Overview of Progress

In 2004, the North Eastern Railway 1903 Electric Autocar Trust was formed to preserve and rebuild this unique pioneer. The six trustees were recruited from several established heritage railways, giving a broad knowledge base to draw from. Membership is open to all, we currently have over fifty members and the number is increasing steadily.

Initial efforts concentrated on sourcing suitable components for the project, the focus has now moved to the fundraising and design stages. We are keen that once restoration is complete the autocar will be self-funding by carrying passengers on heritage railways, but with only 48 seats the autocar would be of little use to most railways. An additional 58 seats will come from a trailer coach, ex NER autocoach No 3453, built in 1904, which will increase the total seating capacity to 106 and give passengers a comparison between the “old” type carriage with compartments and the “new” open saloon accommodation of the autocar and modern trains.

The trust has achieved a “first round pass” in its application for Heritage Lottery Funding, this means that the project meets the HLF’s criteria for funding, the trust now has until December 2010 to raise the balance of funds.

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The Autocar

The trust aims to restore the original body to its rebuilt 1923 form, this involves re-uniting the body halves (it was cut in two to facilitate movement to its holiday home site at Keldholme), repairing damage to some window pillars and thoroughly overhauling the rest of the body structure.

Underframe and bogies

A suitable underframe and bogies have been secured, these will be re-engineered to take the new engine, generator, traction motors and control equipment. Modern regulations no longer allow the use of an old petrol engine, so a modern diesel generator set will be fitted with appropriate traction motors.

Interior

The interior will be restored to its original spec, with upholstered reversible seats and guard’s compartment/vestibule. Both driving positions will be replaced with modern control equipment in old tram style control columns.

The Autocoach

Autocoach number 3453 has been in store for many years at Levisham on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, and the North Eastern Railway Carriage Association kindly donated it to our project.

An 'Edwardian' multiple unit

The body will be thoroughly restored to original NER condition with a driving compartment at one end, this will be fitted with through control so that the autocar and autocoach can be coupled together to form an “Edwardian” multiple unit which can be driven from either end, so no “running round” will be needed when the train changes direction.

Although the autocar and autocoach were unlikely to have ever run together, our title photograph shows the autocar in 1923 pulling a similar coach and gives a good impression of what our completed project will look like.

Funds permitting, 3453 will be “dual fitted” with both air and vacuum brakes to allow it to be used independently with other vacuum braked rolling stock.