Railbus 4-wheel Wickham Profile and Models

Railbus 4-wheel Wickham

999507 at Isfield on the Lavender Line in August 2009. ©Foulger Railway Photography

In the late 1950s, British Rail tested a series of small railbuses, produced by a variety of manufacturers, for about £12,500 each (£261,000 at 2014 prices). These proved to be very economical but were somewhat unreliable. Most of the lines they worked on were closed following the Beeching Cuts and, being non-standard, they were all withdrawn in the mid-1960s. Wickham produced 5 passenger-carrying Railbuses as well as one departmental unit. The body was rubber mounted on the underframe, which not only provided vertical sprung movement but also allowed limited and controlled transverse movement between underframe and body. They could be seen on the Scottish Region of BR but were all withdrawn by 1966. 

(Information provided via Wikipedia)

Type of Unit

Diesel-Mechanical Railbus

Builder

Wickham

Build Dates

1958

Total Built

6

Coaches Per Unit

Single Car

Power Output

105 hp

Top Speed

50 mph

Passenger Capacity

48 seats

Operated By

British Rail

Main Duties

Local Passenger

In Service Until

1966

Surviving Examples

1