The History of First Generation DMUs

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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.

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Date on DMUs

Vehicle / Set Data

To view details of a particular vehicle or set enter the number below:

Vehicle:

       

Set No:

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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.

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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.

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Updates

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.

December 14th

Three new destination blinds have been added: Chester 1960s; Chester 1970s; and Swansea late 1980s / early 1990s.

December 7th

Some more operation/timetable pages have been started: Cambridge - Ely; Birmingham NS - Redditch; Leeds - Morecambe; Edinburgh - Dundee; and Birmingham - South Wales.

November 30th

Added to the cyclic diagrams page are the workings for the DMUs allocated to Bletchley depot commencing 16 May 1988 (2.3mb PDF).

November 23rd

Two Metro-Cammell publicity brochures have been added: Diesel Railcars for British Railways (c1957, 3.2mb PDF); and a general company brochure (c1962, 7.6mb PDF).

November 16th

Some more operation/timetable pages have been started: Lea Valley Lines; Birmingham NS - Leamington Spa; Darlington - Richmond; Glasgow - Oban; and Kemble - Cirencester / Tetbury.