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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

Holiday time - updates will resume at the end of the month!

September 5th

Some new operation/timetable pages have been started: Sheffield - Doncaster; Birmingham New Street - Wolverhampton High Level; Leeds - Barnsley; Glasgow - Hamilton Circle; and Paignton - Exmouth.

August 29th

A look at the Rocket 150 DMU Shuttles for the 1980 event at Rainhill.

August 22nd

Added to the headcode pages are some of those used on the Western Region.

August 15th

Some new operation/timetable pages have been started: March - Wisbech - Kings Lynn; Liverpool - Gateacre; Leeds - Bradford Forster Square; Edinburgh - Dunbar; and West Drayton - Uxbridge.

August 8th

Added to the document archive is a 1964 Scottish Region Fault Finding booklet.

August 1st

Added to the headcode pages are three more summaries of those used on the Eastern Region from September 1962. Also a Leeds Neville Hill destination blind from circa mid-1960s.

July 25th

Some new operation/timetable pages have been started: Peterborough - Spalding; Nottingham - Sheffield; Darlington / Barnard Castle - Middleton-in-Teesdale; Fife Coast; and Brixham - Churston.

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.

Latest Images:

120 DMU at Manchester Victoria

Two Class 120 DMUs are seen at Manchester Victoria circa mid-1985. John Horne.

108 DMU at Manchester Victoria

A Class 108 twin, M51424 closest, is seen at Manchester Victoria circa mid-1985. John Horne.

120 DMU at Manchester Victoria

Class 120 DMBS M53739 in Manchester Victoria with a Blackpool service circa mid-1985. John Horne.

120 DMU at Manchester Victoria

Class 120 centre car M59261 between M53695 and M53739 in Manchester Victoria on a Blackpool service circa mid-1985. John Horne.

120 DMU at Manchester Victoria

Class 120 DMSL M53695 in Manchester Victoria with a Blackpool service circa mid-1985. Behind is M59261. John Horne.

View More Recent Images...

On This Day:

119 DMU at Rose Heyworth

Class 119 DMU set C592 (presumably 51101 + 59432 + 51071) with the Branch Line Society South Wales Wanderer No.4 railtour at Rose Heyworth on 15 September 1979. Stuart Mackay Collection.

108 DMU at Plymouth

Set 954, W52047+51932 waits at Plymouth before working the 10:20 shuttle to Laira TMD open day, 15-9-91. Kevin Dowd.

101 DMU at Hartlepool

A Middlesbrough-bound Met-Camm DMU in (West) Hartlepool station on 15 September 1988. An interesting aspect of this photo is that the DMU is using the platform that was closed in 1964 when they decided not to renew the parcels and luggage lifts as an economy measure. Perhaps there was track or signalling work going on at the time? Since then, the footbridge has been removed also. Alan Grange.

114 DMU at Birmingham New Street

E50019 receives some attention from fitters at Birmingham New Street on September 15th, 1962. It is seen at around 3.50pm after arriving from the Leicester direction with E56019 and a three-car Cravens set. Michael Mensing.

127 DMU at Harpenden

Derby works built Rolls Royce, hydraulic DMU (leading car M51635) enters Harpenden on the 15th September 1979 as it had done for many years, but as can be seen the wind of change is arriving with the first of the overhead masts being in place. 54A South Dock.