Railmotor

Railmotor and Railcar

The scheme for building tramways on the proposed light railway routes in the Stroud district caused the Great Western to look seriously at providing a more local service in the area. On their Cambourne to Redruth line they had seen takings drop by 75% when an electric tramway was opened.

As early as 1849 the Bristol and Exeter branch at Tiverton was worked by steam railcar no.29 "Fairfield", and in the late 1880s Sir Joseph Wilkinson, the General Manager of the Great Western, was encouraging his Chief Mechanical Engineer, G.J. Churchward, to design a lightweight train suitable for local services, possibly powered by a petrol motor. Churchward became interested in the Southsea railcar, a combined engine and carriage developed by Dugald Drummond. It ran on the East Southsea branch of the LSWR and LBSC joint line in Hampshire. The Great Western persuaded the LSWR to loan them the railcar for trials, and on the 7th May 1903 it was run to Swindon, via Addison Road at Kensington. The railcar had to be back in the LSWR's possession by the following Monday. On the Sunday, Churchward ran the motor up and down the Golden Valley and, appearing satisfied with the results, returned to Swindon to design his railmotor.

The Great Western planned to introduce a half-hourly service from Chalford to Stonehouse at a fare of 1/2d a mile, with a minimum fare of 1d. Intermediate stopping places would be unstaffed, the tickets being issued by conductors who would also act as deputy drivers. The GWR believed that this type of service would keep the whole passenger traffic in their hands, making the tramway scheme commercially impractical.

The existing rail service, with six down and five up trains a day carried 68,220 passengers between Chalford and Stonehouse in 1901. The local bus service carried 540,000 passengers and it was envisaged that with a twenty minute journey time the railmotor would gain a large proportion of the bus traffic.

The capital cost of the railmotor service was estimated thus:-

3 railmotor cars at two thousand pounds each

6 stopping places at five hundred pounds each.

Stabling places for cars at one thousand pounds each.

This gave a capital expenditure of ten thousand pounds.

The working expenses per year, including interest on capital, wages and maintenance came to two thousand, two hundred and fifty pounds. The total line occupation between 6am and l0pm was 49 down and 25 up trains but it was thought that this would not affect the running time The railway estimated that with lower fare283,000 passengers would be needed annually to make the railmotor remunerative.

The bus service between Chalford and Stroud was hourly and even less frequent between Stroud and Stonehouse. Its fairs were also higher than those proposed on the railway. The GWR were also aware that if the proposed light railway to Painswick ran to Cheltenham then a second rail link with Gloucester would be formed. They felt that it was very important to fight off the light railway plan and believed this could only be done by the introduction of a cheap Golden valley service.

G.J. Churchward designed his railmotor with a small steam engine at the front and a normal carriage bogie at the trailing end. A driver's vestibule would be at each end with the passenger and luggage compartments in between. The engines had vertical boilers and were fitted with Walshaerts valve gear. The overall lengths were either 74' 63'6"" including buffers. A 450 gallon water tank was carried underneath the coach and the passenger compartment was lit by six Duplex-burner gas lamps. These 52 seater railmotors had a maximum speed of 45mph. Passengers alighted at rail level platforms from end vestibule doors via retractable iron steps. At existing stations hinged flaps covered these steps.

On Friday the 9th October 1903 the first railmotor, no.l ,was tried out on the Chalford to Stonehouse route with Great Western Company officials on board. The following Monday saw the first railmotor service on the GWR, with car no.2 joining the following day. Small halts at rail level were built down the line, but the Councils at Brimscombe and Bowbridge objected to the iron step entrances and thus no stops were provided at these places. Because of these objections and the time taken for passengers to board and alight, standard height platforms were built. These were about one hundred feet in length and had pagoda roofed shelters. At Chalford new sidings and an engine shed was provided together with watering facilities.

Railmotor No.1

From Chalford the first of these halts was St Mary's Crossing, then through Brimscombe to Ham Mill, then on to Stroud, Downfield Crossing, Ebley Crossing and finally Stonehouse. Brimscombe Bridge Halt, between Brimscombe and Ham Mill was opened on the 1st February 1904 and Bowbridge, between Ham Mill and Stroud, on the 1st May 1905. Cashes Green, between Downfield and Ebley, opened on 22nd January 1930 to serve a new housing estate.

