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
November 7th
A Training / Fault Finding booklet has been added from the London Midland Region dated April 1967.
October 31st
Added to the headcode pages are the Scottish Region pages from June 1965.
October 24th
Two new operation/timetable pages have been started: Walsall - Dudley; and Glasgow - Ardrossan.
October 10th
Two documents on electrical systems have been added to the Training Manual section, one on Auxiliary Circuits (1.5mb PDF), and one on Alternators (3.3mb PDF).
October 3rd
Added to the headcode pages are four more sections from Western Region working timetables.
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.
Latest Images:
W55024 heading to Bourne End at Marlow on 2 August 1962. Stuart Mackay Collection.
Class 101 DMU set 97 in Wickham Market station, circa early 1980s. Stuart Mackay Collection.
M56163 heads a Class 103 and Class 108 at Winwick on 2J62, the 12:35 Llandudno - Manchester Victoria, on 31 August 1981. Stuart Mackay Collection.
E54004 + E53045 in Cambridge station sometime in 1984. Stuart Mackay Collection.
A mixed livery Gloucester Cross-Country set crosses Chirk Viaduct, on the Chester - Shrewsbury line, the slide process date was August 1968. Stuart Mackay Collection.
On This Day:
Set P873 - this is presumably 53247 - at Exeter on 14 November 1987. Michael Mensing.
Class 104 53598 with two Class 120 sets (one is 522) on their way to Snailwell. Seen at 09:05 on Saturday 14th November 1987 at March. Colin Brooks.
A BRC&W Class 104 (53494 + 53468) in Manchester Victoria on November 14, 1987. Stuart Mackay Collection.
A two-car Met-Camm DMU with Sheffield on the destination blind approaching Northorpe crossing on 14 November 1988. Andrew Walker.
A Met-Camm DMU arrives at Gainsborough Lea Road with a Sheffield service on 14th November 1988. Andrew Walker.