Irish looking Railcar

[Lambeg man]

The following photo is from the Wigan Heritage website. It shows a Railcar built by Walker Brothers and it titled "First Diesel Railcar for Argentina made by Walker Bros." The caption reads "This photo was taken by my father, E.W.Woodcock. In addition to the description, it says on the back of the photo: "..at Pagefield Signal Box by permission of Messrs. Walker." There is no date given and a trawl of the internet looking for further info has drawn a blank.

The vehicle looks VERY similar to the 'C' type GNR articulated Railcars of the GNR (which Walkers built the power bogies for and Dundalk the bodies). If this photo predates 1935, then it would appear the concept of an articulated Railcar came not from the GNR, but from Walkers.

 

Any thoughts or further info from anyone?

 

[Galteemore]

The body design is incredibly similar. The story of how the articulated Irish railcar began probably lies in the Clogher Valley archives. It was their Railcar 1 which really set the course for all that followed, being delivered in Dec 32. Walkers did the power unit, body and rear bogie being provided by Dundalk. Walkers were still using it for publicity purposes in 1934. The sheer style of C and similar does suggest a professional commercial coachbuilder’s eye being brought to bear on the concept. 

Edited November 28, 2022 by Galteemore

[Moxy]

Don't know if this is the same one, but Grace's Guide https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Walker_Brothers_(Wigan)

gives the following. '1936 Made a light railcar for the Paita-Pauira section of the Peruvian Corporation Railway, with a Gardner 6LW engine. A similar pair of railcars was supplied to the Sao Paulo Railway of Brazil. The design was based on that of railcars supplied to Ireland.'

Could the above railcar be a Brazilian one, rather than Argentinian?  If it is sat on LMS lines, that makes it standard gauge, so likely to be one of the Brazilian railcars.

Walker Bros archives apparently went to Wigan Library, but don't appear to be available online.

[Lambeg man]

2 hours ago, Moxy said:

Don't know if this is the same one,

Hi Moxy, you are a star! How I could not find that, I don't know. That is a brilliant piece of research. So the above is a vehicle that Walkers built in 1936 having seen what the GNR did with the power bogies they had supplied a year earlier.

Power units for ‘C 2’ and ‘C 3’ in the Walker Brothers factory in Wigan – Wigan Heritage Service

The above photo was published in Backtrack and credited to Wigan Heritage, but I've been unable to find it on their current website.

As to "First Diesel Railcar for Argentina made by Walker Bros.", it appears from the recording of the final destination for the Gardner-Edwards Railcar that was trialed on the NCC 3' gauge lines, that persons making the contemporary records had a vague knowledge of South America! I have read in different texts that the Gardner-Edwards Railcar went to Columbia / Peru / Argentina!

Agree with you regarding the gauge issue. Noticeable in the top picture is the absence of coupling rods (seen on the GNR Power Bogies) between the wheels of the power unit.

Many thanks again for your valuable assistance. LM

Edited November 28, 2022 by Lambeg man

[Moxy]

Glad I could help.

Walker Bros were based in Wigan, where I now live so I have always had an interest in what they produced.  It's not really surprising there is not much info about, it's over 80 years since those railcars were built, and 60 years since Walker Bros shut down.

[Lambeg man]

On 29/11/2022 at 12:32 PM, Moxy said:

Glad I could help.

Walker Bros were based in Wigan, where I now live so I have always had an interest in what they produced.  It's not really surprising there is not much info about, it's over 80 years since those railcars were built, and 60 years since Walker Bros shut down.

Hello again Moxy. Referring back to the top photo, I said Noticeable in the top picture is the absence of coupling rods (seen on the GNR Power Bogies) between the wheels of the power unit. On closer examination although there are no coupling rods, there appear to the eccentrics and lugs on both visible wheels for such a fitting. "Pagefield" is the district of Wigan where the Walker Brothers factory was located, correct? Many thanks again for your input. LM

[Moxy]

Pagefield would appear to apply only to the plot of land where the iron works was built, but where the name originally came from I don't know.  It wasn't a separate district, it is almost in the centre of Wigan, not far from Wigan Wallgate station.  The sidings serving the iron works were off the Wigan-Southport line.