Motor Rail was a British locomotive-building company, based in Bedford

Bedford

Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire, in the East of England. It is a large town and the administrative centre for the wider Borough of Bedford. According to the former Bedfordshire County Council's estimates, the town had a population of 79,190 in mid 2005, with 19,720 in the adjacent town...

. Formed in 1911 as The Motor Rail & Tramcar Co Ltd, they built petrol

Petrol engine

A petrol engine is an internal combustion engine with spark-ignition, designed to run on petrol and similar volatile fuels....

 and 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...

 engined locomotive

Locomotive

A locomotive is a railway vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. The word originates from the Latin loco – "from a place", ablative of locus, "place" + Medieval Latin motivus, "causing motion", and is a shortened form of the term locomotive engine, first used in the early 19th...

s, mainly narrow gauge. During World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 over 900 locos were supplied for use on temporary military supply railways

War Department Light Railways

The War Department Light Railways were a system of narrow gauge trench railways run by the British War Department in World War I. Light railways made an important contribution to the Allied war effort in the First World War, and were used for the supply of ammunition and stores, the transport of...

. The trade name Simplex was used from the early days; in 1972 the company was renamed Simplex Mechanical Handling Ltd.

In 1987 loco manufacture ceased, business being transferred to Alan Keef Ltd of Ross-on-Wye, who continue to provide spares and have built several locos to Motor Rail designs.

Preserved locomotives

Many Motor Rail products survive in preservation, and they are probably the most common make of narrow gauge locomotive still in existence in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

.

Heritage railway

Heritage railway

thumb|right|the Historical [[Khyber train safari|Khyber Railway]] goes through the [[Khyber Pass]], [[Pakistan]]A heritage railway , preserved railway , tourist railway , or tourist railroad is a railway that is run as a tourist attraction, in some cases by volunteers, and...

s with Motor Rail locomotives include:

• Amberley Museum Railway
  Amberley Museum Railway
  The Amberley Museum and Heritage Centre Railway is a gauge railway based at the Amberley Museum and Heritage Centre, Amberley, West Sussex. It has a varied collection of engines and rolling stock ranging from gauge to gauge...
  
  
• East Lancashire Railway
  East Lancashire Railway
  The East Lancashire Railway is a heritage railway in Lancashire and Greater Manchester, England.-Overview:After formal closure by British Rail in 1982, the line was reopened on 25 July 1987. The initial service operated between Bury and Ramsbottom, via Summerseat. In 1991 the service was extended...
  
  
• The Battlefield Line Railway
• Corris Railway
  Corris Railway
  The Corris Railway is a narrow gauge preserved railway based in Corris on the border between Merionethshire and Montgomeryshire in Mid-Wales....
  
  
• Ffestiniog Railway
  Ffestiniog Railway
  The Ffestiniog Railway is a narrow gauge heritage railway, located in Gwynedd, Wales. It is a major tourist attraction located mainly within the Snowdonia National Park....
  
  
• Golden Valley Light Railway
• Leighton Buzzard Railway
• Moseley Railway Trust
  Moseley Railway Trust
  The Moseley Railway Trust is a major British collection of industrial narrow gauge locomotives and other equipment. It originally had its base in south Manchester, but has completely relocated to the Apedale Country Park near Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire where a passenger railway is now open...
  
  
• Nottingham Transport Heritage Centre
  Nottingham Transport Heritage Centre
  The Nottingham Transport Heritage Centre is a heritage centre based at Ruddington, Nottinghamshire, the terminus of the northern section of the Great Central Railway . The site includes locomotive and rolling stock workshops , as well as cafeteria and shops...
  
  
• Welsh Highland Railway
  Welsh Highland Railway
  The Welsh Highland Railway is a long restored narrow gauge heritage railway in North Wales, operating from Caernarfon to Porthmadog, and passing through a number of popular tourist destinations including Beddgelert and the Aberglaslyn Pass. At Porthmadog it connects with the Ffestiniog Railway...
  
  
• West Lancashire Light Railway
  West Lancashire Light Railway
  The West Lancashire Light Railway operates at Hesketh Bank, situated between Preston and Southport in North West England. The Railway is narrow gauge and has a running length of . The full line is longer than this however it follows a ledge above the old clay pit which is narrow enough to prohibit...
  
  
• Almond Valley Light Railway
  Almond Valley Light Railway
  The Almond Valley Light Railway is a narrow gauge heritage railway running at the Almond Valley Heritage Trust site at Livingston, Scotland. The railway operates at weekends between Easter and the end of September, and daily during some school holiday periods. There are two stations, both with...
  
  
• Leadhills and Wanlockhead Railway
  Leadhills and Wanlockhead Railway
  The Leadhills and Wanlockhead Railway, a gauge railway in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, is laid on the trackbed of the former Leadhills and Wanlockhead Branch of the Caledonian Railway which led off the main line between and Glasgow at Elvanfoot.- Overview :...
  
  
• Volk's Electric Railway
  Volk's Electric Railway
  Volk's Electric Railway is the oldest operating electric railway in the world. It is a narrow gauge railway that runs along a length of the seafront of the English seaside resort of Brighton...
  
  
• Wicksteed Park Kettering, Northamptonshire