Subterranean Transits

[Ratdat]

Anyone know anything about a bunch of Mk1 Transits that still lurk down Winsford Salt mine in Cheshire? Apparently there's 28 of them down there which were used from the mid 60's through to about 1980. Can't find anything online, just wondered if anyone has heard of this?

[retrogeezer]

Nope, not heard about it but Winsford is only up the road from me and I'm always up for some urbex!

[Richard]

I don't know anything about that but I wonder how they would fare down there. Salt mines are used for document storage because the atmosphere is so dry so it might be a rust-free zone despite the salt.

[pogweasel]

Hmm, I read an article about a load of transits down a mine recently, but I'm devilled if I can remember where....

[Lukas]

If they really exist, they might be absolutely rustfree down there, but from the moment you take them on the fresh air with high humidity, they will rust faster than you can look.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

This sounds ace! I would love to go looking for these bad boys. Winsford Salt mine is mega busy though, its the biggest salt mine in the UK i think.

[Milford Cubicle]

Sounds interesting, shame the place is active! Mind you, it might have some completely abandoned areas.

 

I've found some subterranean cars and a dumptruck, no Transits though.

 

 

 

This was an Allegro

 

 

[Mr Lobster]

Winsford salt mines are very much still active. There was an article in the Sunday Times a few months back.

 

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/e ... 562015.ece

 

The larger machinery they have down there had to be taken down piece by piece and rebuilt in situ. The very cavernous space down there is used for document storage and the like. Surely though if you were running a salt mine you wouldn't want a load of Transits polluting your presumably somewhat limited air supply?

[Hudsonpie]

That Volvo 861 is the heavy plant equivalent of Autoshite......excellent...try spending twelve hours a day in one.....

[Mash]

I read an article about them years ago possibly in a late 80s copy of Motor or something. If I still have it, I'd have to tear the house apart before I found it!They weren't in too bad condition then though I reckon they'll have had it by now maybe.

[VWPowered]

defo wortha visit that placegreat pics milf

[Station]

There must be a wealth of information in printed form somewhere. That's the problem with the internet, it's only really under a decade's worth of original information.

 

http://www.stokes277.freeserve.co.uk/pa ... sford.html

[andrew e]

These are coal board ones (I think)

 

[pogweasel]

I dunno, that pic was in the article I read.

[pbottomley]

A friend of mine works down a salt mine in Middlesbrough, and they are always after MK1 trannies as the lack of complex electrical parts means they keep going. more modern stuff rusts and breaks in seconds I am told.They king of underground vehicles on the cheap is a sherpa i am told !!!he has to maintain the crud so i guess he knows his stuff...

[Milford Cubicle]

Are you sure it's just MK1s they're after? I'm sure most Transits up until the 2000-on model had fully mechanical diesels.

[pbottomley]

As a concept, the older the better, I said MK1,s as they are also simple mechanically. but I am sure they take what every is oldest on offer.

[FredTransit]

I have heard of these, and seen the Coal Board pic before. I read somewhere they were cut up and re assembled to get them underground....

[trigger]

There's a little mention of it here, The guy who's took the photo's comment how the tour of the Mines were done in a open top Transit van, this was back in 1999.

 

http://www.stokes277.freeserve.co.uk/pa ... sford.html

[trigger]

Just found this video, Looks like they use LDV's now.

 

[Mash]

That pic is the one I'm thinking of too, but I'm sure I've seen a colour pic of some in yellow. It was definitely a salt mine because thy mentioned the corrosion