GWR steam rail motors - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The steam rail motors were self-propelled carriages operated by the Great Western Railway

Great Western Railway

The Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...

in England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

and Wales

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

from 1903 to 1935. They incorporated a steam locomotive

Steam locomotive

A steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine...

within the body of the carriage.

History

One of the London and South Western Railway

London and South Western Railway

The London and South Western Railway was a railway company in England from 1838 to 1922. Its network extended from London to Plymouth via Salisbury and Exeter, with branches to Ilfracombe and Padstow and via Southampton to Bournemouth and Weymouth. It also had many routes connecting towns in...

's railmotor

Railmotor

Railmotor is a term which was used by several British railway companies for a steam railcar.-Overview:William Bridges Adams started building railmotors as early as 1848, but only in small numbers...

s, from the Southsea Railway

Southsea Railway

The Southsea Railway was a branch of the Portsmouth Direct Line.It was opened in 1885 from Fratton Station, terminating at East Southsea Station . It was 1.25 miles long and almost completely level. Two unstaffed halts were added in 1904 at Albert Road and Jessie Road/Devonshire Avenue...

, was borrowed for trials on the Golden Valley Line

Golden Valley Line

The Golden Valley Line is a railway line from Swindon to Cheltenham in the UK.The line was originally built as the Cheltenham and Great Western Union Railway in the 1840s...

at Stroud

Stroud railway station

Stroud railway station is a railway station that serves the town of Stroud in Gloucestershire, England. The station is located on the Swindon-Gloucester "Golden Valley" line.-History:...

. This proved successful and two GWR steam rail motors, designed by George Jackson Churchward

George Jackson Churchward

George Jackson Churchward CBE was Chief Mechanical Engineer of the Great Western Railway in the United Kingdom from 1902 to 1922.-Early career:...

, entered service on the same route on 12 October 1903. A further 44 were built during 1904 and 1905, and when production finished in 1908 the fleet numbered 99 carriage units. There were 112 power units which could be changed between carriages to suit maintenance needs.

The rail motors could not only stimulate traffic on branch lines, where small and cheap platforms could be built to serve small traffic sources, but also in towns such as Plymouth

Plymouth

Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...

where they operated frequent services in an attempt to fight off competition from new electric tram

Tram

A tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...

ways. On some services they proved so successful that they could not cope with the number of passengers wishing to travel and so extra coaches were needed, but the lightweight rail motors could not cope with pulling trailers on hilly lines. One such example of this was on the Wrington Vale Light Railway

Wrington Vale Light Railway

The Wrington Vale Light Railway was a railway from Congresbury on the Cheddar Valley line to Blagdon, and serving villages in the Yeo Valley, North Somerset...

where railmotor no.38 (usually of the Yatton

Yatton

Yatton is a village and civil parish within the unitary authority of North Somerset, which falls within the ceremonial county of Somerset, England. It is located south-west of Bristol. Its population in 2001 was 9,176...

- Clevedon

Clevedon

Clevedon is a town and civil parish in the unitary authority of North Somerset, which covers part of the ceremonial county of Somerset, England...

line) would stop on the 1 in 50 gradient to raise enough steam to reach the top, however this would happen without a trailer.

There were also problems encountered with maintaining the rail motors in dirty engine shed

Engine shed

Engine shed may refer to:* Engine shed, also called a motive power depot or roundhouse, a structure used for the maintenance of railway locomotives.* Engine Shed , a music and entertainment venue on the University of Lincoln's campus....

s, while keeping the passenger sections clean.

Most rail motors were converted into autocoaches

GWR Autocoach

The GWR Autocoach is a type of coach that was used by the Great Western Railway for push-pull trains powered by a steam locomotive. The distinguishing design feature of an autocoach is the driving cab at one end, allowing the driver to control the train without needing to be located in the cab of...

and the power units were scrapped. Autotrains offered most of the benefits of rail motors but, because they were operated by "proper" locomotives, were much more flexible in operation and easier to maintain. The first SRM was withdrawn in 1914 but 65 survived in 1922 and the last was not withdrawn until 1935.

SRMs 42 and 49, along with ex-Port Talbot Railway PTR No. 1 (which had been acquired by the GWR in 1908) were sold to the Port of London

Port of London

The Port of London lies along the banks of the River Thames from London, England to the North Sea. Once the largest port in the world, it is currently the United Kingdom's second largest port, after Grimsby & Immingham...

Authority.

Fleet

All of the fleet were built with four-wheel vertical-boiler power units and a four-wheel trailing bogie under the carriage. Driving wheels were from 3ft 5in to 4ft (1,041mm to 1,219mm); cylinders were from 9in × 15in to 12in × 16in (229mm × 381mm to 305mm × 406mm).

1–2 Flat-ended prototype rail motors introduced in 1903.
3–14 Match-boarded carriages
15–16 Kerr, Stuart design
17–28 Match-boarded carriages
29–99

Preservation

No steam rail motors survived into preservation, however one of the carriage units which was converted into an autocoach

GWR Autocoach

is preserved at Didcot Railway Centre

Didcot Railway Centre

Didcot Railway Centre, located in the town of Didcot in the English county of Oxfordshire, is based around the site of a comprehensive "engine shed" which became redundant after the nationalisation of the UK railways, due to the gradual changeover from steam to diesel motive power.-Description:The...

, where it has been rebuilt into its original form. Currently painted in the typical crimson lake livery used on GWR carriages in the Edwardian era, it is possible to ride on the railmotor on certain dates.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

History

Fleet

Preservation

See also

External links