The History of First Generation DMUs
The Railcar website provides information on the British Railways first generation DMUs (a.k.a. diesel multiple units / railcars) introduced in the 1950s.
The content of this website
The six key sections of the website are:
- Types - looks at each type of DMU in detail
- Topics - features articles on different aspects of the vehicles and personal recollections
- Technology - describes the technical details of how they work
- Data - various lists of numerical details
- Images - galleries featuring DMUs
- In Print - details the books and other printed materials made available over the years that have relevance
Details of railcars in preservation can be found on The Railcar Association website.
Date on DMUs
Vehicle / Set Data
To view details of a particular vehicle or set enter the number below:
DMU Images Wanted!
Do you have photos of First Generation DMUs? The more images we have the better we can tell the DMU story and make it more useful to visitors. Images can be loaded directly onto the site - just register as a user and upload! Alternatively if you have images on flickr or another website I can do the uploads for you - just let me know.
Scope
This website contains details about the First Generation DMUs. This includes the 4-wheel diesel railbuses, ACV / BUT railcars, the Battery Multiple Unit (BMU) and Blue Pullmans. It covers the period from their introduction to British Railways in the 1950s till their withdrawal and disposal from main-line use, but NOT preservation.
Because of the vast amount of data that this covers and the amount of information I have still to process I cannot include the DEMUs introduced on the Southern Region in the same era, nor Second Generation or later types.
Updates
January 24th
New in the document archive are the Standard Examination Schedules from Issue 1 of Standard Examination, the 1970s version of maintenance instructions. Also, a destination blind from an AC Cars railbus allocated to Swindon.
January 17th
A new drivers manual has been added, Standard Preparation and Disposal Duties for Torque Converter sets.
January 10th
Some new operation/timetable pages have been started: Thetford - Swaffham; Manchester - Skipton via Bury; Leeds / Bradford - Skipton via Ilkley; Edinburgh - Kingsknowe; and Swansea - Whitland - Milford Haven.
January 3rd
A 1966 booklet Workshop Overhaul Procedure - Carriages (3.4mb PDF) has been added, the final page defines what was involved in C1-C6 DMU overhauls at the time.
December 27th
A new drivers manual has been added, a revised edition for Wickham Railbuses.
December 20th
Some new operation/timetable pages have been started: Ipswich - Felixstowe; Harrow - Belmont; Huddersfield - Sheffield; Edinburgh - Fife Circle; and Barry Island - Treherbert.
December 13th
A 1965 booklet Documentation for the Shopping of Passenger and Non-Passenger Carrying Coaching Vehicles and Electric and Diesel Multiple Units has been added (DMU pages only, 1.2mb PDF).
December 6th
A late 1950s LMR Stoke & Manchester Division destination blind has been added, as has a Remedial Action booklet (0.5mb PDF) to the Fault Finding page.
November 29th
Some new operation/timetable pages have been started: Kings Lynn - Hunstanton; Luton - London; Bradford - Ilkley; Glasgow - Wemyss Bay; and Truro - Falmouth.
Latest Images:
A Class 108 DMU formed on 50633 + 59380 + 50617 departs Ilkley with the 14:36 for Bradford on 18/4/1981. The crowds were there for the Hertfordshire Railtours Shoulder of Lune tour hauled by 40 120. Derek Hoskins.
A Class 108 DMU passes Floriston Level Crossing near Carlisle working the 12:25 Dumfries - Carlisle service on 8 May 1982. Derek Hoskins.
Class 128 55992 sits at Reading, it looks freshly painted - so likely sometime in 1988. Derek Hoskins.
Class 128 DMPV at Paddington, date unknown. Derek Hoskins.
Class 121 single car 55020 arrives at Reading circa late 1980s. Derek Hoskins.
On This Day:
A Class 108/101 hybrid DMU formed of 52053 + 59380 + 53204 arriving into Plymouth on 26 January 1991. Keith Miller.
Class 128 GRCW parcels unit W55992 ticks over at Paddington adding to the atmosphere, Saturday 26/1/85. Iain Reid.
51099 at the head of L596 (presumably with 59416 + 51076) at Paddington on the 16th January 1988. Malcolm Clements.
977747 at Diggle on 26/1/92. It had caught fire in Standedge tunnel while part of a Holbeck to Newton Heath consist. Paul Moxon.
On a very dark January 26th 1983, Metro-Cammell power twin E50280 + E50275 loads up at March whilst working the 10.38 Doncaster - Cambridge. It was unusual to see a power twin set in East Anglia and this one was based at Leeds Neville Hill depot. Two months earlier these services had been diverted via Peterborough following closure of the joint line from March to Spalding. Gerard Fletcher.