Set 538 stands in Platform 1 at Shackerstone Station
Under British Rail's Modernisation Plan in the 1950s, diesel railcars of various designs were introduced, allowing many steam-hauled passenger trains on lightly-loaded or commuter routes to be eliminated. Design was conservative and made use of 'bus and lorry technology. Allowing sets to be worked in multiple made them versatile. In general, these units were successful, having a long life. A number of these Diesel Multiple Units are now in preservation and the Battlefield Line is home to a 2-car unit and a 1-car unit (the latter invariably called 'bubble cars').
I've previously written about training on the DMU (Click here).
When the Diesel Multiple Units were introduced onto British Railways, there was a major training exercise in converting steam drivers to the new trains. I found a copy of the 'Lecture Notes and Drawings' produced in 1958 and used by the British Railways Diesel Training School at Derby. I've scanned it and uploaded it as a PDF here.
As part of the training programme, the Films Unit produced a series of black and white sound films which are available on YouTube. There are four sections:-
Part 1: Introduction
Part 2: Driving
Part 3: Faults & Failures
Part 4: Procedures
I've uploaded my pictures of the DMUs at Shackerstone:-
2-car DMU
1-car DMU
[Lecture notes source moved: 22-Aug-2016]
