The NZR RM class

NZR RM class

The RM class is the classification used by the New Zealand Railways Department and its successors given to most railcars and railbuses that have operated on New Zealand's national rail network. As NZR and its successors has operated many diverse types of railcars, alternate names have been given...

 Sentinel-Cammell steam railcar was a steam-powered railcar

Railcar

A railcar, in British English and Australian English, is a self-propelled railway vehicle designed to transport passengers. The term "railcar" is usually used in reference to a train consisting of a single coach , with a driver's cab at one or both ends. Some railways, e.g., the Great Western...

 operated by the New Zealand Railways Department

New Zealand Railways Department

The New Zealand Railways Department, NZR or NZGR and often known as the "Railways", was a government department charged with owning and maintaining New Zealand's railway infrastructure and operating the railway system. The Department was created in 1880 and was reformed in 1981 into the New...

 (NZR). It was the only one of its type to operate in New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

, and one of only two steam railcars trialled in the country; the other was the Clayton steam railcar

NZR RM class (Clayton)

The NZR RM class Clayton steam railcar was a unique railcar that operated on New Zealand's national rail network and one of only two steam railcars to operate in New Zealand - the other being 1925's RM class Sentinel-Cammell...

.

Overview

In the early 20th century, NZR began experiments with railcars as an option to replace unprofitable regional locomotive-hauled carriage expresses and to provide an efficient passenger service on rural branch line

Branch line

A branch line is a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line...

s that were served solely by slow mixed train

Mixed train

A mixed train is a train that hauls both passenger and freight cars or wagons. In the early days of railways they were quite common, but by the 20th century they were largely confined to branch lines with little traffic. As the trains provided passengers with very slow service, mixed trains have...

s that carried both goods and passengers. In 1925, a steam railcar was ordered from the 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...

-based Sentinel Waggon Works

Sentinel Waggon Works

Sentinel Waggon Works Ltd was a British company based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire that made steam-powered lorries, railway locomotives, and later, diesel engined lorries and locomotives.-Alley & MacLellan, Sentinel Works, Jessie Street Glasgow:...

 of Shrewsbury

Shrewsbury

Shrewsbury is the county town of Shropshire, in the West Midlands region of England. Lying on the River Severn, it is a civil parish home to some 70,000 inhabitants, and is the primary settlement and headquarters of Shropshire Council...

 and Metro Cammell

Metro Cammell

The Metropolitan Cammell Carriage and Wagon Company was a Birmingham, England based manufacturer of railway carriages and wagons, based in Saltley and subsequently Washwood Heath....

 of Birmingham

Birmingham

Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...

, and when it entered revenue service, it was the first railcar to do so in the Auckland Region

Auckland Region

The Auckland Region was one of the sixteen regions of New Zealand, named for the city of Auckland, the country's largest urban area. With one third of the nation's residents, it was by far the biggest population and economy of any region of New Zealand, but the second-smallest land area.On 1...

. It subsequently operated outside this region.

Usage

One task assigned to the railcar was to run a feeder service for the Night Limited

Night Limited

The Night Limited was an express passenger train that operated in New Zealand between Wellington and Auckland, utilising the entire length of the North Island Main Trunk...

 express that ran between Wellington

Wellington

Wellington is the capital city and third most populous urban area of New Zealand, although it is likely to have surpassed Christchurch due to the exodus following the Canterbury Earthquake. It is at the southwestern tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range...

 and Auckland

Auckland

The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...

. This service operated from Thames

Thames, New Zealand

Thames is a town at the southwestern end of the Coromandel Peninsula in New Zealand's North Island. It is located on the Firth of Thames close to the mouth of the Waihou River. The town is the seat of the Thames-Coromandel District Council....

 along the Thames Branch

Thames Branch

The Thames Branch railway line connected Thames, New Zealand, with Hamilton and was originally part of the East Coast Main Trunk Railway. Part of the line between Morrinsville and Waitoa remains open and is in use as the Waitoa Industrial Line, connecting to the Fonterra Dairy Factory at...

 and East Coast Main Trunk Railway to the North Island Main Trunk Railway, where it terminated at Frankton

Frankton, Waikato

Frankton is a central suburb of the city of Hamilton, New Zealand. It is the site of the city's passenger railway station, a major industrial-commercial stretch of State Highway 1, and a commercial shopping area.- Tornado :...

 and met the express before returning to Thames. This service was not the sole domain of the Sentinel-Cammell steam railcars, however; it was sometimes a carriage train hauled by 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...

s such as the U^D class

NZR UD class

The NZR UD class was a class of two 4-6-0 steam locomotivesbuilt by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1904 for the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company...

.


Reference is made in more detail in the Ohinemuri Regional History Journal 53, September 2009 to the use of the railcar on the Thames Branch.

Withdrawal

The Sentinel-Cammell steam railcar did not prove popular with passengers or crews and was not expanded into a full fleet. After a few years of service, it was quietly withdrawn and scrapped.