The original Scorpion with derated 240bhp Jaguar petrol engine was capable of 70mph on normal road surfaces. The later version with 190bhp Cummins diesel engine is not nearly as fast but less likely to burst into flames when hit by an enemy shell.
(kim)
That always helps. Didn't HMS Sheffield with its aluminium superstructure do the same thing in the Falklands?
I was driving a ratty old Ford van full of washing machines so I wasn't doing more than 50 They still left me standing, my guess was 60+. All I could see was the maniacal grin on the driver whose head was sticking up out of the front glascis plate just below the 90mm gun ( Road Rage!! I'll give you Road Rage! ) and the Commander hanging on for grim death in the turret hatch.
I wonder if they carry pile ointment in the first aid kit.... Where did you live in Coventry, Kim? Sounds like the area where a friend lives, near Hearsall Common- I remember him pointing out various factories and saying 'There's where they built taxis, there's where they used to build Alvis armoured cars. He used to be the minister at the Baptist church there, and many of his congregation had worked in these factories. Brian
I used to live in Hearsall Lane. At the top was Standard-Triumph and Coventry Radiator, at the bottom was Reynold's Chain. Behind that was Alvis and on the opposite side of the Hollyhead Road was Carbodies which makes London Taxis. Not far from that was Daimler in Radford Road. The firm which owns Alvis took advantage of a government grant to move production to a cheaper/less skilled part of the country. The site is now a retail park like so many others.
(kim)
Didn't Alvis move to Telford, or was that the GKN AFV factory, not far from Oakengates? I believe there's a proposal to reconnect the rail head there, which also serves a MODA site (Donnington). Brian
That's as maybe, but road damage isn't related to ground pressure; it goes approximately as the fourth power of axle weight, IIRC.
R.
Tyneside.
The Holyhead Road factory was either side of a railway line but there were no loading facilities. Daimler had its own station but that was for commuters only. In the Foleshill district the Royal Ordnance Depot, brickworks, Courtaulds and colliery had their own rail system known colectively as the Foleshill Railway.
(kim)
No.
...
No
I win! :-p
They would have carried spares. I can assure you that a munitions train will *only* carry explosives. Mixed loads are *strictly* forbidden and the punishments are so strict as to ensure that no transport manager would even dream of releasing one.
Or, indeed, when travelling at speed down the East Lancs! :-)
The correct term is "NANG!" :-)
90mm??? That would require something a *lot* bigger than a CVR(T). From what you say they may have been Scorpions, which have a short 76mm gun in the turret. Scimitars have a long thin 30mm RARDEN cannon. There are numerous other derivatives but none of them have a turret. Instead they have a box-like superstructure which varies in size and shape. These other versions include the Spartan APC and general utility vehicle, Striker tank destroyer, Samaritan ambulance, Sultan command vehicle and Samson recovery vehicle. Other more developed derivatives include the Stormer and Streaker, which AFAIK didn't go into service with UK forces.
By the time of the move Alvis was a PLC in it's own right
The original move was all the way to Walsgrave Triangle on the outskirts of Coventry.
The first part of the consolation of the UK Armoured vehicle industry involved the merger of Alvis with GKN Defence at Telford. Coventry was closed and production moved to Telford. Later Alvis purchased Vickers Defence Systems. The combined vehicle operation was then renamed Alvis Vickers. Following the cancellation of the MRAV (Boxer) project, production at Telford was wound down and work concentrated on the Newcastle site although there is still a sizable number of engineers at Telford. About a year ago Alvis PLC ceased to exist when it was taken over by BAE Systems. All clear?
Nigel
Enzo Your'e absolutley right. I've refreshing my memory on the Scorpion family and still had this on my mind when I posted the last. .
Damn! Another misconception skewered.
Hey, I've a great idea, lets build a warship made of inflammable aluminium to save weight and to protect the crew, let's make their anti-flash gear out of polyester as it's cheaper and more comfortable to wear than something that won't melt..
Poor bastards. :-(
-- Cheers Roger T.
Home of the Great Eastern Railway
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