Anybody used Motorail in the UK?
Discussion
One for older PH members but this might be redirected to the Plane andTrains sub section........
Just wondering how many folk here have experience of using the Inter city motorail services that once plied our pleasant land like back in the 70s and 80s?
the main routes seemed to be out to the West Country and Scotland (Stirling, Perth, Edinburgh, Inverness etc)
the service in the 70s was largely on old converted passenger coaches that were open to the elements and then later in the 80s the service adopted old covered vans where cars were fully enclosed.
what was your car?
where were your start and end points?
was you travelling 1st or 2nd class?
did you travel in seated accommodation or sleeper?
was it day or night service?
was you car ever damaged on Motorail or did you suffer from terrible delays that wiped out the originally planned time saving?
what was the general experience like in terms of time saved, cost, the customer service and the car loading/unloading etc, facilities.
if a service existed today would you drive or let the train take the strain or have cars and our roads now improved so much that it would not be worth taking the train?
Just wondering how many folk here have experience of using the Inter city motorail services that once plied our pleasant land like back in the 70s and 80s?
the main routes seemed to be out to the West Country and Scotland (Stirling, Perth, Edinburgh, Inverness etc)
the service in the 70s was largely on old converted passenger coaches that were open to the elements and then later in the 80s the service adopted old covered vans where cars were fully enclosed.
what was your car?
where were your start and end points?
was you travelling 1st or 2nd class?
did you travel in seated accommodation or sleeper?
was it day or night service?
was you car ever damaged on Motorail or did you suffer from terrible delays that wiped out the originally planned time saving?
what was the general experience like in terms of time saved, cost, the customer service and the car loading/unloading etc, facilities.
if a service existed today would you drive or let the train take the strain or have cars and our roads now improved so much that it would not be worth taking the train?
I'd love to use something like this, if I had a cool classic car and wanted to explore the NC500 or similar. Get the boring motorway business of getting there be taken care of without worrying about it, but also without having to leave your car in the care of someone else etc.
I suspect it would be far too expensive though these days.
I suspect it would be far too expensive though these days.
Yes! I have many happy memories of childhood holidays in the mid to late seventies, all undertaken by Motorail as my Dad didn't trust his Triumph Dolomite to make it all the way to Devon, the Lake District or Scotland under its own steam from East Sussex. Funnily enough, on one trip we did spot his previous VW Beetle driving around South Devon.
Also worth bearing in mind that however much we moan about our road network now, it was much worse then. Few motorways and dual carriageways, many major A roads still single carriageway and passing through towns. Still have one of our road atlases from that era and it's quite an eye opener to see how things have changed.
I absolutely loved it; being woken up very early for the drive up through still sleeping West London to Kensington Olympia to join the train for the journey north or west. As a kid who loved both cars and trains, it was perfect, and there was usually a pile of summer special comics and War Picture Library to make it even better.
We always went seated accommodation, and I remember the carriages being fairly old compartment types. The cars were on open wagons, and fitted with a foam windscreen protector to prevent damage in transit. Can't remember if Dad was allowed to drive the car on, or if it was done by railway staff. Also seem to remember that the Motorail trains didn't seem to have a high priority on the network, and we were often diverted onto slow back routes and arrived late. Probably normal for seventies British Rail though.
By 1980 the road network, and our cars, had improved enough for us to start driving all the way, and that was the end of our Motorail adventures.
I'd love it if something similar existed today, to avoid putting dull motorway miles on the car getting to Scotland. Have looked at the French service for similar reasons, but was put off by the fact that you you travel on a separate train to your car, and have to trust the railway with loading, unloading and looking after it.
Also worth bearing in mind that however much we moan about our road network now, it was much worse then. Few motorways and dual carriageways, many major A roads still single carriageway and passing through towns. Still have one of our road atlases from that era and it's quite an eye opener to see how things have changed.
I absolutely loved it; being woken up very early for the drive up through still sleeping West London to Kensington Olympia to join the train for the journey north or west. As a kid who loved both cars and trains, it was perfect, and there was usually a pile of summer special comics and War Picture Library to make it even better.
