I drove behind a Class 37 on the M1 today

[Will Hay]

I honestly can't recall a time I've ever seen a locomotive transported on a UK motorway before, but it was a pleasure to drive behind a Class 37 on the M1 today.

I'll have the footage on dashcam, if anyone interested.

The locomotive itself had a Welsh name, but I cannot remember the name.

[Bulleidboy]

A while back I followed a Mk1 Pullman Coach - "Eagle" up the A34.

[threelink]

Some years ago I was surprised to find myself overtaking elements of a London tube train, again on the M 1 - they were on low loaders, I hasten to say. I believe they were being hauled to Derby for refurbishment/reconfiguration, possibly as a battery powered unit. Whilst not railway related, I was once overtaken on the M6 by a late model steam lorry - the sort with pneumatic tyres - romping along at well over 50 mph. I think it was a Foden, but I'm not sure. Quite a sight, whatever it was.

[Simmo009]

I once overtook a four poster bed on the M40. Not sure, but I think Edd China may have been the driver.

[ModelerXYZ]

Many heritage railways (like my local one) are isolated from the mainline network. Therefore all Locomotives and Rolling stock must be transported to the railway on a low loader by road.

I just wish the road planners would design the roads with this in mind. Every time any rolling stock or locomotive enters/exits our railway, they take out a particular lamp post which has been inconsiderately placed on the only route that a HGV can use to get to our railway.

My local heriage railway is the Swindon and Cricklade Railway if anyone is interested.

XYZ

[TVR1707822112]

Well once a funeral hearse overtook myself whilst driving down a dual carriage way...

[ColinB]

I think while watching the North Yorkshire Moors Railway program, Piglet their workshop foreman mentioned that it was a lot cheaper to send them by road.

[TVR1707822112]

Yes he did.

[96RAF]

Often it is because the visiting loco is out of gauge for the only available track route, hence delivery by truck is the only option.

[Will Hay]

Some years ago I was surprised to find myself overtaking elements of a London tube train, again on the M 1 - they were on low loaders, I hasten to say. I believe they were being hauled to Derby for refurbishment/reconfiguration, possibly as a battery powered unit. Whilst not railway related, I was once overtaken on the M6 by a late model steam lorry - the sort with pneumatic tyres - romping along at well over 50 mph. I think it was a Foden, but I'm not sure. Quite a sight, whatever it was.

 

 

Interestingly, this one I spotted wasn't far from Derby.

I left it at J29 and watched it trundle on south-bound.

Whilst I know I look much younger, I'm fifty-one, and why I've never seen a locomotive on the road before now I'll never know.

I've done enough driving in the 30+ years since passing my test.

[Potterton]

The only one I've ever seen was Flying Scotsman being hauled VERY slowly up Telegraph Hill on the A380 just south of Exeter on her way for a stint on the Paignton and Dartmouth Railway. I can't remember when exactly, but it would have been late 80's/early 90's.

[JJ73]

Well I live nr Buxton, Derbyshire & just outside Buxton is the Health & Safety Executive, & they have a small section of track, & on it (the last time I saw it a few yrs ago) they had an couple of old sections of old 1960's London Underground Rolling Stock on it!!! 🚂

[81F]

I have seen a couple of Mk1 coaches in transit in the past when i used to drive and there was a TV series about a haulage company that specialized in moving railway vehicles.

However, the closest I cam was when a Conflat was delivered to a Heritage Railway I used to volunteer for back in the 1980s.

However, the bigest acheivement I think must have been delivering Pullman Car Orion to PECO. Having walked and driven up that hill with its sharp bend I am still amazed at how they did it.

[VESPA]

Watch out for a programme called "Train Truckers" on one of the smaller channels eg Quest etc and it shows Alleleys moving all sorts of railway items from all sorts of places. I have seen it recently so it may not get another airing for a couple of months. Well worth a watch. We went past "Butler Henderson" some years back on the M6 travelling south.

[Will Hay]

Will do, Vespa, thanks.

[threelink]

@JJ

A bit off topic but I know the H&S depot to which you refer. It is partly in a quarry that was an underground war time bomb store with rail access from the Cromford and High Peak. I believe that the rail entrance was disguised as a shed with rail access, which I think still exists as part of a hauliers yard. So far I have been unable to gain access but wonder if you have? Until recently the whole place was shrouded in mystery because the bombs were chemical weapons which the UK not supposed to have. Surprisingly, the last time I was there the old ruined power station that sits in a field to the east of the road to the H&S site was fitted with active security cameras - I can't imagine why. The area would make an interesting model but would require detailed inspection because few of the features appear on any maps, especially the pill boxes and air defence installations, some of which are in surprising places.

[Brew Man]

Makes one wonder what's in those, 'surprising' places.

[threelink]

@Brew Man

In the case of the power station, absolutely nothing. It was a ruin. The only note worthy thing was the blast walls surrounding it. It was some time before I twigged that they were so constructed as to resist blast from the outside, not the inside. That and the discovery of a pill box with anti aircraft gun mountings, built in a most unusual location, led to the conclusion that all was not as it seemed and the susequent unearthing of the existence of the bomb store. There's quite a bit about it on google now.