The 153hp Walker railmotor were a diesel

Diesel engine

A diesel engine is an internal combustion engine that uses the heat of compression to initiate ignition to burn the fuel, which is injected into the combustion chamber...

 railcar

Railcar

A railcar, in British English and Australian English, is a self-propelled railway vehicle designed to transport passengers. The term "railcar" is usually used in reference to a train consisting of a single coach , with a driver's cab at one or both ends. Some railways, e.g., the Great Western...

 operated by the Victorian Railways

Victorian Railways

The Victorian Railways operated railways in the Australian state of Victoria from 1859 to 1983. The first railways in Victoria were private companies, but when these companies failed or defaulted, the Victorian Railways was established to take over their operations...

 in Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

.

After the Second World War, the Victorian Railways

Victorian Railways

The Victorian Railways operated railways in the Australian state of Victoria from 1859 to 1983. The first railways in Victoria were private companies, but when these companies failed or defaulted, the Victorian Railways was established to take over their operations...

 undertook a major rebuilding program known as "Operation Phoenix

Operation Phoenix (railway)

Operation Phoenix was a post World War II rehabilitation program carried out by the Victorian Railways in Australia. The program commenced in 1950 and was originally planned to take 10 years and cost £80 million pounds...

". 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 train

Mixed train

A mixed train is a train that hauls both passenger and freight cars or wagons. In the early days of railways they were quite common, but by the 20th century they were largely confined to branch lines with little traffic. As the trains provided passengers with very slow service, mixed trains have...

s.

An initial order of six 153hp railcars, twelve 102hp railcars and twelve 280hp railcars from Walker Brothers in Wigan, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 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.

The power units and controls were shipped out from England and the car bodies built locally by Martin & King

Martin & King

Martin & King was a manufacturing company based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The company specialised in car and railway coachwork.-History:...

 in Malvern

Malvern, Victoria

Malvern is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 8 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Stonnington. At the 2006 Census, Malvern had a population of 9,422.-History:...

, 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.

Status

Railmotor	Entered service	Withdrawn	Scrapped	Current Status	Notes
20RM	Friday, 16 July 1948	Monday, 20 February 1978	Wednesday, 30 April 1980	Scrapped	Damaged in a derailment after hitting sheep. Accident occurred between Traralgon and Maffra.
21RM	Thursday, 16 September 1948	Monday, 3 April 1978	N/A		Offered for sale on 21 June 1978.
22RM	Monday, 15 November 1948	Tuesday, 1 April 1980	N/A	Now at Yarra Valley Tourist Railway Yarra Valley Tourist Railway The Yarra Valley Railway is a tourist railway operating on a section of the former Healesville railway which operated between Lilydale and Healesville in the Yarra Valley area northeast of Melbourne, Australia.- History :... .	Operational - Restored
23RM	Friday, 5 November 1948	Friday, 8 April 1977	Thursday, 5 May 1977	Scrapped
24RM	Wednesday, 23 March 1949			Stored at Huon on the former Cudgewa line.	Owned by former Tallangatta Valley Steam Preservation Society.
25RM	Thursday, 19 May 1949	Friday, 26 November 1971	Friday, 16 June 1972	Scrapped
26RM	Wednesday, 2 July 1952	Friday, 8 April 1977	Thursday, 5 May 1977	Scrapped
27RM	Thursday, 31 July 1952	Monday, 1 May 1978	N/A		Offered for sale on 21 June 1978.
28RM	Wednesday, 10 September 1952	Monday, 1 May 1978	Friday, 25 July 1980	Scrapped
29RM	Monday, 6 October 1952	Tuesday, 4 September 1979	Tuesday, 1 July 1980	Scrapped
30RM	Thursday, 20 November 1952	Wednesday, 3 October 1973	Thursday, 22 June 1978	Scrapped
31RM	Monday, 9 February 1953	Wednesday, 21 December 1977	Tuesday, 1 July 1980	Scrapped	Derailed between Lilydale and Coldstream Coldstream railway station, Melbourne Coldstream is a closed railway station, located in Station Street, Coldstream, Victoria, Australia, on the now-closed Healesville greater-metropolitan line.The station buildings were destroyed by fire in the late 1990s... on 19 February 1962.
32RM	Tuesday, 24 March 1953	Tuesday, 13 January 1981	N/A	Now at Daylesford Spa Country Railway Daylesford Spa Country Railway The Daylesford Spa Country Railway is a volunteer-operated broad gauge tourist railway located in Victoria, Australia. It operates on a section of the formerly disused and dismantled Daylesford line...	Being restored to running order. Expected to be fully restored in 2012.
33RM	Friday, 7 August 1953	Tuesday, 4 September 1979
34RM	Wednesday, 23 September 1953	Monday, 1 May 1978
35RM	Friday, 3 September 1954	Thursday, 15 October 1970		Scrapped	Spare power unit.