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GWR autocoach
Autocoach 190 preserved at Didcot Railway Centre
In service
1904–1964
Manufacturer
Swindon Works
Constructed
1904–1954
Number built
256
Number preserved
15
Number scrapped
241
Diagram
A – Z, A1 – A44
Fleet numbers
1 – 256
Operators
Great Western Railway
British Railways
Specifications
Track gauge
4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
The GWR autocoach (or auto-trailer) is a type of coach that was used by the Great Western Railway for push-pull trains powered by a steam locomotive. The distinguishing design feature of an autocoach is the driving cab at one end, allowing the driver to control the train without needing to be located in the cab of the steam locomotive. This eliminates the need to run the engine round to the other end of the coach at the end of each journey.
When one or more autocoaches are connected to a suitably equipped steam locomotive, the combination is known as an autotrain, or, historically, a railmotor train. A steam locomotive provided with the equipment to be used as an autotrain is said to be auto-fitted.
The autocoach is the forerunner of the driving trailer used with push–pull trains.
The GWRautocoach (or auto-trailer) is a type of coach that was used by the Great Western Railway for push-pull trains powered by a steam locomotive....
GWR 5542 is a preserved Great Western Railway steam locomotive of the GWR 4575 Class. It is currently based at South Devon Railway. Number 5542 was built...
locomotive depot. The 1400 Class was designed to work with the GWR design of autocoach, a specialist coach designed for push-pull working and which could...
coaches and goods wagons. Most of these are typical of Great Western Railway (GWR) branch lines in Somerset, or of the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway (SDJR)...
original carriages survive in preservation. The original backers of the GWR had adopted Isambard Kingdom Brunel's plan to speed trans-Atlantic Ocean...
The passenger coaches of the Great Western Railway (GWR) were many and varied, ranging from four and six-wheeled vehicles for the original broad gauge...
locomotives was the GWRAutocoach, which replaced the GWR steam rail motors on both operational cost and maintenance grounds. When running 'autocoach first', the...
and Exeter Railway Fairfield steam carriage British steam railcars GWRAutocoach Steam railcars Maggs, Colin G (2004). The Wrington Vale Light Railway...
locomotive No. 215 was hauling Autocoach No. 70 when it was in a head-on collision with a goods train, hauled by GWR 4000 Class 4-6-0 No. 4048 Princess...
it was the largest depot on the entire GWR system, and set the pattern for similar depots throughout the GWR including Tyseley. It had four 65 feet (19...
the first train in the morning. On the GWR, it was not uncommon to see a pannier tank engine and GWRautocoach on a local passenger service pulling a...
typical of GWR branch lines in Somerset or of the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway (SDJR). Among the types based on the railway are examples of GWR 4575 and...
The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales...
United Kingdom. There are a number of historic coaches in use including two 'GWR Super Saloons' coaches once used for trans-Atlantic liner passengers, and...
(DMUs). They were in effect the ancestor of the modern driving trailers. GWRAutocoach Multiple unit Push-pull train Railmotor New Zealand motor train Voiture...
From 1920, the cab side of Great Western Railway (GWR) steam locomotives bore a letter on a coloured disc, which enabled staff to quickly assess the capabilities...
pulled the carriages one way and pushed them on the return run (see GWRAutocoach).[citation needed] In the 1950s the service frequently ran with two...
public service between Slough, Windsor and Didcot. Soon after this, the GWR ordered the next three production units, Nos. 2 to 4, which were built with...
The first Locomotives of the Great Western Railway (GWR) were specified by Isambard Kingdom Brunel but Daniel Gooch was soon appointed as the railway's...
Railway, a heritage railway in Cornwall, England. The Great Western Railway (GWR) opened a branch line from Bodmin Road to Bodmin General in 1887 and this...
were delivered to British Rail in 1948–49. The two shunters used by the GWR were numbered 1 and 2, while a series commencing at 501 was planned for the...
The GWR was the longest-lived of the pre-nationalisation railway companies in Britain, surviving the 'Grouping' of the railways in 1923 almost unchanged...
and Exeter Railway mainline, which was operated and then taken over by the GWR in 1890. The station became an important junction station, with branch lines...
The Great Western Railway (GWR) experimented with oil burning steam locomotives at two points in its history. A single experimental tank engine was constructed...
500 employees of the Great Western Railway (GWR) who were killed in the conflict. One-third of the GWR's workforce of almost 80,000 left to fight in the...
These heritage railways operate on old GWR branch lines. Many other heritage railways and museums also have GWR locomotives or rolling stock in use or...
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