Irish Railcars 1907

Irish Railway Record Society

Irish Railcars 1907 - 2007

Stephen Hirsch

Pioneering VEHICLES

In 1907, the Irish railway system entered the age of the internal combustion engine. In that year the narrow gauge County Donegal Railways Joint Committee purchased a diminutive 4-wheel, 10hp petrol-engined railcar from Allday & Onions of Birmingham. The vehicle had an open body and was intended for use as an inspection car, but proved to be underpowered. In 1920, it was re-equipped with a 22hp Ford engine, receiving an enclosed body capable of accommodating 6 passengers at the same time. The railcar showed its worth during the 1926 coal strike when it operated passenger and mail services on the lines from Stranorlar to Glenties and Strabane.

Experience with the railcar highlighted the potential for this type of vehicle. The CDRJC’s general manager, Henry Forbes, was convinced that lightly used services and lines could be operated at significantly lower costs by railcars rather than steam locomotives with carriages and the company embarked on a programme of introducing further railcars into the fleet.

In November 1911, the Midland Great Western Railway put a four-wheel railcar into service on its standard gauge Westport-Achill line. Unlike the Donegal cars, which had to be turned after each journey, the Midland’s vehicle had a driving position at each end. Fitted with a 27hp petrol engine it could accommodate 11 passengers on reversible seating and its maximum speed was quoted as 53mph. Luggage and mails were carried in lockers, which projected from the body at either end, rather like the bonnet and boot of a car. Despite receiving a new engine in 1914, the railcar did not prove to be a success and it was transferred to the Civil Engineering Department for use as an inspection car in 1916, before being withdrawn from service in 1933.

The fortunes of the seven-mile long, 3ft gauge Castlederg & Victoria Bridge Tramway, which ran between the two County Tyrone towns named in its title, began to suffer from road competition in the early 1920s. In an effort to counteract this, the company designed and built a 24-seat railcar, which was powered by a 20hp paraffin engine. Put into service in 1925, the vehicle, whose appearance bore more of a resemblance to a garden shed than to a railway carriage, could achieve a speed of 30mph on level track. It covered approximately 30,000 miles before it was withdrawn at the end of 1928.

The Great Southern Railways, as part of an evaluation of different types of vehicles for use on branch lines, purchased two Drewry railcars in 1928. Each four-wheel, 70hp petrol-engined car had accommodation for 30 passengers and could be driven from either end. They initially saw service on the Cashel branch. Two smaller Drewry cars were later introduced on to the West Clare section by the GSR.

THE FIRST DIESEL RAILCARS

In 1931, the CDRJC made railway history by introducing the first regular diesel railcar service in either Ireland or Britain. Two cars, numbers 7 and 8, could seat 30 passengers each and proved to be extremely fuel efficient, achieving about 25mpg on trial runs. They could also reach speeds of over 40mph, while easily maintaining 30mph over the steeply graded Barnsmore Gap section. After their trials they at first operated between Strabane and Killybegs, but were later seen all over the CDRJC’s system.

At the end of the following year the Clogher Valley Railway put a diesel railcar into service on its 37-mile long narrow gauge line from Tynan, Co. Tyrone to Maguiresbridge, Co. Fermanagh. Walkers of Wigan supplied the power unit, which included the drivers cab, a 74hp Gardner engine and a 4-wheel power bogie. Articulated from the power unit was a 29-seat passenger coach, which had been built by the Great Northern Railway in Dundalk. This was the first articulated railcar to run in Ireland and it marked the start of Walkers’ long association with Irish railways. Following the demise of the CVR in 1942, the railcar was purchased by the CDRJC.

Henry Forbes, who was also on the Committee of Management of the CVR, was so impressed by the railcar’s performance that he adopted a similar design for all subsequent railcars for the Donegal system. In the period up to the end of 1940 six Gardner/Walker articulated vehicles were introduced by the CDRJC.

1930s STANDARD GAUGE RAILCARS

While the CDRJC was leading the way in the development of diesel rail vehicles at the start of the 1930s, its two owners, the Great Northern Railway (Ireland) and the London Midland & Scottish Railway (Northern Counties Committee), were also developing plans for operating similar vehicles on their lines.

The GNR(I)’s first diesel railcar, ‘A’, entered service in July 1932. The railcar had seats for 32 passengers and could be driven from either end. Power was supplied by a 6-cylinder AEC engine, developing 130hp and the vehicle’s maximum speed was 50mph on level track. Railcar 'A’ remained in passenger service until 1964.

Railcar ‘B’ entered service a few months after its predecessor. Although outwardly similar to ‘A’, railcar ‘B’ was quite different technically. Whereas the former was a diesel-mechanical railcar, ‘B’ was equipped with an electric drive. A 120hp Gleniffer engine was coupled to a Tilling Stevens generator, which provided power to drive a traction motor mounted on one of the bogies. Railcar ‘B’ was the first diesel-electric railcar to enter passenger service in either Ireland or Britain. Unfortunately the vehicle proved to be underpowered and the diesel-electric drive was unreliable. It was converted to an unpowered coach in 1946.

The company’s third railcar, ‘C’, entered service in late 1934. Unlike its predecessors, the new vehicle was articulated, with the cab and 96hp engine being carried on a 4-wheel power bogie, which was built by Walkers of Wigan. A 50-seat passenger compartment was articulated from the cab unit. Railcar ‘C’ was single-ended and had to be turned after each journey.

Two railcars were introduced in June 1935 for use on the Dublin to Howth and Balbriggan routes. Numbered ‘C₂’ and ‘C₃’, they were basically similar to ‘C’ except that they were slightly heavier and their engines developed 102hp. The two cars were designed to run as a coupled pair, with the cabs outermost. This would provide the additional capacity required for suburban duties and would do away with the need to turn the cars after each journey. However, as there was no method of controlling both railcars from a single cab, only the leading car’s engine was in use at any time, the trailing unit being pulled along with the transmission in neutral, resulting in excessive wear and tear.

A further four railcars were produced by the GNR(I)’s Dundalk Works during the second half of the 1930s. These consisted of two passenger compartments articulated from a central engine compartment. In the first two cars, ‘D’ and ‘E’, power was supplied by a single 153hp Gardner engine. The passenger compartments, which were quite modern in appearance, had seats for 159 passengers. While the two railcars were quite successful, they were somewhat underpowered.

Railcars ‘F’ and ‘G’ were outwardly similar to their predecessors, the main visual differences being that they were slightly longer and the number of seats was greater, at 164. Technically, however, they were quite different in that they were equipped with two Gardner 102hp engines, each driving one axle of the power bogie.

The NCC’s first railcar, appropriately No. 1, entered service in 1933. This was a 57-seat bogie vehicle, which was powered by two 130hp petrol engines. Power was transmitted to the wheels through torque converters. As electro-pneumatic control gear had yet to be developed, the controls were operated through mechanical linkages. The railcar could be driven from either end. The original engines were replaced by diesel ones of similar power in 1947.

Over the next five years a further three railcars, Nos. 2, 3 and 4, entered service. Unlike No. 1, these were powered by diesel engines from the outset and had improved control gear consisting of hydraulically operated throttles and electro-vacuum systems for operating the clutch and final drive selectors. They also featured elevated driving positions, which were designed to allow trailers be propelled in one direction, thereby doing away with the need for running round at the end of each journey.

The remainder of this article appears in IRRS Journal number 164, published October 2007.