GETTING TROLLEY-D
Our heritage sector is often quick to highlight astounding restoration jobs and milestones, and rightfully so. Overhauls of locomotives and rolling stock that haven’t turned wheels for decades or were once thought unsalvageable are certainly cause for celebration. But toiling away in the background of many lines are vehicles just as crucial to maintaining the permanent way and signalling now as they were in BR days.
On April 22, 1922 D. Wickham & Co Ltd despatched the first rail vehicle from its works in Ware, Hertfordshire. A 3ft 6in gauge trolley fitted with a Dorman 4MV engine, it was supplied to the British-owned Taltal Railway in Chile.
The firm found its beginnings in 1882 with William Wickham, a brewer of pale ale and bitter, on Ware High Street. By 1890 it was run by Denis Wickham, who manufactured patent machinery for carbonating and bottling beer and other frothing liquids, and by 1912 it had become D. Wickham & Co Brewery & General Engineers. The brewing side was still retained even when the firm established itself in the rail vehicle industry, with the business ultimately comprising three companies: D. Wickham & Co Ltd of Ware and Stevenage; Wickham Rail Ltd of Suckley and Bishop’s Frome; and Wickham Rail Cars of Goodyear, in Arizona, USA.
The range of products and services included specialist brewing and bottling equipment, specialist rail
