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
February 15th
Some more operation/timetable pages have been started: St. Margaret's - Buntingford; Nottingham - Lincoln; Leeds - Pontefract; Glasgow - Stranraer; and Newport - Brynmawr.
February 1st
Added to the cyclic diagrams page are two Southern Region Carriage Working Notices for the South Western Divisions, one for Summer 1966 (6mb PDF) and one for Winter 1966 (9mb PDF). These detailed the Western Region DMU sets that worked into the area.
January 25th
Added are some samples of Failure Sheets from the Norwich Division dated August 1968, and information on Great Eastern 2-digit headcodes.
January 18th
Some more operation/timetable pages have been started: Saxmundham - Aldeburgh; Manchester - Rose Hill Marple; Hull - Goole; Lugton - Beith; and Birmingham - Hereford.
January 11th
Added to the cyclic diagrams page are the Western Region Midland Division Carriage Workings from June 1962 (10mb PDF).
January 4th
A couple of miscellaneous items have been added to the topics section: Diesel Rail Car Journals were sheets compiled by on train staff on the Western Region; and a Diesel Unit Workings sheet, listing arrivals and departures for Bridlington station in 1981.
December 28th
Some more operation/timetable pages have been started: Cambridge - Mildenhall; Manchester - Wilmslow - Crewe; Bradford - Wakefield; Edinburgh - Musselburgh; and Birmingham - Kidderminster.
December 21st
Added to the cyclic diagrams page are some pages from Crewe and Llandudno Junction depots, part of the LMR Western Lines area commencing 9 June 1958 (1.7mb PDF). Also a short video clip by Les Harbone showing a Class 116 and Class 105 at Bromford Bridge circa mid-1960s.
Latest Images:
An interior image of a ACV railcar, taken from a British United traction publicity brochure. With six rows visible in the closest saloon this is likely to be the centre car, which would later become M79741. British United Traction.
This image of a 4-wheeled chassis, from a British United Traction brochure, is thought to be from one of the first three ACV railcars (power car 1 or 2, later 79742 or 79740) that would have a Park Royal body fitted. British United Traction.
An image from a British United Traction brochure showing the three 1952 built ACV railcars. These would be numbered 1, 3 and 2, later becoming 79742, 79741 and 79740 when taken into BR stock. This was an enhanced image, with details picked out by hand, not uncommon in publications at the time. British United Traction.
A GRC&W Cross-Country DMU at Malvern Wells in 1960. W51100 seems to be the closest vehicle, with Cardiff on the destination blind. Stuart Mackay Collection.
A four-car Met-Camm on a Newcastle service near Darlington in 1964. The closest car seems to be E50267. Stuart Mackay Collection.
On This Day:
Class 101/108 DMU set 926 (53204 + 59380 + 52053) arriving into Newton St Cyres station on 20 February 1991. The DMBS also still carries set number 60 from its time allocated to Norwich. Keith Miller.
A class 114 DMU in Doncaster station on February 20, 1984. Jonathan Hazan.
The sad sight of 52051 after a fire at Totnes in February 1991. I arrived on site after she had been unceremoniously dumped out of the way to clear for cautionary running. I found that No.2 Final Drive had not gone in the correct direction for travel contra-rotating the engine. Michael Boot.
A Trans-Pennine DMU (class 124) at Doncaster on a Manchester Piccadilly to Hull service on February 20th 1984. Not long afterwards, these units were withdrawn as their duties were taken over by class 31 loco-hauled trains. The patch on the lower right of the cab front identifies the closest vehicle as E51966. Jonathan Hazan.
Departing from Newport on 20 February 1989 is two-car Class 108 DMU set C973 (54267 and presumably 53629) working the 13:55 Cardiff Central - Chepstow service. Robert Thomas.