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==Railcar 22 in service==
The first 18 diesel railcars built between 1934 and 1937 featured a streamlined shape which gave rise to the nickname "flying banana". Railcar 22 was one of the next batch of 18 built at the GWR's Swindon works between 1940 and 1942; these featured a more angular design sometimes described as "razor edged". Railcars in this batch were equipped with 2 two AEC diesel engines of 105 hp each , and were fitted with standard buffers and drawgear to which could be coupled a 60 ton tail load, allowing the railcar to tow a coach or act as the local pick-up goods train at off-peak times. The railcar could carry 48 passengers and included a large luggage department.<ref name = "SB5">SVR Stock Book 5th edition</ref><ref name = "Didcot">[https://didcotrailwaycentre.org.uk/article.php/83/22-diesel-railcar Didcot Railway Centre Railcar 22 Page]</ref>
Railcar 22 entered service from Newport shed on 18 September 1940.<ref name = "Didcot" /> On 30 July 1941, 22 and sister number 23 were noted in the Kidderminster area, believed to be on test runs for the introduction of railcar services on the Severn Valley and Tenbury Branches which began that year.<ref name = "Turley">[[Bibliography#Books | Turley (2005) P. 41.]]</ref> Thereafter Railcar 22 was based in the Bristol area and between 1950 and 1954, in the Reading area where it had been paired with Car 38 after sister Car 35 was destroyed by fire. For the next few years 22 was based at Leamington, before a move to [[Worcester]] in 1958 from where it regularly worked services on the Severn Valley Branch as far as [[Shrewsbury]] and also on the Tenbury Branch. A railcar servicing depot had been established at Worcester in the Carriage & Wagon works area. This was north of Shrub Hill on the opposite side of the main line to the steam shed. Vehicle fuelling points were provided both inside and outside the shed and there were underfloor maintenance pits.<ref name = "Bartlett">[https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/blog/author-guest-post-steve-bartlett/ Bartlett, Steve, ‘Worcester’s Great Western Diesel Railcars Working on the Severn Valley’, Pen & Sword blog, 30 September 2020] (Retrieved 8 November 2021)</ref>
