L&YR railmotors

The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (L&YR) operated two classes of twenty steam railmotors in total.

Type and origin
BuilderKerr, Stuart & Co.
Build date1905
Total produced4 (Two Taff Vale Railway, two L&YR)
Specifications
Configuration:
​
 • Whyte0-2-2T, with semi-trailer
Driver dia.2 ft 10 in (0.864 m)
Trailing dia.2 ft 10 in (0.864 m)
Length58 ft 8 in (17,882 mm)
45 ft (13,716 mm) (trailer)
Loco weight37 tons 10 cwt 2qr (with trailer coach)
Fuel capacity10 cwt
Water cap550 gallons
Firebox:
 • Firegrate area		8 sq ft
Boiler3 ft 4.5 in (1,029 mm) diameter
2 ft 1.2 in (640 mm) transverse length (each side)
Boiler pressure160 psi (1.10 MPa)
Heating surface338.5 sq ft
CylindersTwo, outside
Cylinder size9 in × 14 in (229 mm × 356 mm)[lower-roman 1]
Career
OperatorsL&YR
Number in class2
NumbersL&Y 1-2
First runJuly 1905
Withdrawn1909
DispositionAll scrapped

Kerr Stuart railmotors

The first L&YR railmotors were two by Kerr Stuart, copies of a design that had already been supplied to the Taff Vale Railway. They were ordered by Hughes in 1904.[1]

The locomotive units had transverse boilers of a type similar to the Yorkshire steam wagon, where a single central firebox fed extremely short fire-tubes to a smokebox at each side. Like the Yorkshire, these then returned to a central smokebox and chimney. The outside cylinders were rear-mounted and drove only the leading axle, without coupling rods. The locomotive units were dispatched separately to Newton Heath, where their semi-trailers were attached.[1]

Their coaches were semi-trailers, with reversible seats for 48 passengers and electric lighting.[lower-roman 2] There were also a luggage compartment and a driving compartment for use in reverse. Folding steps were provided at each of the two doors on each side.[3] They were built by Bristol Carriage & Wagon Co..[1]

Stock list[1]
L&YR No.Works No.Delivery DateWithdrawn
Lot 54
19047 June 19051909
290528 June 19051909

Service

Both railmotors worked the Bury-Holcombe Brook line at first. In 1906 they briefly worked at Southport, then between Burnley and Colne for their remaining years. They were both withdrawn in 1909.[1]

Hughes railmotors
Type and origin
Build date1906-1911
Total produced18
Specifications
Configuration:
​
 • Whyte0-4-0T, with semi-trailer
Driver dia.3 ft 7.675 in (1.109 m)[4]
Length69 ft 5 in (21,158 mm)
47 ft 6 in (14,478 mm) (trailer)
Loco weight32 tons 14 cwt (engine)
47 tons 10 cwt (with trailer coach)
Water cap550 gallons
Firebox:
 • Firegrate area		9.4 sq ft
Boiler4 ft 3 in (1,295 mm) diameter 5 ft (1,524 mm) length
Boiler pressure180 psi (1.24 MPa)
Heating surface509 sq ft
CylindersTwo, outside
Cylinder size12 in × 16 in (305 mm × 406 mm)
Career
OperatorsL&YR
LMS
Number in class18
NumbersL&Y 1-18
Withdrawn1927-1948
DispositionAll scrapped

Hughes designed a further class of railmotors that were then built at Horwich and Newton Heath, in four batches over five years. They were of the "0-4-0T locomotive + semi-trailer type", with conventional locomotive boilers.[1][3]

No 15, works number 983, was the 1,000th locomotive to be built at Horwich.[1]

Service

All were inherited by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) in 1923, who numbered the locomotives 10600-17 and gave the trailers separate numbers in the coaching stock series. These were the only self-propelled vehicles numbered in the LMS locomotive series rather than the coaching stock series. The first was withdrawn in 1927, and only one survived by nationalisation in 1948. That railmotor, LMS No. 10617, was withdrawn in 1948 without being given a British Railways number. None was preserved.

The best-remembered of these railmotors was the 'Altcar Bob' service from Southport to Barton railway station (also known as 'Downholland') (before 1926, it ran to Altcar and Hillhouse) and the 'Horwich Jerk' service from Horwich to Blackrod. The latter became the last part of the L&Y System which made use of Hughes Railmotors.[5]

Stock list[6]
L&YR No.Works No.Service DateLMS No.Withdrawn
Lot 54
39513 May 19061060028 June 1947
495217 May 19061060120 February 1934
595325 May 190610602August 1927
69541 June 190610603May 1927
79557 June 1906106045 October 1929
895622 May 190610605June 1929
Lot 57
997712 January 190710606November 1943
1097819 January 19071060727 November 1934
119796 February 190710608November 1935
1298016 February 190710609June 1937
139812 March 190710610August 1937
149829 March 190710611October 1931
1598323 March 19071061221 December 1934
Lot 63
1106910 December 19091061316 December 1931
2107017 December 190910614June 1937
16107124 December 190910615September 1928
Lot 69
171172December 1911106168 November 1933
181173December 1911106176 March 1948

See also

Notes and references

Notes
  1. These were also listed at 10½ inches in some sources.
  2. The L&YR had experimented with electric lighting with steam locomotive dynamos from 1885 and, under the electrically-minded Hoy, with wheel-driven dynamos on coaches from 1901 to 1905. However Aspinall had rejected these as too expensive and electric lighting would not become standard until 1914. Like many railways, this had only been in reaction to the 1913 Ais Gill accident.[2]

References
  1. Marshall, John (1972). The Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway. Vol 3: Locomotives and Rolling Stock. Newton Abbott: David & Charles. pp. 170–171. ISBN 0-7153-5320-9.
  2. Marshall 1972, p. 120
  3. Marshall 1972, p. 155
  4. Marshall 1972, p. 150
  5. Lost Railways of Lancashire, G Suggitt Countryside Books 2003
  6. Marshall 1972, pp. 263–264

Further reading
  • Essery and Jenkinson An Illustrated History of LMS Locomotives Volume 2. Absorbed Pre-Group Classes Western and Central Divisions.
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