L&YR railmotors

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

Type and origin Builder Kerr, Stuart & Co. Build date 1905 Total produced 4 (Two Taff Vale Railway, two L&YR)

Specifications Configuration: ​  • Whyte 0-2-2T, with semi-trailer Driver dia. 2 ft 10 in (0.864 m) Trailing dia. 2 ft 10 in (0.864 m) Length 58 ft 8 in (17,882 mm) 45 ft (13,716 mm) (trailer) Loco weight 37 tons 10 cwt 2qr (with trailer coach) Fuel capacity 10 cwt Water cap 550 gallons Firebox:  • Firegrate area 8 sq ft Boiler 3 ft 4.5 in (1,029 mm) diameter 2 ft 1.2 in (640 mm) transverse length (each side) Boiler pressure 160 psi (1.10 MPa) Heating surface 338.5 sq ft Cylinders Two, outside Cylinder size 9 in × 14 in (229 mm × 356 mm)[lower-roman 1]

Career Operators L&YR Number in class 2 Numbers L&Y 1-2 First run July 1905 Withdrawn 1909 Disposition All scrapped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L&YR No.	Works No.	Delivery Date	Withdrawn
Lot 54
1	904	7 June 1905	1909
2	905	28 June 1905	1909

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 They were both withdrawn in 1909.[1]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 date 1906-1911 Total produced 18

Specifications Configuration: ​  • Whyte 0-4-0T, with semi-trailer Driver dia. 3 ft 7.675 in (1.109 m)[4] Length 69 ft 5 in (21,158 mm) 47 ft 6 in (14,478 mm) (trailer) Loco weight 32 tons 14 cwt (engine) 47 tons 10 cwt (with trailer coach) Water cap 550 gallons Firebox:  • Firegrate area 9.4 sq ft Boiler 4 ft 3 in (1,295 mm) diameter 5 ft (1,524 mm) length Boiler pressure 180 psi (1.24 MPa) Heating surface 509 sq ft Cylinders Two, outside Cylinder size 12 in × 16 in (305 mm × 406 mm)

Career Operators L&YR LMS Number in class 18 Numbers L&Y 1-18 Withdrawn 1927-1948 Disposition All 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 Date	LMS No.	Withdrawn
Lot 54
3	951	3 May 1906	10600	28 June 1947
4	952	17 May 1906	10601	20 February 1934
5	953	25 May 1906	10602	August 1927
6	954	1 June 1906	10603	May 1927
7	955	7 June 1906	10604	5 October 1929
8	956	22 May 1906	10605	June 1929
Lot 57
9	977	12 January 1907	10606	November 1943
10	978	19 January 1907	10607	27 November 1934
11	979	6 February 1907	10608	November 1935
12	980	16 February 1907	10609	June 1937
13	981	2 March 1907	10610	August 1937
14	982	9 March 1907	10611	October 1931
15	983	23 March 1907	10612	21 December 1934
Lot 63
1	1069	10 December 1909	10613	16 December 1931
2	1070	17 December 1909	10614	June 1937
16	1071	24 December 1909	10615	September 1928
Lot 69
17	1172	December 1911	10616	8 November 1933
18	1173	December 1911	10617	6 March 1948

See also

• Kerr Stuart steam railmotor

Notes and references

Notes

1. These were also listed at ​10 ¹⁄₂ 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.