For 77 years The Motor Rail and Tram Car Company Ltd. and its successors produced a highly innovative and successful range of tram cars and small internal combustion locomotives, thousands of which were sold in the U.K. and in many other parts of the world, with many still in use in industry and preservation today. Arguably, they developed the first successful mass-produced internal combustion locomotives in the form of trench “petrol tractors” for the Light Railway Operating Companies in World War I.
This guide, the companion to the “Guide to Ruston Narrow Gauge Locomotives,” describes each narrow gauge type manufactured by the company and is illustrated with photographs and drawings of the different types produced from 1916 onwards. A list of existing locomotives in England, Scotland and Wales is also included.
With the growing interest in narrow gauge railways, the book is intended for narrow gauge enthusiasts and modellers alike. It is published by the Moseley Railway Trust, a volunteer-run group dedicated to preserving British industrial narrow gauge railway equipment. David Hall and John Rowlands are both actively involved in restoring and researching Simplex locomotives that form part of the Moseley collection.
The book contains 112 pages, with approximately 86 high quality black and white photographs, 23 scale drawings and 11 other illustrations.
The authors are pleased to report that the response to our book has so far been extremely positive. A good test of a book such as this is how often one gets it down from the shelf to refer to, and I have certainly found my own copy in regular use to answer queries.
In preparing this guide to Simplex locomotives, we have deliberately restricted our objectives in a number of ways. We have specifically confined ourselves to narrow gauge locomotives, describing each type manufactured by the company with photographs where possible so that the general enthusiast has enough information to identify a particular member of the Simplex species. We also list existing locomotives in England, Scotland and Wales in a similar fashion to the companion publication “A Guide to Ruston Narrow Gauge Locomotives.” We do not cover standard gauge locomotive types, nor tramcars, nor railcars. Neither do we attempt to provide the complete company history or a works list.
The reason for deciding to restrict the scope of the book in this way was primarily to ensure our task was achievable within a reasonable period of time. We are working under the maxim that it is better to publish a relatively cohesive part of the story than to publish nothing at all. There is so much to the Simplex story that a small booklet could never do it justice, but equally there is no substantive work available or close to publication that we know of on the subject. We have felt increasingly frustrated by this omission in the documentation of industrial locomotive history, even more so because we know that a number of our fellow enthusiasts have stated their intention to produce the definitive book. Hopefully, by publishing this guide we will encourage some of the experts in the field, many of whom have kindly assisted in compiling it, to take the next steps towards the comprehensive Simplex book. The authors would of course be happy to offer their services in this regard.
The works number series has been obtained from the Motor Rail order books held by the Bedford Archive Service and, where possible, has been cross-checked against the Motor Rail records held by Alan Keef Ltd. Where there are small gaps in a batch, such as the 20/28 H.P. type, this may be due to the loco not being built, the record sheet being missing, the order being cancelled or, on rare occasions, the number being allocated to another product, for example a dumper. Where at least one set of records shows a loco, we have included it. Where neither set records a particular number, we have omitted it.
JASR 30/12/01
