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Morris Cowley car trains


Michael Delamar
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posted a link to this video on a few seperate threads for other reasons, but at 4mins 17 a long train of tractors on individual wagons.

http://youtu.be/YkgnTonf-Oc?t=4m16s

 

my dad is pretty sure he seen a long train of ford anglia's on individual wagons, sometime in the 1960s and strangely, heading away from Liverpool docks on the route to Halewood.

we've never been able to find any reason for this, he did tell me at one time that he wasnt sure if they where complete cars or bodyshells. his memory is fuzzy on the issue as he was only a kid and it was a long time, but is sure of what cars they where and the direction they where heading.

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Diesel electric locomotive with a freight train at Dagenham, 1966

 

Description: A British Railways Class 47 (Type 4 CoCo) diesel electric locomotive number D1758 pulling a freight train loaded with Ford cars leaving Dagenham in Essex for the car plant at Halewood, in 1966. This was the first train to transport cars on specially-designed 'Cartic' railway wagons.

 

1995-7233_LIVST_TFD_139.jpg

 

http://www.nrm.org.uk/ourcollection/photo?group=Liverpool Street&objid=1995-7233_LIVST_TFD_139

 

Use non-commercially: The photo above is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike (CC BY-NC-SA) licence. In a nutshell, that means it's free for any non-commercial use as long as you credit "© National Railway Museum and SSPL" and add a link back to this page.

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Freight train carrying cars, 1964

 

Description: Class 37 diesel locomotive No D6707 pulling a train carrying Ford cars from Dagenham to Garston, at Harringay Park in London, 1964. By the 1960s industry had turned increasingly on the roads for the transportation of goods, but this photograph shows that even road transport still relied on the railways!

 

1995-7233_LIVST_TFD_108.jpg

 

http://www.nrm.org.uk/ourcollection/photo?group=Liverpool Street&objid=1995-7233_LIVST_TFD_108

 

Use non-commercially: The photo above is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike (CC BY-NC-SA) licence. In a nutshell, that means it's free for any non-commercial use as long as you credit "© National Railway Museum and SSPL" and add a link back to this page.

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  • 2 months later...
  • 1 month later...

One thing to note about the MG traffic is that, if the evidence of photos of the station are to believed, a lot went out in an assortment of end-loading vans long after other car traffic had gone to Carflats of various types. The photos I'm thinking of had various types of four-wheel and bogie CCT/GUVs, with a smattering of MOGOs. Thus a train bound for export might look like a parcels working, rather than a train of clearly-visible cars.

I wonder why they stuck to vans for so long- surely they didn't lack confidence in the waterproofing of their hoods and tonneau covers?

you mentioned this shot in another thread, this train has a mogo in the train and is in the same yard with a GWR toad which apparently where rare in the area , so Im guessing these 2 shots could have been a working to/from Morris Cowley Oxford, but before they started using carflats as there is no date on these shots but look mid-late 1950s

6817117939_78eebd559c_b.jpg
Aintree by Kerry Parker (KP), on Flickr
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  • 3 weeks later...
  • RMweb Gold

Fascinating thread. Never knew there was so much to cars by rail.

 

On a related note, as the proud owner of a Morris Minor Traveller (stop sniggering at the back there...) built in late 1968, & first registered in Central London in Jan 1969 (2 months before me!), would it have been transported from Cowley to London by rail? If so, to where?

 

cheers N

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Fascinating thread. Never knew there was so much to cars by rail.

 

On a related note, as the proud owner of a Morris Minor Traveller (stop sniggering at the back there...) built in late 1968, & first registered in Central London in Jan 1969 (2 months before me!), would it have been transported from Cowley to London by rail? If so, to where?

 

cheers N

 

It may well have gone direct to Acton Yard (or maybe even Kensington Olympia), as the Stewart & Ardern Morris dealership / distributor was just down the road in The Vale, Acton, W3... chances are your Traveller would have been PDI'd and sold from there...

 

post-7638-0-48469100-1374660355.jpg

 

My '68 Mk2 Morris Cooper S came from there as well, I've recently bought some repro Stewart & Ardern stickers for it from here http://www.classiccapsule.com/morris---stewart--ardern-decals--mk1-mini-cooper-minor-3195-p.asp ... (they do S&A tax disc holders too)

 

post-7638-0-20218900-1374660608_thumb.jpg

 

;)

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  • RMweb Gold

Thanks Nidge, that site is a little gem. I havn't yet got any info on who the car was first sold through, I just know that YR is a central London reg, & that it was first registered 13/1/1969. There is no sign of any dealer stickers or a dealer plate in the car.

 

Where is the white plastic dealer sticker located on the car?

 

Back on topic, so there were car trains from Cowley to London then? Presumably Hymek hauled in 69/70?

