boats with rails/track

[34D]

Are there any cross channel boats that retain track?

Back in the early 90s and prior there were boats that goods vehicles were shunted on/off.

Do any remain please?

 

[Ploughman]

Looks like the last Cross Channel service was 1994

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Train_ferry

 

[34D]

Looks like the last Cross Channel service was 1994

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Train_ferry

Thanks. Though I've just realised that my question wasn't that clear.

I actually meant "do any of the vessels survive".

 

[RPM]

The "Nord Pas-de-Calais" was the last train ferry in use off our coasts. She is still in service with My Ferry Link, although no longer used as a train ferry.

http://www.myferrylink.com/ferries-...pas-de-calais-ferry?packedargs=site=SF_Pax_Uk

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

When I saw the thread title of "boats with rails/track", for some reason my mind thought of the Spurn Head sail bogies, which were a type of wheeled boat that ran on rails along Spurn Head that were wind-powered by their sails.

Does anyone else remember this mode of transport ?

 

[CC 72100]

The "Nord Pas-de-Calais" was the last train ferry in use off our coasts. She is still in service with My Ferry Link, although no longer used as a train ferry.

http://www.myferrylink.com/ferries-...pas-de-calais-ferry?packedargs=site=SF_Pax_Uk

And if anyone looking at the link thinks that the ferries and their names sound quite familiar, well MFL seems to be just like SeaFrance in another guise... even the liveries are very similar.

 

[D841 Roebuck]

When I saw the thread title of "boats with rails/track", for some reason my mind thought of the Spurn Head sail bogies, which were a type of wheeled boat that ran on rails along Spurn Head that were wind-powered by their sails.

Does anyone else remember this mode of transport ?

Sorry, not old enough for the Spurn Bogies!

My thoughts on seeing this thread were about the rails used to launch boats - particularly lifeboats. I have visions of the keenest track bashers volunteering for service with the RNLI in order to scratch these "lines"...

 

[RPM]

And if anyone looking at the link thinks that the ferries and their names sound quite familiar, well MFL seems to be just like SeaFrance in another guise... even the liveries are very similar.

SeaFrance went bust and MFL took over the charter on some of their ships. IIRC MFL are owned by Eurotunnel and there is some anti-competition related brouhaha going on about their ownership of the company.

 

[34D]

The "Nord Pas-de-Calais" was the last train ferry in use off our coasts. She is still in service with My Ferry Link, although no longer used as a train ferry.

http://www.myferrylink.com/ferries-...pas-de-calais-ferry?packedargs=site=SF_Pax_Uk

Most interesting. I wonder whether it retains its rails?

 

[SWTH]

When I saw the thread title of "boats with rails/track", for some reason my mind thought of the Spurn Head sail bogies, which were a type of wheeled boat that ran on rails along Spurn Head that were wind-powered by their sails.

Does anyone else remember this mode of transport ?

Something like this?

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Something like this?

In respect of the assembly...yes. But the boat on Spurn Head was a much larger sized mode of conveyance.

 

[CC 72100]

SeaFrance went bust and MFL took over the charter on some of their ships. IIRC MFL are owned by Eurotunnel and there is some anti-competition related brouhaha going on about their ownership of the company.

Yep, spot on. I find it ironic that SeaFrance blamed part of their demise on over-capacity on the Dover Strait (when there was P&O and SF doing Dover - Calais) and now we have three companies plying their trade on this route!

I just find it quite funny how close things are to the original SF, with the ships even being named exactly the same. Still, makes up for the name of the company...

 

[Penmorfa]

There is also the ex Danish train ferry 'Princess Selandia', formerly 'Dronning Ingrid' currently laid up at Barrow in Furness and up for sale at £650K.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_Selandia

Some years ago there was talk of a train ferry from Immingham to a German port being started. It's all gone quiet now, a great shame as the Channel Tunnel has been a disaster for wagonload traffic.