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Intercity Motorail GUV


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I have acquired an intercity swallow motorail GUV vehicle, and am trying to ascertain exactly what services it would have been used on. I think by Time the beige swallow livery came around the days of dedicated motorail trains with cars on flat wagons had past so I'm wondering would it have been attached to daytime trains? Sleeper trains?

Can anyone give any possible examples, especially WR related of types of services these coaches may have been used on in the intercity swallow time frame (late 80s until privatisation)

Many thanks

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1 hour ago, black and decker boy said:

Mainly used on the WCML in the early to mid 90s. There were special

loading wagons created and based, IIRC, at Crewe and Carlisle (plus maybe another?) and working London-Crewe-Carlisle-Glasgow-Aberdeen & Inverness & Fort William.

 

I used to go to Carlisle regularly whilst @ Uni so will see what pics I have.

They were also used on daytime London (Euston) - Edinburgh (Waverley) services around this time.

 

Jim

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They were used on the sleeper services to and from Scotland including the fort William service. They were also used on WCML services saw them being unloaded at Glasgow Central and Carlisle. There was a special wagon which allowed them to be sideloaded. Often thought one of those wagons would make an interesting model.

A good photo can be found here.

https://www.departmentals.com/departmental/96453

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3 hours ago, darrel said:

They were used on the sleeper services to and from Scotland including the fort William service. They were also used on WCML services saw them being unloaded at Glasgow Central and Carlisle. There was a special wagon which allowed them to be sideloaded. Often thought one of those wagons would make an interesting model.

A good photo can be found here.

https://www.departmentals.com/departmental/96453

 

Before the sideloading wagons were used there were dedicated permanent ramps at the loading points. During the era of swallow livery these were at Euston, Carlisle, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Inverness, Fort William. There was also a service from Bristol to Edinburgh but I don't remember where they were loaded at Bristol. I believe there was a facility in Plymouth or Penzance but I can't find a timetable for 1988 or 1989  to confirm.

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I've just stumbled on this topic and it's prompted me to ask about the blue/grey GUV with the Inter-City Motorail legend.

My layout covers up to the end of 1981 (guess why), so would this model be suitable?

Thanks in anticipation.

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That is right (although I couldn't confirm the platform numbers...). The platforms were recently extended (by a sizeable length) to accommodate terminating Azumas and 91/Mk4 sets.

Edited by scottystitch
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I had several trips between Preston and Crewe via Bolton, Victoria and Stockport with diverted weekend trains in the late 80's and early 90's, well remember the odd looking formation of the motorail train. Cl 47 DVT plus coaches Cl90 and the GUVs, interestingly there was no driver on the DVT, so you just hoped the Preston driver had gone back and dropped the pan as you rounded the corner at Euxton! Think I woke a few residents up as we climbed Platting bank, fun times!

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2 hours ago, Crepello said:

I've just stumbled on this topic and it's prompted me to ask about the blue/grey GUV with the Inter-City Motorail legend.

My layout covers up to the end of 1981 (guess why), so would this model be suitable?

Thanks in anticipation.

 

Don't quote me on this, but I think that the blue grey Motorail livery was a bit later in the 80s as they were in plain blue in earlier days.

 

Motorail GUV 96174 Inverness

 

1983

 

BBR-10-139

 

1984

 

26/09/1984 - Carlisle Citadel.

 

1981

 

#A181C-015

 

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3 hours ago, keefer said:

I think the one at Edinburgh was similar to that, in one of the East-facing bays (platform 3 or 4?)

 

3 hours ago, scottystitch said:

That is right (although I couldn't confirm the platform numbers...). The platforms were recently extended (by a sizeable length) to accommodate terminating Azumas and 91/Mk4 sets.

Found a picture on RAILSCOT:

https://www.railscot.co.uk/img/27/437/

Note the caption was written in anticipation of the remodelling/lengthening mentioned by scottystitch

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15 hours ago, montyburns56 said:

 

Don't quote me on this, but I think that the blue grey Motorail livery was a bit later in the 80s as they were in plain blue in earlier days.

 

Motorail GUV 96174 Inverness

 

1983

 

BBR-10-139

 

1984

 

26/09/1984 - Carlisle Citadel.

 

1981

 

#A181C-015

 

That was my gut feeling. Thanks Monty.

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On 06/12/2020 at 11:02, Crepello said:

That was my gut feeling. Thanks Monty.

 

It's actually remarkably difficult to find pictures of them in blue and grey on the internet, so it does make me wonder just how many of them made it into that livery. in fact I could only find one on Paul Bartlett's site and this one on Twitter.

 

 

 

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On 05/12/2020 at 17:15, keefer said:

I think the one at Edinburgh was similar to that, in one of the East-facing bays (platform 3 or 4?)

 

Platforms 8 and 9 it used to be. There were hardly any platforms at the east end at one point with only Platform 1 (as the through platform on the north side), Platform 7 where terminating trains from Kings Cross could arrive in, 8 and 9 where the motorail ramps were and then Platform 10 as the through platform on the south side of the main island. The rest were all filled in at that time.

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A none exhaustive list of B/G Motorail GUVs from P5 books.

 

93337, 93349, 93495, 93656 (NJV?), 93685?

Once they got renumbered the livery data is a bit suspect.

96100, 96101 96103, 96104, 96110, 96111, 96130, 96131, 96133, 96134, 96136-152, 96154, 96155, 96157-96161, 96170-96172, 96175, 96176, 96185-96188, 96190-96194

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When I visited Germany I had  to catch a train out of Hamburg to reach Itzehoe. I was fascinated by the ramps on two of the platforms at Altona station and the fact that the cars to go on the Motorail (Autozug) train were just driven across the passenger concourse. They just put up rope barriers around them. Of course they were driven at breakneck speed...

Linky: Vehicle ramps at Hamburg Altona station

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