Class 142

[charliepetty]

On 16/07/2020 at 15:54, pheaton said:

Shame Biffo hasn't got a TL11 recording for the provincial liveried 142s

Oh yes he has and it will be in them.  Charlie

[charliepetty]

On 01/12/2016 at 19:58, lyneux said:

Hmmm, not so sure. Realtrack seem to have a policy of modern liveries first (eg 143, 156).

 

Guy

What modern livery are we going to put on the 4 Leaf doored vesion we are bringing out ?????

 

Charlie

[lyneux]

Blimey Charlie... that was 4 years ago!!! And Reggie rail is sadly still too modern for me... sigh!

 

One has to wonder, doesn’t one! 

 

Guy

[Garry D100]

Are there any ideas when preorders will open up please.

Thanks

[charliepetty]

2 minutes ago, Garry D100 said:

Are there any ideas when preorders will open up please.

Thanks

No as we currently are aiming for a 12 Month Lead time when it does, and this Covid stuff is throwing a wobbler in at the moment.

 

Charlie

[TomScrut]

13 minutes ago, charliepetty said:

No as we currently are aiming for a 12 Month Lead time when it does, and this Covid stuff is throwing a wobbler in at the moment.

 

Charlie

 

The longer it is before you need an order the more likely I will be to buy! Seems like everything cool is being made at the same time at the moment.

[NJC92]

I've been following with great interest any news about these models ever since first hearing the intention to produce a high spec model. Having seen the 144 I can't wait to buy a few of these models, especially North West variations. I have always loved these units ever since I was young, my best Christmas present being a Hornby Spirit of the North train set featuring a 142 when I was 8. 

[charliepetty]

2 hours ago, NJC92 said:

I've been following with great interest any news about these models ever since first hearing the intention to produce a high spec model. Having seen the 144 I can't wait to buy a few of these models, especially North West variations. I have always loved these units ever since I was young, my best Christmas present being a Hornby Spirit of the North train set featuring a 142 when I was 8. 

Things are a little behind on the Cad drawings at the moment.    Charlie

[Scottish-Exile]

DMSL 55775 (142 079) departed Swansea Landore this afternoon en-route to the razor blade factory. The DMS (55729) along with 142 012 will be joining it tomorrow.

 

[66738]

5 hours ago, Scottish-Exile said:

DMSL 55775 (142 079) departed Swansea Landore this afternoon en-route to the razor blade factory. The DMS (55729) along with 142 012 will be joining it tomorrow.

 

What on Earth has happened to that BSI coupler? 
It makes me very sad to see these like this. I’m pretty sure I have had my last drive of a 142 or a 144. I didn’t get to savour either, as at the time I had no idea it would be my last. My last 142 drive was 004. Man Victoria - Leeds.
My last 144 drive was 006. Huddersfield - Bradford - Huddersfield. 
Lots of people couldn’t stand them. I loved them. 
66738

[Mark Saunders]

1 hour ago, 66738 said:

What on Earth has happened to that BSI coupler? 
It makes me very sad to see these like this. I’m pretty sure I have had my last drive of a 142 or a 144. I didn’t get to savour either, as at the time I had no idea it would be my last. My last 142 drive was 004. Man Victoria - Leeds.
My last 144 drive was 006. Huddersfield - Bradford - Huddersfield. 
Lots of people couldn’t stand them. I loved them. 
66738

Not a lot to go wrong with them was their plus point!

[KDG]

Are they really worn out now, or just not compliant?

 

[ColinK]

Like Leyland National buses - indestructable.  While they are non-compliant with the latest regs, they could be made to comply, indeed one was.  I think their demise is partly political, they became the symbol of lack of investment in new trains for the North, so they had to go.  There is no reason why they couldn’t continue for a few years more on lines like Morecambe to Lancaster.

