The Colonel Stephens Railway Museum

The History Of Stephens' Characteristic Pioneering Railmotors

Part 1

Origins

Click on the images to see the larger pictures

Holman Stephens passionately believed in light railways to serve the needs of rural communities and that to succeed they must be built and run at low cost. However, even the smallest conventional steam engines were expensive items to buy and run. Stephens on building his first independent railway, the Rye and Camber, told the responsible authorities that he wished to use ‘an oil motor on a bogie passenger car' to operate the service. This was a step too far for the internal combustion engine was less than ten years old and Stephens was unable to realise his ambition. A small steam locomotive had to be used.

Ten years later he returned with another innovation, a light steam railmotor. However it proved mechanically unreliable and increasing traffic and the First World War brought the experiment to an end. During the First World War petrol road lorry and bus development leapt forward and traffic on rural railways was under threat. To help counter this Stephens returned to the new technology. A first experiment was in October 1921 on the Weston Clevedon and Portishead but the vehicles were effectively hand built one-off products and therefore expensive; too expensive to adopt on cash starved independent light railways.

Stephens had begun experimenting on the Kent & East Sussex at some time before 1921 with a cheaper alternative using an Edwardian Wolseley-Siddeley car chassis that was adapted as a rail lorry and then as a bus. In using such adaptations Stephens was in the forefront of world practice, for only a few lines in North America and one French manufacturer were trying such things at the time. Little is known about the success or otherwise of this vehicle in service which, although single ended, was equipped with some form of reverse and a rear radiator. It was moved at an early date to the Selsey Tramway, where it certainly saw some use, and then about 1928 went to the Shropshire & Montgomeryshire where it saw little use. However, its body on another chassis continued in use as a light coach for use with the locomotive Gazelle till sometime during WW2, probably in late1942.

Never discouraged, Stephens then bought some cheap mass produced 1 ton lorry chassis (part of the Model T family) with bus bodies on them. To avoid the reversing problem, he used them in back-to -back pairs. This was a little wasteful in that the leading car had to pull the trailing car which, although out of gear, was an unnecessary deadweight, but obviated the need to have a reverse gearbox or turn the car.

The first set was delivered to the Kent and East Sussex some time in late 1922, being described and illustrated in the Commercial Motor magazine of 12 December of that year. Later, in September 1923, Stephens wrote to the same magazine saying ‘I have nine small steam railways under my control and am trying several forms of motor trains.... In a previous experiment I learnt, to my sorrow, that it is cheaper to have a car at each end than to put in a reverse gear.' Col. Stephens gave his reason for choosing Ford chassis as follows: ‘The motive units are the much despised 1-ton Fords; we chose this type, as we can always get spares without delay and for no other reason'

The units were built on the lorry chassis with the standard bonnet and mudguards retained complete with sidelights, although these soon disappeared. Two headlamps were initially fitted and it is thought that one could be shaded red for reverse running. Again these progressively disappeared usually leaving only one operational, which in the case of the K&ESR units was moved to centre of the roof. A light weight wooden buffer bar was positioned above and in front of the headlamps although the hight and style of this fitting varied over the years. There were no couplings at the leading ends until the second K&ESR set had its buffer bar lowered and couplings fitted to tow a trailer in the late 1920s.The units were connected by centre buffers with a single link and pin. The normal springing for contemporary road vehicles was retained without shock absorbers and with simple stops on the rear axle resulting in often excessive roll. They were fitted with pressed-steel solid disc wheels, probably supplied by Lynton Wheel and Tyre Co, Longford Bridge, Warrington; except on the Selsey motor which initially was fitted with cast steel 8 curved spoked wheels that were subsequently changed to standard on its leading axles. Later replacement disc wheels were probably cast steel and had three holes through the disc like later wagon wheels.

