Vehicle Specifications

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The diesel railcar "The Gherkin" was built when the railway was presented with two of the ex-London Post Office tube railway vehicles by Adrian Shooter. These provided a pair of wheelsets with axle-hung 400 volt DC traction motors. These were incorporated into a new arch bar bogie. The rig was tested on the Ffestiniog Railway during their Quirks and Curiosities event in 2010, powered by a Lombardini diesel generator. So encouraging were the trials that a diesel electric railcar began construction.​

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Power is derived from a Peugeot XUD 1900cc diesel engine direct coupled to a 50RVA Meccalte alternator producing up to 440 volts, 3 phase AC. The output is rectified and fed to the two traction motors of about 20 H.P. Control is achieved by varying the field excitation of the alternator. Braking is achieved through means of air brakes. The driveshaft was altered in June 2012 to overcome the effects of torsional oscillation. The following year, the cooling system and a key system was installed so that only one driving control could be used at one time.

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The nickname of the railcar, 'The Gherkin', comes from a "Don't try this at home" experiment conducted by Jeremy Clarkson involving the insertion of mains voltage into a pickled gherkin; the episode was bought to a friend's mind during the electrical trials and so stuck the nickname of 'The Gherkin'.