.

They were nationalised by the 1947 Transport Act as British Road Services at the same time as the railways and the canals all under the British Transport Commission.

Road freight nationalisation finished under the Transport Act 1962 when the British Railways Board was formed, simply because it was so unpopular. Railway lorries and vans I believe faded out when the parcels trade finished.

[locojoe]

When I was a lad my next door neighbour drove one of those mechanical Horse 3 wheel Scammells, really useful little vehicles.

[HM181]

Originally Posted by locojoe

When I was a lad my next door neighbour drove one of those mechanical Horse 3 wheel Scammells, really useful little vehicles.

As a former SAC in the RAF, I was posted to 16MU RAF Stafford.
This place was a massive supply centre for the RAF.
At this time we had Scammel Heads and trailers to move stock around.
Also we had Karrier Bantam trucks to ferry equipment about the huge base.
At one time nearly all stations had big parcel depots, with lots of delivery trucks moving the stuff about.

I can remember the parcel trains out of the PCD at Leeds city Station, and barrow loads of stuff in BRUTES.
I worked such a train from Sheffield Midland to Leeds PCD. This was pulled by 45026 which failed at South Kirby Junction foul of the down GN mainline.
A class 47 came from Leeds upto Moorthorpe Loop and back down on the the rear of the parcels train.
I hooked on, and braked tested the train, and rode on the assisting engine upto Wakefield Westgate.
This assiting engine RR the train at Westgate and then onto the PCD, landing 3 hours late.
From my diary of 27/12/1984
SO Leeds at 16:10, Leeds Turn 457 work 1J 02 to Sheffield (45026) s/off 03:00hrs.
We got 4 hours travelling time to sign on at Leeds and work one on thier jobs

[48111]

Yes I remember the old LMS Goods Depot in Coventry on Warwick Road, that was such a busy place and the LMS lorries delivering around Coventry.
Funnything that has always stuck in my mind, all Railway lorries had Rubber mudguards, black in colour ! Dont ask why that sticks in my memory i couldnt tell you.
I have a collection of die cast British Railway lorries, all small ones, if ever I find a large scale one I will "snap it up".

48111

[HM181]

I test drove my 60's free bus pass from Coventry Station to the Motor Car Museum in the spring.
This museum is a good day out and well worth a visit.
There is a Weatherspoons Pub up the road, Always good for a beef burger and a pint.