The Midland Railway

Midland Railway

The Midland Railway was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844 to 1922, when it became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway....

 experimented with electrification on its Heysham–Morecambe–Lancaster line in Lancashire

Lancashire

Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...

, England. Electric trains started to run over this route in 1908, using the overhead 6.6 kV, 25 Hz AC electric supply installed and generated at the MR's own power station in Heysham.

The electric multiple unit

Electric multiple unit

An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages, using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a number of the carriages...

s consisted of three driving motor coaches and six driving trailer coaches. Since the DM cars had a cab at each end, this allowed trains of one, two, or three cars to be formed.

Driving motors

The three DM cars were built by the MR at their Derby Works

Derby Carriage and Wagon Works

Derby Carriage and Wagon Works was built by the Midland Railway in Derby, England. The plant has been through many changes of ownership and is currently owned by Bombardier Transportation, a subsidiary of Bombardier Inc. of Canada. As of 2011 it is the only remaining passenger rolling stock...

 and were 60 feet (18 m) in length. Two had Siemens electrical equipment fitted, while the third had Westinghouse equipment.

• LMS numbers for the motor coaches 28610-28612

Driving trailers

Of the six DT cars, four were built new by the MR at their Derby works, while the other two were converted from existing hauled stock compartment coaches.

Withdrawal

In February 1951, these venerable units were finally withdrawn from service. Steam locomotive-hauled trains operated passenger services over the Lancaster–Heysham Line from then until August 1953, when electric trains took over again, this time the prototype Class AM1

British Rail Class AM1

Class AM1 was allocated to the prototype AC electric multiple units, converted from fourth-rail DC electric stock in 1952 and used on the Lancaster/Morecambe/Heysham route...

 units following the installation of the appropriate new equipment.

The line voltage remained at 6,600 but the frequency was altered to 50 Hz and this was transformed

Transformer

A transformer is a device that transfers electrical energy from one circuit to another through inductively coupled conductors—the transformer's coils. A varying current in the first or primary winding creates a varying magnetic flux in the transformer's core and thus a varying magnetic field...

 and rectified

Rectifier

A rectifier is an electrical device that converts alternating current , which periodically reverses direction, to direct current , which flows in only one direction. The process is known as rectification...

on the trains to supply DC traction motors. This experiment led to the introduction of the 25 kV, 50 Hz system as standard for new electrification on British Railways.

Sources

• Marsden, Colin J. (1985) 100 Years of Electric Traction, Oxford Publishing Company, ISBN 0-86093-325-3
• Ian Allan Ltd (1948) ABC Of British Electric Trains