Wickham Handcar (pump trolley) restored by Cavan & Leitrim Railway museum | Season 1 - Episode 22

👋 Hey friends! In this video, we are featuring the restoration of a Handcar by the Cavan & Leitrim Railway Museum. Pump trolleys or handcars were used all over Ireland and many other countries since the mid 1800s. They are essentially a simple cart that fits on tracks and are human powered by pump action. They are probably best known for the appearance in American western films with the bad guys beating a hasty retreat through furious pumping.

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Cavan and Leitrim Railway museum came up with the idea of building a replica pump trolley in 2017. Based at Dromod Co. Leitrim they commissioned the design and building of the machine based on a C56 Wickham 4S/B machine manufactured in the UK in 1940s. Wickham & Co manufactured many different types of railway service vehicles which were in operation all over the world.

The late Paul Gunning designed and built this pump trolley based on a drawings of a pump trolley supplied to Bord na Mona the then Turf Development Board. Aside from the original Wickham railcar wheels, the frame, deck, gears, handles and crankshaft were all made from scratch. Paul’s engineering skills were such that the trolley worked perfectly when placed on the track for the first time.

Operating pump trolleys could be dangerous work as there was always a risk of collision with a train. As trains got faster the danger increased and motorised cars soon replaced them.

At Cavan and Leitrim Railway museum it has been a great interactive attraction for visitors to the museum. Speaking about the operation and future development of the Cavan and Leitrim Railway Darragh Connolly said “We aim to relive and recreate our railway heritage. Unfortunately we have very few volunteers active on the railway and would encourage anyone that wants to help out and restore our Irish railway heritage to get involved with us by messaging our Facebook page and we would be happy to get them started."

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Photos: Cavan and Leitrim Railway; @Rail Velocipedes Group; National Library of Ireland; Video: Cavan and Leitrim Railway museum
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