St Mary's Crossing Halt

On the first day the takings were twenty pounds from 2,500 passengers. The motors ran on the hour from Chalford and on the half hour from Stonehouse, taking 23 minutes for the journey which cost 9d return. Additional trains were run on Fridays and Saturdays.

This service fell short of the half hourly service that had originally been planned. There were anomalies in the fare structure. Brimscombe to Ham Mill and Ham Mill to Stroud both cost 1d, while Brimscombe to Stroud cost 3d (the bus cost 2d). It was thought that passengers who used the railmotors to connect with express trains might use the bus to save money. The guards objected to issuing tickets as they said the machines were too cumbersome. The Great Western then considered automatic ticket machines sited on the halt platforms, but thought the "Sweetmeat" ticket issuing machine too costly at one hundred pounds each. By 1912 Stonehouse Parish Counci1 were urging the Great Western to introduce an evening weekday train and in response on Monday the 11th November a 9.39pm Chalford to Stonehouse and a 10pm Stonehouse to Chalford train was introduced into the timetable on the clear understanding that it would be withdrawn if not supported.

The railmotors were difficult to maintain as they had to be workshop serviced, their length taking up valuable space. The interiors were difficult to keep clean owing to the close proximity of the boiler. In l905, while the railmotors were still in production, the Great Western started to equip its small tank engines with auto-control gear and connected these to carriages built with a drivers vestibule at one end only and fitted with auto-control gear. This enabled the train to be push-pull worked, the engine being disconnected for maintenance. Withdrawals of the railmotors began in 1914 and all were scrapped by 1935, although some were converted to auto-trailers.

In 1917 the railmotors started to be replaced by auto-trains, or railcars as they were known. The railmotors had created so much local traffic that to cope with the extra demand trailers were fitted. The railmotors performed sluggishly with the extra load and had difficulty keeping to time. they had, however, played an important part in the social and commercial life of the area and became a popular theme of Great Western lore.

The railcar, with its engine facing its home station of Chalford, the fireman on the foot plate and the driver in the carriage vestibule, would be propelled down the valley to Stonehouse. In the 1920s the service was extended to Gloucester. The train continued to give a personal service. The drivers knew many of their passengers by name and would wait as long as they dared if they thought one of their regulars was late. It was a train for the whole community, mill workers, commuters to Gloucester and school children. It was called the pram train by mothers with young children who crammed the luggage compartment with push-chairs and carry-cots.

The mainstay of locomotion on the railcars was the 1400 class 0-4-2 tanks, many of which remained in service until closure. No 1441 worked continually for 27 years, covering nearly a million miles on the Chalford run alone. Whilst truly a local service, certain drivers had a reputation for speed, especially on the stretch between Standish and Tuffley where speeds of 85 mph were often recorded. On this section the Midland and Great Western ran parallel and here were run the unofficial races between the crack Midland expresses and the Great Western tank engines.

The railway produced many local characters. Chalford stationmaster, Mr O1lerenshaw, would make tea for his passengers, while Mr Cooper of Hampton Lane crossing repaired shoes and "Cider King", Charlie Flint of Downfield Crossing was known for his waiting room refreshments.

14XX 0-4-2 tank fills with water at Stroud to prepare for the climb to Chalford

The railcar gave sterling service throughout the post-war years but by 1960 British Railways was under Government pressure to become financially viable and Dr Beeching was appointed to undertake the task. His "axe" was to swing on all unprofitable services and despite evidence being given to the Public Enquiry that the railcar was not only a profitable concern but vital f or the community, the last railcar ran on the 3lst 0ctober 1964. At 11:20pm Chalford station bustled with people waiting to ride on the last railcar. On the footplate of the train was Harry Gubbins, driver of the first railcar. The train, made up of an 0-4-2 tank engine and tow auto-coaches, did not leave until midnight and took over an hour for its journey to Gloucester, being closely followed by the down Mail. It was a foggy night but all the way down the line the sky was lit by fireworks, set off by people mourning the "death" of the railcar. In the sad aftermath, the stations and halts were demolished almost immediately, except for Stroud, Stonehouse and Gloucester; Chalford falling on the Wednesday after closure.