Daimler Petrol Driven Car

In 1904, the GNR needed to reduce the cost of its rural branch line operations, so looked into the petrol engined railcars that were also being investigated by other lines. Dick, Kerr & Co sent one of their vehicles for evaluation in the latter half of the year.

The Tramway & Railway World provided some dimensions:

After travelling to London from Doncaster under its own power, it was trialed on the Hatfield-Hertford line, and then a run to Luton and back, but at no point did it enter regular service. That said, photos show that it was modified to a certain extent during its short period with the company.

The two engines gave some trouble, as did the gearboxes, and it was difficult to start. The general lack of reliability which led to Ivatt ordering six steam railcars.

The Railway Magazine 1905

The economical operation of short branch lines traversing sparsely populated country has become one of the most important problems of railway management, and it is generally admitted that the employment of steam motor cars, instead of the usual steam locomotive hauling a train of carriages, has done much to reduce the expense of such operation.

While some railways have been carrying out experiments with steam automobiles, others have adopted petrol cars and in one case a combined petrol and electric car has been employed. But though an automobile system immediately reduces the operating staff, and gives a greater degree of flexibility and obviates the necessity of much rolling-stock lying idle, there are at the same time certain conditions which the automobile must meet, even presuming a reliable type of motor be obtained, in order to ensure its successful application. It is essential that such a vehicle should deal with traffic under periods of abnormal demand, and yet be capable of economical operation it traffic is light.

Moreover, under some conditions it would not be sufficient that an automobile should be powerful enough to draw its own load, because there are cases where it would be an advantage: for such a vehicle to be able to draw an extra coach, a goods van, or horse-box: and all the steam cars employed on British railways fulfil these conditions very well.

Probably no railway in the country has a larger number of branch lines traversing thinly populated districts than the Great Northern Railway, and as on other railways, many of these branch lines were unremunerative: yet, as feeders to the main line system, short branch the lines are exceedingly necessary. Under these conditions an automobile if a satisfactory one could be devised appeared to offer considerable advantages.

With this object in view the Great Northern Railway permitted a firm of petrol motor car builders to operate a car belonging to the manufacturers in question over the Hatfield-Hertford branch of the Great Northern Railway. The seating capacity is thirty-two passengers.

We illustrate this car on page 101.

The whole of the machinery is assembled upon a frame which is directly supported from the axles. is thus entirely insulated from the body of the coach, with the consequence that even while standing at a station the noise and vibration from the engines are claimed to be imperceptible to the passengers.

Following the practice now generally employed in electrically driven cars, the motive power consists of two engines, which not only minimises the risk of breakdown, but gives a better distribution of weight. The engines are not, however, connected independently to the axles, although both axles are driven, but under normal circumstances drive onto a common longitudinal shaft, which is connected to the axles by bevelled gearing. To overcome the difficulty of one axle overrunning the other, owing to any possible inequality in the diameter of the wheels, a special form of differential gear is introduced, and combined with this special gear is the reversing mechanism. The engines are connected through independent clutches to a common change speed box from which the power is transmitted, by means of the longitudinal driving shaft referred to above, into gear boxes suspended on each axle, and at this point the engine speed is reduced as required on the axles by means of single reduction gearing very similar to that used in the electric tramway motors.

The engines are of the standard Daimler type, each capable of developing 36 hp. running at full speed. A separate petrol tank is provided for each engine, and the combined capacity of these is equal to 100 car miles.

The complete car weighs something under 16 tons, including its full complement of passengers, and although the normal speed for which it is designed is 30 miles per hour, it has on several occasions attained a speed considerably over 50 miles.

The car is lighted by electricity obtained from storage batteries, which also supply current for the ignition and magnetic clutches. The design of the complete car is such that by jacking up the body the underframe and machinery can be run out in the same manner that a truck can be taken from beneath a standard electric tramway car, but in addition to this, the frame containing the machinery can be dropped from its bearings on the axles without removing the truck from underneath the car body, so that it will be seen that the flexibility facilities for overhauling and repairs have been considered.

We are informed that the design of the car and its experimental operation have been under the personal supervision of Mr. Oliver Bury, the General Manager of the Great Northern Railway, but as that gentleman is now in Egypt, and one of the officers of the Grent Northern Railway to whom we applied for information on the subject appeared to be willing to venture any opinion as to the success or otherwise of this experiment, we can give no definite statement regarding the working of the petrol car.

The car does not, however, carry passengers, but makes odd journeys on the branch between the regular trains, and this fact rather leads one to the conclusion that the responsible officers of the Great Northern Railway do not like to trust their regular traffic to the chance of the mishaps likely to occur to a petrol railway motor car.

It will be observed that the car is carried on four wheels only, so that a good deal of pitching is likely to be felt. There is also the serious objection to four-wheeled vehicles, consequent upon the fatal results likely to occur should an axle or a wheel fail.

Another grave objection to the use of a petrol motor car on the railway is the fact that special fuel and special men must be employed, whilst special tools and special mechanics will be necessary to deal with breakdowns. These disadvantages are absent from the employment of ordinary steam-propelled railway motor cars, as railway engine drivers, fitters, etc., are conversant with the machinery, and ordinary supplies of coal and water are always provided by the locomotive department.

Further, internal combustion engines are run at such high speed that the wear and tears of the delicate machinery must be terrific, whilst (despite the statement of the manufacturers of the car) we believe that passengers and railwaymen in charge of the train will suffer from the excessive vibration.

From the railway steam motor cars already at work our locomotive engineers have been able to ascertain the cost of running per train mile, but with regard to railway petrol motor cars they have only road vehicles to guide them; but the comparison is greatly in favour of the steam car for railway work. It is therefore likely that the drawbacks that the locomotive department must recognise in connection with the operation and upkeep, and, above all, depreciation of petrol motor cars for railway work, will more than counterbalance any advantages should the traffic department find any in the use of such vehicles.

After its removal from GNR lines, the vehicle found later life in the electrical department of the LB&SC Railway. A couple of photos taken the LBSCR’s overhead electric depot at Peckham Rye in the 1920s are available on Mike Morant’s rail photography website .