Class 110 BRC&W 3-car sets

Built in conjunction with the Drewry Car Co. Ltd., these sets were built to operate services on the former Lancashire and Yorkshire main line, and spent their entire careers based around this same area. This earned them the name of the 'Calder Valley' sets. This arduous route meant they needed a bit more power than most sets, so they were fitted with 180hp Rolls Royce engines, and when delivered they had the best hp/ton of any of the DMUs, including the lightweights. With a set weighing 87½ tons (tare), this gave a power to weight ratio of 8.3 hp / ton, which was appreciably higher than any other all-diesel sets in use at the time using normally aspirated engines. Performance tests included a standing start against a ruling gradient of 1 in 261 and a set in tare condition achieved a speed of 30mph in 45 secs, 50mph in 2 mins 4 secs, and 70mph in 4 mins 6 secs. From a standing start on a 1 in 45 gradient a speed of 25 mph in third gear was reached in 42 secs.

Each set had 24 first class and 159 second class seats.

The first twenty sets, for the NER, were ordered in March '59. The second batch were allocated to the LMR, in Jan '61. Deliveries of the two batches was concurrent, starting in 1961, and these were the penultimate Class of first generation sets to be built. They were an updated version of the Class 104, with a revised cab design and raised bodyside window frames.