280 Walker railmotors
RM 82 at Seymour, 1978.
These units were a combination of power units built by the Walker Railcar company, Wigan, England: underframes built by Thompsons of Castlemaine: bodies built Martin & King in Victoria, the whole contraption was assembled at Newport workshops.
With a total passenger capacity of 94 (38 1st class and 56 second class), the 280's were used on runs that warrented this large capacity. They were equipped with 2 x 140hp engines, their total length was 118' 10".
They were a fixture on Newport to Werribee runs where they made a connection with the Williamstown train in the days before electrification to Werribee. They were also common on Kyneton services. A 1951 VR newletter reported that a 280 was running a Melb - Wangaratta service stopping only at Benalla and Euroa and another 280 was running the Melb - Mansfield service cutting that journey time by 30 minutes.
Number in Class 12
Number group 80 - 91
Construction period 1950 - 1952
In service 1950 - 1981
Where built Newport
DIAGRAM

June 1954

 Approval to fit Flettner ventilators

Oct. 1954

Second air horn to fit

Nov. 1954

Power unit doors secured A/C opening in traffic

Feb.1960

Smiths heaters to be fitted

March 1960

Sprague airpush windscreen wipers to be fitted

Oct.1967

Power unit side doors to be replaced with fixed panel

Unknown 280 Walker at Warrenheip whilst running a Ballarat to Geelong service, early 1950's

Power unit of RM 80 during scrapping, Ballarat 1978

RM 91 at Ballarat, 1981

Unknown 280 minus its power unit at Newport, 1977


Front of RM 91 as preserved at Daylesford, July 2010

The article below is from the July 1950 VR Newsletter

please email me with any corrections,comments or questions

page last modified3/21/11