The 1903 Petrol Electric Autocars were built by the North Eastern Railway in 1903 at their carriage works in

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

. These were powered by

petrol engines A petrol engine (gasoline engine in American English) is an internal combustion engine designed to run on petrol (gasoline). Petrol engines can often be adapted to also run on fuels such as liquefied petroleum gas and ethanol blends (such as ...

which generated

electricity Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described ...

for two

traction motors A traction motor is an electric motor used for propulsion of a vehicle, such as locomotives, electric or hydrogen vehicles, elevators or electric multiple unit. Traction motors are used in electrically powered rail vehicles ( electric multiple ...

which were mounted on the

bogie A bogie ( ) (in some senses called a truck in North American English) is a chassis or framework that carries a wheelset, attached to a vehicle—a modular subassembly of wheels and axles. Bogies take various forms in various modes of transp ...

underneath. This means of powering a railway vehicle was pioneering and would eventually be developed into the diesel-electric technology that powered and powers many

locomotive A locomotive or engine is a rail transport vehicle that provides the Power (physics), motive power for a train. If a locomotive is capable of carrying a payload, it is usually rather referred to as a multiple unit, Motor coach (rail), motor ...

s worldwide. The railcars were numbered 3170 and 3171 and were long and weighed around . The engine was mounted in an engine compartment long. The rest of the vehicles' length was taken up by a vestibule, driving compartment and a 52-seat passenger compartment.

Powertrain

Various petrol engines were used, an 85 hp Napier engine was the first to be installed, but these were found to be unsatisfactory, so were replaced in 1904 by Wolseley engines. These

flat-four engine A flat-four engine, also known as a horizontally opposed-four engine, is a four-cylinder piston engine with two banks of cylinders lying on opposite sides of a common crankshaft. The most common type of flat-four engine is the boxer-four engine, ...

s produced 92 bhp at their normal rated speed of 400 rpm, and well over 100 bhp when run at 480 rpm. The cylinders were 8.5 inch diameter with 10 inch stroke. The engine had a 3-foot diameter flywheel, and was coupled directly to a Westinghouse multi-polar

dynamo file:DynamoElectricMachinesEndViewPartlySection USP284110.png, "Dynamo Electric Machine" (end view, partly section, ) A dynamo is an electrical generator that creates direct current using a commutator (electric), commutator. Dynamos were the f ...

. A small dynamo driven by belt from the flywheel provided charge for the accumulators which enabled electric starting of the engine, lighting for the carriage, and the 'exciting current' for the field coils in the main dynamo, controlled by

rheostat A potentiometer is a three-terminal resistor with a sliding or rotating contact that forms an adjustable voltage divider. If only two terminals are used, one end and the wiper, it acts as a variable resistor or rheostat. The measuring instrume ...

s at either end of the railcar. The engine speed could likewise be controlled via a throttle from either end of the railcar. The output from the main dynamo was sent to two electric motors, both mounted on the bogie underneath the engine room. In 1923, No. 3170 was re-engined with a more powerful 225 hp engine, allowing it to haul an unpowered coach, an early version of the multiple units used today. Maximum speed was only 36 mph but

acceleration In mechanics, acceleration is the rate of change of the velocity of an object with respect to time. Accelerations are vector quantities (in that they have magnitude and direction). The orientation of an object's acceleration is given by the ...

and

braking A brake is a mechanical device that inhibits motion by absorbing energy from a moving system. It is used for slowing or stopping a moving vehicle, wheel, axle, or to prevent its motion, most often accomplished by means of friction. Background ...

to and from this was reported to be brisk, taking around 30 seconds. In 1908, a pair of seats were removed to enlarge the vestibules, reducing the seating accommodation to 48. In appearance, the railcars were similar to single-deck trams. The NER called them autocars, as they could be driven from either end, as with modern passenger trains.

Service

The railcars worked briefly on

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, then in

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

for the rest of their working lives, on lines round

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and

Selby Selby is a market town and civil parish in the Selby District of North Yorkshire, England, south of York on the River Ouse, with a population at the 2011 census of 14,731. The town was historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire until ...

