British Rail railbuses

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Railbus no. 79964 at York Railfest exhibition on 3rd June 2004. This vehicle is preserved on the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway.

In the late 1950s, British Rail tested a series of small railbus Diesel multiple units, produced by a variety of manufacturers. These proved to be very economical, but also very 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 The lines they worked on were mainly closed by during the 'Beeching Cuts' and, being non-standard, they were all withdrawn in the mid-1960s, before being allocated TOPS classifications.

Number Range Builder Introduced No. Built Region Withdrawn
79900-01 BR, Derby Works 1956 2
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

Departmental Railbuses

Another three railbuses were ordered by British Rail for use in departmental (non-revenue earning) service. These were:

  • DB99507 - Wickham railbus built in 1958
  • DB998900 and DB998901 - Drewry railcars built in 1950

79900 was taken into departmental use after withdrawal, was numbered 975010 and carried the name Iris.

Preservation

A number of the BR railbuses have survived into preservation, as follows:

Vehicle No. Builder Year Built Location Comments
79900 BR, Derby Works 1956 Midland Railway Butterley -
79960 Waggon und Maschinenbau 1958 North Norfolk Railway -
79962 Waggon und Maschinenbau 1958 Keighley and Worth Valley Railway -
79963 Waggon und Maschinenbau 1958 North Norfolk Railway -
79964 Waggon und Maschinenbau 1958 Keighley and Worth Valley Railway -
79976 AC Cars 1958 Colne Valley Railway -
79978 AC Cars 1958 Colne Valley Railway -
DB999507 Wickham 1958 Middleton Railway Elliot high-speed track-recording unit.
DB998901 Drewry Car Company 1950 Middleton Railway Overhead-line inspection car.
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