Episode 7 | The Dawn of Diesel - GWR Diesel Railcars (Featuring No. 22 - Didcot Railway Centre)
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- čas přidán 26. 09. 2021
- Welcome to the seventh of my feature videos! Today we are going to look at some of the earliest diesel trains in Britain - The GWR Railcar! Star of the show is the last remaining example in running condition - No. 22 which has been lovingly preserved and operated by the dedicated team at the Didcot Railway Centre. In this video I’ve tried to give you a little bit of background information as well as provide lots of footage of it running and footage of a cab ride also.
This is a great piece of living railway history in its own right, however Didcot Railway Centre is packed with railway history - it is very much a working museum and I adore the place!
You can visit their website at: didcotrailwaycentre.org.uk/
For more information on No. 22 please visit: didcotrailwaycentre.org.uk/ar...
You can check out all other episodes of my feature videos on the playlist at:
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Happy memories of riding in one of these railcar with my Grandfater up and down the Wye Valley to Monmouth in the 1940s.thanks for the memories. I live in Canada now, so no chance of seeing Didcot.
I’m glad this video was able to bring back some great memories! There’s some good news about these too - another is nearing a complete rebuild in Kent so soon there will be two of these operational 🙂 sadly the Didcot one hasn’t been run for a few months now but I’m keeping an eye out as I’d love to get some fresh footage of her.
The GWR really did pioneer the modern railway, the first signal warning system, push pull trains, low cost branch line model, first diesel railcars.
Definitely - I sometimes worry that a lot of GWRs achievements get forgotten about but so much of what we take for granted today stems from their initiatives!
@@AnthonyFurnival Agreed often due to the pazazz of the LNER, LMS, Pullman etc.
@@devon896 Definitely - this is one of the reasons I like Didcot as a GWR museum - you get to appreciate just how many things they were involved with in terms of experimental and/ or evolutionary steps in railway history
It's such a beautiful and unique vehicle. The ride quality is amazing, really smooth. 👍😀
Completely agree - I absolutely love this railcar which is why I wanted to really show it off to people on this video. Like you say it looks amazing and it rides so smoothly. When you consider she’s 81 years old too - she’s more comfy than many modern trains!
For me these are a design classic.
I agree 🙂 Both inside and out the art deco design is superb! A really nice train!
Very good video, I saw the railcar in the national railway museum
Nice - the one they have there is actually older than the one in this video - it’s one or the original batches. The third that exists is at the KESR and is unlikely to be in running condition anytime soon.
Saw this a few years in Didcot, but it wasn't running.
Really nice sounding engine, much better than today's DMUs!
It’s a lovely unit - it runs now and then but not very often. I’m not sure if it’s currently got issues as it wasn’t our last month and hasn’t been rostered for any running day in June either.
Who wouldn’t want to ride on this beauty? A must for GW modellers 👍👍👍 nice presentation 😀
Thanks Darren! I’ve fallen in love with this railcar - it’s just a shame she doesn’t run more often!
Hi, Fantastic upload I really enjoyed watching your video👍👍
Thank you so much 🙂 I’m pleased you enjoyed it and thank you for watching 🙂
Amazing video 👍
You given us some really Good information about it. And even a bit that I did not know. Looks really fun to be in and it looks to have good acceleration as well. :)
Honestly, I love this railcar! Everything about it is so right. It’s comfortable and has been brilliantly restored. It sounds nice, has a beefy horn, like you say has good acceleration and looks brilliant. The drivers were both amazing people too. Honestly this railcar alone made my day, everything else was a bonus! I’m glad you enjoyed the video though - it’s something a little different from my usual content 🙂
I remember these running between Slough and Windsor in the 1950's. Totally alien compared to everything else on the WR.
Nice! must have been a great sight 🙂
A very nice looking machine - and some very interesting information. Would be good to see it in person
Thank you! I hope you do eventually get to see her - she’s a really nice railcar, so well looked after too. Thanks for watching, I appreciate the support 🙂
imagine if this is daisy's brother
Could well be! Thanks for watching 🙂
The view forward is similar to an aircraft's windscreen.
Actually, now you mention it - I agree haha 😂 great spot!
Brilliant video lovely shots 👍👍
Thank you! Honestly I love this railcar! Everything about it is so nice. They don’t run it often so I felt really privileged to have the opportunity to ride it 🙂
@@AnthonyFurnival you are very lucky in all my years I’ve never been on one 🤔
@@mrmrst9020 it’s the only one in running condition and it doesn’t come out to play very often. I’d definitely recommend visiting the Didcot Railway Centre - if you can arrange to go when this is running you’ll have a blast! Even if it’s not running - they have a nice selection of trains, loads of history and their sheds are packed full of old steamers! It’s a really interesting day out. I’m back there at the end of October for their gala.
It's a shame that this doesn't visit other railways as it would be far more interesting than most other offerings at preserved line's Diesel Weekends.
I completely agree - I asked them whilst I was there about the prospect of visits and the volunteers were generally against it, but I guess we can hold out hope - if not for this one, for the KESR one when rebuilt. As you can probably tell from the video, I feel this represents a significant chapter of railway history and very much the precursor to DMUs and later railcar concepts. So sharing that with other lines would be an amazing way to spread history.
@@AnthonyFurnival We are clearly on the same page. I was also interested to learn that this locomotive can pull a coach or two. Therefore at the end of the line, it would just have to run round the coach and be driven back from the other cab. So in a way it also is a for runner of the British Diesel locomotives with a cab at each end.
