Motive power recognition 3: DMUs

The diesel multiple unit or DMU is one of the workhorses of the British railway network, even more so since this book by Colin J Marsden was written in 1982 in fact. This details the first generation of DMU which entered service in the 1950s, going class by class and trying to show how to tell the classes apart. This wasn't always the easiest of tasks.

Unfortunately, all of the photographs in this book (apart from a couple on the cover) are in black and white and some of the reproduction is a bit grubby, this can make seeing some of the minute differences to aid recognition a bit tricky.

Interestingly, this book was released just before the second generation of DMU led by the Sprinter and Pacer were about to enter service and would change everything. Apart from the HSTs at the end of the book everything in this book has now been withdrawn from service. Therefore, this is an interesting view of these vital but unsung heroes of the railway before they were swept aside to the scrap yard (well this would take a quite a few more years actually).

Many first generation DMUs still work on preserved lines though, as the photos below show.