British Rail railbuses

British Rail Railbuses
Waggon- und Maschinenbau railbus no. 79964 at York Railfest exhibition on 3 June 2004. This vehicle is preserved on the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway.
In service	Passenger: 1958–1968 Departmental: 1950–1997
Capacity	46–56 seats
Operators	British Rail NI Railways

British Rail produced a variety of railbuses, both as a means of acquiring new rolling stock cheaply, and to provide economical services on lightly used lines.

Railbuses are a very lightweight type of railcar designed specifically for passenger transport on little-used railway lines. As the name suggests, they share many aspects of their construction with a bus, usually having a bus body, or a modified bus body, and having four wheels on a fixed wheelbase, rather than bogies. Some units were equipped for operation as diesel multiple units.

In the late 1950s, British Rail tested a series of small railbuses, produced by a variety of manufacturers, for about £12,500 each^[1] (£261,000 at 2014 prices).^[2] These proved to be very economical (on test the Wickham bus was about 9 mpg_‑imp (31 L/100 km)),^[3] but were somewhat unreliable. Most of the lines they worked on were closed following the Beeching Cuts and, being non-standard, they were all withdrawn in the mid-1960s, so they were never classified under the TOPS system.

In addition to those railbuses, BR ordered three for departmental (non-revenue earning) service. The full list of passenger and departmental units is set out below.

Engines:^[4]

• 79958/59, Gardner 6HLW of 112 bhp (84 kW) at 1,700 rpm
• 79960–62/64, Büssing, 150 bhp (110 kW) at 1,900 rpm
• 79963, AEC A220X
• 79965–69, Meadows 6HDT500 of 105 bhp (78 kW) at 1,800 rpm
• 79970–74, AEC, 150 bhp (110 kW)
• 79975–79, AEC, 150 bhp (110 kW)

British Rail returned to the idea of railbuses from the mid-1970s, and prototype four-wheel vehicles were developed jointly by British Leyland and the British Rail Research Division. These were named Leyland Experimental Vehicles (LEVs) and consisted of double-ended Leyland National bodyshells (chosen for their strength and cost-effective manufacturing) mounted on top of simple 2-axled railway chassis, which were a derivative of those used on the HSFV.^[5]

The LEVs spent a substantial amount of time abroad in the hope of attracting export orders, however none were ever made. Domestically, the LEVs were the predecessors of the Pacer DMUs, of which the Class 140 is its closest relative.

In total, five LEVs were built, which are listed below:

