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:
The 29th of May 1997 and Class 101 DMU 101692 is at Whifflet working the 10.30 Motherwell to Cumbernauld service. The DMU is made up of vehicles 53253 and 53170 with SPT Branding. The KDH Archive.
Cravens Class 105 2 car DMU set 59, E53368 and presumably E54416, leaving March for Cambridge and coming off the Peterborough line circa 1985. The KDH Archive.
The 21st of July 1961 and emerging into Princes Street Gardens is a Met-Camm DMU that has just departed from Edinburgh Waverley. The KDH Archive.
York Station on the 25th of June 1977 and a Class 104 DMU bound for Scarborough sits in Platform 9. The KDH Archive.
Goole on the 15th of April 1980 and a mixed-livery Class 114 Derby Heavyweight Unit is working the Hull to Doncaster service. The two cars are E50023 and E56009. The KDH Archive.
On This Day:
Valley Train Class 116 DMU set No. C318 (Nos. 53864, 59369 and 53917) approaches Cardiff Queen Street on 8 November 1986. Brian Creasey.
Met-Camm 51507 looking in a sorry state at Tyseley on 8/11/81. It had been withdrawn in 1975. Chris Lings.
Class 115 at Princes Risborough on 8th November 1983. Ian Buck.
Gateshead, 08/11/1976: A Class 101 is seen heading northbound past Tyneside Central Freight depot, just to the north / east of the current Gateshead Stadium station. It appears that many of the tracks have already been lifted, yet this facility remained in use until the early 1990s. Graeme Phillips Collection.
A Class 104/120 hybrid DMU passing through the remains of Castle Bromwich station with the 9.39am Derby - Birmingham New Street service on November 8 1975. Michael Mensing.