 

cheers N

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Thanks Nidge, that site is a little gem. I havn't yet got any info on who the car was first sold through, I just know that YR is a central London reg, & that it was first registered 13/1/1969. There is no sign of any dealer stickers or a dealer plate in the car.

 

Where is the white plastic dealer sticker located on the car?

 

Back on topic, so there were car trains from Cowley to London then? Presumably Hymek hauled in 69/70?

 

cheers N

 

If it's still on your car mate the plastic plate would usually be just inside the door screwed to the inner sill (on top of the carpet). A lot of them vanished though so very few have them now (the one in the pic is from someone elses car sadly, not mine!). On some cars they may have been screwed to the dashboard instead.

 

London bound car trains.... there may have been complete car trains or possibly two or three car carrying wagons attached to some other inward working, all of which could be hauled by 22s, Hymeks, Warships or Westerns. There are very few known pics of 22s working anything on the GWML at the London end but the Old Oak batch did manage to get about on some very odd jobs and the occasional booked local trip freights. Most pics of them in the London Division show them either on station pilot duties or on shed!

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  • RMweb Gold

I don't recall any car trains from Cowley to the London area but the workings did tend to change.  There was a Harwich working I believe at one time and that might have detached in the London area?

 

(and just to get Nidge going I had a trip down the Wallingford branch behind a Class 22, no camera alas)

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I don't recall any car trains from Cowley to the London area but the workings did tend to change.  There was a Harwich working I believe at one time and that might have detached in the London area?

I've always assumed (probably incorrectly) the Harwich workings were for export only. This is from Transport Age 30 (Sept 1964) It shows one of the MAT tierwags loaded with Mk 1 Austin1100's and Minis on the ferry. I suppose that transporter may be part of a rake that originated in the Birmingham area: then gone via London? 

post-508-0-38885800-1374686575_thumb.jpg

Porcy

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I don't recall any car trains from Cowley to the London area but the workings did tend to change.  There was a Harwich working I believe at one time and that might have detached in the London area?

 

(and just to get Nidge going I had a trip down the Wallingford branch behind a Class 22, no camera alas)

 

Oh be still my beating heart...! That's it, I'm done for the week...!

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One thing to note about the MG traffic is that, if the evidence of photos of the station are to believed, a lot went out in an assortment of end-loading vans long after other car traffic had gone to Carflats of various types. The photos I'm thinking of had various types of four-wheel and bogie CCT/GUVs, with a smattering of MOGOs. Thus a train bound for export might look like a parcels working, rather than a train of clearly-visible cars.

I wonder why they stuck to vans for so long- surely they didn't lack confidence in the waterproofing of their hoods and tonneau covers?

The MINIs shipped out of Cowley today are carried in covered vans as well... obviously BMW don't trust their waterproofing either!

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  • 3 months later...
  • 1 month later...

I thought this shot of 3 VW camper vans on individual wagons at Winick in 1965 would be of interest, always on the lookout for shots of road vehicles on individual wagons.

 

colour image but watermarked unless you purchase it.

http://www.rail-online.co.uk/GetImage.aspx?id=07b96a50-c217-4e19-9e50-607690d63bf1&type=800

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I thought this shot of 3 VW camper vans on individual wagons at Winick in 1965 would be of interest, always on the lookout for shots of road vehicles on individual wagons.

 

colour image but watermarked unless you purchase it.

http://www.rail-online.co.uk/GetImage.aspx?id=07b96a50-c217-4e19-9e50-607690d63bf1&type=800

I wonder if they were 'Dormobile' conversions from Folkestone? Most single-vehicle loads were MoD traffic, I believe, with Morris Travellers, Land Rovers and AC Invalid Cars predominating.

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  • 4 weeks later...
  • 11 months later...

Just had link to the MACE media archive by axlebox.

Video of Minis and Wolseley Hornets being loaded onto car Flats at Kings Norton.

 

http://www.macearchive.org/Archive/Title/midlands-news-03111964-train-car-carrier-at-kings-norton/MediaEntry/7598.html

 

Driving not quite up to Italian Job standard but you'll get the idea.

 

Should be an interesting resource once they get the rest of the stuff digitised.

 

Railway related stuff here.

 

http://www.macearchive.org/Results.html?&Keywords=railway

 

P

Edited by Porcy Mane
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Just had link to the MACE media archive by axlebox.

Video of Minis and Wolseley Hornets being loaded onto car Flats at Kings Norton.

 

http://www.macearchive.org/Archive/Title/midlands-news-03111964-train-car-carrier-at-kings-norton/MediaEntry/7598.html

 

Driving not quite up to Italian Job standard but you'll get the idea.

 

 

 

Though I could just imagine it being dubbed with Charlie's "Get the... get the wheels in line" and Freddie's "Be very careful!"

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