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
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.
Latest Images:
Cravens set 59 rattles over Reedham Swing Bridge on 17th July 1979. The train is the 12.05 Norwich - Lowestoft. Geoff Dowling.
The morning of 17th February 1981 revealed heavy snow had fallen. In this picture at Kings Norton a Tyseley class 116 DMU is struggling towards Longbridge, wrong line, I am guessing the direction of travel by the tail light!. The Camp Hill lines (left) remain buried under snow and clearly have yet to see a train. Image taken by Peter Shoesmith. Geoff Dowling and John Whitehouse Collection.
Stockingford Station was situated on the through line from Whitacre Junction to Nuneaton. On 8th October 1962 a three-car Cravens DMU calls with a service from Birmingham New Street to Leicester. Today nothing remains of Stockingford station or the brickworks chimneys that are visible in the background. Image taken by Peter Shoesmith. Geoff Dowling and John Whitehouse Collection.
Class 116 53850 is the leading car of these 2 sets which formed the 17.25 Peterborough - Birmingham on 9th August 1983. The view is taken looking east and features the still active dispatch yard for Stewart and Lloyds Bromford Bridge pipe works. The train is passing the site of Birmingham's Bromford Bridge horse racing course which was sold... Geoff Dowling.
Pre-Chiltern Marylebone was a run down place of smoke and shadows. A lone passenger ambles to the front of his Class 115 formed 12.10 to Aylesbury train which has filled the roof space with clouds of acrid smoke. The platforms are patched and worn with water filled dips and weeds between the cracks. 30/11/1982. Geoff Dowling.
On This Day:
Abersychan & Talywain Station showing BR (Derby) Suburban 3-car dmu (later Class 116) Nos.W50838 (116/2), W59376 (175), W50891 (116/1) on the "Afon Llwyd" railtour, 01/04/67. Hugh Llewelyn.
Class 101 53158 (CH642) at Snailwell on 01/04/91. It went through the firing tunnel the next day. Nicholas Youngman.
A publicity image (negative RX213) of new Waggon und Maschinenbau railbus E79961. Taken at Stratford depot on 1 April 1958. British Railways.
Working a diverted Reading to Gatwick Airport service on 1st April 1987 class 119 set L589 (presumably 51100 + 59414 + 51057) passes Coulsdon North. Ian Buck.
Class 101 DMU set 75 (51217 + 54364) arrives into Marks Tey station with a Sudbury service on 1 April 1985. An image from the Jim Freebury Railway Slide Archive Collection. David Page.