. No. 3171 was withdrawn on 31 May 1930 and no. 3170 on 4 April 1931.The autocars
''LNER Encyclopaedia''

Preservation

The body of no. 3170 was used as a

holiday home A holiday cottage, holiday home, vacation home, or vacation property is accommodation used for holiday vacations, corporate travel, and temporary housing often for less than 30 days. Such properties are typically small homes, such as cottage ...

near Kirbymoorside in North Yorkshire for 70 years and was bought by a railway enthusiast in 2003. A trust was formed to restore the vehicle and a trailer coach to form an Edwardian multiple unit that will be twice as old as most of the (ex-BR) DMUs on other

heritage railways A heritage railway or heritage railroad (US usage) is a railway operated as living history to re-create or preserve railway scenes of the past. Heritage railways are often old railway lines preserved in a state depicting a period (or periods) i ...

. There are several changes to the autocar, to reflect changes in railway technology and regulation. The power unit is based around a new diesel engine from Cummins and the chassis is a strengthened conversion of one from a GNR milk and brake van. The work done to the chassis has been meant substantial delay and expense, but is a vital part of the project. To achieve its aim of restoring the autocar back to working order and restore the trailer coach to go with it, the NER 1903 Electric Autocar Trust has been awarded several grants. The largest grant was awarded in March 2011 from the Heritage Lottery Fund for a total of £465,800. PRISM (the fund for the PReservation of Industrial and Scientific Material) also awarded the project £20,000 for the restoration of the bodywork of the two vehicles, and the

Ken Hoole Trust Ken Hoole (1916–1988) was an English historian known for his works on the railways of the north east of England. The ''Ken Hoole Study Centre'' at the Darlington Railway Centre and Museum, and the ''Ken Hoole Trust'' are named after him. Biog ...

awarded the project £5,000, which has gone towards the restoration of the woodwork. In December 2014, the Transport Trust granted the Trust a loan facility of up to £46,000 to cover any shortfall in the Trust finances, caused by the extra expense on the chassis. Restoration work started in early 2011. The Trust's web-site has details of the latest developments and news is also posted on the LNER Encyclopedia's Forum page and on RMWeb. Videos of the testing of the new powerunit and chassis on the

Great Central Railway (preserved) The Great Central Railway (GCR) is a heritage railway in Leicestershire, named after the company that originally built this stretch of railway. It runs for between the town of Loughborough and a new terminus in the north of Leicester. It has ...

are posted on YouTube - the 'official' one is at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N99dUPMQar8. There is another shot by our test-driver at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tONHtVfQ9MA which includes rail-level footage. In addition to the autocar, the Trust has restored an NER 'autocoach', which was kindly donated to the Trust by the NER coach group at the North Yorkshire Moors Railway. This was stabled at Levisham for many years, but is now (September 2018) substantially restored. Brake tests on the autocar were carried out on the

Embsay and Bolton Abbey Steam Railway The Embsay and Bolton Abbey Steam Railway (E&BASR) is a heritage railway in North Yorkshire, England, formed in 1979 and opened in 1981. The preserved railway was part of the former Midland Railway route from Skipton to Ilkley which was clo ...

during September and October 2018. The autocar officially re-entered service on Friday 19 October 2018. Both vehicles are expected to operate regular public service in early 2019. The Trust is always looking for volunteers or members to support the project either by working on restoration/maintenance, as 'hosts'/'explainers' to passengers, on 'back room' tasks or via a financial donation.

Modelling the autocar

Following the renewed interest in the petrol-electric autocars after the founding of the Trust, two manufacturers make model kits of the autocars. In 2 mm and 4 mm (OO Gauge) scales,

Worsley Works Worsley Works, is a manufacturer of kits for model railway carriages and locomotives, owned and run from Worsley, near Manchester, England UK, by Allen Doherty. Worsley Works is well known in the finescale modelling world, especially in less-p ...

makes an etched brass kit of the body. 3 mm scale etches have also been produced to order. In 7 mm (O Gauge), NER Days makes a kit in nickel-silver. A series of articles was written about the construction of one of these by a Trust member in the quarterly newsletter (issues 7 - 16) back copies of which can be downloaded from the membership page. Rails of Sheffield in partnership with Heljan are producing an rtr Model of the NER Autocars in 00 Gauge. Covering Their NER and LNER conditions. Three are to be produced covering: 3170 in NER Red/Cream (1904-1923), 3171 in NER Red/Cream (1904-1930), 3170 in LNER Brown (1923-1931)

References

Sources

External links

The 1903 Petrol Electric Autocar Trust

Autocar North Eastern Railway (UK)