Steam railcar

A steam railcar built in 1880 by Ringhoffer of Prague

A steam railcar is a railcar that does not require a locomotive as it contains its own steam engine. The first steam railcar was an experimental unit designed and built in 1847 by James Samuel and William Bridges Adams in Britain. In 1848 they made the Fairfield steam carriage that they sold to the Bristol & Exeter Railway, who used it for two years on a branch line.

Origins

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.[1] The following year Samuel and Adams built the Fairfield steam carriage. This was much larger, 31 feet 6 inches (9.60 m) long, and built with an open third class section and a closed second class section. After trials in 1848, it was sold to the Bristol & Exeter Railway and ran for two years on the Tiverton branch.[2]

History by country

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Australia

Rowan steam railmotor.

In 1883 the Victorian Railways purchased the Rowan steam railmotor.[3] Two similar units were imported from Belgium by the South Australian Railways in 1995.

Kerr Stuart steam railmotor in 1913

In 1913, Kerr, Stuart and Company built a boiler, shipped it to Australia and the Victorian Railways assembled the Kerr Stuart steam railmotor.

Austria–Hungary

A Komarek/Ringhoffer steam railcar, now preserved at the Czech Railway Museum

In 1880, Ringhoffer of Prague built a steam railcar for the Österreichische Lokaleisenbahngesellschaft (Austrian local railway). With 32 seats and a maximum speed of 18 kilometres per hour (11 mph), it had been withdrawn by 1900. In the early 20th century, the Imperial Royal Austrian State Railways ordered a railcar with a Serpollet boiler from Esslingen, followed by a number of cars with boilers from Komarek of Vienna and carriages from Ringhoffer. The Niederösterreichische Landesbahnen (Lower Austrian State Railway) also bought cars made by Komarek and Rohrbacher. Most cars had been withdrawn by the end of World War I, and those that remained when Austria-Hungary was divided in 1918 were divided between the Czechoslovak State Railways and the Austrian Federal Railways. All units having been withdrawn by the end of the 1950s, as of 2012 one car is preserved operational at the Czech Railway Museum in Lužná (Rakovník District).[4]

The first steam railcar built by Ganz and de Dion-Bouton

Between 1901 and 1908, Ganz Works of Budapest and de Dion-Bouton of Paris collaborated to build a number of railcars for the Hungarian State Railways together with units with de Dion-Bouton boilers, Ganz steam motors and equipments, and Raba carriages built by the Raba Hungarian Wagon and Machine Factory in Győr. In 1908, the Borzsavölgyi Gazdasági Vasút (BGV), a narrow-gauge railway in Carpathian Ruthenia (today's Ukraine), purchased five railcars from Ganz and four railcars from the Hungarian Royal State Railway Machine Factory with de Dion-Bouton boilers. The Ganz company started to export steam motor railcars to the United Kingdom, Italy, Canada, Japan, Russia and Bulgaria.[5][6][7]

Britain

Steam railcars to be built in Britain in the early 20th century for the London & South Western Railway (L&SWR) and before entering passenger service one was lent to the Great Western Railway (GWR) for a trial run in the Stroud Valley between Chalford and Stonehouse in Gloucestershire.[8] Between 1902 and 1911, 197 steam railcars were built, 99 by the GWR.[9]

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. Most were replaced by an autotrain, adapted carriages and a push-pull steam locomotive as these were able to haul additional carriages or goods wagons.

After trials in 1924, the London and North Eastern Railway purchased three types of steam railcars from Sentinel-Cammell and Claytons.

Egypt

Sentinel-Cammell railcar at the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre

In 1951 Sentinel and Metro-Cammell built ten 3-car steam railcar units for the Egyptian National Railways. The units were articulated, with an oil-fired boiler supplying steam to two 6-cylinder steam motors. Withdrawn from service in 1962, as of 2012 one unit is under restoration at the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre.[36]

France

At the beginning of the 20th century Valentin Purrey patented a steam engine that was used in railcars. Built in Bordeaux by 1903 fifty cars had been built, including 40 to the Compagnie Générale des Omnibus-Paris.[37] Also, Buffaud & Robatel built a steam railcar for the metre gauge Chemin de fer de Kayes au Niger in Mali.

Germany

"Glück auf", a double-decker steam railcar designed by Georg Thomas

In 1879 Georg Thomas of the Hessian Ludwig Railway developed a double-decker steam railcar, for which he was granted a patent in 1881. The three-axle vehicle consisted of a single-axle engine unit and a two-axle double-deck carriage part, rigidly coupled together and separable only in the workshop. The Hessian Ludwig Railway built three in 1879-80, followed by the Royal Saxon State Railways, the Oels-Gniezno Railway and the Royal Württemberg State Railways. The Royal Bavarian State Railways built a similar Bavarian MCi in 1882. All had been withdrawn in the early 20th century.

In 1895 the Royal Württemberg State Railways ordered a steam railcar using a Serpollet boiler from Esslingen, followed by six more. At first, their performance was unsatisfactory, until Eugen Kittel of the Württemberg State Railways developed a new firebox. Seventeen were built for the Württemberg State Railways and railcars were also made for the Royal Saxon State Railways, Swiss Northeastern Railway and Imperial Royal Austrian State Railways, and the Grand Duchy of Baden State Railway in 1914-15.

A steam railcar built by Esslingen in 1905 for the Royal Württemberg State Railways

In 1918 the Austrian State Railways unit passed to the Czechoslovak State Railways after Austria-Hungary was divided at the end of World War I. At the end of World War II units were divided between the Deutsche Reichsbahn of East Germany, Deutsche Bundesbahn of West Germany and SNCF of France and all units had been withdrawn by 1953.

In 1906 the Prussian state railways bought two steam railcars, one fired by coal and the other oil, from Hannoversche Maschinenbau AG.

