Tag Archives: steam railcar

Steam Railmotors – Part 5 – Articulated Steam Railmotors

1 Reply

Earlier articles in this short series about steam railmotors can be found on these links:

The Earliest Steam Railmotors:

Steam Railmotors – Part 1 – Early Examples.

Dugald Drummond and Harry Wainwright:

Steam Railmotors – Part 2 – Dugald Drummond (LSWR) and Harry Wainwright (SECR)

The GWR Steam Railmotors:

Steam Railmotors – Part 3 – The Great Western Railway (GWR)

Rigid-bodied Railmotors of Different Companies in the first two decades of the 20th century:

Steam Railmotors – Part 4 – Rigid-bodied Railmotors owned by other railway companies

Articulated Steam Railmotors in the First 2 decades of the 20th Century

Jenkinson and Lane comment that although the articulated railmotors were numerically less significant than the rigid type, “the articulated option was to sprout just as many variations, and attracted the attention of a number of eminent locomotive engineers – perhaps because they  looked more like ‘real’ trains. Be that as it may, most of them, however short-lived or unsustainable they may have been, were of more than usually pleasant visual aspect.” [1: p26]

Examples of articulated railmotors were those  of the Taff Vale Railway (TVR), the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway (L&YR) the South Eastern & Chatham Railway (SECR),  the North British Railway (NBR), the London Brighton & South Coast Railway (LB&SCR), the North Staffordshire Railway (NSR), the Rhymney Railway (RR), the Port Talbot Railway (PTR), the Isle of Wight Central Railway (IWCR), the Glasgow and South Western Railway (G&SWR), and the Great North of Scotland Railway (GNSR).

We have already picked up on the decisions made by Harry Wainwright of the SECR. Others were making the same decisions at roughly the same time. …

The Taff Vale Railway Railmotors

Tom Hurry Riches (1846–1911) “became the Locomotive Superintendent of the Taff Vale Railway in October 1873, and held the post until his death on 4 September 1911. At the time of his appointment, he was the youngest locomotive superintendent in Britain.” [5]

His steam railmotors “were built between 1903 and 1905, … one prototype and three main batches. There were 18 engine units and 16 carriage potions, … permitting stand-by power units to be available. … The pioneer power unit came from the company’s workshops (the last ‘locomotive’ to be built by the TVR in its shops at West Yard, Cardiff) followed by six each from Avonside and Kerr Stuart and a final five from Manning Wardle, the last type being much more powerful than the first three series, which were broadly identical.” [1: p21]

TVR No. 1, used on the Cardiff, Penarth & Cogan section of the TVR. 12 1st class, 40 3rd class passengers could be carried seated. It was built to the design of T. Hurry Riches, © Public Domain. [6]

The first-class compartment of Riches prototype was “furnished with longitudinal seats. The third-class compartment [was] furnished with transverse seats arranged in pairs, divided by a central gang-way. The car underframe [was] constructed of steel, and … carried at one end on an ordinary carriage bogie, the wheels of which [were] Kitson’s patent wood cushioned type; the other end of the car [was] carried on the engine.” [7]

Three photographs from the Railway Magazine of February 1904. The first shows the 1st Class compartment, the second, the 3rd Class compartment of a TVR Railmotor passenger portion.. [8]
A later view of a TVR Steam Railmotor. Engine No.6 which is in charge of an unidentified carriage portion and a single 6-wheel trailer coach, © National Museum of Wales. [9]

All of the TVR Steam Railmotors had transverse boilers and were driven from rearward-placed cylinders onto an uncoupled front axle. [7]

The Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway Steam Railmotors

The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (L&YR) operated two classes of twenty steam railmotors in total. [10]

Kerr Stuart Railmotors

Kerr, Stuart & Co. built 4 Steam Railmotors for the L&YR (2) and the TVR (2) as a single batch in 1905. [10]

One of the 2 Kerr Stuart Steam Railmotors on the L&YR. These shared their design, with transverse boilers, with those that Kerr Stuart built from the TVR. [12]

“The locomotive units had transverse boilers … where a single central firebox fed extremely short fire-tubes to a smokebox at each side. … These then returned to a central smokebox and chimney. The outside cylinders were rear-mounted and drove only the leading axle, without coupling rods. The locomotive units were dispatched separately to Newton Heath, where their semi-trailers were attached.” [10][11: p170-171]

Their coaches were semi-trailers, with reversible seats for 48 passengers and electric lighting. There were also a luggage compartment and a driving compartment for use in reverse. Folding steps were provided at each of the two doors on each side. [11: p155] They were built by Bristol Wagon & Carriage Works. [11: p170-171]

Hughes Steam Railmotors

George Hughes (9 October 1865 – 27 October 1945) was …  chief mechanical engineer (CME) of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (L&YR) and the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS). [13].

When the L&YR amalgamated into the LNWR in January 1922 he became the CME of the combined group and was appointed the CME of the LMS on its formation at the 1923 grouping. [13][14]

He retired in July 1925 after only two and a half years at the LMS. [11: p198] He was succeeded by Henry Fowler who had worked with him at Horwich Works before moving to the former Midland Railway’s Derby Works. [15: p38]

Hughes designed a second class of railmotors that were then built at Horwich and Newton Heath, in four batches over five years. They were of the “0-4-0T locomotive + semi-trailer type”, with conventional locomotive boilers. [11: p155, 170-171] In total, 18 power units were made to Hughes specification.

