| [otd] 1st December 1933 - first GWR diesel railcar Posted by grahame at 09:01, 1st December 2023 |     |
90 years ago today, the first GWR Diesel Railcar made its first run - WikiPedia tells us
The prototype unit, No. 1, made its first run on 1 December 1933 between London Paddington and Reading with a large number of press representatives.
38 were built, of which three have survived into preservation - just one operational at present. There were the precursors of the bubble cars and then the class 153. I would argue that single carriage multiple units these days are useful as extra carriages onto other trains (or in pairs) but a diagram that works with a single carriage train is a hard one to make a case for. That view many vary on lines that support both longer distance fast services and still have a number of intermediate stations to be served.
| Re: [otd] 1st December 1933 - first GWR diesel railcar Posted by grahame at 10:25, 1st December 2025 | |
| Re: [otd] 1st December 1933 - first GWR diesel railcar Posted by Witham Bobby at 10:57, 1st December 2025 | |
The GWR doing their very best to make the less well used bits of their network viable.
Although, one of the earlier uses for the early versions of the diesel railcars was an express service between Birmingham and Cardiff, aimed at what would these days be called "business travellers". They had a buffet and a steward
The original "flying bananas" had a different appearance to the one in the picture. The were, in keeping with their times, very sleek and streamlined. They were made by Park Royal Vehicles, I think
The later version, the more "razor edged" type, was a Swindon product, and was designed and powered to be able to haul trailing loads - either an additional passenger carriage, or a parcels van
