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G W R "Flying Banana Railcar"

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STEVIEBOY1

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I Was at the NRM in York a few days ago and saw, for the 1st time, a G W R "Flying Banana Railcar", it look quite good inside.

Are any of them running on any of the heritage lines? & was it only GWR that used these.

They must have seemed very modern when they were first introduced. The NRM mentioned that they were used from Birmingham to Bristol for example, I thought they were used on lightly used branch lines etc.
 
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Antman

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Is car 22 not still at Didcot ? I think that's a runner as well....
 

GusB

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I'm not certain if the LNER or Southern had anything similar, but I know that the LMS experimented with diesel railcars, including this, which looks more or less like the top deck of their contemporary bus bodywork stuck on rails.

http://www.ribblevalleyrail.co.uk/Leyland Bus.htm

In 1933, Leyland Motors Ltd were asked to construct a diesel rail coach by the London Midland and Scottish Railway Company. Three four wheeled rail cars numbered 29950 , 29951 , 29952 were built to lot number 760. Their appearance gave away their bus heritage and the lightweight construction mirrored bus construction of the same era.



The rail coach had an overall length of 41 ft 1 in., a width of 9 ft, and a height of 10 ft 7 in. The tare weight was 10.5 tons with a fully laden weight of 13.1 tons. The two-axle coach had one axle power driven from a high speed Leyland diesel engine which developed 130 horse power operating through a torque converter.



The engine was mounted in the middle part of the underframe, and the torque converter was built integrally with the engine. The torque converter consisted of a centrifugal pump, mounted in a single casing, with a three stage hydraulic turbine.

This unit multiplied the engine torque and varied it automatically in accordance with the speed required by the operational conditions. The driver, therefore, was only concerned with regulating the speed of the unit. The torque converter replaced the convential gearbox, all speeds required being automatically given.

From the torque convertor the power was transmitted via a propeller shaft through a reversing gear, which was mounted in the casing of the drive axle, spiral bevel pinion wheels being used to take the drive from the propeller shaft to the axle.



The reversing gear mechanism was actuated through a double-acting vacuum cylinder, controlled by magnetic valves, which were operated from a switch on the driver's control panel.



The units were relatively smooth running with good acceleration, and could attain a speed of 20 m.p.h. from stationary in 11 seconds, reaching 50 m.p.h. in 49 seconds.

They had a top speed of 56 m.p.h.. and could operate for around 200 miles before refuelling.

Unit 29952 was modified to attain a top speed of 63 m.p.h.

Fuel consumption stood at 13 miles per gallon.



The units cost the London Midland and Scottish Railway Company £1850 each.

The Railbus seated 40 3rd Class passengers, all in pairs of seats, either side of the centre gangway, in two saloons, both sides of the centre-passenger entrance doors.



The driver sat in an enclosed compartment on the left hand side of the unit, which was very compact having a driver's control column, which was duplicated at each end of this unit.

This control column contained two small levers for controlling the engine throttle and power brake.

In the centre was the reversing gear and a change-over switches for the electro-pneumatic control of the torque converter to enable direct or neutral drive.

Also located on the control column were two press buttons to start and stop the engine with switches for the lights, windscreen wipers and horn.

The throttle and brake handle was detachable, and was carried by the driver from one control panel to the other when changing ends.



The units were finished in LMS maroon livery with a cream skirt and lining and with silver painted buffers. The LMS crest was situated in the middle of the centre doors. A single lamp bracket was provided in the centre of both ends of the unit just below the windscreen level.

In February 1934, 29950 had a successful trial-run from Preston to Carlisle and was subsequently displayed at London Euston Station on 21 February 1934.

In March 1934, 29951 had a trial spell working between Blackpool Central and Lytham St Annes.



All three units were taken into LMS stock on 30 June 1934, and allocated to Lower Darwen MPD.

Working from Lower Darwen sheds, the units were deployed around Accrington, Spring Vale, Padiham and Clitheroe.



A neighbour of mine, Mrs. Nancy Cambell, has fond memories of travelling to school from Langho to Blackburn and Clitheroe on these units. and recalls the scramble for the front seat to sit alongside the driver, and obtain the driver's eye view.

Mrs. Campbell also remembers the beautiful grey, flowered-patterned moquette seating, and, in particular, the quiet running of the units.



These units worked the Ribble Valley Line until 1941, and then subsequently were transferred to Scotland,

units 29950, 29951 working from Hamilton Shed. At this location, the units proved to be very unpopular and were allowed to become very run down.