Photo	Identity	Built	Design	History
	LEV1 No. RDB 975874	1978: Leyland/BREL Derby	12.3 m long. 2 Doors (front right and back left).	It was built at Railway Technical Centre in Derby as an unpowered trailer and used for testing on the West Coast Mainline at speeds of up to 100 miles per hour (160 km/h). In 1979, it was converted to a self-propelled vehicle using a Leyland 510 diesel engine and was then tested at Old Dalby Test Track.[6][5] In January 1980, it was shipped to the US and was tested on the Northeast Corridor between Boston and Attleboro and the Boston and Maine Railroad between Lowell and Concord.[6][7] After returning to the UK, it was then tested in passenger service, primarily in East Anglia. It carried its last passengers in July 1983 and was withdrawn in 1987, when it was given to the National Railway Museum.[8] In 2004, it moved to North Norfolk Railway and was restored, returning to passenger service in 2010. In 2012, it was moved to Wensleydale Railway via Locomotion Museum, Shildon.[9] It stayed there until 2024, when it was moved back to Shildon.[10]
	LEV2/R3 (for USA)	1980: Leyland/Wickham	15.3 m long. 2 doors (front left and back right).	It was exported to the US for use by MBTA on a new passenger route to Concord, New Hampshire, which it started running on 1 December 1980. On 15 December of the same year, it struck a car at a level crossing, killing two occupants of the car.[11] After a period in storage, it was sold to Boston and Maine Railroad in May 1983 for use as a track inspection vehicle.[12][13] It was then sold to Steamtown National Historic Site for use as a shuttle, but was damaged by a derailment and sold for scrap.[14] It was bought and repaired by Durbin and Greenbrier Valley Railroad and was used for passenger excursions. In 2001, it was sold to Connecticut Trolley Museum, however by 2021 it had been scrapped.[15][16]
	RB003/R3 (for BR) No. RDB 977020	1981: Leyland/BREL Derby	15.3 m long. 2 doors (front right and back left).	In 1981, it was shown to the press as a 'pre-production' unit of the then-envisioned future export railbuses.[17] It was then used for demonstrations in the Bristol area.[18] It was sold to Northern Ireland Railways in August 1982 and re-gauged for use on the Portrush branch. It proved to have insufficient passenger capacity, so was taken out of passenger service and used for track inspection duties. In July 1990, it operated the 'Cavan Coup' railtour from Belfast to Kingscourt via Drogheda. After being withdrawn in December 1992, it was first preserved at Ulster Transport Museum before going to Downpatrick and County Down Railway in 2001. In 2024 it was given to Gwendraeth Valley Railway, where it will be re-gauged again and repaired.[19]
	RB002 'The Denmark'	1984: Leyland/BREL Derby	2 doors (front left and back left).	Between 1984 and 1986, it toured several countries as a demonstration vehicle, visiting Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands, Germany, Canada and the US.[20][21][22] It returned to the UK, having gained its nickname, and was used as a classroom and office by BREL for some time.[22] It was then preserved at Riverstown Old Corn Railway, near Dundalk, which is thought to have happened in 1999. The site is now home to Carlingford Brewing Company, but, as of 2019, it remains there, albeit in poor condition.[23]
	RB004	1984: Leyland/BREL Derby	6 doors (front, middle and back on both sides).	It was first shipped to the US as a demonstration vehicle and was used for trials in the following locations: a preserved railway in Newport, Long Island Rail Road, the International Exhibition on Transportation Systems in Washington,[a] New Orleans, SEPTA Regional Rail and Cleveland.[24][25] It was then sent back to the UK and put into storage before later being used as a classroom by BREL in York. It was first preserved at Embsay and Bolton Abbey Steam Railway and then moved to Telford Steam Railway in 2004 and Aln Valley Railway in 2010. In 2011 it was purchased by Railbus Trust and visited Midland Railway – Butterley and Llangollen Railway before moving permanently to Waverley Route Heritage Association in 2012.[24][26]

Lines regularly served by railbuses include:

• Ayr – Dalmellington 1959–1964^[27]
• Craigendoran – Arrochar 1959^[28]–1964^[27]
• Darvel 1959–1964^[27]
• Devon Valley 1959–1964^[27]
• Falkirk – Grangemouth 1967–1968^[27]
• Gleneagles – Crieff / Comrie 1958^[29]–1964^[30]
• Kilmarnock – Ardrossan / Ayr 1962-1964^[27]
• Larbert – Alloa 1967–1968^[27]
• Lugton – Beith 1959–1962^[27]
• Speyside 1958–1965^[27]

• Cambridge to Mildenhall railway
• Witham-Braintree branch line^[27]
• Witham-Maldon branch line^[27]
• Saffron Walden Railway^[31]

• Bedford – Northampton / Hitchin 1958–1959^[27]
• Millers Dale – Buxton 1966–1967^[27]

• Bodmin – Wadebridge 1964^[32]–1967^[33]
• Kemble – Cirencester Town and Kemble-Tetbury 1959^[34]–1964^[35]
• Yeovil Junction – Yeovil Town 1964^[36]–1966^[37] – Pen Mill 1966^[38]

A number of the BR railbuses, both first and second generation examples have survived into preservation, as follows:

Additionally, AC Cars railbus 79979 was preserved. It was the first of the railbuses to be delivered and spent all its working life in Scotland. In 1968, it was moved to Craigentinny where the chassis was scrapped, and it was used as a battery store. It was moved to make way for the TMD in 1977 and the grounded body sold to the Strathspey Railway in 1977.^[39] It was scrapped by MC Metals, Glasgow, in 1990.^[44][45]

• British Rail Class 139
• Pacerailer - prototype railbus built 1960s, by a private company.
• Pacer (British Rail)

Wikimedia Commons has media related to British Rail railbuses.

• AC Cars Railbus
• EM2 Locomotive Society – owners of Drewry railcar DB998901.
• Old Dalby Test Track site – Pictures of the Drewry car RDB998901 in action at BR's test track
• Wickham Railbus Group – owners of Wickham railbus DB999507.
• Train Testing site – Pictures of the testing and travels of the early railbuses
• Train Testing site – Pictures of LEV1 in the US
• departmentals.com
• The Railbus Trust – Working to protect the future of Single Car Railbuses and Second Generation DMU prototypes.