Firedrake Files No.9 - GWR steam railcar No.93

The Liskeard to Looe branch line recently hosted No.93 the reconstructed steam railcar and one of my mates came down from Birmingham to ride on it. The atmosphere on the Looe platform at Liskeard was really good with preserved buses and stalls selling interesting stuff. The weather wasn't bad either although we did experience slight precipitation as the railcar pulled into the station.

The engine section was reconstructed out of nothing

The previous weekend the railcar hadn't even made it to Liskeard. This was no fault of its own. The diesel pulling it from Bodmin "failed" and when another one was drafted in at short notice that "failed", too. The organisers made the most of this "learning point", however, and for the next event brought it over on the Saturday night. That would have allowed them all night to scour the west country to find a working diesel if it all went frogs. Of course, there were no problems and services began as scheduled.

If water had been available, I'm sure railcar No.93 could've made it under its own power but it's not permitted to run on the mainline under its own power as it only has a wooden frame and all sorts of obstacles had to be passed to get a full passenger carrying status from the powers that be. 

A wreath was added and a full minutes silence was observed on later services that morning

Things were running a little late when I got there, though. Eventually, we heard a distant whistle and gradually could make out the sound of the rail motor chuffing up the incline from Moorswater. On and on it came in typical Reverend Awdry style - "I know I can, I'm sure I can."

And then it stopped, somewhere across the valley in the trees, on one of the steepest parts of the line.

So those of us who were waiting, we had a little chat amongst ourselves and put right what wrongs we thought might have gone wrong and then there was a whistle and the gallant little engine moved off again and, after a sterling effort, ran into the station.

I had been expecting something in chocolate and cream, that strangely toothsome livery the Great Western used for its coaches that nowadays makes me hunger for a Cornetto. Or a Walls Viennetta.

The steam railmotor was in Crimson Lake, which was a bit of a surprise, more red meat than a chocolate pud and I don't like my meat bloody.

It does look a bit like an auto coach, doesn't it?

I found its lines familiar, though, because it reminded me of the auto coaches I associate with GWR 1400 class tank engines. And that was the combination that ended the working lives of the GWR railmotors - conventional engines were more adaptable and conventional carriages were more isolated from the noise and vibration of the locomotive bogie. Railmotors stayed in the engine shed at night and not in the much cleaner carriage shed so got grubby quickly and transferred that grubbiness to the well dressed commuters of the time.

Fast forward to the present day and a reconstructed steam railcar offers steampunks a group footpolate ride with all the sights and smells of a steam engine but a lot more comfort. Well, you can sit down for a start ...

The carriage section survived for years against all the odds until relegated to a mobile classroom until it was recognised as the sole remaining example of its type and preserved. The steam motor bogie with its vertical boiler had to be made from scratch from drawings but the result is well worth all that effort.

My mate Dave said you could hear everything that went on in the engine room and nobody minds smuts - they are badges of honour. The reason they ground to a halt on the climb up to Liskeard station was because the steam pressure dipped just low enough for the automatic brakes to come on - adequate steam pressure keeps them off. All they had to was let the engine rest a bit and it carried on quite happily.

So many cameras, so many spectators

The ticket price of £25 put me off on this occasion but I understand that Railcar No.93 will be visiting the Bodmin and Wenford railway again in the New Year so I might have a comfortable flootplate ride then.

Preserved Western National coaches trundled round the route for free, although donations were gratefully received (and i bet they were generously donated, too)

For similar health and safety reasons, no standing passengers are allowed so seated tickets were the strict order of the day and they sold out rapidly.

Bearing in mind the over-crowded commuter services that I'm used to - especially on the home run from Plymouth to Liskeard on a Friday - I suggest we have wooden framed steam railcars on our regular trains.