Military Railways

[Ploughman]

Regular Army unit disbanded.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/79_Railway_Squadron_RLC

TA Unit disbanded
http://bfg-locations.editboard.com/t2013-end-of-an-era-and-a-capability

 

[Iskra]

I've just been doing some research on a local preservation project, and came across an example of the army's current involvement with railways. Okay, it's not much, but it's something.

https://www.elsecarrailway.co.uk/index.php/about-us/our-extension

 

[jopsuk]

Technically speaking, the Scorpion isn’t a tank, it’s a member of the CVR(T) family. = Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance (Tracked).
Other family members were the Striker, Spartan, Samaritan, Sultan, Samson & Scimitar.

Definitions of "tank":
Military geeks: {something very narrow involving armour class, role, weaponary etc}
Most people: Anything armoured with tracks. Also sometimes stuff with wheels. Basically any military vehicle that isn't a "jeep" or a "truck".

 

[MarkyT]

We are all (understandably) very railway-centric on here, but we need to take a step back away from the nostalgic aspects of it and think 'why does the military need a railway capability'. When was a railway last important to the outcome of a conflict? If you think about it, in the world of palletisation/containerisation, helicopters, HGV's and heavy lift transport aircraft that can use short, rough runways, railways are just a liability in a hostile environment. They take a lot of defending and are easily interfered with. If someone blows up one railway bridge on a line, it could be out of use for weeks. If someone blows a road-bridge it can be fixed, bypassed or replaced with a temporary solution within hours. Locomotives and rolling stock costs millions, one lorry is relatively expendable.

Trains can still be very useful for large shipments of men and materials over long overland distances, no doubt well behind the lines in any active combat scenario though. The army don't really need to have much in the way of their own rolling stock or rail served depots for this as I assume under any emergency, rail resources could be requisitioned from commercial operators as necessary, and a military container is not really any different to a commercial one so could be handled at any terminal with suitable lifting facilities. Specialist carrier wagons for large military vehicles like tanks might be the exception. Are there of any those left today?

 

[Dr Hoo]

Just to report at the other end of the spectrum, I happened to notice a GBRf MoD train at Fenny Compton this afternoon. It was engaged in the modest task of moving two VGA (four wheel) vans from Kineton to Bicester via a run-round in Hinksey Yard at Oxford.

It must be around 30 miles by road.

 

[paul1609]

Glen Douglas is shown on Ordnance Survey maps - https://binged.it/2zjnJ4w

Don't mix it up with the Faslane branch into the naval dockyard, which closed in 1983.

Interestingly there is still a crossing with no gates type of road warning sign within the base where the level crossing used to be!