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.
We will look at steam railmotors which served during the era of the big four companies after grouping in the next article.
Posted by Roger Farnworth (Member # 197595) on :
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!
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. ...