Welcome to the Mechanical Horse Club web site

    This web site is dedicated to the Mechanical Horse and the associated vehicles that  made the British Railways and private industry a byword in the delivery of goods throughout the town and country and to some extent the world. Please take the time, to view the contents of the web site, which may, if you are of a certain age, invoke memories of a past way of life, or if not, simply to amaze you of the innovation at the time to get the job done.

    By the late 60s the day of the specialized local delivery vehicle was coming to an end. The principal users, the Railways, were changing the way they handled their parcel traffic. Various regulations emanating from government also contributed to the demise of the Mechanical Horse. Larger weights would mean more use of the 5^th wheel coupling,  Many of the Mechanical Horses were taken off the road, some were retained for shunting in the yards, others went out to farms as trailer tugs and a great many were scrapped.     

    Alas, with the demise of British Rail, yet another chapter in the history of commercial transport has been written. Of the approximately 30,000 Mechanical Horses, Scammell Lorries produced, about 30 original Mechanical Horses, 60 Scarabs, and 30 Townsman are known to survive together with 3 Karrier Cobs and two Jen Tugs.

For those of you who are of that "certain age" and remember seeing these vehicles on our roads or even to have driven them, will no doubt feel a tinge of excitement when you visit the rallies & shows and see the vehicles of yesterday, lovingly restored to their former glory.

Click on a page to find out more about these fascinating vehicles.