Waggon und Maschinenbau Railbus

British Railways ordered five railbuses from Waggon und Maschinenbau, similar to railbuses then common on German Federal Railways, for loss-making branch lines. The hope being that the lower cost of running the railbus would allow the branch lines to break even and avoid closure. Seventeen other railbuses from four other manufacturers (though of a similar specification) were also bought. Along with the German engines used in Western Region diesel-hydraulic locomotives the W & M Railbuses were a rare foray by British Railways into employing overseas expertise [1] during modernisation from steam.

Information
Number built:	5
Built:	1959
Builder:	Waggon und Maschinenbau
Engine:	Büssing 6-cyl horizontal diesel later replaced by AEC 220X
Power:	150 hp (110 kW)

Waggon und Maschinenbau adapted a fairly standard Deutsche Bundesbahn (DB) design for British Railways needs. The railbuses had four wheels, ride being interesting on the often poor quality track they were later used on! The railbuses had a single sliding door on each side. One interesting feature was the cabs only occupied half the width of the cabin. Passengers could thus sit at the front next to the cab. Three of the railbuses had their original Büssing engines replaced by AEC diesels.

The Railbuses were used on branch lines in the London Midland and Eastern Regions [2] especially in East Anglia. They indeed were successful in reducing running costs but the branch lines they were used on were still losing money and closed. Due to the problem with spare parts for this small fleet and the closure of lines they could be used on the fleet was largely redundant by 1964 though continued in intermittent use until 1967 when they were withdrawn. Remarkably four of the five have survived into preservation.

E79960 arrives at Wirksworth

Another view of E79960

Cab view

E79960 at Ravenstor

Notice the cab only occupies half the front, passengers can occupy the other half

E79960 at Shottle

[1] Brian Haresnape, Diesel Multiple-Units: The First Generation (Ian Allan, 1985) p. 79
[2] Colin J Marsden, DMU and EMU Recognition Guide (Ian Allan, 2013) p. 21

NER Petrol Electric Autocar

At the start of the twentieth century a number of experiments were made with railcars fuelled by light fuels such as kerocene and gasoline, the perfecting of the diesel engine put paid to these experiments. In 1903 the North Eastern Railway built two petrol electric railcars at it's York works.

Information
Number built:	2
Built:	1903
Builder:	NER York
Engine:	Napier later Wolseley petrol engines
Power:	100 hp (76 kW)

The railcars (known as Autocars by the NER as they had cabs at each end) were the forerunners of the diesel electric multiple unit. The petrol engine being coupled to a Westinghouse generator which generated 60kW which fed a 50hp motor under each bogie [1].

They were put into use on the line between Scarborough and Filey. One of the Autocars was later fitted with a 225hp engine and could haul an unpowered trailer. They remained in service until 1930 and 1931. The coach body of one survived scrapping to become a holiday home and is currently undergoing restoration with a new chassis and powertrain.

Front of an Autocar, all images public domain from [1]

Wolseley engine and generator 

Inside the Autocar

Side view of the Autocar

[1] "Self-propelled Petrol Electric Railway Cars Operated by the North Eastern Railway Company of England", Street Railway Journal Vol XXIV No. 19 p. 842

Class 70 (Type 5 Diesel)

The Class 70 diesel locomotive (not to be confused with the original Class 70 which was an early DC electric locomotive) is the most powerful freight diesel locomotive on British rails today with nearly 3,700hp to play with and the first General Electric traction built for the UK [1]. Over thirty have been bought by Freightliner and Colas Rail, they are used on intermodal and heavy haul freight services.

Information
Number built:	37
Built:	2008-14, 2017
Builder:	General Electric
Engine:	GE PowerHaul P616 diesel
Power:	3, 690 hp (2, 750 kW)
Wheel arrangement:	Co-Co

The Class 70 had a troublesome entry into service with a very poor availability rate in its early days on British metals and a number of fires. One locomotive (70 012) was very bad damaged during a mishap during unloading from a cargo ship at Newport Docks and had to be returned to the US [2]. Nowadays the locomotives are much more reliable.

The original twenty Freightliner locomotives are known as the 70/0 with the ten Colas Rail locomotives 70/8. Seven more Class 70s were later ordered for Colas for delivery in 2017.

Freightliner 70 003 at Stafford

Colas 70 807 at Leamington Spa (with a Class 66)

Freightliner 70 020 at Stafford

Freightliner 70 015 at Olton

Freightliner 70 014 and 004 double head through Leamington Spa

Unidentified Freightliner 70 at Lapworth

[1] Colin J Marsden, Diesel & Electric Locomotive Recognition Guide (Ian Allan, 2011) p. 202
[2] Pip Dunn, British Rail Main Line Locomotive Specification Guide (Crowood Press, 2013) p. 143