Rail Rover Series II 88

Among the special projects Rover tried with the Land Rover was the rail conversion, attempted on a number of occasions. One of the first 'Rail Rovers' simply replaced the road wheels with flanged railway wheels and was intended for inspection and light shunting work. Trials showed shunting was impractical because of the size of the rolling stock compared with the Land Rover, and the flanged wheels' rubber composite tyres tended to develop flats, giving an uncomfortable ride, so the project was dropped. Later road-rail conversions, such as the British Rail Defender with retractable guide wheels, took a different approach. The archive photograph shows the Rail Rover, a Series II 88 hard top, on track at a demonstration before a crowd; its registration and date are not legible.

The registry's model is the Series II 88 hard top in grey with its wheels rendered as steel flanged railway wheels, hub caps, and a buffer beam with buffers and a coupling on the front, as the queue's note and photograph describe.