In LMS days, sitting at Horwich Loco Works, this is No 10617 and an unidentified passenger portion. [18]

“All were inherited by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) in 1923, who numbered the locomotives 10600-17 and gave the trailers separate numbers in the coaching stock series. These were the only self-propelled vehicles numbered in the LMS locomotive series rather than the coaching stock series. The first was withdrawn in 1927, and only one survived by nationalisation in 1948. That railmotor, LMS No. 10617, was withdrawn in 1948 and given the British Railways internal number 50617, but got withdrawn in March of the same year. None were preserved.” [10][16]

The best-remembered of these railmotors was the ‘Altcar Bob’ service from Southport to Barton railway station (also known as ‘Downholland’) (before 1926, it ran to Altcar and Hillhouse) and the ‘Horwich Jerk’ service from Horwich to Blackrod. The latter became the last part of the L&Y System which made use of Hughes Railmotors.[10][16]

Many of the last survivors of these 18 Railmotors ended their lives at Bolton MPD and in their final hours were used on the workmen’s’ trains between that town and the works at Horwich. [17]

South Eastern & Chatham Railway (SECR) Steam Railmotors

These were covered in the 2nd article in this short series:

Steam Railmotors – Part 2 – Dugald Drummond (LSWR) and Harry Wainwright (SECR)

SECR Steam Railmotor No.1 – the first of a second series of six steam railmotors on the SECR. All six in the series were articulated. This steam railmotor operated on the Sheppey Light Railway for a few years before being moved to Tonbridge for the Otford to Sevenoaks service in 1907. In 1910, it went to Dover to serve on the Sandgate route and by 1914 was at the Bricklayers Arms to work the Woodside to Sheldon Road service. It was ‘set aside’ in 1915, © Public Domain. [19][1: p26]

Jenkinson and Lane comment that the SECR was surprisingly a leader in the field. “Harry Wainwright supervised the design of eight beautifully stylish examples in 1904-5.” [1: p26]

Despite determined efforts over the years to improve their efficiency, the Railmotors were non-too-popular and were scheduled for withdrawal in 1914. The war intervened and gave a longer life to some units, but soon after the war they were all set aside, although some survived unused into the grouping era.

Great Northern Railway (GNR) Steam Railmotors

Ivatt, on behalf of the GNR, had six railmotors built in pairs, with similar passenger accommodation but differing in other details. He had them produced “as part of a GNR experiment with self-propelled passenger units and numbered in a new series 1&2, 5&6, 7&8, the missing 3&4 being kept for two proposed petrol engined cars of which … only one was bought.” [1: p28] All six units utilised the underfloor area of the carriage portion to house the water tanks. [1: p28]

Nos. 1&2 were built by the GNR themselvescat Doncaster in 1905, the passenger portions were among the earliest passenger ‘coaches’ to be given full elliptical roofs. “In 1930, the passenger ends were converted to an articulated twin (Nos. 44151-2) but only lasted until 1937 because of damage received in a mishap at Hatfield.” [1: p27]

GNR Railmotor No. 2, © Public Domain. [25]

Nos. 5&6 were built by Kitson and Co. in 1905. The locomotive portion was of very similar design to Nos 1&2. Their passenger bodies were supplied by Birmingham Carriage and Wagon Works. They had the traditional flatter roofs which tied in with the profile of the roof of the engine portions. [1: p28]

Kitson built GNR Railmotor No. 6 standing at King’s Cross engine shed in 1924, © Public Domain. [25]

Nos. 7&8 were built by Avonside with carriage bodies from Bristol Carriage and Wagon Works. The Avonside locomotive portion was rather bulky (Jenkinson and Lane describe it as ‘brutish’ [1: p28]) and was soon remodelled because maintenance was hampered by an engine casing which cloaked most of the fitments. The passenger portions of these units were converted to another pair of articulated carriages (Nos. 44141-2) which survived until they were condemned in 1958. They “worked the Essendine- Bourne branch until 1951 and afterwards in such widespread like captions as Mablethorpe, Newcastle-Hawick and finally Bridlington-Scarborough.” [1: p28]

GNR Railmotor No. 8, before remodelling. The engine casing on these units, was removed as early as 1907, © Public Domain. [26][1: p28]
Avonside built GNR Railmotor No. 7, after the engine portion was remodelled, is standing at Louth in 1910, © Public Domain. [25]

These railmotors lasted in service until 1917 when they were set aside. After the grouping, the LNER saw little use for the units and as noted above “the carriage parts were converted into articulated ‘twins’ … And the engine portions [were] withdrawn. ” [1: p28]

Articulated twin set Nos. 44141 & 2, built from GNR  Railmotors Nos. 7&8 sitting at Bourne Station in 1951, © Public Domain. [25]

Steam Railmotors on the London Brighton & South Coast Railway (LB&SCR)

