Motorail - any info?

[NightatLaira]

Interesting story from when I drove my car onto the Hamburg Altona (Germany) - Alessandria (Italy) overnight car train. I got directed onto the 'the top deck' of the open car transportor wagon. When I stepped out of the vehicle I found my head to be about 2 feet away from a 25kv catenary (I could hear the buzzing) - I'm 5'11''. I could have probably have touched it should I have wanted to!!

I also found nothing but a double steel cable wire barrier protecting me from the top-deck to a 4metre drop to the platform below (platforms are lower on the continent)

=> British Health and Safety would have had a fit!! But it was a great journey however...

 

[Oliver]

In pre-Motorail days there was a steam hauled car-train service on the Southern, from Wimbledon to Okehampton. The roads through Honiton and Exeter were totally jammed on summer Saturdays. I think there was also a shorter service across Devon at one stage, but I can't remember the details.

Correction, it ran from Surbiton. There is a great photo of it in 1962 at Okehampton on page 102 of Michael Welch's "Southern Branch Lines" book. 8 bogie car vans, three passenger coaches including a restaurant car, and the loco appears to be an N class mogul. The service ran in the summers of 1960 - 1964.

 

[CallySleeperKid]

The facilities at Euston are still visible aren't they? Inner end of platform 15 / 16 if I recall the station layout properly?

Correct, you can see them when you board the sleeper to Inverness.

Inverness also has the Motorail in place, but not for long by all accounts..... http://www.networkrail.co.uk/browse%20documents/network%20code/network%20change/current%20proposals/scotland/nc%20g1%202010%20scot%200429a%20inverness%20motorail%20sidings/ncg12010scot0429%20motorail%20inverness.pdf

And while searching around I cam across this picture featuring shunting the wagons of the 19.55 Kensington Olympia-Inverness Motorail. http://www.flickr.com/photos/21602076@N05/4090251828/

Makes for quite interesting stuff, something I would have loved to have seen.

 

[90019]

You can still see the motorail ramps at Waverley, in what would be platforms 5 and 6.

 

[acg5324]

I am slowly scanning in a series of Motorail brochures and photos etc they can be found on line at http://motorail.fotopic.net/.
First ones through the scanner are 1965 and 1966.