[adb968008]

2 hours ago, ColinK said:

Like Leyland National buses - indestructable.  While they are non-compliant with the latest regs, they could be made to comply, indeed one was.  I think their demise is partly political, they became the symbol of lack of investment in new trains for the North, so they had to go.  There is no reason why they couldn’t continue for a few years more on lines like Morecambe to Lancaster.

Ironically, the 142’s and 153’s were seen as the low cost answer to saving many of Britains more quieter routes, which without Pacers would have surely closed before the 1990’s otherwise.

And successfully playing their part in railway revivals, there more expensive steel plated saviours (I wont say gold plated about a 195/331)  arrived as rural and suburban railways have been decimated, mostly likely for a generation just as the Pacers go....

 

Will the lines they saved, survive without them ?

 

[woodenhead]

10 hours ago, adb968008 said:

Ironically, the 142’s and 153’s were seen as the low cost answer to saving many of Britains more quieter routes, which without Pacers would have surely closed before the 1990’s otherwise.

And successfully playing their part in railway revivals, there more expensive steel plated saviours (I wont say gold plated about a 195/331)  arrived as rural and suburban railways have been decimated, mostly likely for a generation just as the Pacers go....

 

Will the lines they saved, survive without them ?

 

I think as the trains have been delivered then they won't see off branchlines - the issue for BR was having to fund replacements for first generation units which is where cheap bus like trains came in.  The 153 wasn't designed as such, it was originally the 155 and they were used between Cardiff and Manchester and were meant as an alternative to the 156 but weren't quite as good.  BR saw them as a opportunity to replace the bubble cars and so they saw new life as a 153.  I wonder what would have happened to them had they not been suitable for conversion?

[adb968008]

21 hours ago, woodenhead said:

I think as the trains have been delivered then they won't see off branchlines - the issue for BR was having to fund replacements for first generation units which is where cheap bus like trains came in.  The 153 wasn't designed as such, it was originally the 155 and they were used between Cardiff and Manchester and were meant as an alternative to the 156 but weren't quite as good.  BR saw them as a opportunity to replace the bubble cars and so they saw new life as a 153.  I wonder what would have happened to them had they not been suitable for conversion?

156’s were originally considered for single cars, but the 155’s multiple and ongoing issues decided it.

Thing is cheap units, saved lines.

no cheap units... would there be as many lines ?

 

But just as 195/331s are here, doesnt mean the future is secure.. BR cannibalised its brand new diesel fleet throughout the 1970’s as it shrank. If passengers dont return, dont assume in 2021 the government will be any less cut throat than it was in the 1960’s to cut the railways cloth to size of new future realities.

We may get HS2, but it may be fed with better roads/car parks like Ebbsfleet, rather than Branchlines with 1 car DMUs.

Edited October 7, 2020 by adb968008

[newbryford]

14 hours ago, ColinK said:

Like Leyland National buses - indestructable.  While they are non-compliant with the latest regs, they could be made to comply, indeed one was.  I think their demise is partly political, they became the symbol of lack of investment in new trains for the North, so they had to go.  There is no reason why they couldn’t continue for a few years more on lines like Morecambe to Lancaster.

 

O/T as this really should be in a prototype discussion thread.

A 144 was made compliant. To make a 142 compliant was considered too costly - as well as reducing passenger space (to work around the big step inboard of the doors.)

Also bear in mind that a 142 is also not very crash-worthy.

(Before anyone compares them with Mk1's, I am considering their use for fare paying public use - not special charter trains/railtours)

 

 

[nigb55009]

I used to drive 142s. Apparently, underneath all that fibreglass there is a very strong frame that gave serious crash protection. When the collision at Winsford happened, the body of  142008, IIRC, sheared off and moved forwards causing very little damage to the saloon.  When 142059 ran away from Edge Hill down to Lime Street, due to a brake fault, the frame was bent but again minimal damage to the cab ends. Obviously as drivers we were quite relieved to hear this. Most 142s had bits of their cab fronts chipped away due hitting fallen branches, or having been hit by missiles thrown by lineside scumbags, but otherwise they were tough beasts. I once went to Shaw`s Crossing, near Burscough Bridge to retrieve a142 that had hit a Land Rover. The Land Rover definitely came off second best, it was upside down at the bottom of the embankment. Although the underside of the unit had been damaged, the cab front only lost a bit of the corner were it hit the Landy. The engine was knackered and there no brakes at that end. I had to go facing road back to Parbold to cross back to the up line and then to Wigan Wallgate, all at 5MPH. Still, it was nice afternoon, time to admire the scenery.

