British Rail - Motorail From The Midland

[Runningman 142]

Hey up train anoracks !

Was talking to my son about once ( late 70's ) being able to drive your car onto a special truck, then sit in a carriage and be taken down to the West Country

When did that service start and finish and why did it finish

Anyone remember any pricing ?

[RiffRaff 10]

You loaded up at the terminal at the side of where the Co-Op funeral place is, near the foot of Granville Road.

There were stories around at the time about Range Rovers - with added roof racks! - causing grief as they exceeded the height limit.

I used to book Col.Brown's (of H.L.Brown fame) Rolls Royce on the SNCF version all the way to the south of France.

Great idea for the time.

 

[Bucannear 10]

I remember walking from Pond St. as a teenager to the Heartbeat disco and walking past the old entrance to the Motorail when an American couple stopped me and asked where the "monorail " was.  I must have looked a bit perplexed and they pointed up to the sign, then I realised they had misread motorail for monorail.

[RiffRaff 10]

3 hours ago, Bucannear said:

I remember walking from Pond St. as a teenager to the Heartbeat disco and walking past the old entrance to the Motorail when an American couple stopped me and asked where the "monorail " was.  I must have looked a bit perplexed and they pointed up to the sign, then I realised they had misread motorail for monorail.

Yanks, eh?!

I watched a son et lumiere show many years ago, overlooking the Acropolis in Athens.

A Yank woman in the audience asked when the Greeks were going to finish building it...

[Rockers rule 673]

17 hours ago, Runningman said:

Hey up train anoracks !

Was talking to my son about once ( late 70's ) being able to drive your car onto a special truck, then sit in a carriage and be taken down to the West Country

When did that service start and finish and why did it finish

Anyone remember any pricing ?

Hello Runningman.

Easy search on good old Wikipedia.

British rail 1955 - 1995

Great Western 1999 - 2005.

Not sure on any pricing but a further search on't internett should find yer something.

I know we used to sledge down the hills where the houses used to be above Granville St.

We didn't need snow, we used bits of shiny sided hard board and sledged all the way down from South St

on the grass bankings and if yer were fast enough across any cobble stone roads that were still there.

Happy Daze using the 'Blue Bridge' to cross the railway lines which is where the loading point must have been

for the Motorail on Cross Turner St, but to tell you the truth I can't remember it.

I do remember all the lovely 3 wheeled Scammel Scarabs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Annie Bynnol 610]

Sheffield History has some contributions here

[Runningman 142]

10 hours ago, Annie Bynnol said:

Sheffield History has some contributions here

Thanks Annie, very interesting thread on Sheffield History

[echo beach 573]

Only ever travelled on a motorail service once and it wasn't from Sheffield to Newton Abbot but this topic stirred a few memories.

It was the summer of 1957 and my parents and I, together with two friends set off from Sheffield on a camping holiday to the south of France.

They had undertaken a similar trip the previous year.

The car, a Ford Zephyr Zodiac was loaded up to the gunnels, so much so that luggage had to be taken off the roof rack at Dover to get the car onto the ferry.

In those days, before package holidays, motorists who ventured abroad often attached a small union jack flag to their car aerial and tooted and waved when they passed another GB car on their journey.

All went smoothly until we passed from France to Italy and reached a place called Diano Marina on the Italian Riviera where the gearbox on the car broke down. We took the car to a local garage and, stranded, camped on the beach for a week until the car was 'repaired'. The holiday disrupted, Dad backtracked until we reached Lyon when the gearbox failed again. We were stuck. Those were the days before easy access to money via ATMs, credit and debit cards and the internet. All you had was cash and travellers cheques. My parents and their friends didn't have the resources to have the car repaired again. 

I'll always remember as an 11 year old my dad knocking on the British Consulate's door in Lyon. It was an old war torn building and could have been the setting for one of those  WWII films which were popular at the time. Anyhow, the staff sorted us out and repatriated us by getting us and the car onto the French motorail service from there to the Channel.

On the same journey we met John Mills, his wife, their daughter Hayley and son Jonathan who were travelling back from the French Riviera to England with their Rolls Royce on the back of the train with our broken down Ford.

Once across the Channel the car was given to Martin Walter's garage in Dover to repair and we returned to Sheffield by train. Dad later recovered the car, sold it and bought a Wolseley 1500 which subsequently took us on more foreign adventures to Spain and Italy.

Strangely enough a singer called Edna Savage released a record the following year called Diano Marina and needless to say, Mum bought it.

Nearly all of the motorail services, even on the Continent, have now closed which is sad in many respects but thanks Runningman for raising the topic and letting me recall an episode in my life.

 

echo