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Great Western Railway

Autocoaches/ autotrailers were quite common in steam locomotive days. In fact their origins lay in a passenger coach which had a vertical boiler at one end and as such was a combination of locomotive and passenger car. They were known as steam railmotors and often pulled a trailing passenger carriage.
The usual arrangement was one autocoach or two, but heavily used branches, particularly in the Plymouth area did often have four - two either side of the locomotive. The control of the locomotive was from the end of one autocoach -depending on direction of travel. The fireman remained on the locomotive footplate for his part of the job.
This link is about the steam railmotors:
 
No, each had its own crew and worked together. There were some whistle codes, but mostly they just knew their job well enough to know what to do. the only time steam engines were operated remotely was when using 'autocoaches', carriages with driving controls used on local and short branch workings. Like this (after a few miutes):
thanks for your reply.i I always wondered how.
 
Autocoaches/ autotrailers were quite common in steam locomotive days. In fact their origins lay in a passenger coach which had a vertical boiler at one end and as such was a combination of locomotive and passenger car. They were known as steam railmotors and often pulled a trailing passenger carriage.
The usual arrangement was one autocoach or two, but heavily used branches, particularly in the Plymouth area did often have four - two either side of the locomotive. The control of the locomotive was from the end of one autocoach -depending on direction of travel. The fireman remained on the locomotive footplate for his part of the job.
This link is about the steam railmotors:
thanks alan.
 
Hi

Many thanks for all the responses .
As they say, you learn something new every day, and I had never
heard of these before.

Kind regards
Dave
 
Just looking at Post 7 it seems they had the same trouble in 1852 as today with HS2.They couldn't get it right then with costing.
 
When operating on a branch line the time taken to move the engine from one end to the other becomes significant at each end of the journey. The 'autocoach' would allow a 'local' to use a bay (dead-end) platform at a main station and simply to reverse at the end of the branch. The introduction of the diesel multiple unit (DMU) achieves the same function, i.e. the driver just changes end. The same principle is nowadays used on most inter-city trains from HS125 onwards.

The fireman stayed on the loco, obviously, but the driver needed to be at the front of the train to see the signals and ensure crossings (some were just footpaths) were clear as they approached. The driver could work the steam regulator (often, as in the film with a lot of 'play' in the linkage!), had a brake valve aand could blow the loco whistle from the autocar cab, and had the large bell as a warning as well. Some branches had a loco and one autocoach, but there could be two with the loco in between them if the traffic level warranted it.
 
I was going to outline the Cornishman express train which many here have mentioned in other threads. However this link says a lot so to save duplication I have posted it. I am not sure when the name Cornishman was dropped by BR.
Prior to 1952 there had been trains running to the south west, in the late 19th. century they ran to Bristol from Wolverhampton and Birmingham. The broad gauge had made through running further quite difficult. The far western parts of the GWR system were converted to the narrow gauge (now known as standard gauge) in 1892. The Severn Tunnel opened in 1886 which made the route, via Hereford possible. The opening of the new line from Tyseley in 1908 and the doubling and upgrading of the line south of Stratford-upon-Avon made it possible to reach Bristol and the far south west by a shorter route. Since then and before the re-routing via the former Midland line and the Beeching closures, many places in thee south west peninsula were served: north, mid and south Devon stations, plus many towns in the Cornish part of the peninsula.
Locomotives initially were usually 4-4-0's being replaced by the varying versions of 4-6-0's at time and developments progressed.
In the GWR period the trains were often split into two and sometimes three parts depending of the demands, principally Saturdays and holiday times.
It was not unusual for assisting engines (bankers) to be used on the South Devon banks but one close to Birmingham was to be found at Wilmcote. The assisting engine was based at Stratford-upon-Avon. Sometimes heavy freights were banked here as well.
 
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The Royal Albert Bridge is magnificent and in an equally great setting. Been over it quite a few times and beneath it a couple of times. Jack Tars on BHF will know it.
 
The Royal Albert Bridge is magnificent and in an equally great setting. Been over it quite a few times and beneath it a couple of times. Jack Tars on BHF will know it.
During the war my wife lived as a child in a road that had both the Great Western heading to the Tamar bridge and the Southern going underneath it to Exeter, in the late 60s her family moved back there and as a result in the 80s when I started to collect postcards, I decided to collect bridge cards and now have about 300. Sorry to go off theme.
Bob
 
There are many aspects of the GWR in the Midlands. many lines were promoted independently and absorbed by the GWR. The route to Snow Hill began as the Oxford and Rugby Railway and the Birmingham & Oxford Junction. That from Birmingham to Priestfield was Birmingham, Wolverhampton & Dudley Railway and from Priestfield to Wolverhampton, the Oxford, Worcester & Wolverhampton Railway.

Before Tyseley was opened, the original shed was at Bordesley Junction.

The GWR network in the Midlands gradually expanded to serve the industry in the region.

Then came the improvements for widening and new stations. Hockley was a new station, as were those through to Olton and Solihull and the North Warwickshire that linked Tyseley with Bearley.

The changes were both dynamic and beneficial to the GWR.

They had a good case for the electrification to Snow Hill, with the improvements, yet the London Midland Region won the argument to electrify to New Street.
 
Had Snow Hill remained as a principal station then the present congestion at New Street would have been avoided. Trains from the south west could have used it on the south west north/north west route and maybe others as well.
 
The 1366 class of pannier tank were restricted in their use. Being confined to Swindon and one or two quay areas such as Weymouth (1969)
 
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