Railcar Conversion of Morris Oxford

[Flying10uk]

I thought that Forum members may be interested to see this conversion of a 1935 Morris Oxford 20 H.P. which was done by a family friend in around 1967 because everyone at the time said that it was impossible and stupid to even suggest such an idea. The idea came about because the car happened to have approximately the same track as standard gauge U.K. railways, 4' 8 1/2". Basically the steering was locked straight ahead and the road wheels were exchanged for rail wheels off a plate layer's trolley.

The picture was taken on the Old Kent & East Sussex Railway after it's closure to normal traffic and with permission of the line's owner.

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[BruceHMX]

That is very interesting. Wonder if it was a rough ride?

[Flying10uk]

It still had the normal vehicle springs and suspension but it probably wouldn't have been a good idea to try to make any speed record attempts in it because it possibly could have derailed easily.

[Peter Laidler]

And noisy or what....... I wonder why they have to lock the steering forwards, The wheels can only follow the tracks surely or is there more to it than that?

[Flying10uk]

I knew the chap who did it, Peter, and it was literally a "bloke in a shed" type job. He passed away about a year or so ago and he use to mention it from time to time. It was a fairly simple job to lock the front wheels on beam axils, I believe, and was often done when people used an old front axil when making a trailer.

I don't know what would happen if the front wheels were not locked but there could be problems when going over points?

[oldpaul]

This reminds me of the late 60's George C Scott movie, 'The Flim-Flam Man' where they let the air from the tires of a flat bed truck to escape the police down railroad tracks. It is Hollywood so there is plausible deniability but a wonderful effect nonetheless. Best. Tom

[Flying10uk]

There have been a number of road vehicles that have been converted to run on railways over the years and some have been more professionally converted than others.