Pacers back on the mainline

[Craig1989]

LSL have bought 3 pacers and getting them back on the mainline hopefully for tours? 

Also not my picture seen on Facebook working from Eastleigh to Crewe today. There is 2 more at Eastleigh waiting to be repainted 

 

cheers Craig 

 

[Halvarras]

I've just checked the calendar and............no, it's definitely not April 1st 🤓!

 

Interested to see what purpose they are put to (all three strung together on a railtour to Penzance unlikely I reckon.......!)

[Wickham Green too]

Maybe someone's re-scheduled the 2020 April Fools Day that was cancelled 'cos of Lockdown ?

[Steamport Southport]

Nowt wrong with them.

 

Funny that those that probably never travelled on them are always dismissive of them.

 

If it wasn't for those things most of the lines in the North and in places like Wales would have went the same way as the ones axed in the Beeching Era. People seem to forget they were planning on closing most of them including lines such as the Settle and Carlisle in the mid 1980s.

 

It wasn't protesters or petitions that saved them, it was Pacers!

 

 

Jason

[Reorte]

1 hour ago, Steamport Southport said:

Nowt wrong with them.

 

Funny that those that probably never travelled on them are always dismissive of them.

 

If it wasn't for those things most of the lines in the North and in places like Wales would have went the same way as the ones axed in the Beeching Era. People seem to forget they were planning on closing most of them including lines such as the Settle and Carlisle in the mid 1980s.

 

It wasn't protesters or petitions that saved them, it was Pacers!

They certainly deserve credit for keeping such lines open, no argument there, but they did so by being cheap and nasty. I have travelled on them and they're not great (the piston effect on them in a tunnel from something else oncoming was really quite startling, before getting on to the more common complaints), so I think we both need to appreciate them for what they did as well as being honest about their fundamental qualities (note that I wouldn't say nostalgia is always or never that, it depends exactly what you're looking at).

 

I can certainly see them ticking the nostalgia box as preserved units mind you; not in terms of looking back in fondness, but still looking back as a memory that's simply interesting to revisit, once some more time has passed.

[melmerby]

1 hour ago, Steamport Southport said:

Funny that those that probably never travelled on them are always dismissive of them.

I travelled on them several times in the north (on the Leyland version) and they were rubbish.

The ride was awful, the long 4 wheel chassis was terrible round curves and squealed mercilessly

The bus seats were from an urban National bus and were too hard.

 

Admittedly they kept services going where receipts were marginal but that's about their only saving grace IMHO

Edited July 18, 2023 by melmerby

[APOLLO]

I've traveled on the things many times, THEY ARE CRAP.

I always viewed them as an insult to the fare paying passenger.

 

Brit15

[Wheatley]

I think they should be celebrated for all the positive reasons listed above.

 

I have no wish to go on a railtour on one of the bloody things. Or three of them nailed together. 

[Phil Parker]

I'll admit I would like a ride on one having never had the chance.

[Reorte]

9 minutes ago, Wheatley said:

I think they should be celebrated for all the positive reasons listed above.

 

I have no wish to go on a railtour on one of the bloody things. Or three of them nailed together. 

I wouldn't want the length of a railtour on one but I can see myself on a short heritage line on one in twenty years' time, for the reasons I mentioned above. It's a bit like eating a school dinner again (with the short length and low speed of a heritage line being the equivalent of leaving out the lumpy black bits from the mash). It's sometimes fun to revisit old memories for their own sake, even if they weren't ever particularly positive.

Edited July 18, 2023 by Reorte

[The Stationmaster]

I had the misfortune of travelling on them on several occasions.  Of these undoubtedly the most illuminating was on the ECML north of Newcastle as the railbotrne part of a journey to Blyth - so Newcastle to Cramlingon.   The thing seemed to spend much of the trip trying to achieve its maximum velocity and the various draughts might have got better if the doors had finally done what they seemed to be trying to do and had fallen off.  Dreadful thing and thank goodness we succeeded in getting rid from the Western the ones we were sent for the West of England.

 

They might have saved some lines/stations  but they also probably kept some parts of the NHS busy dealing with the aches & pains of thepoor folk who had to travel on them every day.  Any one who wants a 'nostalgic' trip on. one is welcome to it.

[APOLLO]

17 minutes ago, Phil Parker said:

I'll admit I would like a ride on one having never had the chance.

 

If you wear false teeth take em out first !!!!!

 

Pacer replacement train at Wigan Wallgate - luxurious comfort !!!!!

 

 

Brit15

[Jim Martin]

I rode on them quite a lot, mostly on lines like Wigan-Southport, Preston-Ormskirk, Liverpool-Warrington etc; but also Darlington-Middlesbrough and a few others. They could be perfectly okay - I think some people got carried away with the thrill of saying the most creatively negative things they could about them, justified or not - and if nothing else, the big windows gave an excellent view out.

 

That said, a trip from Carlisle to Newcastle was possibly the most uncomfortable journey I've ever made on any train, anywhere. It literally felt like someone was kicking me up the backside every few seconds for the entire trip. Every station stop was a blessed minute or so of relief before the battering started up again.

