Longbridge and Small Heath automotive traffic

[Harbornite]

I've got a few enquiries about the automotive traffic to/from these particular sites:

When did Austin Rover cease loading cars onto cartics at Kings Norton and switch to using sidings at Longbridge? I suspect it was the late 80s but I haven't been able to pin down an exact year

What year were the cargowaggons (that were used on car component trains from Swindon to the Longbridge plant) replaced by KSAs? I was told once but I can't remember, was it around 1996?

Some cars were tripped to Washwood Heath, where did they go next?

Was Southampton the main destination for Rover exports?

What day did the last Swindon- Longbridge component train run? MG Rover hit the fan in 2005 and I know it was in that year that rail traffic obviously ceased, but again I don't know the exact day or the class 66 that was used.

Where did the recovered components from Longbridge East signal box end up?


Now some questions about Small Heath. I have seen pictures and google earth images of Land Rovers being loaded here, bound for Italy, in the 1990s.

When did Land Rover start loading cars at Small Heath, as opposed to Dorridge where loading had previously taken place, and when and why did Land Rover cease using Small Heath Yard for this purpose? In their defence, they still send a lot of their finished products by rail, albeit from Halewood (and Jaguar are still committed to rail, with frequent trains from Castle Bromwich).

Thanks in advance.

 

[BantamMenace]

I'm nowhere near old enough to speak for the specific question you asked about Jaguar Land Rover but as an employee of theirs now I can inform you that we are very committed to rail exports as far as Southampton where cars are shipped to over 80 countries worldwide.

Our new plants in Brazil and Slovakia were/are being deliberately built alongside railways with good connections with a view to potential use in the future. There is potential in the future for cars to be shipped back to the UK from Slovakia by rail and through the tunnel.

 

[Harbornite]

I'm nowhere near old enough to speak for the specific question you asked about Jaguar Land Rover but as an employee of theirs now I can inform you that we are very committed to rail exports as far as Southampton where cars are shipped to over 80 countries worldwide.

Our new plants in Brazil and Slovakia were/are being deliberately built alongside railways with good connections with a view to potential use in the future. There is potential in the future for cars to be shipped back to the UK from Slovakia by rail and through the tunnel.

The auto industry has been a good customer for the railways, with Jaguar or JLR sending something like 75% of the exports by rail. It's good that cars are sent from Halewood and Castle Bromwich by rail, but I'm interested in why cars from Solihull are no longer sent by rail. At one stage they were loaded at sidings near Dorridge station, then they were loaded at Small Heath (I am aware that there was a plan to build a branch line to Lode Lane but this never happened)

I have been following JLR's recent developments with interest and it's good to know that the new plants are being built near railways.

 

[ChiefPlanner]

Some cars were tripped to Washwood Heath, where did they go next?

Various locations - Bathgate / Harwich Parkeston Quay , Southampton and Morris Cowley for temporary storege , then back out (often by rail) to the ultimate destinations. The Cowley shuttle often ran 3 times day , - the all time record for loadings were one day in lae July 1988 when Longrbdge loaded over a 1000 cars to rail in 24 hours.

 

[Harbornite]

Thanks for that, Chief Planner.

 

[ChiefPlanner]

Thanks for that, Chief Planner.

Also had a very lucrative flow of car parts from Swindon to Longbridge which was twice daily , via Stroud and the Lickey (banked up by Saltley diagram T53) and then reversed at Kings Norton.Also a Morris Cowley - Longbrige of VTG vans (oftn hauled by an NSE Oxford based class 50 !)

ARG were good to deal with (once we had overcome some operational problems)

Another flow of finished cars was Longbrdge to Dover - the splendidly named "Military Sidings"...

 

[Philip Phlopp]

Also had a very lucrative flow of car parts from Swindon to Longbridge which was twice daily , via Stroud and the Lickey (banked up by Saltley diagram T53) and then reversed at Kings Norton.Also a Morris Cowley - Longbrige of VTG vans (oftn hauled by an NSE Oxford based class 50 !)

ARG were good to deal with (once we had overcome some operational problems)

Another flow of finished cars was Longbrdge to Dover - the splendidly named "Military Sidings"...

Do I remember correctly when I recall Rover Group were the first to send vehicles through the Channel Tunnel when it opened ?

Also of note, there's the now aborted plans for the Solihull rail connection, 2.5 miles of new track from the WCML. I'm useless and have lost the map and consultants report, but I seem to recall it was going to diverge from the WCML just south of Birmingham International (immediately after the point it passes under the M42) and loop round through Bickenhill into the eastern side of the plant.

 

[ac6000cw]

Also had a very lucrative flow of car parts from Swindon to Longbridge which was twice daily , via Stroud and the Lickey (banked up by Saltley diagram T53) and then reversed at Kings Norton.Also a Morris Cowley - Longbrige of VTG vans (oftn hauled by an NSE Oxford based class 50 !)

ARG were good to deal with (once we had overcome some operational problems)

Another flow of finished cars was Longbrdge to Dover - the splendidly named "Military Sidings"...

In the late 1970s (when I used to train-spot quite a lot at New Street) some of the Longbridge trains used to go via NS and the West Suburban to avoid a reversal, but I don't know if they were Swindon or Cowley workings.

 

[Harbornite]

Also had a very lucrative flow of car parts from Swindon to Longbridge which was twice daily , via Stroud and the Lickey (banked up by Saltley diagram T53) and then reversed at Kings Norton.Also a Morris Cowley - Longbrige of VTG vans (oftn hauled by an NSE Oxford based class 50 !)

ARG were good to deal with (once we had overcome some operational problems)

Another flow of finished cars was Longbrdge to Dover - the splendidly named "Military Sidings"...

I mentioned the Swindon component trains in my initial post, I was wondering when the VTG wagons were replaced by KSAs (some time in the 90s). However I had forgotten that there were trains from Oxford as well, so cheers.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

In the late 1970s (when I used to train-spot quite a lot at New Street) some of the Longbridge trains used to go via NS and the West Suburban to avoid a reversal, but I don't know if they were Swindon or Cowley workings.

I wasn't aware of this either, thanks for sharing that!
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Do I remember correctly when I recall Rover Group were the first to send vehicles through the Channel Tunnel when it opened ?

Also of note, there's the now aborted plans for the Solihull rail connection, 2.5 miles of new track from the WCML. I'm useless and have lost the map and consultants report, but I seem to recall it was going to diverge from the WCML just south of Birmingham International (immediately after the point it passes under the M42) and loop round through Bickenhill into the eastern side of the plant.

I had heard about the plans for the rail link, shame it didn't go ahead.