Jenkinson and Lane say that the LB&SCR and the North Staffordshire (see below) articulated steam railmotors had much in common, both being built by Beyer Peacock in 1905-6.[1: p30][21: p62] “They displayed a sort of cross-bred powered end, partially enclosed but with smokebox front and chimney projecting in a rather quaint fashion beyond the ‘cab’ –  probably very practical for cleaning purposes. The engine portions were identical on both railways but the carriage portions displayed different styling – those of the Brighton line being rather neater. Fortunately, … both types were reasonably well recorded photographically, especially those of the NSR.” [1: p30]

The LB&SCR examples did not seem to be well received and only lasted for a few years, albeit not being formally withdrawn for some time. [1: p30]

Both companies’ railmotors, by comparison with other articulated railmotors, were rather ungainly looking with a sort of tramcar-like passenger part. [1:p30]

LB&SCR Steam Railmotor No. 1 when brand new in 1905. The carriage bodywork was built by the Electric Railway and Tramway Carriage Works of Preston, Lancashire. It did not match the normal company stock of the time but appears quite stylish. Jenkinson and Lane tell us that after the unit was formally withdrawn in 1919, it was sold, in November 1919, to the Trinidad Government Railways. This image was shared on the Ferrovias & Trens Facebook Page on 23rd January 2022. It is a Southern Railway Official Image. [20][1: p30]

The pair of steam railmotors “were stationed at Eastbourne and St Leonards and ran services on the East and West Sussex coast lines. They were both loaned to the War Department in 1918/19 before being sold to the Trinidad Government Railway. [21: p67] There they have never been put in operation. One of the coach parts was converted into the Governor’s saloon and the other into a second class carriage.” [2][22]

North Staffordshire Railway Steam Railmotors (NSR)

As we have already noted, the three [1:p9][23] steam railmotors owned by the NSR were built by Beyer Peacock in 1905-6. Jenkinson and Lane comment that, given their longer active lives, (the three NSR examples ran until 1922), “they must have generated a bit of revenue during the 16 years or so before they went the way of the rest.” [1: p30]

Three steam railmotors were built for the North Staffordshire Railway by the United Electric Car Company which originated as the Electric Railway and Tramway Carriage Works Ltd. in the East Works buildings, Preston, in 1897. These were very similar to the Railmotors Beyer Peacock supplied to the LB&SCR. [24] Jenkinson and Lane note the strong visual locomotive similarities to the Brighton cars and remark on the somewhat less stylish bodywork of the set. [1: p31]

Rhymney Railway (RR) Steam Railmotors

After Tom Hurry Riches moved to the Rhymney Railway he had Hudswell Clarke build a pair of railmotors for the RR. They consisted of an 0-4-0 engine portion semi-permanently articuled with a 64-passenger coach. T. Hurry Riches designed the combination, contracting with Cravens Ltd of Sheffield to build the passenger coaches. All seating was designed for third class and was divided between smoking and non-smoking sections. [27]

Rhymney Railway Steam Railmotor No. 1, © Public Domain. [32]

In 1911, RR No. 1 “was converted to an independent, mixed-traffic tank locomotive that operated chiefly between Rhymney Bridge, Ystrad Mynach, and Merthyr with four six-wheel coaches. At that time, No. 2 still ran on the Senghenydd branch.” [27]

Port Talbot Railway and Docks Co. (PT&DR) Steam Railmotor

The Port Talbot Railway Railmotor was the largest of the Steam Railmotors and had a six-coupled power section. [31]

Port Talbot Railway and Docks Company (PT&DR) owned a single rigid-bodied steam railmotor, numbered No.1. The GWR persuaded the PTR&DR to purchase it. Tenders were submitted by 15 companies “and a joint tender from Hurst, Nelson & Co. Ltd and R. & W. Hawthorn, Leslie and Company was accepted and the vehicle was delivered in early 1907. This was the largest steam railmotor ever to run in the UK. it was 76 ft 10 in (23.42 m) long, and the bodywork was metal, that covering the engine fashioned to match the carriage. Retractable steps were fitted under each of the four recessed passenger doors, although the steps were later fixed in position.” [28][29]

Hawthorn Leslie built two steam railmotors for use in Great Britain, and at least one for abroad. [30]

“The locomotive was six-coupled with 3 ft diameter wheels; it had a conventional boiler with the firebox leading, 12 by 16 inch cylinders and a boiler pressure of 170 psi and a tractive effort of 9,792 lbs.” It was designed with a trailing load in mind. [28]

It was the only Steam Railmotor in the UK to have a six-coupled power section. [1: p9]

This Railmotor passed through GWR hands to the Port of London Authority (PLA). In 1915, the GWR moved it to their Swindon works then in 1920 it became PLA No.3. It remained in service until the North Greenwich branch of the PLA closed and was scrapped in 1928. [28]

Isle of Wight Central Railway (IWCR) Steam Railmotor

The Isle of Wight Central Railway had a single Railmotor which was built in 1906 by R.W. Hawthorn (engine) and Hurst, Nelson & Co. of Motherwell (carriage). Jenkinson and Lane tell us that this railmotor was delivered in-steam from Hurst, Nelson & Co. works to Southampton Docks.

