LMS railcars

The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) introduced a number of railcars to service between 1933 and 1939. Most were single units but one was a three-car articulated set.

Leyland Single units
The LMS bought three four-wheeled diesel railcars from Leyland Motors in 1933. These were allocated to LMS diagram D2132, although this may have been after they were delivered, and may have been required when modifications were made. They were numbered 29950–29952 in the multiple unit section of the LMS carriage number series. Each had 40 third class seats arranged 2+2 either side of a central gangway and were powered by a 95 hp diesel engine. After trials between Preston and Carlisle they worked from Blackburn to Spring Vale and Clitheroe and subsequently at Hamilton Central in Lanarkshire. They passed to British Railways when the LMS was nationalised. BR withdrew them in 1951, so they never received TOPS classification.

Articulated unit
In 1937, the LMS decided to produce a more modern diesel train for itself. This was a three-car articulated railcar built to LMS diagram D1996 and outshopped from Derby Carriage and Wagon Works in 1939. The cars were numbered 80000, 80001 and 80002.

The streamlined three-car train was a single articulated unit; the two outer coaches were each 64 ft long and rested on a centre coach that was 52 ft long. The articulation was an idea that had been already taken up by Sir William Stanier for some locomotive hauled stock.

Mechanically, the train was a development of railcars that had entered service from 1933 on the LMS Northern Counties Committee's (NCC) lines in Northern Ireland, using an identical arrangement of in-line powertrain as NCC railcars Nos. 2–4. Under each coach were two vertically mounted Leyland 125 bhp diesel engines driving the inner axle of each bogie through a Lysholm-Smith torque converter. There were six engines for the three-car set which gave a total power of 750 bhp. The whole unit weighed 73 long tons, so this yielded a power/weight ratio of slightly more than 10 bhp/ton which provided a main line standard of performance with a maximum speed of 75 mph.

Accommodation in the end cars was split into two saloons with 26 seats in the outer saloon plus a lavatory, and 28 seats in the inner saloon, all seats being reversible and third class. Between the outer saloon and the driving cab was a small luggage and brake compartment. The centre car was a composite with a 30-seat third class saloon with a lavatory, and the other saloon having 24 first-class seats. All of the seats were arranged as 2+2. The cab was generously proportioned with the driver in a central position.

It entered revenue-earning service in 1939 based at Bedford, and worked first on the Varsity Line between Oxford Rewley Road and Cambridge, and then on St Pancras – Nottingham services.

A second unit may have been intended, and the diagram was marked that two units should be constructed although the order was for the one unit that was actually built. 80000–80001–80002 was withdrawn on the outbreak of World War II in 1939, stored, and never re-entered passenger service.

Conversion for Overhead line maintenance
In 1949, British Railways converted the articulated unit to a two-car set for overhead line maintenance. The centre car was removed and the number of engines in the set reduced to two. The driving cabs were given flat ends. To enable engineering staff to work on the overhead cables the roofs of the two coaches were flattened, creating a work space 130 ft long and 5 ft wide. Between the two cars a manually-operated lift was installed that could be raised to 6 ft above roof level.

One coach was converted into a workshop with all passenger seats removed and workbench facilities installed. The other coach was converted into staff accommodation with lockers, cooking, washing facilities and a WC, and 12 seats with tables as a mess saloon. An old 30 ft coach was converted to carry 2000 ft of overhead wire and attached to the unit as a trailer. Portable floodlights for night work were installed in the two coaches and in the trailer.

The unit worked on the Manchester – Altrincham line. It was moved to Longsight Depot in 1959 and taken out of service shortly afterwards. It still existed in a derelict state as late as 1967.

The design may be seen as a step in the development of post-war British Railways diesel multiple units (DMU) such as the Derby Lightweight units, at least as far the powertrain is concerned.

Other single units
An Armstrong Whitworth diesel-electric railcar operated a luxury 12-seat express service on the LMS for two weeks in 1933 between London and Castle Bromwich near Birmingham in connection with a British Industries Fair. This car, with body work by Cravens which incorporated a kitchen, was powered by a standard Armstrong-Saurer 250 bhp engine.

Between 1936 and 1937, the LMS trialled two experimental railcars built by Armstrong Siddeley to a French design, which had Michelin pneumatic tyres. These were tested on the Leamington to Nuneaton route. Despite proving popular with passengers and crew, no orders happened, and they were withdrawn in 1937.