LMS Route: Rugby to Leamington Spa (Avenue)

LMS Route: Nuneaton to Leamington

LMS Route: Leamington to Weedon

Leamington (Avenue) Station: lnwrlave1349

The thirties saw railways looking at alternatives to locomotive hauled trains on branch line services. Germany was a pioneer in this respect and had for a time established the world rail speed record with their Hamburg Flyer, a design that clearly influenced the above Railcar.

Coventry Railcar No 2 was a Coventry company's initiative, being powered by Armstrong Siddeley engines, but had limited appeal as the design was not taken forward. Some observers thought that without the interruption of the outbreak of the Second World War then things might have been different.

James, of Yahoo Group Britains_Lost_Railways wrote, "These were built in 1935 at Armstrong-Siddeleys Parkside factory which was North East of Coventry City Centre. They had sixteen wheels on 2-eight-wheeled bogies of which only one was powered. Each car (only 2 were ever built) was 54 ft long and weight 11 tons, which increased to a load of 16 tons with a full load of 56 passengers and 15 cwt of luggage. Liverywise, they were red and cream, but what was unique was the "conning tower" appearance of the driving cab at one end, despite being a bi-directional vehicle. It is unclear as to why they never had a cab at each end such as the GWR railcars of 1934.

Coventry Railcar No 1 emerged in June 1936, while the press run took part between Rugby and Wansford which is now part of the preserved Nene Valley Railway. (The line between these two points via Market Harborough closed in 1966 under the Beeching closure programme). Despite proving popular by passengers and crews and although both the LMS and and other companies was interested in this venture, no orders happened and the railcars were withdrawn in 1937."

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