We always went seated accommodation, and I remember the carriages being fairly old compartment types. The cars were on open wagons, and fitted with a foam windscreen protector to prevent damage in transit. Can't remember if Dad was allowed to drive the car on, or if it was done by railway staff. Also seem to remember that the Motorail trains didn't seem to have a high priority on the network, and we were often diverted onto slow back routes and arrived late. Probably normal for seventies British Rail though.
By 1980 the road network, and our cars, had improved enough for us to start driving all the way, and that was the end of our Motorail adventures.
I'd love it if something similar existed today, to avoid putting dull motorway miles on the car getting to Scotland. Have looked at the French service for similar reasons, but was put off by the fact that you you travel on a separate train to your car, and have to trust the railway with loading, unloading and looking after it.
i know euston certainly did have a facility when BR went over to covered vans but whether they ran services using the old open wagons I dont know that would have been out of Kensington Olympia for sure. there is a map of the network on google and it was at one time quite a service. from doing a bit of digging I see services in 1975 ran thus;
London KO - Inverness
London Padd - Penzance
London Padd - Fishguard
London KO - Newton - le - Willows (seems a really odd destination )
London KO - Carlisle
London KX - Newcastle
London KX - Perth
Just scything through the old material I can see one fare in 1970 quotes car and 4 adults on a 1st Class return London to Aberdeen for £102. wow.
London - Carlisle 1st class return fo car and driver just £29. dep 10.00 arr 16.00
dep 23.02 london arr Aberdeen 09.02 next day.
London dep 21.45 arr Perth 07.20
A Birmingham to St Austell and Sheffield to Newton Abbott services are quoted too.
Not sure how many open topped wagon services ran from Euston.
I reckon back in the day anything over 300 miles would have offered a really good saving in terms of time, wear and tear lack of tiredness cost of fuel road works etc.
its possible that seating accommodation went over to all 1st class at some point.
London KO - Inverness
London Padd - Penzance
London Padd - Fishguard
London KO - Newton - le - Willows (seems a really odd destination )
London KO - Carlisle
London KX - Newcastle
London KX - Perth
Just scything through the old material I can see one fare in 1970 quotes car and 4 adults on a 1st Class return London to Aberdeen for £102. wow.
London - Carlisle 1st class return fo car and driver just £29. dep 10.00 arr 16.00
dep 23.02 london arr Aberdeen 09.02 next day.
London dep 21.45 arr Perth 07.20
A Birmingham to St Austell and Sheffield to Newton Abbott services are quoted too.
Not sure how many open topped wagon services ran from Euston.
I reckon back in the day anything over 300 miles would have offered a really good saving in terms of time, wear and tear lack of tiredness cost of fuel road works etc.
its possible that seating accommodation went over to all 1st class at some point.
Rather off-topic as it relates to France, but I did post the following on another car-train thread 5 years ago, which might be of interest to those who didn't see it back then.
"We took my R5 Turbo 2 on our honeymoon in 2003. We did Calais > Nice and back. This route has since been canned.
It was an adventure. We got a bunk bed compartment with a sink to ourselves. The Restaurant car was fairly limited. Breakfast was at Nice station on arrival. If, like me, you can't even sleep on a flatbed seat in a plane, then you'll not get much kip on a rickety-rackety train either! They don't use high speed trains or routes. The service just bumbles along like a freight train.
One thing I remember is that "our" service was prone to being robbed! It used to make a routine crew-change stop in the early hours half-way down through France and some local crooks used that opportunity to break into the heavily-laden cars and nick stuff! By the time the passengers disembarked in Nice, the thieves and their loot were long gone."
Never did UK Motorail though.
"We took my R5 Turbo 2 on our honeymoon in 2003. We did Calais > Nice and back. This route has since been canned.
It was an adventure. We got a bunk bed compartment with a sink to ourselves. The Restaurant car was fairly limited. Breakfast was at Nice station on arrival. If, like me, you can't even sleep on a flatbed seat in a plane, then you'll not get much kip on a rickety-rackety train either! They don't use high speed trains or routes. The service just bumbles along like a freight train.
One thing I remember is that "our" service was prone to being robbed! It used to make a routine crew-change stop in the early hours half-way down through France and some local crooks used that opportunity to break into the heavily-laden cars and nick stuff! By the time the passengers disembarked in Nice, the thieves and their loot were long gone."
Never did UK Motorail though.
I remember seeing the Motorail wagons around Glasgow when I was a boy, but I don't think it operated by then (late 80's).