The bodies were very much too contemporary small rural bus standards built from Teak, reinforced by metal plates and with sheet metal covering below the waistline. Livery was that of the contemporary carriages on the lines and which was dark brown, and on the S&MR dark blue. All except the first carried a single luggage rail, with decorative scroll at the two front corners, which became notable for its lack of use. Of five-bay construction with large windows with an opening toplight hinged at their bottom edge to open inwards (originally not on the rear bay of the first railmotor), the opening door on the front panel on either side was set back very slightly from the front, leaving a very short window with a matching toplight at the front. The front and rear doors boasted droplights. Beneath the waistline the tumblehome curved down to a foot-board which ran the full length of the body. The front window was divided into three (two in the first) equal sections with toplights, whilst the rear end was of similar design but with a sliding door in the centre. There were reversible seats for 20 passengers made up of narrow wooden slats with backrests consisting of a 4in strip of wood attached to an iron frame that was itself attached to the base of the seat. The bodywork of the first and probably subsequent units was by Eton Coachworks of Cringleford, near Norwich, Norfolk and the whole set supplied by Edmunds of Thetford, Norfolk.

Warning systems consisted of an electric horn on the steering column and latterly at least an exhaust whistle operated by foot which was connected to a tubular whistle by a length of wire, and normally held away from the exhaust pipe by a spring. A third device, a clearly visible klaxon, also appears to have been fitted to the S&MR set and may have been fitted to the others, but visual evidence is lacking. A foot pedal worked a band brake on the transmission and a hand brake applied a pair of cast-iron shoes to the front pair of wheels. It was customary for the conductor/guard to travel in the rear unit where he could apply the hand brake in an emergency. With their light design, wheel spin was a problem, so a sand bucket was placed either side of the driver's seat and an iron pipe, topped with a funnel, went through the floor to a shute in front of the rear wheels.

The driving position was soon set at a slightly lower level than the passengers (see below) and the steering column remained in place (minus the steering wheel) upon which was mounted the hand-operated advance and retard spark lever on the left and the hand throttle to the right. Foot controls were simple with three identical foot pedals, from left to right: low-neutral-high forward drive, reverse, and transmission brake. The hand brake when applied stopped the left-hand pedal at neutral as well as operating the brake shoes on the front wheels.

The petrol tank was originally under the driver's seat and filled directly. This had two disadvantages; the fumes leaked through the filler cap (this did not matter in thee road lorries which had open cabs but was unpleasant in the enclosed railmotor bodies) and it caused the seat to be mounted too high for some drivers ,who cold not reach the pedals. The fuel tanks were subsequently moved outside and strapped on the running board just to the rear of the entry door. The consequent lowering of the driver's seat caused the odd effect of the driver sitting far lower than his passengers.

The gearbox was the normal 3 speed Epicyclic Ford unit operated by the pedals described, but subsequent railmotors were fitted with the Supaphord Patented Auxiliary Gear Box which gave an extra two forward and one reverse gear, and enabled a better freewheel when the rear unit was being towed.

Sanding in slippery conditions was achieved by a simple ‘sanding chute‘ directing sand to the rear wheels and fed by hand by the guard from the floor of the coach.

Kent & East Sussex Railway

The first Ford railmotor was allocated to the K&ESR and probably commenced normal service on Thursday 15 February 1923. Such was the novelty of these vehicles that even the recently born cinema pictured the phenomena. A Pathe News film is still available that shows the railmotor as it first entered service on the Kent & East Sussex Railway.

Some information is available giving service details for the first few months of service closing on June 9th, listing in passing service failures (although unfortunately not specifying the reasons) and the trains on which those failures occurred. The Railmotors appear to have been used during the trial period to directly replace steam services. They worked the 7.06 am train from Tenterden Town to Robertsbridge Junction returning to Headcorn at 8.18. On leaving Headcorn at 9.51 they reached Tenterden at 10.23, travelling on to Robertsbridge at 10.40 with arrival there at 11.22. Departing at 11.40 to Tenterden, on arrival at 12.25 they were relieved by a steam train for the reminder of the Headcorn run. This was the end of their Saturday turn. On weekdays they left at 3.50 for a Headcorn trip arriving back at Tenterden at 5.05. The daily weekday mileage given for this was 93 miles 14 chains which will have included an empty stock run from Rolvenden to Tenterden and return each day. Saturday workings omitted the Headcorn run so totalled 74 miles 6 chains (no Sunday trains ran).

The first failures occurred on 26th and 27th February 1923 when on both days the motors could only complete the first round trip to Robertsbridge. Two weeks later on 14th March a more serious in-service failure occurred when the set failed and was unable to do the last Headcorn run. It was out of service for two days, and then failed again the next day at Rolvenden on the first trip before it could complete the run up the bank to Tenterden. It did not work at all the next day (the 19th) and on the 21st did not start to run till the afternoon. Caution and perhaps traffic levels then dictated that it should not run over Easter (28th March to 6th April) as no entries were made. Although the railmotor then resumed its normal roster, oil consumption had been rising during the latter part of May and continued to rise reaching some 50% above previous levels. Enough was enough and they were taken out of service for a week commencing 21st April.

