GWR 178 Autotrailer Third

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Autocoach 178 behind GWRGreat Western Railway 1450

The GWRGreat Western Railway Autocoach, sometimes called an autotrailer, was used by the Great Western Railway for push-pull trains powered by a steam locomotive. The autocoach has a driving cab at one end, allowing the driver to control the train without needing to be on the footplate of the locomotive. This eliminates the need for the engine to run round to the other end of the coach at the end of each journey. The combination of locomotive and autocoach(es) is known as an auto-train or, historically, a railmotor train, and they were mainly used on small branch lines.

Steam locomotives provided with the equipment to be used as an auto-train are said to be auto-fitted. The driver operates the regulator, brakes and whistle from the autocoach; the fireman remains on the locomotive and in addition to firing, also controls the valve gear settings. The driver, guard and fireman can communicate with each other by an electric bell system.

178 was built at Swindon in 1930. It was originally preserved at the SVRSevern Valley Railway in 1968, before moving to the DeanWilliam Dean, Chief Locomotive Engineer of the Great Western Railway 1877-1902 Forest railway in the 1970s. It returned to the SVRSevern Valley Railway in March 2014 along with Mike Little’s other autocoach 238 and auto-fitted locomotive GWR 1450.

Sources

Railway Heritage Register Carriage Survey

Links

178 on vintagecarriagestrust.org

See also

List of carriages

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