Class 101 DMU's
 

Hi, could anyone tell me if the Metro Cammell 101 DMU's in Scotland where ever in green livery. I remember as a toddler I used to love seeing them and the class 303 EMU's in Springburn station in Glasgow around 1964/5. I only remember them in blue and having the small yellow line on them before it covered the whole face of the cab. I have a slight memory of seeing them before the yellow stripe but none of ever seeing them in green. Thank you.

Hello jamcat and welcome to the Railway Forum. I remember seeing a 108 DMU in Glasgow in 1969/70. I was living in Sterling at the time but never saw a 101 DMU.

There were 101's and 105's and 127's too
so it is reasonable to assume that prior to Rail blue there would have been green DMU's with whiskers around 1957 and yellow ends later on

I was in Glasgow for a couple of years around 1970-71 but I only ever remember seeing them in plain blue, although as they'd already been around for a few years no doubt it's correct to say that they would earlier have appeared in a more interesting livery. Incidentally I think I can almost pinpoint the date they were withdrawn as we last went on one of the last 101s from Glasgow Central in July 2000 and they disappeared only weeks later.

Thanks. I am talking about 1964 - 66. I was only 5 in 64 but do remember them when in Springburn with my mother and i liked to stop at the gate at the railway station and look down the stairs at the platforms. In one of the 2 bays back then there would normally be at least one clas 303 EMU [Blue trains] and it would wait for the class 101DMU coming in from Cumbernauld and passengers would transfer from one train to the other. I am not sure but i have a dull vision that i saw them before the thin yellow stripe was put on them. i do remember them in the thicker stripe. My problem is i am planning in building a model railway and want to use the period 1964 - 66 for this and will put 1 or two 101's in it but I need to know the livery. I know it was normally blue but ws there any green ones in service then in Glasgow and was there ever. The only models i have seen are the green ones or the blue with full cab yellow which wouldn't be correct for that period. I have never seen a model in blue with a thin yellow srtipe.

I could WELL be wrong, but from what I have been told, the Class 101's from the now extinct NSE, and based at Cambridge were transferred north of the border. I would genuinely LOVE to travel on one of those I worked again, even on a Heritage Line.

We have a three car set at the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway although one of the driving cars is currently out of service.

Best wishes,

John H-T.

I remember around 1968/69 my mates and I would spend a lot of time near the top of the infamous Cowlairs 1in 42 2 mile incline out of Glasgow Queen Street station watching the trains going up the slope [some struggling] The class 24, 25,26 and 27's would pull 5 or 6 coaches quite easily in push pull or with a another 27 as banker but with difficulty on their own. The class 37 and later 47 classes did it without difficulty. The DMU's strugggled something although the 101's seemed to be a little bit better. They would tackle the incline at not much more than walking place with their engines sounding like they were going to blow up and i thought they weren't going to make it to the top. They always did and when they did the engine would go silent for a half a second then the unit would head on at normal speed.

I have to admit that I struggle a bit with DMU's beyond Derby Lightweight's,101's, 108's and Bubble Cars.

Currently at Wirksworth we have a 101 two car set in blue and 2 out of 3 101's in Green. The third car is under restoration elsewhere and I understand will be outshopped in green to join the other two cars at Wirksworth, see:

http://www.e-v-r.com/stock/

Best wishes,

John H-T.

The earliest memories I have of the 101s is when they had the all over blue livery (the same as locomotives) in the early 70s. However a while back I did see a photo of a 101 in green livery at Dalmeny station in the late 50s or early 60s although I can't remember where I saw the photo.