This advertisement for R. & W. Hawthorn, Leslie and Company Ltd’s Forth Banks locomotive works (Newcastle-on-Tyne, England) is on display at the Head of Steam Railway Museum in the former Darlington North Road railway station in Durham County. The featured vehicle is Isle of Wight Central Railway (IWCR) steam railmotor No. 1. [33]

Once on the island, the railmotor took up duties on “the Merstone to Ventnor Town service, and then transferred to the Freshwater line in 1908. Although highly regarded in terms of economy, … it was … prone to oscillation and … ‘laid aside’ in November 1910.” [1: p34]

Once the railmotor was placed out of service, the two parts of the railmotor were repurposed. The carriage entered the regular coaching stock of the railway (with an added bogie). The engine “was given a small bunker and was used at Newport for occasional shunting, before being sold in 1918.” [1: p34] It was sold to Furness Shipbuilding, Haverton Hill and became their  No. 8.

Glasgow & South Western Railway (G&SWR) Steam Railmotors

The G&SWR had three steam railmotors on its books which lasted in service until 1917. Two to one design and the third to a slightly different design.

No. 1 and No. 2 were built at Kilmarnock in 1904. The ‘side tanks’ were used to carry coal with water carried in a 500 gallon well tank. These units were used on the Catrine branch shuttle to Mauchline and from Ardrossan to Largs and Kilwinning. [1: p34-5]

The only image that I have found of Railmotors No. 1 and No. 2 is a copyright protected thumbnail image. It can be seen by clicking here. [34]

No. 3 was not strictly a steam railmotor as the engine and carriage were close-coupled rather than articulated. Jenkinson and Lane winder whether it should be included within the scope of a book about railmotors but decide to include it because “it was designed as an integrated concept … Intended for the Moniaive branch on which one of the G&SWR railmotors certainly ran.” [1: p35]

Great Northern of Scotland Railway (GNSR) Steam Railmotors

The two GNSR railmotors had some unique design features – patented boilers and hemispherical fireboxes. They were, however, not a success and they were withdrawn after just a few years. [1: p34]

A GNSR Railmotor unit. The two portions of the railmotor appear to be engine No. 29 and coach No. 31, © Public Domain. The photo was carried in The Railway Magazine of October 1905, No. 100, p330. [36]

The two articulated units were designed by Pickersgill and built by Andrew Barclay & Co. of Kilmarnock and powered by vertical boilers made by Cochran & Co. of Annan. They entered service on the Lossiemouth and St. Combs branches in 1905. [35]

The boilers were new to locomotive work but of a type well-known in other fields. 10 in. x 16 in. cylinders were placed just ahead of the rear bogie wheels and drove on to the leading axle. Walschearts valve gear was used. The 4 wheels  of the power unit were 3 ft. 7in. diameter. [35]

A small bunker attached to the front of the coach body formed the back of the cab and held 15 cwt. of coal. Underneath the leading end of the coach there was a 650-gallon water tank.

The coach portion of the rail motor consisted of a long passenger compartment and a small compartment at the rear end, with doors for ingress and egress of passengers, also serving as a driving compartment when the unit was being driven from that end. The passenger compartment was 34 ft. 7in. long and seated 45 while the overall length of the car was 49 ft. 11 ½ in. and the total weight 47 tons. [35]

“The two engine units were numbered 29 and 31, (Barclay’s numbers 1056-7). The coaches were Nos. 28 and 29. Unit 29/28 went to work on the St Combs Light Railway on 1st November 1905, and 31/29 started working on the Lossiemouth branch on the same day.” [35]

The two units were not a success and “in the course of time the engine units were detached from the coaches and used as stationary boilers. Here they were apparently more successful; on the line they were dreadfully noisy and the boilers would not steam properly, and the hopes of their designer were not realized.” [35]

