British Rail railbuses

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

Terminology

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.

First generation

In the late 1950s, British Rail tested a series of small railbuses, produced by a variety of manufacturers, for about £12,500 each. These proved to be very economical, 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 Most of the lines they worked on were closed following the Beeching Cuts and, being non-standard, they were all withdrawn in the mid-1960s, so they were never classified under the TOPS system.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 service. The full list of passenger and departmental units is set out below.

Lot No.	Manufacturer	Diagram	Qty	Fleet numbers	Service life	Length over body	Seats	Notes
30483	Bristol / Eastern Coach Works	610	2	Sc79958–79959	1958–1966		56
30482	Waggon- und Maschinenbau GmbH Donauwörth railbus	611	5	E79960–79964	1958–1967		56
30481	D Wickham & Co	612	5	Sc79965–79969	1958–1966		48
30480	Park Royal Vehicles	613	5	Sc79970, 79974 M79971–79973	1958–1968		50
30479	AC Cars	614	5	W79975–79978 Sc79979	1958–1968		46
	D Wickham & Co		1	RDB999507 Elliot	1958–1997
	Drewry Car Co.		2	RDB998900-998901	1950–1990

Image:W79978 at Colne Valley Railway.jpg|thumb|right|AC Cars railbus W79978 at the Colne Valley Railway
Engines:

79958/59, Gardner and Sons|Gardner] 6HLW of at 1,700 rpm
79960–62/64, Büssing, at 1,900 rpm
79963, AEC A220X
79965–69, Meadows 6HDT500 of at 1,800 rpm
79970–74, AEC,
79975–79, AEC,

Leyland Experimental Vehicles

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 and consisted of double-ended Leyland National bodyshells mounted on top of simple 2-axled railway chassis, which were a derivative of those used on the HSFV.
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 British [Rail Class 140|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	long. 2 doors.	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. 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. 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. 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. 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. It stayed there until 2024, when it was moved back to Shildon.
	LEV2/R3	1980: Leyland/Wickham	long. 2 doors.	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. After a period in storage, it was sold to Boston and Maine Railroad in May 1983 for use as a track inspection vehicle. It was then sold to Steamtown National Historic Site for use as a shuttle, but was damaged by a derailment and sold for scrap. 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.
	RB003/R3 No. RDB 977020	1981: Leyland/BREL Derby	long. 2 doors.	In 1981, it was shown to the press as a 'pre-production' unit of the then-envisioned future export railbuses. It was then used for demonstrations in the Bristol area. 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.
	RB002 'The Denmark'	1984: Leyland/BREL Derby	2 doors.	Between 1984 and 1986, it toured several countries as a demonstration vehicle, visiting Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands, Germany, Canada and the US. It returned to the UK, having gained its nickname, and was used as a classroom and office by BREL for some time. 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.
	RB004	1984: Leyland/BREL Derby	6 doors.	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, New Orleans, SEPTA Regional Rail and Cleveland. It was then sent back to the UK and put into storage before later being used as a classroom by British [Rail Engineering Limited\|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.

Routes

Lines regularly served by railbuses include:

Scotland

Ayr – Dalmellington 1959–1964
Craigendoran – Arrochar 1959–1964
Darvel 1959–1964
Devon Valley 1959–1964
Falkirk – Grangemouth 1967–1968
Gleneagles – Crieff / Comrie Railway|Comrie] 1958–1964
Kilmarnock – Ardrossan / Ayr 1962-1964
Larbert – Alloa 1967–1968
Lugton – Beith 1959–1962
Speyside 1958–1965

East Anglia

Midlands

Bedford – Northampton / Hitchin 1958–1959
Millers Dale – Buxton 1966–1967

Western

Bodmin – Wadebridge 1964–1967
Kemble – Cirencester Town and Kemble-Tetbury 1959–1964
Yeovil Junction – Yeovil Town 1964–1966 – Pen Mill railway station|Pen Mill] 1966

Preservation

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. It was scrapped by MC Metals, Glasgow, in 1990.