GWR Steam Railmotor and Trailer Project

Some Historical Details

A railmotor at work

As well as physically preserving and restoring Railmotor No. 93 and Trailer No. 92, we are interested in preserving and recording facts and memories about the vehicles and their like.

Here are some items of interest, and some links and references to other sources, which we hope form merely the start of another interesting aspect of this project.

 

Web Resources

We are interested in hearing stories from those who worked or travelled on the Steam Railmotors, so if you have any interesting tales, why not get in touch?

Great Western Society member Mike Lewis recalls two such tales:

As the last of the Great Western Steam Railmotors were withdrawn in 1935, there are few who now recall travelling on them, but William Harbour, a young passenger, remembers.


There are also, of course, some more contemporary accounts of working with Steam Railmotors:


Inevitably there are also some more recent memories of finding withdrawn Railmotors and Trailers, and of their acquisition by the Great Western Society.


The Swindon Engineering Society held a meeting on Tuesday March 12th 1906, where A H Nash presented a paper entitled 'The Construction of Steam Railmotors', which was followed by a discussion. (PDF File - 676kB).


Other documentation concerning Steam Railmotors sometimes comes to light:

Notices concerning the commencement of railmotor services:

Further Reading

A definitive history of the Great Western Railmotor is provided in John Lewis' excellent book:

Great Western Steam Railmotors: and their services. Lewis, John. 2004.
Wild Swan Publications Ltd. ISBN 1 874103 96 8

The story of the rebirth of Railmotor No. 93 is particularly featured in:

Railmotor: The Steam Engine that Rewrote Railway History. Jones, Robin. 2011.
Halsgrove. ISBN 978 0 85704 122 7

These books are available from the shop at Didcot Railway Centre.

Probably the most historically-important project in railway preservation today
The Steam Railmotor Project
Great Western Society Limited
Didcot Railway Centre
Didcot
Oxon OX11 7NJ
Registered Charity No. 272616