References

  1. David Jenkinson & Barry C. Lane; British Railcars: 1900-1950; Pendragon Partnership and Atlantic Transport Publishers, Penryn, Cornwall, 1996.
  2. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_steam_railcars, accessed on 14th June 2024.
  3. R.M. Tufnell; The British Railcar: AEC to HST; David and Charles, 1984.
  4. R.W. Rush; British Steam Railcars; Oakwood Press, 1970.
  5. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Hurry_Riches, accessed on 19th June 2024.
  6. https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Taff_Vale_railmotor_(Rankin_Kennedy,_Modern_Engines,_Vol_V).jpg, accessed on 19th June 2024.
  7. http://www.penarth-dock.org.uk/09_04_090_02.html, accessed on 19th June 2024.
  8. The Taff Vale Railmotor, in the Railway Magazine, February 1904; via http://www.penarth-dock.org.uk/09_04_090_02.html, accessed on 19th June 2024.
  9. National Museum and Galleries of Wales – Amgueddfa Cymru — National Museum Wales – archive; included in Mountfield & Spinks; The Taff Vale Lines to Penarth; The Oakwood Press; via http://www.penarth-dock.org.uk/09_04_090_02.html, accessed on 19th June 2024.
  10. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%26YR_railmotors, accessed on 19th June 2024.
  11. John Marshall; The Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway. Vol. 3: Locomotives and Rolling Stock; David & Charles, Newton Abbot, 1972.
  12. https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/lancashire-and-yorkshire-hughes-rail-motors-running-backwards.222458, accessed on 19th June 2024.
  13. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Hughes_(engineer),accessed on  19th June 2024.
  14. George Hughes; in Grace’s Guide to British Industrial History. Archived from the original on 20th June 2017 and retrieved 22nd August 2019, accessed via https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Hughes_(engineer),accessed on  19th June 2024.
  15. Patrick Whitehouse & David St. John Thomas; LMS 150; David & Charles, Newton Abbot, 1987.
  16. G. Suggitt; Lost Railways of Lancashire; Countryside Books, Newbury, 2003.
  17. https://wp.me/pwsVe-R1, accessed on 19th June 2024
  18. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/275193815724?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=yXJFhbJMSuC&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=afQhrar7TGK&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY; accessed on 19th June 2024.
  19. https://www.southeasternandchathamrailway.org.uk/gallery.html, accessed on 19th June 2024.
  20. https://www.facebook.com/ferroviastrens1/photos/a.162504877245931/2159328897563509/?type=3&mibextid=rS40aB7S9Ucbxw6v, accessed on 19th June 2024.
  21. D.L. Bradley; Locomotives of the London Brighton and South Coast Railway. Part III.; Railway Correspondence and Travel Society Press, London, 1974.
  22. Locomotives of the Trinidad Government Rlys; in Locomotive Magazine and Railway Carriage and Wagon Review, Vol. 42 No. 522, 15th February 1936, p53–55. Archived from the original on 28th January 2023. Retrieved 19 September 2023, accessed via https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_steam_railcars, on 20th June 2024.
  23. https://www.nsrsg.org.uk/chronology.php#NSR, accessed on 20th June 2024.
  24. https://redrosecollections.lancashire.gov.uk/view-item?i=214678&WINID=1718865502724, accessed on 20th June 2024.
  25. https://www.lner.info/locos/Railcar/gnr_railmotor.php, accessed on 20th June 2024.
  26. https://x.com/SleeperAgent01/status/1280269864175894529?t=FyeWO8DJP5xUPrL5hnbaqg&s=19, 20th June 2024.
  27. https://www.steamlocomotive.com/locobase.php?country=Great_Britain&wheel=0-4-0&railroad=rhymney, accessed on 20th June 2024.
  28. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Talbot_Railway_and_Docks_Company, accessed on 18th June 2024.
  29. Robin G Simmonds, A History of the Port Talbot Railway & Docks Company and the South Wales Mineral Railway Company, Volume 1: 1853 – 1907, Lightmoor Press, Lydney, 2012
  30. http://www.britishtransporttreasures.com/product/r-w-hawthorn-leslie-co-ltd-catalogue-section-steam-rail-motor-coaches, accessed on 18th June 2024.
  31. https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/File:Im1963EnV216-p221.jpg, accessed on 18th June 2024.
  32. https://x.com/DamEdwardurBoob/status/1051567390251597824?t=q01zKvK-GVPLXT7ilVlYaA&s=19, accessed on 20th June 2024.
  33. https://pin.it/35Lh0CRNz, accessed on 20th June 2024.
  34. https://www.mediastorehouse.com.au/mary-evans-prints-online/glasgow-motor-carriage-603697.html, accessed on 20th June 2024.
  35. https://steamindex.com/locotype/gnsr.htm#:~:text=Steam%20rail%20motors%2Frailcars%20(Pickersgill%2FAndrew%20Barclay)&text=These%20units%20consisted%20of%20a,on%20an%20ordinary%20coach%20bogie., accessed on 20th June 2024.
  36. https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:GNSR_steam_railmotor_(Railway_Magazine,_100,_October_1905).jpg, accessed on 20th June 2024.

Steam Railmotors – Part 4 – Rigid-bodied Railmotors owned by other railway companies

1 Reply

A number of different companies bought into the trend of utilising railmotors. Rigid-bodied examples were used as we have already noted, by the LB&SR/LSWR. Please see:

Steam Railcars – Part 2 – Dugald Drummond (LSWR) and Harry Wainwright (SECR)

The LNWR built six in 1905-7 and a more powerful unit with a dedicated trailer in 1910. Jenkinson and Lane describe these as being “undeniably stylish – probably more so than any others, save perhaps for those of the Furness and Great Central Railways.” [1: p15-16] The Furness Railway had two Railmotors, the Great Central had three. [1: p9]

The Midland Railway had two Railmotors. [1: p9] These units were what encouraged me to look at the railmotors throughout the UK as a model of one of these units was built in O-Gauge by my late father-in-law, in LMS livery. More about this later.

Somewhat later in the 20th century, after the grouping of railway companies the LNER and the LMSR looked at the possibility of using rigid-bodied steam railmotors. The technological improvements available by the 1920s meant that steam railmotors were worth the investment, particularly for routes most suited to their use. These will be considered in a later article in this series.

