DO you remember when a tank fell off the back of a train?

The Army spent two years and £750,000 improving the Wensleydale Railway line from Northallerton to Redmire so they could move tanks between Catterick and Salisbury Plain.

The big day came on a wet day in April 1996 for the first tanks to be transported south. Local dignitaries and the press were invited to watch the British Army's legendary organisational skills first hand.

But then a 28-tonne Warrior armoured vehicle fell off and somersaulted down a hill as it was being loaded on to the train.

I seem to recall villagers telling how the soldier in charge shouted to the driver "Keep your b****y head down" as the tank started to go.

The military spokesman said afterwards that such as incident was "unlikely to happen again".

He was right, although this was possibly because in a rare outbreak of common sense, Railtrack banned the Army from using trains for transporting the tanks because of fears they could clip bridges, tunnels or even stations.

It was a fear that was not without justification. When they finally allowed some tanks to be brought back up from Salisbury everyone though the operation had been a big success – until someone spotted bricks and concrete on top of one of the vehicles as it pulled into Redmire.

The Army alerted railway officials who examined stations along the route and found a canopy at a station in Tyesley, in the West Midlands, had been hit by the tank's turret.

I was reminded of all this by a story this week about the speed limit for tanks being doubled to 40mph to stop car drivers causing accidents when they try to overtake them.

The oldest boy is learning to drive at the moment and it would ease our worries greatly if he could learn in a tank, rather than a Renault Clio.