101 DMU question.
 

When I was at Dereham (Mid Norfolk Railway) yesterday, I overheard a conversation from the driver of their 101 DMU set.

He was saying that if the air pressure dropped below a certain level he could not start the engine from his cab, and had to lay on the platform to start it.

Do they not have electric starters ?

They do have electric starters but certainly first start of the day has to be done trackside and then the air has to be built up before the brakes will work. I am fairly certain that if the air pressure falls off you have to start trackside.

I will check this out.

Best wishes,

John H-T.

After a discussion with our DMU expert at Wirksworth I can confirm that there needs to be about 80 psi of air in the system before the engines can be started from the cab, even though they do have electric starters.

Best wishes,

John H-T.