The LNWR’s Steam Railmotors

The LNWR Railmotors were elegantly designed. This postcard view shows one (possibly No.1)  standing at Bicester Station, © Public Domain. [6]

Between 1905 and 1907, the LNWR built six rigid-bodied steam railmotors with a powered bogie that could be removed via double doors at the front end.  They could accommodate 48 passengers, all in third class. “The cars were fitted with electric lighting, and there was electric bell communication from the rear driving position and the footplate. All six were absorbed into the LMS fleet in 1923 and one, No. 3, survived to be nationalised in 1948, being withdrawn in February that year.” [2][4: p57-59]

Jenkinson and Lane say that “the LNWR cars were especially well built and were technically interesting by way of employing an inside-cylindered power unit. This certainly made them less grotesque when seen in motion from the outside, and almost certainly made them more comfortable in ride quality, if only because the cylinders were nearer to the carriage centre line. They also lasted better than most and even the ruthless LMS style of management found use for them until the late 1920s/early 1930s. One lasted (just) until BR days, and when it was withdrawn from the Moffat branch of the old Caledonian Railway in 1948, it had become the final survivor of any of its kind in Great Britain.” [1: p16]

A fascinating insight into LNWR practice can be found in the June 2024 edition of Bus Archive News (No. 25) which was sent to me by Glyn Bowen.

A 1906 timetable is included in the newsletter for early motor bus services in North Wales provided by London & North Western Railway, as well as the steam-powered railmotor car services it operated on two branch lines. The railmotor and bus services began in 1905 associated with two LNWR branch lines, Prestatyn to Dyserth and Bangor to Bethesda. Three timetable extracts from 1906  appear below. [22]

The LNWR pulled its buses out of the area in 1915.

The front cover of the LNWR timetable/brochure of July 1906. [22: p4]
The railmotor timetables for the two branch lines in North Wales. [22: p4]
The LNWR bus timetables set in July 1906 were dependent on road conditions. [22: p4]

The Furness Railway Railmotor

Some sources suggest that there were two steam railmotor sets which entered service on the Furness Railway in 1905.  Were there two? Or was there, in fact, only one railmotor, numbered No. 1? The Furness Railway Trust in a comment on its Facebook Page talks first of two railmotors and later in the comments says that there was only one. [24] This image of FR Railmotor No. 1 and it’s trailer car No. 123 was shared by the Furness Railway Trust on their Facebook Page on 1st July 2014. [20]
A beautiful study of the railmotor and its trailer at Coniston. This image was shared by Russell Barton in the Lost Lines of Furness Facebook Group on 5th October 2021. [23]

The Furness Railway Trust tells us that in 1905, the Furness Railway (FR) had two steam railmotors built. “Designed by W.F. Pettigrew, they were built at Barrow Works. The four-coupled railmotor cars were for use on the FR’s Coniston and Lakeside branches. Set No.2 was written off early in it’s career after a rumoured encounter with a buffer-stop, its classmate No.1 was withdrawn after some nine or ten years’ service on account of excessive vibration.” [20]

Jenkinson and Lane also talk of two railmotor. They say that the sets were “a highly attractive pair of steam railcars with equally good looking four-wheel trailers. … The clerestory form (for the passenger areas only) was distinctly unusual for a steam railcar.” [1: p18] Both, according to Jenkinson and Lane, were out-of-service by 1914.

The Great Central Railway Railmotors

GCR Steam Railmotor No. 1. The GCR owned three of these rigid-bodied units. [19]

Jenkinson and Lane have one photograph (of No. 1, at Barton Station presumably working the Barton-New Holland service) and a drawing at 4mm =1ft. [1: p18] They comment that, “the three Great Central railcars of 1904-5 were stylish units which bore a striking similarity to LNWR cars and also carried a slight hint of the contemporary locomotive hauled stock of the GCR in their visual lines. … In the brown and french grey livery of the period, the three railcars made a handsome sight.” [1: p18]

A Kent & East Sussex Railmotor

K&ESR No. 16, a four-wheeled railmotor, built in 1905 by R.Y. Pickering & Co. Ltd., © Public Domain. [7]

The K&ESR had one rigid-bodied four-wheeled steam railmotor. It had a steam motor. It had a high speed steam engine together with a form of gearing.  Built in 1905 by R.Y. Pickering, “this could seat 31 passengers, but suffered poor ride quality and was taken out of use. It remained on the stock list when the railway was nationalised in 1948.” [2] [4: p110]

The Midland Railway Railmotors

Two different images of Midland Railway Steam Railmotors carried by Grace’s Guide. These two images come from different sources but may be of the same Railmotor which served on the line between Morecambe and Heysham. [16][17]

The Midland Railway only had two [14] early Steam Railmotors which were numbered 2233 and 2234.

