Roadless Tracks

[trusty220]

Last week I was in York training some Environment Agency chaps how to use a new machine, so whilst I was there I decided to visit the Yorkshire Air Museum at Elvington. Besides all the usual aeroplane-related things there was a very good display celebrating the achievements of Barnes Wallis and Neville Shute, and in the middle of the display was a video running showing various inventions for the beach landings on D-Day. Apart from the Giant Panjandrum there was a piece about the one-man stretcher which used the short Roadless tracks that we have seen on wheelbarrows.

You can see the video on YouTube by searching “British Secret Wartime Follies”- I tried to put a link on but it wouldn’t work, so you’ll have to do it the long way round (sorry).

Also in a different display there was a mobile searchlight which also used these tracks, but whoever had restored it had not realised that it should have had tracks and just left it with the wheels. Have a glance at the photo’s.

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[oddhatuk]

A searchlight with tracks is shown in the first picture on this page

http://skylighters.org/howalightworks/index.html

[charlie]

Advert for the roadless tracks from The Fruit Grower magazine Oct 4th 1934.

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[trusty220]

I’m guessing that the John Allen tracks pre-dated the searchlight installation, although it’s possible that they could have been made at roughly the same time. The searchlight ones are slightly different, though, in that they have a third wheel in the middle of the outer two. It is this sort that was used on the one-man stretcher in the video. They seemed to work well, too!

[Author]

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