All three units were officially withdrawn from St. Rollox Shed, Scotland, on 28 April 1951.
I recall they also had a 3-car? articulated set.
 

Royston Vasey

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I was going to say built by Leyland that's the grandfather of a pacer, until I saw the plush interior!
 

MarlowDonkey

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The NRM mentioned that they were used from Birmingham to Bristol for example, I thought they were used on lightly used branch lines etc.

The NRM example is number 4.

Here's more about it

http://www.greatwestern.org.uk/aec1.htm

The GWR had lots of autotrains for its Branch lines, the railcars had a decent turn of speed. Later builds were used for Branch lines. It appeared that the high speed services on the main lines increased custom, so the railcars ran out of capacity and had to be replaced by conventional trains.
 

pdeaves

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The GWR had single-ended variants (that ran as a pair or with extra coaches between). They started with air smoothed versions (as at the NRM), later going to the boxier style (Didcot and, I believe, Kent & East Sussex Railway).
 

Cowley

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The GWR had single-ended variants (that ran as a pair or with extra coaches between). They started with air smoothed versions (as at the NRM), later going to the boxier style (Didcot and, I believe, Kent & East Sussex Railway).
I seem to recall that they had a modified Hawksworth coach in the middle?
There were also some parcels versions.
Re the one at Didcot - I’d love to see that one get run out at somewhere like the Severn Valley. Has it ever visited any other places does anyone know?
 

Journeyman

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I'm not certain if the LNER or Southern had anything similar, but I know that the LMS experimented with diesel railcars, including this, which looks more or less like the top deck of their contemporary bus bodywork stuck on rails.

http://www.ribblevalleyrail.co.uk/Leyland Bus.htm


I recall they also had a 3-car? articulated set.

The Southern never developed diesel multiple units or railcars because they had a lot of small tank engines and passenger coaches displaced by electrification, so most of their branch lines and secondary routes were steam-operated by fairly modern stock* until very late in the day. Of course, from the late fifties, they had their own particular variety of DMU, which owed a lot to Southern EMU design, but it was a purely BR product.

* Except the Isle of Wight, where everything was ancient!
 
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Peter C

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I think it is, although it's twenty years since I last rode on it. Impressively modern inside, and rather attractive.
I can confirm that Didcot does still have No. 22 and to the best of my knowledge it is still working. It's stabled in the Carriage Workshop at the Oxford end of the site.

-Peter
 

Cymroglan

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I can confirm that Didcot does still have No. 22 and to the best of my knowledge it is still working. It's stabled in the Carriage Workshop at the Oxford end of the site.

-Peter
It’s due to work on 7th and 8th Sept according to Didcot website. It’s only a short ride, but I love it!
 

Peter C

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It’s due to work on 7th and 8th Sept according to Didcot website. It’s only a short ride, but I love it!
Oh excellent! It's always good to see a piece of railway heritage up and running. I have never been for a ride on it, but I absolutely love Didcot and would love to go if other events outside of trains permit! :)

-Peter
 

STEVIEBOY1

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The GWR had single-ended variants (that ran as a pair or with extra coaches between). They started with air smoothed versions (as at the NRM), later going to the boxier style (Didcot and, I believe, Kent & East Sussex Railway).

That must have made an interesting sight, either 2 together or with extra carriages between them.
 

STEVIEBOY1

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Thank you for the very interesting info here. I must get one for my layout.
 

EbbwJunction1

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Some of them were fitted with a buffet bar for use as an express businessman's service between Birmingham and Cardiff.

This is from Mr W Pedia:

Preservation

Three of the GWR railcars have survived into preservation, as follows:

W4W, built by Park Royal in 1934, at the National Railway Museum, York on Static Display

W20W, built by the GWR at Swindon in 1940, at the Kent & East Sussex Railway, under restoration at Tenterden since 1983.

W22W, built by the GWR at Swindon in 1940, at the Didcot Railway Centre, Operational.

I've seen the first and third ones, but not the second; it's in the carriage workshops, which isn't open to the public.

Models
Hornby Railways manufacture a model of the 1940-style railcar in OO gauge, using tooling acquired in their takeover of Lima. In late 2017, Dapol released an OO model of the streamlined 1936 Gloucester RCW railcars in a variety of liveries and numbers. Graham Farish has produced an N-gauge model (with various numbers, e.g. 19, 22, and 20), both before and after their takeover by Bachman.
 
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