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
May 9th
Some new operation/timetable pages have been started: Colchester / Wivenhoe - Brightlingsea; Lancaster - Barrow-in-Furness; Hull - Brough; Edinburgh - Hawick - Carlisle; and Plymouth - Paignton.
May 2nd
Four Class 101 General Arrangement drawings have been added.
April 25th
Added to the headcode pages are five more summaries of those used on the North Eastern Region (Sections G - L) in 1961.
April 18th
Some new operation/timetable pages have been started: Upminster-Tilbury; Buxton - Millers Dale; Leeds - Doncaster; Rutherglen - Possil / Dalmuir; and Cardiff Queen Street - Cardiff Bay.
April 11th
New in the document archive are the Job Descriptions from Issue 2 of Standard Examination, the 1970s version of maintenance instructions.
April 4th
Added to the headcode pages are some summaries of those used on the North Eastern Region. Also a destination blind, this one thought to be from Accrington.
March 28th
Some new operation/timetable pages have been started: Hatfield - Dunstable; Preston - Ormskirk; Leeds - Scarborough; Dundee - Leuchars Jct - St Andrews; and Paddington - Ealing Broadway - Greenford.
March 21st
New in the document archive are the Standard Examination Schedules from Issue 2 of Standard Examination, the 1970s version of maintenance instructions.
March 14th
A new section has been started on headcodes, with some summaries of those used on the Scottish Region.
Latest Images:
The staple motive power for local services on the London Division of the Western Region for over 25 years has been the Pressed Steel built Class 117 DMUs. Here, approaching Appleford, with a late afternoon stopping service from Oxford - Reading on 3rd July 1987 is set L404 formed of W51337 + W59489 + W51379. W51337 + W59489 + W51379 were... Nigel Mack.
Running as C801, the rather unusual pairing of W51077 + W51517, a GRC&W class 119 and a Metro-Cam class 101 DMU, run past Sutton Bridge Jn, Shrewsbury on 9th August 1986 whilst in charge of the 1048 Shrewsbury - Swansea service that seems to have a little too much first class seating... W51077 was delivered new to Bristol Marsh Jn shed 82B, in... Nigel Mack.
Running as set CA 59 a 2 car Met-Cam Class 101 unit formed of E51442 + E54073 run past March South Jn signal box as they accelerate away from the March station stop with the 1332 Peterborough - Cambridge service on 27th March 1991. Delivered new to South Gosforth depot with its original partners E59537 + E59538 + E51512 on 15th April 1959,... Nigel Mack.
By the time this picture was taken on 29 May 1987 only 8 of the original 10 Class 121 Driving Trailers remained in service. Here W54280 (L280) leads Pressed Steel Class 117 unit L417, formed of 51354 + 59506 + 51396 away from Acton Main Line whilst in charge of the 0916 Slough - Paddington service. Acton Yard is located just the other side of... Nigel Mack.
A 6 car Class 117 rake, formed of two Tyseley allocated sets starts away from the station stop at Nottingham as they head for Derby with a Summer 1988 Saturday service from Skegness. The trailing set being T313 formed of 51382 + 59492 + 51339. Nigel Mack.
On This Day:
In 1986 all but one train each way per day between Birmingham and Stratford-upon-Avon ran along the North Warwickshire Line unlike in later years when an hourly service ran on the route via Hatton North curve and Solihull. On 16 May 1986 a class 116 (set TS620, presumably 53849 + 59606 + 53878) is seen on the single line near Claverdon with the... Peter Tandy.
Tyseley set TS413, a scratch formation consisting of a Class 105 (Could this be M50786 declassified?) and a selection of Class 101 vehicles. Photographed at Croft, Leicestershire on the evening of Monday 16 May 1977 whilst working a westbound ECS. Phillip Lindsey.
With Midge Hall in the far distance, a Class 108 two-car DMU formed of cars 53956 & 54238, was passing the Oil Seed Rape at Cocker Bar with the 16.03 Preston to Ormskirk service on May 16th 1992. Martyn Hilbert.
Some 108s and a 120 at Newton Heath, 16/5/82. Jerry Glover.
Class 104 power-twin M53518 + M53451 arrives into Manchester Victoria on 16 May 1986. There is another set attached to the rear which seems to be a Class 108. John Carter.