Wickham Trolley - 2ft Gauge
Lurking about in the carriage shed at Llanuwchllyn is a small 4-wheeled truck that is now both rare and in need of refurbishment.
ex-Lydd Wickham Target Trolley outside Llanuwchllyn carriage shed - Bill Hyde collection
I think it was in 1998 that Pete Briddon had acquired a number of Wickham Target Trolleys in amongst a consignment of wagons he had successfully tendered for following major changes to the MOD Target Ranges at Lydd, Kent.
After a brief review of the marque (and consultation with Roger Hine) I decided to buy one from Pete. The intention being that once converted it would make an ideal self-propelled platelayers truck for the railway. Ideal for when a man (usually Roger) has to travel along the line chacking fishplates and sleepers.
Since then, although the engine was successfully fired up once, the trolley has lived in the carriage shed awaiting its future.
Now is perhaps the time to tell more about this little rail vehicle, where it comes from and why it is now a rare exmple of the marque.
To tell the story of the trolley it is really necessary to tell the story of where it was used and therefore why it was created.
Lydd Military Training Ranges, Kent
The Village of Lydd
Lydd is on Romney Marsh, in Kent and is one of the oldest villages in the country, with evidence showing inhabitation of the area for almost 4000 years. It lies in the open lowland of Denge Marsh. To the south-east are the bare shingle banks of the promontory of Dungeness.
There is archaeological evidence from the bronze age and Roman periods; documentary records and physical evidence dating to Saxon times and long before the Doomsday Book while many of the buildings and streets of modern Lydd remain identical to how they looked in Norman and middle ages.
Lydd was a member of the Cinque Ports but is no longer a seaport because of changes in the shoreline.
Military Training Centre
Lydd is a military training center, with an established British Army camp, artillary ranges and at one time both standard gauge and narrow gauge military railways.
Holmstone Camp
In 1888 thesite became the testing ground fora picric acid based high explosive, which eventually was named Lyddite - afterits first testing ground.
The camp was first established in 1893, with the land to the west of the village taken over by the military.
The Royal Irish Rifles formed the first garrison at Holmstone Camp. The first permanent buildings were erected in 1906 in what are today very busy firing ranges stretching from Camber to near the Dungeness Nuclear Power station.
From the begining the ranges were designed to test the effectiveness ofartillary and and other weapon designsincluding the "new" tanks introduced durring WWI and for both artillery and infantry target shooting practice.
Royal Artillery gun crews and Howitzers WWI at Lydd - Bill Hyde collection
To complete the establishment, a Military Hospital was also established at the same site during the 1914-18 war.
Throughout WWII numerous colonial and British army units carried out training there. In March 1940 it was the turn of the New Zealand army, whilst by June 1943, the 4th and 5th Canadian (Armoured) Divisions were carrying out anti-tank firing at the Lydd ranges.
New Zealand Anti Tank crews using Lydd ranges in 1940 - Bill Hyde collection
The land is still in use today by the Army for tactical and light weapon training. Troops heading for both Iraq and Afghanistan pass through Lydd as part of their advanced training.
Lydd Military Railway
To serve the new camp and artillery ranges, the Lydd Military Railway was created in 1883. This was accessed via the goods yard off the standard gauge Appledore to Dungeness branch line which eventually became part of the Southern Railway.
The Army Camp did provide an interesting traffic of regiment horses in box vans, these quite often being handled at Lydd station itself. PICTURE LINK
The large army camp and military ranges at Lydd kept the Appledore line busy until the end of WW1, but by the 1920's Dungeness was served by just three trains a day.
Narrow Gauge Railway
In addition to the standard gauge railway that was used to deliver stores, vehicles, guns and men to the camp there was established within the camp and the ranges an extensive 600mm gauge railway.
Although the narrow gauge was used for moving stores around the site, its primary use was to provide mobile targets for gunners to aim at.
Along with the short standard gauge branch line, there were over 5 miles of railway in the Lydd system. Almost all of the narrow gauge was laid on the shingle beach of Denge Marsh, following the contours of the land to provide up and down gradients.
2FT gauge tracks laid across the shingle of Denge Marsh, Lydd Ranges, Kent - Bill Hyde collection
Towed Targets
Initially, when first laid during the WW1 period, the narrow gauge line used towed targets - silohettes of men and war machinery - pulled by rail tractors including those made by Motor Rail and Lister. These targets were silhouettes made of wood and canvas and were towed at speeds of about 25mph. This was the practice still in use during WWII.
Both the wagons that carried these targets and one of the Motor Rail tractors were still in evidence in 1982 and adapted for site and rail maintenance.
Internal narrow gauge railway maintenance train with Motor Rail tractor circa WWI vintage & train of wagons (mostly made by Hudon) - Bill Hyde collection
Self Propelled Trolley
Post WW11, the system was automated and the overall staffing levels reduced. To aid these changes, D. Wickham & Co of Ware Hertfordshire were contracted to produce self propelled target carrying vehicles.
Each trolley comprised of a heavy gauge angle iron-type frame onto which were bolted two axles with standard railway inside flange wheels, a JAP petrol engine and direct chain-drive.
To ensure that the Army shot up the target and not the trolley itself, a heavy armoured steel body was fitted over the engine and axle/chain-drive, with hinged doors on one side allowing access to the engine.
Wickham 2ft target trolley complete with armoured body showing hinged access panels - Bill Hyde collection
Each vehicle was fitted with a small ratchet hand brake, braking onto one wheel, solely for parking. Making sure that when they came into contact with each other and did not derail themselves, each trolley was fitted with full-length, sprungbuffer bars that extended from each end of the vehicle. The small area between the trolley body and the buffer beam (at each end) enclosed a small, dropped, wooden platform whose purpose was not to carry a person but to carry spare target silohettes.
Lydd ranges 2ft gauge railway yard showing a target trolley complete with buffer beams and mounts for targets. Behind are some of the railways other wagons - Bill Hyde collection
Target Operations
The operation was simple - fill the smalldiesel tank, use the starting handle to turn over the engine, mount the relevant target silohette onto the trolley, set the points on the various tracks the vehicles was to travel, release the brake and set it off.
As it travelled round the range, at various points it would become visible to Anti-Tank gunnery crews and Infantry alike, who would shoot at it.
The self-propelled vehicle would return to the depot for target changing and refuelling.
A target trolley at Lydd outside the rail system sheds with mounted tank target - Bill Hyde collection
Preservation
At time of closure there were 29 Wickham made target trolleys at Lydd. All were sold by tender and many were used as a source of spares - removing the body and engines they became very useful bogie units.
The engines found other non-railway uses - old cars, lawnmowers and industrial machines (concrete mixers) have all used JAP engines in the past.
My target trolley minus its body resides with Llanuwchllyn carriage shed, awaiting its turn in the workshops - Bill Hyde collection
As far as I am aware, there is currently only one trolley preserved in full Lydd military specification and that is at the Amberley Working Museum.
My trolley is now in a bit of a sorry state, however I have agreed with Roger Hine that I will fund the restoration/conversion of the vehicle - with the work being done at Llanuwchllyn on a when there is a spare minute basis - so hopefully things will improve over time.
Photo Gallery - Wickham Target Trolley collection