LMS Route: Stratford Midland Junction - The Shakespeare Route

E&WJR and SMJ - Locomotives and Rolling Stock: smj_misc309

An interior view of the forward facing section of 14 seats, the rear section being a smoking salon. Divided from the front section by the central entrance vestibule, the salon contained 12 longitudinal seats, some of which could be folded up to give increased luggage space. It was intended that the Ro-Railer would benefit branch lines where stations were remote from towns and villages and it was envisaged that both passenger and goods versions would be operated, the latter carrying up to a 10 ton pay load. The advantages of the road/rail system was said to include low running costs (8 mpg on roads, 16 mpg on rails), improved comfort and visibility, increased safety over other road vehicles, the ability to reduce journey length and time, and door to door handling of goods traffic. The Ro-Railer was described in detail in The locomotive for February and April 1931, and in the March 1931 issue of Railway Magazine. It would only fair to state that both of these periodicals took their information direct from the LMS' publicity department and was not borne out in the field trials.

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