Does tinworm take the train?
Loughborough, Autumn 1973
Oh, look at all that rampaging rust! As the Seventies heads towards its mid-point, some of the cars of previous decades aren’t holding up that well. Our location is Loughborough Central station, just setting up as the base of Grand Central Railway heritage line at this time. No wonder the small boy is being held up to look over the wall; there’s probably something old and fascinating on the other side. It’s the old and fascinating stuff on this side that interests us though. That’s the rear of a Renault 10 poking in from the right, ahead of GOC 24, a 1946 Morris 8 Series E that, remarkably given its extensive corrosion (including jagged door bottom edges), was still going in 1985 according to DVLA records. In slightly better nick but still looking a little down-at-heel is 515 EAY, an Austin A40 Farina MkII, being towered over by a 2.6-litre petrol-engined 1967 Land Rover Series IIA short wheelbase pick-up. Happily, MAC 78E is still on the road today.
The 1966 Vauxhall Victor FC estate is giving the Morris a run for its money with regard to rust; it’s almost scary how much it has deteriorated in just eight years. Beyond it are a 1971 Ford Escort 1.1 L estate, Morris Oxford Series VI and a post-October 1964 Ford Cortina MkI. A Hillman Imp and Ford Escort MkI van complete the line-up.
We wonder if these vehicles belonged to volunteers helping to preserve locomotives and rolling stock on the nascent GCR. A tinworm-riddled 27-year-old Morris is exactly the sort of road transport we can imagine a steam enthusiast rather enjoying.