There might have been a myriad of reasons for individual failures but the problems of March and April seem to have been due to the carbonising of the engines. An analysis of the lubricating oil was sought from David Kirkaldy & Sons, Testing and Experimenting Works, 99 Southwark Street, London and a report dated 28th May 1923 stated "This sample is a light mineral oil of good quality though the flash point is somewhat low. It is of too low a viscosity for general use in petrol engines... and would only be suitable for those employing a splash system of lubrication. The addition of about 5% of non-drying fixed oil such as lard is desirable, tending to reduce the liability to carbonise in the cylinder."

A de-coke and change of oil seems to have done the trick. The set returned to service with one round trip on 30th April and settled down in regular service with petrol and oil consumption reduced for the rest of the trials, the records for which terminated on June 9th.

The railmotors having proved themselves they were then used to establish a new service pattern on the Railway that was shown in Bradshaw for July 1923. The set was used to supplement the existing somewhat minimalist steam services established during World War 1. In this it now followed the classic pattern of railmotor use by increasing service frequencies in an attempt to counter competition from road based transport. In the July timetable the railmotors were shown as working the 9.20am train from Tenterden Town to Robertsbridge Junction returning to Headcorn at 10.20. On leaving Headcorn at 11.55 they reached Tenterden at 12.35pm and travelled on to Robertsbridge at 1.20 with arrival at 2.10; returning at 2.25 (2.45 on Saturdays) to Tenterden. On weekdays they then substituted, as they had during the trials, for a previously steam service which left at 3.50 for a Headcorn return trip arriving back at 5.05. This finished their weekday service but on Saturday and Wednesday they finished with an evening round trip to Headcorn.

This augmented service was a bold and much needed marketing effort. Bus competition had been serious enough to warrant mention in annual reports as early as 1913. In that year 105,000 passengers were carried, by 1919 the figure had dropped to 85,000 and to 68,000 in 1922. With the coming of the railmotors the 1923 total train mileage leapt by nearly 25% to 84000 miles, marginally surpassing pre-war levels. The railmotors accounted for all of this and more. These high total mileages were maintained until in 1932 the railway went into receivership and services were cut to the bone. Initially therefore the Railmotors were not used simply to cut overall running costs but to control increased costs in the expectation of increased receipts. For the struggling Headcorn section however some savings were urgent and the motors continued to be used to replace obviously unremunerative steam runs.

A second railmotor set was delivered in April 1924, to the same general bodywork and mechanical layout as the S&MR one. The builder was Edmonds of Thetford and it cost £542/17/- and payment was by 12 monthly payments of £45/4/9. With the addition of this unit cost savings became increasingly attractive and the railmotors slowly took over more steam mileage, generally around a third of all mileage on the K &ESR at a little short of 30,000 miles each year. Indeed during 1926 with a prolonged coal strike and the General Strike the railmotors accounted for well over half the services.

Despite initial success the railmotors on the K&ESR had not been able to staunch the haemorrhage of passengers. Holding steady briefly in 1923 passenger numbers continued to decline and although they recovered slightly in the later 1920s they had by then reduced to half the 1919 levels. With the railway passing into receivership in 1932 the end of the experiment was in sight. Annual passenger numbers fell precipitately to 20,000. After a very few years the very light construction of the Ford railmotors told against them. And as usual with internal combustion machines at that date depreciation was rapid. Tellingly too the rapid technical progress and increasing comfort of competing buses told against them. As passengers deserted to the more comfortable and frequent buses and steam was needed to move the goods, railmotor mileage never again exceeded 14,000 a year.

Carrying the minor drawbacks of all pioneers the first set was the first casualty and seems likely to have fallen out of use in about 1931, and was withdrawn by July 1932 with one body sold on 30th July for £1/10/- ( £1.50) with the remaining one sold on 26th January 1935 for 10/- ( 50p). The second set soldiered on until 17th August 1937 but lingered on at Rolvenden with the bodies sold on 1st and 8th August 1939. The chassis lingered on for a while to disappear in war scrap drives.