Seven Bavarian MCCi units were built between 1906 and 1908 for the Royal Bavarian State Railways for suburban services in the Munich area, the coach bodies being manufactured by MAN and the engines by Maffei. These had all been withdrawn by the end of the 1920s.

A steam railcar, DR 59, was built by Wismar in 1937 to reduce the dependency on imported diesel or petrol. After the war ownership of the car passed to the Deutsche Reichsbahn of East Germany, and in 1959 was converted into a driving trailer and withdrawn in 1975.

Italy

Italian class FS 85 steam railcar

In 1904 two steam railcars were ordered from Purrey; classified as FS 80 these were withdrawn in 1913.[37] Sixty-five railcars, classified as FS 60, were purchased in 1905 to 1907, but found to be under-powered and sixteen were converted into locomotives.[38] At the 1906 Milan Fair an FS 85 was exhibited and three were purchased, followed by 12 British built FS86s.

In 1936 three railcars using high-pressure steam were purchased and classified ALV72. This were converted into ALn72s three years later.

Mali

French manufacturers Buffaud & Robatel built a steam railcar for the metre gauge Chemin de fer de Kayes au Niger in Mali.

New Zealand

In 1925 and 1926 two steam railcars were supplied to New Zealand Railways Department, one from Sentinel and Cammell and the other from Claytons. They were both withdrawn after a few years.

North America

In North America a railcar is known as a Doodlebug. In 1906 the Canadian Pacific Railway had an oil fired steam railcar.[39]

Sweden

Swedish steam railcar of the 1880s

Steam railcars were used in Sweden in the 1880s.

Switzerland

A railcar on the Pilatus Railway

In 1889 steam railcars were built for the Pilatus Railway, a rack railway in Switzerland with a maximum gradient of 48%.

Cars nos. 1-9 were built by the Swiss Locomotive and Machine Works in Winterthur, followed by No. 10 in 1900 and no. 11 in 1909. The railway was electrified in 1937, and the cars scrapped except for two. Car no. 9 remained until 1981 as a reserve and has since been in the Swiss Transport Museum in Lucerne. Car no. 10 is on permanent loan to the Deutsches Museum in Munich.[40]

In 1902 a steam railcar was built by Maschinenfabrik Esslingen. Not a success, it was rebuilt in 1907 and sold to the Uerikon Bauma Railway. The railcar was withdrawn in 1950 and as of 2012 the railcar is restored.[41]

Notes and references

References

  1. Rush 1971, p. 16.
  2. 1 2 Rush 1971, pp. 16–18.
  3. Victorian Railways Rolling Stock
  4. "Steam railcar M 124.001". cdmuszeum.cz. Retrieved 8 October 2012.
  5. Railroad Gazette - Volume 37 - Page 296 (printed in 1904)
  6. Modern Machinery - Volumes 19-20 - Page 206 (Printed in 1906)
  7. John Robertson Dunlap, Arthur Van Vlissingen, John Michael Carmody: Factory and Industrial Management - Volume 33 - Page 1003 (printed in 1907)
  8. "First trail in Gloucestershire - Great Western Railway History". Retrieved 30 January 2013.
  9. Jenkinson 1996, p. 257.
  10. Rush 1971, pp. 22–24.
  11. Rush 1971, pp. 79–80.
  12. Rush 1971, p. 39.
  13. Rush 1971, p. 47.
  14. Rush 1971, pp. 81–83.
  15. 1 2 3 4 Rush 1971, pp. 65–66.
  16. Hedges 1980, p. 136.
  17. Rush 1971, pp. 93–94.
  18. Rush 1971, p. 30.
  19. Rush 1971, p. 51.
  20. 1 2 Rush 1971, pp. 72–73.
  21. Rush 1971, pp. 70–71.
  22. Rush 1971, pp. 95–97.
  23. Rush 1971, p. 63.
  24. Rush 1971, pp. 58–59.
  25. Rush 1971, pp. 76–77.
  26. 1 2 Rush 1971, p. 89.
  27. Rush 1971, pp. 88–89.
  28. Rush 1971, pp. 84–85.
  29. 1 2 Rush 1971, p. 90.
  30. 1 2 Rush 1971, p. 32.
  31. 1 2 Rush 1971, p. 33.
  32. Rush 1971, pp. 119, 123-125.
  33. Rush 1971, p. 123.
  34. 1 2 Rush 1971, p. 124.
  35. Rush 1971, pp. 121–122.
  36. "Sentinel-Cammell Steam Railcar No. 5208". BRC Stockbook. 9 October 2009. Retrieved 5 October 2012.
  37. 1 2 Cruciani, Marcello (May 1999). "Purrey in Italia". i treni (in Italian) (204): 17–21.
  38. Briano, Italo (1977). Storia delle ferrovie in Italia (in Italian). III. pp. 65–68. OCLC 490069757.
  39. "Steam Motor Car For the Canadian Pacific Railway". Railway Age: 254–255. August 1906. Accessible online at ebay.com. Retrieved 10 October 2012.
  40. Sources:
    • R. J. Buckley; W. J. Wyse (1984). Tramways and Light Railways of Switzerland and Austria. Light Rail Transit Association. ISBN 978-0-900433-96-2.
    • Chronik der Eisenbahn (in German). Heel Verlag GmbH. 20 December 2005. ISBN 978-3-89880-413-4.
  41. Moser, Alfred; Winter, Paul (1975). Der Dampfbetrieb der schweizerischen Eisenbahnen, 1847-1966 (in German). Birkhäuser. ISBN 3-7643-0742-0.

Sources and further reading

Britain
Austria-Hungary

The following books are in German

The following books are in Czech

The following books are in Hungarian

Germany

These sources are in German

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