Dapol DMU

[Chops]

Runs like a dream. Absolute joy to have this piece. Seen most recently in "Jurassic Snacks."

[Bufferstop]

If I could go back in time I'd want to go to our village station in the years just before WW2. Every morning one of these beauties would come flying through on its way from Birmingham to Cardiff, Then later in the Day it would come back. It could get a business traveller there in time for a day's meetings and back home in time for his evening meal. Whilst the traveller was at work it would make a few trips up and down the "Valleys" lines, before making the return trip.

[Chops]

Great back story.

[Bufferstop]

There were 38-40 of these built (depends how you count them, the last 4 being two two-car DMUs. The first 18 were this body style the remainder were more angular. One of this design is in the York museum and there are two of the later type on heritage lines, one under restoration and one operational at the GWR centre at Didcot. Although construction fished in 1942, the first DMUs built under the 1950s BR Modernisation scheme were mechanically the continuation of the design, just having plain coach bodies. The biggest visible mechanical difference being the move inboard of the cardan shafts and the associated gears to the centres of the axles Photos of the originals in operation show them running with many of the lower body panels removed for engine cooling, the 50s versions avoided the problem by simply having no panels below floor level, which made day to day maintenance far simpler.

[Bigmet]

...Absolute joy to have this piece...

Popularly nicknamed 'flying bananas' for the reason 'Bufferstop' describes. (The latter 20 or so were built with different exterior styling and geared for slower services.) Whatever, you have the sports model.

... Seen most recently in "Jurassic Snacks."...

Bananas, believed by some to have been the favoured food of iguanadon, amongst other bipedal veggy 'sports model' dinos, that - just like our modern athletes - found this the right foodstuff to maintain high energy output when needing to run fast. Alternative opinions are available, but these are mostly from people who spent much more time in the library rather than out on the athletics field.

[Jim S-W]

It's not quite as simplistic as that. Of the first 18 there were 2 builders. Park royal (1-4) and Gloucester. The one at the NRM is a park royal one and only vaguely like the dapol model. Although they did copy the bogies meaning they are wrong for the model.

Of the Gloucester ones there were 3 distinct body styles and the dapol model is suitable for 8-17 only.

[Chops]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRICohZjXOM

What if the railways of antiquity produced movie trailers to advertise their wares? Regrettably, the DMU got away from me on this one, and
should not appear. Still, just revise the date to 1930 something, and all the locomotives were still in service.