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
July 18th
New in the document archive are the Job Desciptions from Issue 3 of Standard Maintenance Instructions, the 1970s version of maintenance instructions.
July 11th
Added to the headcode pages are some of those used on the Eastern Region.
July 4th
Some new operation/timetable pages have been started: Firsby - Skegness; Crewe - Chester; Middlesbrough - Guisborough; Edinburgh - Bathgate; and Maerdy - Porth.
June 27th
New in the document archive are the Examination Schedules from Issue 3 of Standard Maintenance Instructions, the 1970s version of maintenance instructions.
June 6th
Added to the headcode pages are five more summaries of those used on the London Midland Region from the Western, Central, and North Western Lines.
May 30th
Some new operation/timetable pages have been started: Long Melford - Bury St Edmunds; Liverpool - Wigan North Western; Monkseaton-Blyth / Newbiggin; Stirling - Dollar - Kinross; and Cardiff - Crewe.
May 23rd
Added to the document archive are the June 1975 amendments for Issue 2 of Standard Examination.
Latest Images:
A BRC&W and a Met-Camm DMU, at an unknown junction. The Calder valley set looks new, so this was possibly the later half of 1961, and the B in the headcode suggests a destination in the York District. Stuart Mackay Collection.
A Met-Camm DMU formed of E56362 + E51204 at Shipley on 12 March 1966. Stuart Mackay Collection.
101308 (presumably 53141 closest) and 27025 are seen stabled at Dundee circa May 1987. Stuart Mackay Collection.
Two Pressed Steel suburban triple DMUs are seen at Paddington sometime in 1965. Stuart Mackay Collection.
A Derby suburban DMU is seen in platform four of Glasgow Central station one day in August 1969. A Derby Heavyweight triple is in platform 7, surrounded by EMUs. Stuart Mackay Collection.
On This Day:
Class 104 DMU set BX481 sits in Stalybridge station on 12 July 1984. DMBS 53421 is closest, the other two vehicles are presumably 59148 + 53487. Chris McKee.
E51830 seen in Snailwell on 21st July 1990. Nicholas Youngman.
The Battery Multiple Unit (975004 / 975003) stabled at the RTC in Derby. Taken at an open day on 21/7/79. Chris Lings.
A Carlisle Kingmoor based class 108 DMU set complete with window bars for working over the M&CR (Maryport & Carlisle Railway) with its restricted clearances sits in the bay platform at Whitehaven (Bransty) station having arrived with 2P59 the 12.08 from Carlisle on July 21, 1984. In the forground are the disused lines to Whitehaven and Haig Colliery. Adrian Nicholls.
51652 leads a class 115 set at Neasden South Junction with a service from Marylebone to High Wycombe on 21/Jul/1985. Robert Chilton.