Fewer Channel Convoys?

Just a musing after a lecture in my WW2 course today on the Battle of Britain.

Is it possible to get most of the cargo sent on the channel convoys sent by rail to avoid the fighting over the channel, or is there just not enough rail capacity to alleviate these shipments?
 
Just a musing after a lecture in my WW2 course today on the Battle of Britain.

Is it possible to get most of the cargo sent on the channel convoys sent by rail to avoid the fighting over the channel, or is there just not enough rail capacity to alleviate these shipments?
You could sort of do it, but the problem isn't just rail capacity - at the time the Port of London was the biggest in the UK and IIRC one of the biggest in the world. The problem isn't just getting shipments in to London, but of breaking bulk out of the ships and loading it onto the railways. The west coast ports were horrendously crowded throughout the war, and the whole thing was compounded by the convoy system which meant that instead of ships arriving in a steady drumbeat making best use of the port facilities, they would all arrive in a giant mass needing loading & unloading all at once, followed by a gap when the facilities were under-used.
Getting stuff in to London by rail once you've got it on a train isn't actually all that hard - London is essentially the hub for the whole UK rail network, so is well placed to import goods by rail. Capacity is an issue though - the UK worked on wagon forwarding rather than through trains, and the rail network was designed for peacetime demand with the Port of London working. Not insurmountable, but enough to give you major headaches.
 
Most of the cargo carried by coastal convoys was coal. Most of the coal was shipped by rail. The Minister of Transport meant to do some studies, before the war, but decided on optimism instead.
 
Most of the cargo carried by coastal convoys was coal. Most of the coal was shipped by rail. The Minister of Transport meant to do some studies, before the war, but decided on optimism instead.
Not down the channel IIRC - the coalfields were around Newcastle and were shipping down the East Coast to London from Newcastle.
 
The British War Economy, by Hancock and Gowing, chapter 10, War Transport. It contains lots of words.
 
Top