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Asbestos

A 1958 advert from JW Roberts Ltd, their Limpet sprayed blue asbestos was used in most, if not all, of the vehicles that had this material.

Many of British Railways First Generation DMUs contained asbestos when new. Until circa 1959 most used blue asbestos as an insulation in the walls and ceilings, some had it in the floors (sometimes this was just sprayed on the underside and thus exposed). This usage was also promoted as reducing the drumming of panels and as a rust-inhibitor. From 1959 Derby and Derby design vehicles began to use glass fibre insulation instead, other manufactures continued with asbestos.

White asbestos was not unknown in floors to give protection from heat generated under vehicles. There were other uses of other types of asbestos in smaller quantities, such as a white asbestos blanket around the small toilet flush tank.

Asbestos Removal

In the 1970s British Rail began removing the asbestos from some types — mainly those that were seem as having a longer lifespan (see types with NTP codes of A and A1 in the 1974 National Traction Plan), however on some types it proved much more difficult (and thus expensive) to remove, and those were treated in reduced numbers. Removal required the complete stripping of a vehicle's interior including all wall and ceiling panelling. On Met-Camm and Derby types this was relatively easily as most of this unscrewed from a timber framework, on Swindon vehicles a lot of panelling was screwed into the steel frame (meaning broken screws and remedial work). The design of Swindon vehicles included a box section that required the steel panelling to be cut off from the bottom of the bodyside along the length of the vehicle to remove the asbestos from inside.

Ground covered in blue material with part dismantled vehicle

Cohen's Kettering, the ground covered in blue asbestos. Tony Wilkins.

Disposal

Many early withdrawals of vehicles insulated with blue asbestos were cut up in the open air.

In later years vehicle disposal was restricted to companies that had proper contained facilities for its removal, such as MC Metals (Springburn) and Vic Berry's (Leicester) - the latter company also did some asbestos stripping of vehicles that were still in use.

1984 vehicle survey

The pages below are from a vehicle log kept by the RTC at Derby dated circa 1984 which included the blue asbestos / Durasteel sheet status for each vehicle.

The codes for the asbestos columns are: B - blue asbestos; C - blue asbestos / Durasteel sheet removed; D - Durasteel sheet; / not built with blue asbestos or Durasteel sheet.

In the remarks column OV means open van (no cage); CV corridor van (cage fitted); SV separate van (no access to passenger accomodation; LR luggage racks at one end of car; and BA mean buffet counter and area at one end of car.

Some types that were due for withdrawal or were parcel cars were not included (100, 103, 105, 123, 124, 127 (power cars), 128 and 131), the classes that were are: 101, 104, 107, 108, 110, 111, 114, 115, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122 and 127 (centre cars).