@@jeremypreece870 definitely, it’s a significant technological advance in railway history and I always feel it’s at risk of being forgotten about which I’d what inspired this video a year or two ago. I’m hoping to get fresh footage of it later this year 🙂
There's the cost of moving it by road from Didcot and the limited haulage capacity (as you mentioned). A mainline diesel could haul a standard length train on the heritage line, where the GWR Railcar is limited to a couple of coaches.
@@neiloflongbeck5705 That’s all true. There’s also the fact it fits into a bit of a demand void - diesel galas usually look to locos rather than units/ rail cars - whilst the cost of haulage would be expensive - as someone who goes to a lot of galas i’d find this an attractive addition to a line up and it could be the difference between me going to an event or not due to the fact it’s quite rare… but that’s just me, others would probably prefer a loco. So for the right event I think a line could justify the haulage but i think it’s a gamble because the unit/railcar appeal is less of a tried and tested formula for galas. Ideally you’d want somewhere like the SVR which has GWR heritage and the facility to run shuttles - maybe Kidderminster - Bewdley utilising the rarely used platform to allow other services to pass and nice short journeys to give passengers a chance to ride it. On a line where shuttle services are less easy to facilitate i think it would make the concept prohibitive. All this aside, i think Didcot are quite protective of their railcar.
Nice… it’s almost like a car, the horn sounds like a hst!
The horn is mighty for such a small train! It actually has a lot of similarities with a road vehicle - the engines were very similar to those used on buses at the time, the throttle is a pedal too - single door entry as well! She’s an amazing train 🙂
@@AnthonyFurnival yeah , I agree!!
i love these units so much, do they run regular services?
They have it on the demonstration line at the Didcot Railway Centre now and again, it was actually out today, it’s rostered on the 10th, 11th, 14th, 17th and 18th September which is more running than it usually gets. But it does come out now and again but doesn’t leave the centre sadly. It’s a great unit and I’d highly recommend riding it if you have the chance 🙂
What’s the Name of this Railcar? I Wanna Add it to the List of Trains in the Great Western Railway Family
They are called “GWR railcar” and date back to the 1930s 🙂
My son really likes diesel railcars like that one he thinks the other 2 Great Western diesel railcars should be restored to operation and Siemens, Progress Rail, or any other company that builds railroad equipment should build exact copies of these the departments of transportation should restore and rebuild railroad lines that were abandoned and/or removed here in the United States 🇺🇸 and run these on them.
I know the GWR rail car at the Kent and East Sussex Railway is being restored - it was in very bad shape and they are going to bring it back to its former glory - it’s coming on nicely when I last looked. As for the Didcot one in this video, it’s not ran in about a year sadly - there are some issues with it which I hope they fix soon. As for the NRM one in York, sadly I don’t think that’ll run again - it’ll be a static museum exhibit only.
@@AnthonyFurnival thank you for your reply we appreciate it God bless you 🙏 John 3:16✝️👼😇
@@gretchenchadwick8343 no worries, thanks for watching my videos, I appreciate it 🙂
@@AnthonyFurnival We are glad and you're welcome. But don't lose hope the one on static display in York it could operate again because with God all things are possible, he is the God of the impossible and every cloud ☁️🌫🌤🌥🌦🌧🌩⛅ has a silver lining remember that.
@@gretchenchadwick8343 the one in York is part of the NRM collection- it’s basically a huge railway museum - the biggest in the UK. Whilst some of their trains are leased out to railways in running condition, the majority are static display only for their museum. As that is a very unique piece (as it’s got the original art deco body styling rather than the ‘razor’ design of the later models), I’d say it’s unlikely to run but let’s not forget that in being at the museum it is preserved and exists for many to enjoy seeing for years to come 🙂
A quick question. What is the right-angled track at 0:20 for?
I’m not 100% sure what it’s used for if I’m honest - there’s a small shed (no bigger than a garden shed) it leads into. They have one of their maintenance areas by there so my guess is it’s linked to that - maybe a maintenance platform or small crane can be rolled out from there to work on vehicles? Just a guess. It’s not connected to anything though do it can’t be anything too big - so it’s just whatever’s kept in that little shed. Sorry I couldn’t be any more definitive.
@@AnthonyFurnival No problem, what you've said makes sense. :-)
@@TonyMatthewsComposer I’m actually really curious about that track and shed now, I’m going ti have to ask next time I’m there 🙂
Hi Tony, I have a follow up for you - I was at Didcot Railway Centre again yesterday (the class 14 and Hunslet 0-6-0 were running - shameless plug… video out tonight 😂) Anyway, I asked your question to one of the volunteers. They told me that they keep their Wickham Trolly in there. I’m not sure how they get it out and onto the line itself given that the track is at right angles but there is some contraption in the main running line level with this which might have something to do with it 🙂 Hope this has helped 🙂
@@AnthonyFurnival Hi Thanks you for this.... however, this begs the question, what is a Wickham Trolly :-)
Can no22 pull carriages?
The later ones were designed to pull a carriage at peak times though I don’t think the Didcot Railway Centre do this on running days as I’d imagine they wouldn’t want to put too much stress on the engine - given that she’s over 80 years old. But yes they could pull a carriage - though not a long rake, one or two.
They were able to pull up to two coaches, or six trucks. Although, as stated, it’s very unlikely Didcot would do this now.
@@MrStuFew thanks for the info 🙂 I really need to get back to Didcot to see this.