Roads into Rails?

Amazing post on the SWRG (South West Rail Gen) mailing list.

EWS 08865 (en-route to Par harbour) overtook 37142 (in lay by) on A30 on Bodmin Moor about an hour ago.

Railway locomotives being carted about the country on the backs of low loader lorries is an increasingly common sight these days. 08865 is a shunting locomotive with a maximum speed of 15mph, and on today's congested railway they're no way something so slow could be routed over the main line for any significant distance. Modern yard shunters in continental Europe have the ability to be towed at significantly higher speeds, so they can be included in the consists of freight trains when there's a need to move them from one part of the country to another. But in Britain, the decline of freight traffic over the past few decades has meant there's been no demand for new shunting locomotives; and the 1950s build "Gronks" are far from worn out.