[charliepetty]

Our '00' Scale model will be compliant, but the toilet dos'nt work!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Charlie

[nigb55009]

That would make your model even more prototypical. Is it possible to model a pool of water outside the toilet door, just o make it 100% authentic?

[Derekstuart]

On 05/10/2020 at 20:35, 66738 said:

Lots of people couldn’t stand them. I loved them. 
66738

Back in the late 1980s when on holiday with my Dad in Whitby, he bumped into the BR (NE) Regional (Deputy?) Director. Being young at the time and knowing everything, I chastised him for replacing the Met Cam 101s with the 142s.

In a spirit of great reasoning, he pointed out that the 142s were a lot cheaper to operate and maintain than the 101s and without them he'd likely be considering recommending the Esk Valley for closure; I'd imagine the same being true for many branch lines.

 

That they were regularly used on ECML services North of Doncaster, Trans Pennine and even attached to Sprinters and dragged well over their design speed was not a fault of the design, which seem to have been quite successful post-rebuild (the original brake system aside, of course). Imagine replacing an East Coast HST with a Met Cam and you'd have had the same problem.

 

So I'm firmly with 66738 here. Remember next time the 14* comes up for derision- if it wasn't for them then several branches might have been guided busways by now. Or cycle tracks.

[Steven B]

On 06/10/2020 at 11:31, woodenhead said:

The 153 wasn't designed as such, it was originally the 155 and they were used between Cardiff and Manchester and were meant as an alternative to the 156 but weren't quite as good.  BR saw them as a opportunity to replace the bubble cars and so they saw new life as a 153.  I wonder what would have happened to them had they not been suitable for conversion?

 

Had the bulk of the 155's not been split and converted into 153s, they'd have been fixed and sent out to earn money just like the 7 remaining units owned by West Yorkshire PTE. I'm guessing all 42 sets would have ended up running from one or two depots - somewhere currently using 156s would have 155s instead (probably with Northern Trains given the ownership of the 7 WYPTE units).

 

Steven B.

 

[Derekstuart]

18 hours ago, charliepetty said:

Our '00' Scale model will be compliant, but the toilet dos'nt work!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Charlie

I realise that this question will be the subject of derision for even asking, but I seem to recall looking at the Hornby 142 and thinking it's a bit 'chunky' and overscale compared to other stock sitting next to it.

Now looking at the real one next to a 143, the real one looks bigger and chunkier too.

So is/ was the Hornby one overscale or is it just the way the real one looks?

I shall be ordering a RT 142 when available. I missed the 143 and 156 (though if they're re-released in BR colours I'll make sure I'm there to order on the first day)

[NJC92]

Thanks for the response Charlie, either way I'm still happy that a modern spec model is being produced of these 2nd generation stalwarts. And gives me more time to save up for a few.

[NJC92]

For the Pacer fans out there, I've scanned a leaflet promoting the new trains of the future from their introduction into the Manchester area. I'm sure it will raise a laugh from some about them being smooth, reliable with better suspension and making travelling a really relaxing experience. Till you hit Miles Platting or Oldham Mumps of course and hear copious amounts of flange squeal! Still you have to love the optimism and enthusiasm. Also features a interior shot with the original seat moquettes. Alas as we know they had their fair share of technical issues which is shown in the pic of a special notice poster, dated 6/87 mentioning them and apologising for the older stock or shorter formations used.