Diesels were getting the day started today KWVR

Waggon & Maschinenbrau Diesel Railbus No. M79964

During the 1950′s British Railways ordered 5 single car diesel railbuses were ordered from Waggon & Maschinenbau in Donauworth, West Germany. They were numbered by British Railways E79960 – E79964 and amazingly, four out of the original five have entered preservation after the branches they were bought to serve closed.
Delivered new to the Cambridgeshire area, E79964 was transferred to Buxton in Derbyshire, for work on the branch to Millers Dale and was renumbered M79964, denoting that the railbus had been transferred to the Midland Region (M) of British Railways. When the Millers Dale branch closed, the railbus was sold and arrived on the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway in 1967.
Unlike E79962, M79964 was re-engined with an AEC 150 hp engine in BR ownership. This engine has subsequently been exchanged with an identical engine from a London Transport bus which has proved reliable in service and subsequently the vehicle has been in regularly use on our morning services. A popular feature with our early morning visitors is the increased forward visibility afforded by the railbuses and DMU’s, giving passengers a totally different perspective of the line..

 

 

'Vulcan' took the first large train

 

 

Experimental Prototype English Electric Diesel Electric 0-6-0

'Vulcan'

 

 

No. D0226 was on prototype made for shunting and transfer work between yards and/or stations but the design was flawed, the engine being too powerful for usual shunting duties and not versatile enough for any other useful work.
The engine was placed on permanent loan to the KWVR by English Electric in 1966 and has been found to be a most useful engine for the line. As the line has a 25 mph maximum speed limit, many of the limitations found in British Railways service are eliminated. The 500 hp power rating means it can deal with our works-trains at a speed that does not hamper passenger services working in the opposite path. The engine is capable of standing in on passenger services in the event of a steam engine failure in traffic. All in all, this engine has found a niche in Preservation which it never found before.

Many thanks to KWVR for the above notes. Don't forget go along and see.

http://www.kwvr.co.uk/