The Midland Railway Society produced a monograph about the Midland Railmotors in 2008. Details can be found here. [21]

Jenkinson and Lane tell us that the Midland railmotors “were not the best of their kind, either in technicalities or appearance. Their outside styling was vaguely reminiscent of the Midland’s turn of the century square panelled stock, but without the famous clerestory and the first power units were unreliable and had to be changed. The interiors displayed unpleasant pierced plywood seating whose comfort is best left to the imagination. However, one was converted into an officers’ saloon and as such, rescued by the NRM.” [1: p16]

The Midland Railway steam railmotors were in service only from 1904 until 1907 on the Morecambe to Heysham line. “The Heysham to Morecambe line was electrified on 13th April 1908, extended to Lancaster Green Ayre on 8th June 1908 and to Lancaster Castle on 14th September 1908.” [18] No.2234 was stored until 1917 when the boiler and engine were removed. It was converted by the Midland Railway to become an officer’s saloon for directors and officials. It was hauled by a conventional locomotive across the Midland network when lines needed inspecting, or special visits were made. [15]

“It was preserved in 1968 and became a holiday home in Machynlleth until the National Railway Museum bought it in the late 1970s. It is mahogany and teak and the ‘rooms’ are as they were when it was an officers’ saloon.” [15]

Some years ago now, my father-in-law built an O-Gauge model of one of the Midland Steam Railmotors. He painted it in LMS livery. These next few pictures show the model which now sits in a display case in our lounge on top of my wife’s piano. It was this model which provoked my reading around the different steam railmotors which were in use in the early 20th century.

Three photographs of the O-Gauge model of a Midland Steam Railmotor which is on display in our lounge. [My photographs, 18th June 2024]

The Barry Railway Railmotors

Barry Railway Railmotor No. 2, unknown photographer, licenced for use here under a Creative Commons Licence (CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication)  Barry Railway Steam Railcar No. 1 and 2 were built in 1904 by NBL and R.Y .Pickering, They were rebuilt as  two bogie composite carriages in 1914. [12]

The Barry Railway purchased two steam railmotors from the North British Locomotive Co; “they were very similar to contemporary GWR railmotors. It ran the motor cars between Pontypridd and Cardiff via Tynycaeau Junction and St.Fagans. The service started on 1st May 1905, with the steam railmotors intermingled with conventional trains.” [13]

Warwickshirerailways.com displays a photograph of one of these two Railmotors after conversion to Auto-Trailer No. W4303 sitting in a siding at Widney Manor Railway Station in 1952. The webpage can be found here:

https://www.warwickshirerailways.com/gwr/gwrwm2627.htm

The webpage notes that the auto-coach started life as one of the two Steam Railmotors which were “built jointly by R.Y. Pickering & Co of Wishaw (near Glasgow) and the North British Locomotive Co. (Atlas Works, Glasgow) for the Barry Railway in 1905. R.Y. Pickering furnished and fitted the coach bodywork, while the North British provided the power unit – a vertical steam boiler and coupled four wheeled bogie with outside cylinders. The Steam Railmotor which would eventually become coach No W4303, was numbered No 2 by the Barry Railway. In 1914 both of the steam rail motors were converted at the Barry carriage repair shops into composite trailer coaches. This trailer coach was numbered No 178 and was recorded as having 12 second class and 56 third class seats. In 1921, No 178 together with the other trailer (No 177 converted from Steam Railmotor No 1) were regularly being used together on Barry to Bridgend services via the Vale of Glamorgan Line.” [13]

References

  1. David Jenkinson & Barry C. Lane; British Railcars: 1900-1950; Pendragon Partnership and Atlantic Transport Publishers, Penryn, Cornwall, 1996.
  2. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_steam_railcars, accessed on 14th June 2024.
  3. R.M. Tufnell; The British Railcar: AEC to HST; David and Charles, 1984.
  4. R.W. Rush; British Steam Railcars; Oakwood Press, 1970.
  5. https://victorianweb.org/victorian/technology/railways/locomotives/27.html, accessed on 16th June 2024.
  6. https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bicester_Town_railway_station.jpg, accessed on 18th June 2024.
  7. https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:KESR_steam_railcar_16_built_1905.jpg, accessed on 18th June 2024.
  8. Not used.
  9. Not used.
  10. Not used.
  11. Not used.
  12. https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Barry_Railway_Steam_Railcar_1904.jpg, accessed on 18th June 2024.
  13. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barry_Railway_Company, accessed on 18th June 2024.
  14. Rush mentions one [4], Jenkinson lists 2 units in a summary table [1: p9]
  15. Sam Hewitt: Can We Also Save Midland Railway Steam Railmotor? In Heritage Railway Magazine, January 2019; via https://www.heritagerailway.co.uk/6651/can-we-also-save-midland-railway-steam-railmotor, accessed on 18th June 2024.
  16. https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/File:Im1904EnV98-p204a.jpg, accessed on 18th June 2024.
  17. https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/File:Im1963EnV216-p151a.jpg, accessed on 18th June 2024.
  18. https://glostransporthistory.visit-gloucestershire.co.uk/electrif.htm, accessed on 18th June 2024.
  19. https://www.prints-online.com/inst-mechanical-engineers/steam-rail-motor-coach-1-5082715.html, accessed on 18th June 2024.
  20. https://www.facebook.com/furnessrailwaytrust/photos/a.220682561319601/697678023620050/?type=3&app=fbl, accessed on 18th June 2024.
  21. Stephen Summers on; The Midland Railway Steam Motor Carriages; The Midland Railway Society, 2008. Details can be found on:  http://nicwhe8.freehostia.com/pynot//railway/steam-railmotor/steam-railmotor.html, accessed on 24th June 2024.
  22. The Bus Archive News No. 25, June 2024.
  23. https://www.facebook.com/share/p/k2G2enDH4a279KRP, accessed on 28th June 2024.
  24. Furness Railway Trust: “There was only ever one Railmotor, plus one trailer.” See the comments on the Furness Railway Trust’s post on its Facebook Page, https://www.facebook.com/share/jo3Q37knF41nXHhB. In this particular post  the Trust first talks of a second Railmotor which was written off very early in its career, before then confirming that there was only ever one railmotor.