I would do European tours or Cornwall more often if I could use Motorail - I loath the drive to Kent, esp were it to be in my campervan.
Not quite related, but I did go on the Lotschberg Tunnel from Kandersteg to Goppenstein when I worked in Switzerland. That was some experience! Driving on an open wagon and almost before I stopped the train moved off into the pitch black.
I would do European tours or Cornwall more often if I could use Motorail - I loath the drive to Kent, esp were it to be in my campervan.
Not quite related, but I did go on the Lotschberg Tunnel from Kandersteg to Goppenstein when I worked in Switzerland. That was some experience! Driving on an open wagon and almost before I stopped the train moved off into the pitch black.
Used the Carlisle-London, and the Carlisle-Newton Abbot services several times in the 1970s. Night-time services (as I recall) had sleeper berths, daytime services used old but comfy 1st class coaches.
Off topic - in the 1960s I used French motorail services several times from Boulogne (or was it Calais?) to Avignon, in connection with taking/retrieving rally cars from the Alpine rally which was based on Marseilles. Slow, very 'French' - but useful for saving precious cars a lot of mleage ....
Off topic - in the 1960s I used French motorail services several times from Boulogne (or was it Calais?) to Avignon, in connection with taking/retrieving rally cars from the Alpine rally which was based on Marseilles. Slow, very 'French' - but useful for saving precious cars a lot of mleage ....
anonymous said:
[redacted]
Even that is much less of a reason now that you can get some interesting rentals.From Aberdeen Europcar offer the likes of the 595 Abarth, Mini Cooper, SLC300 and the F-Type. Easyjet do flights from Gatwick and Luton that arrive early doors and leave late, meaning a fly-drive weekend to the Highlands is perfectly feasible for those darn sarf.
ToothbrushMan said:
London KO - Inverness
London Padd - Penzance
London Padd - Fishguard
London KO - Newton - le - Willows (seems a really odd destination )
London KO - Carlisle
London KX - Newcastle
London KX - Perth
The genius of its location is that it's equidistant between Liverpool and Manchester. That's why I live here. And probably why it was a rail destination.London Padd - Penzance
London Padd - Fishguard
London KO - Newton - le - Willows (seems a really odd destination )
London KO - Carlisle
London KX - Newcastle
London KX - Perth
plenty said:
anonymous said:
[redacted]
Even that is much less of a reason now that you can get some interesting rentals.From Aberdeen Europcar offer the likes of the 595 Abarth, Mini Cooper, SLC300 and the F-Type. Easyjet do flights from Gatwick and Luton that arrive early doors and leave late, meaning a fly-drive weekend to the Highlands is perfectly feasible for those darn sarf.
On topic, I had no idea we had motorail in the UK
Edited by Ed. on Friday 1st February 12:07
IanCress said:
ToothbrushMan said:
London KO - Inverness
London Padd - Penzance
London Padd - Fishguard
London KO - Newton - le - Willows (seems a really odd destination )
London KO - Carlisle
London KX - Newcastle
London KX - Perth
The genius of its location is that it's equidistant between Liverpool and Manchester. That's why I live here. And probably why it was a rail destination.London Padd - Penzance
London Padd - Fishguard
London KO - Newton - le - Willows (seems a really odd destination )
London KO - Carlisle
London KX - Newcastle
London KX - Perth
IanCress said:
ToothbrushMan said:
London KO - Inverness
London Padd - Penzance
London Padd - Fishguard
London KO - Newton - le - Willows (seems a really odd destination )
London KO - Carlisle
London KX - Newcastle
London KX - Perth
The genius of its location is that it's equidistant between Liverpool and Manchester. That's why I live here. And probably why it was a rail destination.London Padd - Penzance
London Padd - Fishguard
London KO - Newton - le - Willows (seems a really odd destination )
London KO - Carlisle
London KX - Newcastle
London KX - Perth
plenty said:
anonymous said:
[redacted]
Even that is much less of a reason now that you can get some interesting rentals.From Aberdeen Europcar offer the likes of the 595 Abarth, Mini Cooper, SLC300 and the F-Type. Easyjet do flights from Gatwick and Luton that arrive early doors and leave late, meaning a fly-drive weekend to the Highlands is perfectly feasible for those darn sarf.
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