In
1925, Kilmarnock Engineering built, 90 '4wRE' Four-wheeled units with English
Electric traction equipment for the opening of the railway. These units were
designed to run in a 3 unit formation. Despite being tested on a test line,
built on land owned by Woolwich arsenal, these units immediately proved to be
difficult and expensive to run. The 7 ft 3in wheelbase was unsuitable for the
very tight curves on the railway and caused frequent derailments and very
heavy wheel and rail wear. English Electric also
supplied
three 4 wheeled Battery Locos, (702-704). These were used for for maintenance
and also to recover broken down mail trains. They were designed to haul 18
tons, for 6 miles on one charge. Power was taken from two banks of 76 cells
giving a total voltage of 350v. Braking is by screw hand brake on all four
wheels, there is also a rheostatic braking system fitted.
In 1929,
after trials with an articulated car and a bogie car, an order was placed with
English Electric for 50 Bogie '2w-2-2-2wRE'
type units (752-763 and 793-830). These used the traction equipment removed
from the 1928 stock. When the first of the bogie units were delivered, between
1930 and 1931, derailments were as still as bad, but after experiments with
the kingpin positions, track realignments and the installation of rail
lubricators on the sharpest curves, the problems were eventually solved. In
1936, because of the increase of mail traffic, 10 more 'Bogie' type units
(923-932), were ordered from English Electric.
No more
orders were placed for new stock until 1962, when two new prototype units were
ordered from English Electric (3334-5). These two units featured improvements
such as disk brakes, redesigned loading ramps and a new design of traction
motor, to give better acceleration. One of these was withdrawn after only 5
years in 1967, the other surviving until 1980. This was later repaired using
parts from the previously scrapped car and renumbered 66.
To replace
the bulk of the 1930/36 stock, an order was placed with Greenbat of Leeds. 34
new units (501-534) were delivered between 1980 and 1982. Unfortunately
Greenbat went into receivership after delivering only 3 units, but production
was taken over by Hunslet Holdings Ltd. The new units had to be compatable
with the existing mail containers, so the
units
were of similar dimensions to the older ones. Some ideas from the 1962 units
were incorporated into the design. The order included two extra power units,
as any repair work was likely to take longer on the power unit, than on the
trailers. The remaining 1930/32 units were rebuilt for further use on the
line, and the ownership of four was passed on to various museums.
1967 saw the
construction of a VIP carrier. Based on the 1929 bogie unit, this unit had 18
tip-up seats, perspex roof and had the monograms of the four British monarchs
from King George V to Queen Elizabeth II, painted on the side doors. This Unit
had to rely on a battery loco as it had no traction equipment. A second
passenger carrier was build in 1976, from a 1930 unit. As this was only used
for permanent-way crews it was fairly crude with only bench seats and a wire
mesh roof.
To
celebrate the railways Golden anniversary in 1977 two of the 1930/32 units
(801 and 806), were repainted into gold livery. In 1987 three of the Greenbat
units (502, 514, 532) were given new fiberglass cowlings, to help slow the
entry of dust into the traction equipment. Two of these units were given the
names 'Capital Express' and 'London Flyer', which,
a year
later were changed to 'Great East Express' and 'Great West Express'. At some
point, two of the 1925 '4wRE' units were converted to breakdown loco, No 1 and
No 2, and later these were again converted, this time to wagons. Another 1925
unit, 652, was converted to a battery carrier. The railway also had various
other wagons for conveying rail and other parts.
Just for reference, the suffix 'RE' means, Third rail powered electric
loco.
Listen
to a GPO train stopping at Mount Pleasant Station.
WAV File. 107 Kb. MP3 File 40 Kb
In
1925, Kilmarnock Engineering built, 90 '4wRE' Four-wheeled units with English
Electric traction equipment for the opening of the railway. These units were
designed to run in a 3 unit formation. Despite being tested on a test line,
built on land owned by Woolwich arsenal, these units immediately proved to be
difficult and expensive to run. The 7 ft 3in wheelbase was unsuitable for the
very tight curves on the railway and caused frequent derailments and very
heavy wheel and rail wear. English Electric also
supplied
three 4 wheeled Battery Locos, (702-704). These were used for for maintenance
and also to recover broken down mail trains. They were designed to haul 18
tons, for 6 miles on one charge. Power was taken from two banks of 76 cells
giving a total voltage of 350v. Braking is by screw hand brake on all four
wheels, there is also a rheostatic braking system fitted.
'2w-2-2-2wRE'
type units (752-763 and 793-830). These used the traction equipment removed
from the 1928 stock. When the first of the bogie units were delivered, between
1930 and 1931, derailments were as still as bad, but after experiments with
the kingpin positions, track realignments and the installation of rail
lubricators on the sharpest curves, the problems were eventually solved. In
1936, because of the increase of mail traffic, 10 more 'Bogie' type units
(923-932), were ordered from English Electric.
replace
the bulk of the 1930/36 stock, an order was placed with Greenbat of Leeds. 34
new units (501-534) were delivered between 1980 and 1982. Unfortunately
Greenbat went into receivership after delivering only 3 units, but production
was taken over by Hunslet Holdings Ltd. The new units had to be compatable
with the existing mail containers, so the
units
were of similar dimensions to the older ones. Some ideas from the 1962 units
were incorporated into the design. The order included two extra power units,
as any repair work was likely to take longer on the power unit, than on the
trailers. The remaining 1930/32 units were rebuilt for further use on the
line, and the ownership of four was passed on to various museums.
To
celebrate the railways Golden anniversary in 1977 two of the 1930/32 units
(801 and 806), were repainted into gold livery. In 1987 three of the Greenbat
units (502, 514, 532) were given new fiberglass cowlings, to help slow the
entry of dust into the traction equipment. Two of these units were given the
names 'Capital Express' and 'London Flyer', which,
a year
later were changed to 'Great East Express' and 'Great West Express'. At some
point, two of the 1925 '4wRE' units were converted to breakdown loco, No 1 and
No 2, and later these were again converted, this time to wagons. Another 1925
unit, 652, was converted to a battery carrier. The railway also had various
other wagons for conveying rail and other parts.
