British steam railcars
The first steam railcar was an 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] Introduced either due to competition from the new electric tramways or to provide an economic service on lightly used country branch lines, there were two main designs, either a powered bogie enclosed in a rigid body or an articulated engine unit and carriage, pivoting on a pin.
However, with little reserve power steam railcars were inflexible and the ride quality was poor due to excessive vibration and oscillation.
The first steam railcar 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 23 October 1847.
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.
After trials in 1848, it was sold to the Bristol and Exeter Railway and adapted for the 7-foot gauge and the body rebuilt to seat 16 in first-class and 32 in second-class.
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.
[4] 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.
[5] The steam railcar was revived in 1902 when Dugald Drummond of the London and South Western Railway (LSWR) built two for a branch line near Portsmouth.
[6] Steam railcars were introduced for two main reasons, either to compete with the new electric tramways that were abstracting traffic away in suburban areas or to provide an economic service on lightly used country branch lines.
[7] To allow for inexpensive low-level halts steps were provided, interlocked with the brakes so the train could not move with them extended.
[8] There were two main designs, either with a powered bogie enclosed in a rigid body, or the engine unit and carriage were articulated, pivoting on a pin.
[10] Control from the rear end was normally by a wheel connected to the regulator by a continuous wire in or above the roof space or a rod running under the floor.
[12] However, there was little reserve power for additional carriages and therefore the cars were inflexible during busy hours, especially on the articulated types, the ride quality was poor on some due to a lack proper suspension between the engine unit and the carriage body causing excessive vibration and oscillation for some rail motors.
[23] Although there were detail differences between carriages there were six basic types: the prototypes were the only examples 57 feet (17 m) long[24] and in 1905 two railmotors (numbered 15 and 16) arrived from Kerr, Stuart and Company.
These were unlike the others, of the articulated type and to the outline design of Tom Hurry Riches of the Taff Vale Railway[25] but with locomotive style boilers.
[25] The engines, apart for the two for the Kerr, Stuart cars, were all interchangeable, although there were minor differences in the heating surface, wheel diameter and tractive effort.
[30] As of 2012[update] a reconstructed GWR steam railmotor built in 1908 is operational and based at Didcot Railway Centre.
[31][32] Riches, the Taff Vale Railway's locomotive engineer, designed in 1903 the first articulated railmotor[33] with the boiler unusually placed across the frames with a single firebox and two short drums, this giving a high steam raising capacity.
Retaining the articulated concept, the engine units were given a larger locomotive style boiler and four coupled wheels giving a tractive effort of 8,080 lbf (35.9 kN).
[45] Between 1905 and 1907, the London and North Western Railway (LNWR) built six rigid steam railcars with a powered bogie that could be removed via double doors at the front end.
[46] The Great Northern Railway (GNR) had eight railmotors built in 1905, two were petrol driven and unsuccessful and six were articulated steam railcars.
The six steam railcars were absorbed into the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) in the 1923 grouping and withdrawn between 1939 and 1948.
[49] They were stationed at Eastbourne and St Leonards and ran services on the East and West Sussex coast lines.
In 1923, Sentinel Waggon Works and Cammell Laird collaborated to build a prototype lightweight steam rail car for the Jersey Railway.
To provide a better service to compete with raising levels of road traffic[71] two of these articulated 100 hp (75 kW) two-cylinder chain-driven units were purchased,[72] and operated in the Lowestoft area.
[74] The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) also purchased a prototype in 1925, followed by twelve in 1927 and a single six-cylinder car in 1928.
