Steam Railcars/Railmotors of the UK

[rogerfarnworth]

Sitting in a display case in our lounge is a model made by my late father-in-law in O-Gauge of a Midland railway Railmotor from the early 20th century. David painted the model in LMS livery. Its presence in our lounge has been an encouragement to find out more about steam powered railcars.

The linked article is the first of at least 6 articles about steam railcars.

Steam Railmotors – Part 1 – Early Examples.

‘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 t…

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‘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.

This second article about Steam Railcars focusses on two early proponents of the units ...Dugald Drummond and Harry Wainwright. .....

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

“Drummond was born in Ardrossan, Ayrshire on 1st January 1840. His father was permanent way inspector for the Bowling Railway. Drummond was apprenticed to Forest & Barr of Glasgow gaining…

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A third article about UK Steam Railcars/Railmotors.

This article focusses on the Great Western Railway. ....

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

In addition to the references referred to in the text below, a significant study of the GWR Railmotors can be found in John Lewis’s book, “GWR Railmotors.” [13] After borrowing a …

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This fourth article covers other railway companies which had steam railmotors in the early 20th century. ...

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

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: The LNWR built six in 190…

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This fifth article about Steam Railcars/Railmotors focusses on articulated steam railmotors in the first two decades of the 20th century. ...

Steam Railmotors – Part 5 – Articulated Steam Railmotors

Earlier articles in this short series about steam railmotors can be found on these links: The Earliest Steam Railmotors: Dugald Drummond and Harry Wainwright: The GWR Steam Railmotors: Rigid-bodied…

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We will look at steam railmotors which served during the era of the big four companies after grouping in the next article.

A sixth article. .....

The new companies which came into existence with the grouping in 1923 addressed once again the best way to serve lightly populated rural communities. The options available to them centred on various forms of light railcars. Two forms of propulsion were available, the internal combustion engine and the steam engine. Electricity, in many cases required too large an investment for the likely traffic on the intermediate routes in rural areas.

Steam railcars/railmotors surprisingly given early experiences, had a second opportunity to serve in the era of the big four!

Steam Railmotors – Part 6 – After the Grouping.

The new companies which came into existence with the grouping in 1923 addressed once again the best way to serve lightly populated rural communities. The options available to them centred on variou…

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[krus_aragon]

As well as the railmotor services on Bangor - Bethesda and Prestatyn - Dyserth branches from 1905, the LNWR also had them in mind for the Holland Arms - Red Wharf Bay branch. They started proceedings in 1905, construction from 1907, and were operating a railmotor (and trailer - on some occasions at least) from opening in 1908/1909. The railmotor operated a variety of services from the branch to Holland Arms or Gaerwen, and did some turns to Llangefni as well.

I can rummage among my material on the branch line and its services if you'd like.

 

[Rescars]

What interesting pieces - thank you. I think D L Smith has recorded some tales about the GSWR units, especially on the Moniave branch.

 

[rogerfarnworth]

As well as the railmotor services on Bangor - Bethesda and Prestatyn - Dyserth branches from 1905, the LNWR also had them in mind for the Holland Arms - Red Wharf Bay branch. They started proceedings in 1905, construction from 1907, and were operating a railmotor (and trailer - on some occasions at least) from opening in 1908/1909. The railmotor operated a variety of services from the branch to Holland Arms or Gaerwen, and did some turns to Llangefni as well.

I can rummage among my material on the branch line and its services if you'd like.

That would be kind of you ... thank you.

What interesting pieces - thank you. I think D L Smith has recorded some tales about the GSWR units, especially on the Moniave branch.

You are welcome!

This is an Addendum to this series of articles resulting from being able to purchase Kidner's monograph about railcars, tramcars and auto-coaches/trains published in 1947. ...

Steam Railmotors – Part 7 – An Addendum.

R.W. Kidner Back in 1947, R.W. Kidner collaborated with the Oakwood Press to produce a series of monographs about road and rail transport. I had not been able to find a copy of the relevant part of…

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