153hp Walker railmotor

Infobox Locomotive
name=153hp Walker railmotor
powertype=Diesel


caption=153hp Walker railmotor
builder=Walker Bros. (Power Unit), Martin & King (Body), Victorian Railways (Assemble).
designer=Walker Bros.
builddate=1948-54
totalproduction=16
length=17.18m
weight=20.00t
axleload=
topspeed=80km/h
poweroutput=153 hp

The 153hp Walker railmotor were a diesel railcar operated by the Victorian Railways in Australia.

After the Second World War, the Victorian Railways undertook a major rebuilding program known as "Operation Phoenix". One of the first tasks was the upgrading of passenger services on country branch lines, through the replacement of 23 wooden bodied railmotors built in the 1920s, and the withdrawal of steam locomotive hauled mixed trains.

An initial order of six 153hp railcars, twelve 102hp railcars and twelve 280hp railcars from Walker Brothers in Wigan, England was placed, this was extended to include a further nine 153hp railmotors, being the delivered into revenue service on Wednesday, 26 January 1955. Sixteen 153hp units were built in total. [cite web
url=http://www.vicsig.net/index.php?page=passenger&section=rollingstock&subs=railmotors&rmtype=153%20hp%20Walker
work=VICSIG
title= Railmotors: 153 hp Walker
publisher=www.vicsig.net
accessdate=2008-03-24]

The power units and controls were shipped out from England and the car bodies built locally by Martin & King in Malvern, with the finished units assembled at Newport Workshops. Each railmotor had a total seating capacity of 58. The last 153hp Walker railmotor ran in 1981, the intended life of the Walker railmotors was only 10 years with most running for up to 30 years.

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