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
June 7th
A new page has been added to the Class 104 section looking at their time on the North Eastern Region.
May 31st
Some more operation/timetable pages have been started: Norwich - Dereham - Wells; Machynlleth - Pwllheli; Whitby - Malton; Kilmarnock - Ayr; and Reading - Gatwick Airport.
May 24th
Some more fault finding documents have been added: Eastern Region, 1968 (3mb PDF); Scottish Region sheets from 1973 (0.6mb PDF) and circa late 1970s (0.6mb PDF); from unknown origins are a double-sided sheet from the 1980s (0.5mb PDF), and a sheet dealing with blown 6 & 7 fuses.
April 26th
Added is a BR booklet dated 1959 listing all the brakework items along with part and drawing numbers, for Craven built diesel railcars. Download PDF (11mb pdf).
April 19th
Some more operation/timetable pages have been started: Ely - March - Peterborough; Manchester - Llandudno; Leeds - Micklefield; Elgin - Keith Junction and Cairnie Junction; and Birmingham - Great Malvern.
April 12th
Three more fault finding booklets have been added: Eastern Region, 1967 (3mb PDF), Scottish Region, 1967 (1.1mb PDF), and Western Region, 1967 (4.9mb PDF).
Latest Images:
A Yellow Diamond Derby Lightweight DMU formed of M79672 + M79135 is seen at Cambridge. Undated, the vehicles were recorded on Bletchley - Cambridge services in 1965 and 1966. Stuart Mackay Collection.
A Blue Square Derby Lightweight twin is seen in one of the centre roads at Nottingham Midland on 6 March 1969. Stuart Mackay Collection.
Class 120 set P557, with a suburban DMU on the rear, arrives into St Austell station, Liskeard on the destination blind. The slide process date was June 1974. Stuart Mackay Collection.
A two-car Class 101 DMU, E50295 closest, in Saltburn station on 23 April 1979. The guard is moving the tail lamp from one end to the other ready for the return to Darlington. Stuart Mackay Collection.
Cravens sandite conversion 977052 (ex-56145). The slide process date was December 1984, and probably taken in Toton depot where it was allocated at the time. Note the high side vacuum pipe has been removed, leading just the regular one for hooking up to a loco. The jumper cables have also been removed. Stuart Mackay Collection.
On This Day:
977968 (ex-55029) at Newton Abbot's Hackney Yard on Sunday 12th June 2005. Peter White.
On of the stylish Swindon built class 124 Trans-Pennine units 51962 glides through Chinley with the 06.48 Cleethorpes - Manchester train on 12/06/1982. To the left is a lovely little Midland signal box which now overlooks the ripped out remains of the once flourishing yard. Geoff Dowling.
The BR terminus station in Sheringham on 12th June 1980 with Cravens Class 105 DMU set 56 about to depart for Norwich. Bob Belcher.
977968 (ex-55029) at Newton Abbot's Hackney Yard on Sunday 12th June 2005. Peter White.
A Trans-Pennine DMU on the 12:00 from Manchester arrives at York on 12 June 1975. Image taken by Barrie Watkins. Stuart Mackay Collection.