The Railcar website provides information on the British Railways first generation DMUs (a.k.a. diesel multiple units / railcars) introduced in the 1950s.
The six key sections of the website are:
Details of railcars in preservation can be found on The Railcar Association website.
To view details of a particular vehicle or set enter the number below:
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.
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.
March 29th
Some more operation/timetable pages have been started: Lowestoft - Yarmouth; Birmingham - Barnt Green; Leeds - Castleford; Lanark - Muirkirk; and Birmingham - Bewdley/Stourport/Hartlebury.
March 22nd
Added is a BR booklet listing all the brakework items along with part and drawing numbers, for Birmingham built diesel railcars. Dated 1959, this only covers the Class 104s. Download PDF (11mb pdf).
March 15th
A page has been created for fault finding booklets, with the first three added from the Eastern Region, 1966 (2.5mb PDF), Scottish Region, 1960 (1.2mb PDF), and Southern Region, 1968 (1.3mb PDF).
March 8th
Some more operation/timetable pages have been started: Witham - Braintree; Wrexham - Chester - New Brighton; York - Scarborough; Corstorphine - Edinburgh; and Reading - Bedwyn.
March 1st
Added to the cyclic diagrams page is another Southern Region Carriage Working Notice for Diesel Trains on the South Western Division, for Summer 1965 (12mb PDF).
February 22nd
Added are a DMU training manual (4mb pdf), courtesy of the Dean Forest DMU Group, and a British United Traction brochure from circa 1953 (3.2mb pdf).
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.
A view out a Class 127 DMU back cab at Leagrave of 45143 on 24 March 1979. Roger Geach.
The driver's controls in the number two cab of 55009, taken at Tyseley depot circa July 1987. Stuart Mackay Collection.
A windscreen wiper motor in the number two cab of 55009, taken at Tyseley depot circa July 1987. Stuart Mackay Collection.
The controls in the guard's van of 55009, taken at Tyseley depot circa July 1987. Stuart Mackay Collection.
The radiator header tank under one of the seats in Class 122 55009. The cable is coming out of the float switch. Taken at Tyseley depot circa July 1987. Stuart Mackay Collection.
121032 on the Heol-y-Frenhines/Cardiff-Queen-Street to Bae Caerdydd / Cardiff Bay (Bute Street) shuttle service on April 2nd, 2010. Alex Drennan.
A Class 116 DMU heads for Lichfield City at Rowley Regis on 2 April 1977. The centre car is 59007, the DMBS is presumably 50069, they form set TY507. Michael Mensing.
Two Class 104 triples in Blackpool North station on Friday 2 April 1982, probably on a service to Manchester. The closest has a TBSL centre car, the rear set has a white stripe centre car. David Russon.
Two Class 108 twins at Blea Moor on 2 April 1983. George Woods.
A two-car Class 104 DMU in Gospel Oak station on 2 April 1985. Closest is Cricklewood allocated M53453. Brian Daniels.