Steam Railmotors – Part 1 – Early Examples.

1 Reply

‘Lilliputian’ – An Experiment.

A small steam carriage was designed by James Samuel, the Eastern Counties Railway Locomotive Engineer, built by William Bridges Adams in 1847, and trialled between Shoreditch and Cambridge on 23rd October 1847. It was an experimental unit, 12 feet 6 inches (3.81 m) long with a small vertical boiler and passenger accommodation was a bench seat around a box at the back, although it was officially named ‘Lilliputian’ it was known as ‘Express’. [7][8: p16]

The Fairfield Steam Carriage

It seems that the earliest example of a steam railcar to enter service was another “experimental unit designed and built in 1847 by James Samuel and William Bridges Adams. In 1848, they made the Fairfield steam carriage that they sold to the Bristol and Exeter Railway, who used it for two years on a branch line.” [1] The Bristol & Exeter Railway was broad gauge.

The Fairfield Steam Carriage, © Unknown, Public Domain. [3][5]

The Fairfield Steam Carriage was built to the design of William Bridges Adams and James Samuel at “Fairfield Works in Bow, London. It was tested on the West London Railway late in 1848, although it was early in 1850 before modifications had been made that allowed Adams to demonstrate that it was working to the agreed standards. The design was not perpetuated by the Bristol and Exeter Railway, instead they purchased small 2-2-2T locomotives for working their branch lines.” [3]

Apparently, the unit worked on the Clevedon and Tiverton branches, and perhaps on the Weston branch too. [3]

“The power unit had a single pair of driving wheels driven through a jackshaft by small 8-by-12-inch (203 mm × 305 mm) cylinders. Originally equipped with a vertical boiler 6 feet (1,800 mm) in height, 3 feet (910 mm) in diameter, this was replaced by a horizontal boiler length 7 feet 7 inches (2,310 mm), diameter 2 feet 6 inches (760 mm). The boiler was not covered by a cab or other bodywork; the two pairs of carrying wheels were beneath the carriage portion. It had seats for 16 first class and 32 second class passengers. It was once timed as running at 52 miles per hour (84 km/h).” [3][4]

The Fairfield Steam Carriage, © Unknown, Public Domain. [6]

Numbered No. 29 in the Bristol and Exeter Railway locomotive list, it was generally referred to as “the Fairfield locomotive”. It was not a great success, and although Samuel & Adams built another couple of steam railmotors at around the same time, the concept did not result in any further orders. [3]

Jenkinson & Lane dismiss this railcar as one of a few “rather weird and impracticable 19th Century ideas.” [2: p9] Nonetheless, it meets their criteria for a railcar. They state that a railcar should “contain within itself the means of propulsion as well as seats for the passengers, … the design should represent an ‘integrated concept’ … [in which] neither could function independently of the other.” [2: p5]

The ‘Enfield’ Steam Carriage

Built at about the same time as the Bristol & Exeter Steam Carriage was one which was purchased by the Eastern Counties Railway. …

The steam railcar ‘Enfield’
which was used by the ECR from 19th January 1849. [6]

‘Enfield‘ was larger than ‘Fairfield’. Built by Samuel and Adams this was used in regular service by the Eastern Counties Railway until the engine was converted into a 2-2-2 tank locomotive. [7][8: p18]

Another Early Example

“More engine and carriage combinations to Samuel designs were built in the 1850s in the Eastern Counties railway works, and another by Kitson & Co. called Ariel’s Girdle. Later, in 1869, Samuel, Robert Fairlie and George England collaborated to build a prototype articulated steam railcar at England’s Hatcham Ironworks that was demonstrated in the works yard. However, England went out of business at about this time and nothing is known about the fate of this vehicle.” [7][8: p19]

References

  1. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_steam_railcars, accessed on 11th June 2024.
  2. David Jenkinson & Barry C. Lane; British Railcars: 1900-1950; Pendragon Partnership and Atlantic Transport Publishers, Penryn, Cornwall, 1996.
  3. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bristol_and_Exeter_Railway_Fairfield_steam_carriage, accessed on 11th June 2024.
  4. William Bridges Adams; “Road Progress, Or, Amalgamation of Railways and Highways for Agricultural Improvement, and Steam Farming, in Great Britain and the Colonies: Also Practical Economy in Fixed Plant and Rolling Stock for Passenger and Goods Trains; George Luxford, London, 1850, p15. George Luxford. p. 15.
  5. “The Fair-Field Steam Carriage“. Illustrated London News. 1849.
  6. http://britbahn.wikidot.com/dampftriebwagen, accessed on 14th June 2024.
  7. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_steam_railcars, accessed on 14th June 2024.
  8. R.W. Rush; British Steam Railcars; Oakwood Press, 1970.