Pan Up
Back in the March 2016 issue I wrote about the remarkable project to resurrect the long-lost Autocar from being found as a sub-prime, overgrown holiday home to a working train, complete with Edwardian driving trailer. ‘What’s a 1903 vintage vehicle doing in “Modern” Railways?’ you could ask, but it is the ancestor of almost all the passenger vehicles we run today. It was the irst rail vehicle to carry its own internal combustion engine with electric transmission, so more relevant than Flying Scotsman, if less likely to block the line with adoring crowds.
Embsay near Skipton hosted a crowd of 150 invited well-wishers to witness the culmination of this project, which is really a new build diesel-electric ‘Thumper’, except it doesn’t thump, it purrs like a well-oiled Cummins sewing machine. The engine is in a substantial box and compliant to modern safety and emissions regulations, taking about a third of the vehicle. This meant the Edwardian driving trailer was essential if it was to have a reasonable payload as even heritage railways are not immune to the need to make good use of available diagrams on gala days.
YORKSHIRE BRASS
The restoration of the abandoned body is a remarkable piece of work, …
