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British Rail produced a variety of Railbuses as a means both of building new rolling stock cheaply, and to provide services on lightly-used lines economically.
Terminology
Railbuses are a very lightweight type of Diesel multiple unit Railcar designed for use specifically on little-used railway lines, and as the name suggests share many aspects of their construction with a bus, usually having a bus, or modified bus body, and having four wheels on a fixed base, instead of on bogies.
First Generation BR Railbuses In the late 1950s, British Rail tested a series of small Railbuses, produced by a variety of manufacturers. These proved to be very economical, but also somewhat unreliable. The lines they worked on were mainly closed by during the 'Beeching Cuts' and, being non-standard, they were all withdrawn in the mid-1960s, before being allocated TOPS classifications.
In addition to these Railbuses, BR ordered three for departmental (non-revenue earning) service. The full list of passenger and departmental units is set out below.
| Number Range | Builder | Introduced | No. Built | Region | Withdrawn | | 79958-59 | Bristol / East Coach Works | 1958 | 2 | Scotland | 1966 | | 79960-64 | Waggon und Maschinenbau | 1958 | 5 | Eastern Region | 1967 | | 79965-69 | Wickham | 1958 | 5 | Scotland | 1966 | | 79970-74 | Park Royal | 1958 | 5 | London Midland / Scotland | 1968 | | 79975-79 | AC Cars | 1958 | 5 | Scotland / Western Region | 1968 | | 999507 Elliot | Wickham | 1958 | 1 | Departmental | 19?? | | 998900-998901 | Drewry | 1950 | 2 | Departmental | 19?? |
Second Generation BR Railbuses British Rail returned to the idea of railbuses from the mid-1970s, and a number of prototype single and two-car Railbuses were built and tested, in co-operation with Leyland (hence the generic term for these vehicles as LEV (Leyland Experimental Vehicle) Railbuses). The prototype two-car Railbus was allocated Class 140 and is dealt with on that page, but the prototype single car Railbuses were not classified and are set out in the table below:
| Number | Identity | Builder | Introduced | Withdrawn | | RDB 975874 | LEV1 | Leyland/BREL Derby | 1978 | 19?? | | - | LEV2 | Leyland/BREL Derby | 1980 | 19?? | | RDB 977020 | R3 | Leyland/BREL Derby | 1981 | 19?? | | - | RB004 | Leyland/BREL Derby | 1984 | 19?? |
In addition, there was an experiment with a hauled stock railbus vehicle, when a bus body was placed on the underframe from BCK coach number 21234. This was numbered RDB 977091 and is now preserved at the East Kent Railway. Also, in 1978, before the first powered vehicle (LEV1) was produced, tests were carried out with a bus body placed on a wagon. It was unpowered and didn't leave the Railway Technical Centre in Derby, but could be considered as 'LEV0'!
It should be noted that even though some of these vehicles carried numbers in the departmental coach series, they were were actually used in ordinary passenger service. LEV1 was tested in passenger service at first in East Anglia, and then elsewhere, before being exported to the USA, which was also the destination for LEV2. Similarly, R3 was exported to Canada after its testing phase. These Railbuses were sent abroad in the hope of gathering export orders, but they never transpired. The hauled railbus coach was tested on various lines in the London Midland region.
The result of these tests was that British Rail ordered a series of two- and three-car Railbuses, which became known as Pacers (or Skippers on the Western Region) and were allocated TOPS Classes 141-144. However, no further hauled railbus vehicles were produced; locomotive haulage itself being phased out.
Preservation A number of the BR Railbuses, both first and second generation examples have survived into preservation, as follows:
External Links - EM2 Locomotive Society - owners of Drewry railcar DB998901. (http://www.thewoodheadsite.org.uk/)
- Wicham Railbus Group - owners of Wickham railbus DB999507. (http://www.wickham-railbus.org.uk)
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