 

[Lemmy282]

I travelled on them a lot in South Yorkshire, nearly every local route out of Sheffield had the damn things. They were truly awful, I was sad to see the old 101's etc. go as the 141 and 142's were nowhere near as comfortable. I see that preserved railways are using them, which is probably good for their bank balance, but I wont be parting with my cash for an expensive ride on them, and definitely wouldn't want to have a full railtour on one!

[Titan]

Would something 153 like with 3+2 seating really not have been an option? Similar body, same number of wheels and just one engine/transmission so must be somewhat similar in cheapness.

[Boris]

I love Pacers, can't wait for a bit of bounce and thrash

[Halvarras]

I admit that I have never ridden in one but would like to one day to see what all the "fuss" was about! The Plym Valley Railway now have two (142023* and 143618) and they're not too far away from me. Of course I still wouldn't get the full high-speed nodding experience🎠!

 

*I photographed this one as a 'Skipper' working the Par - Newquay branch on 14/9/87 during a holiday, about 3 weeks before they were all banished to the Northern territories because having to reprofile their wheelsets every 3,000 miles was proving a little tiresome (and expensive). Perhaps if prototype 140001 had been more widely tested during its 1981 South West running trials the design's unsuitability for the area's branch lines would have become apparent.......

[BR traction instructor]

I drove the damn things around Manchester occasionally for two years when they were first built...utterly dreadful concept designed by someone who clearly didn't intend to travel on them.

 

BeRTIe

[Darius43]

Travelled on one from Haltwhistle to Carlisle.  I wouldn’t want to spend longer than that trip on one…

 

Cheers

 

Darius

[adb968008]

18 hours ago, Steamport Southport said:

Nowt wrong with them.

 

Funny that those that probably never travelled on them are always dismissive of them.

 

If it wasn't for those things most of the lines in the North and in places like Wales would have went the same way as the ones axed in the Beeching Era. People seem to forget they were planning on closing most of them including lines such as the Settle and Carlisle in the mid 1980s.

 

It wasn't protesters or petitions that saved them, it was Pacers!

 

 

Jason

And without pacers and dft going tight, whats going to save these lines now ?

[adb968008]

Ive ridden more 142’s than I can count, I might have had them all.

 

i grew up around these things right past uni and to almost the end.

I recall my father coming home with RE mag, and 142001 on the cover and being all excited that Manchester had followed Leedss in getting 141’s ! (I’d seen several of those already).

 

Back in October 2019, I did a rover round the UK with my little one, and came across 142002, in Cardiff. As a kid I seem to frequent this one more than most, and have a number of images of it. Its some irony that on my way to Gloucester we had a 142 ride along the Severn, and I took a minute with my little one to say this might be the last time we ride one, as I wasnt sure what 2020 would bring… what a prophecy that was !

 

For me 142003 all stations Victoria to Blackburn would be fun, as would having a bounce up to Barrow.

 

next up is 142007 in Regional Railways Northwest livery (the grey/orange livery) from Eastleigh

 

 

Edited July 19, 2023 by adb968008

[wombatofludham]

The two three car sets acquired by Vintage Trains at Tyseley seem to have gone quiet.  Anyone know what the situation is with them?  As the 14x units were never cleared for use in the Midlands although they did work on test, they would be rateable working some of the Midlands lines in a Jim Bowen style "This is what you could of won but your politicians on the PTE told Marsham Street to go away and have nookie"

I wonder if LSL are doing this not just for the enthusiast market but, rather like the Friday Intercities and the Eurovision crowd busters they ran because Avanti were having a breakdown, to provide one off crowd-busting operations on short sectors, perhaps running shuttles for big events which the regular railway can't cope with nowadays?

As for the units previous lives, I had fun times on them from Newcastle to Carlisle, Manchester to Blackpool and to Whitby and enjoyed them all.  I found the low back seats and over fenestration fantastic for watching the scenery go by and the "lively" ride was much better than the Godawful class 304 electric units which were truly vile and I do not miss one iota.

[adb968008]

7 minutes ago, wombatofludham said:

The two three car sets acquired by Vintage Trains at Tyseley seem to have gone quiet.  Anyone know what the situation is with them?  As the 14x units were never cleared for use in the Midlands although they did work on test, they would be rateable working some of the Midlands lines in a Jim Bowen style "This is what you could of won but your politicians on the PTE told Marsham Street to go away and have nookie"

I wonder if LSL are doing this not just for the enthusiast market but, rather like the Friday Intercities and the Eurovision crowd busters they ran because Avanti were having a breakdown, to provide one off crowd-busting operations on short sectors, perhaps running shuttles for big events which the regular railway can't cope with nowadays?

As for the units previous lives, I had fun times on them from Newcastle to Carlisle, Manchester to Blackpool and to Whitby and enjoyed them all.  I found the low back seats and over fenestration fantastic for watching the scenery go by and the "lively" ride was much better than the Godawful class 304 electric units which were truly vile and I do not miss one iota.

At least one of the tyseley 144’s cars has been see off on the back of a lorry.

 

I might be wrong but understand the 142003 toilet has been made 2020 friendly as well.

 

i could imagine LSL finding use for a pacer as railtour feed, or as an optional extra mini-tour on existing day trips.

 

one of the problems with RCS trips on the s&c was Skipton, rather than Lancashire as a start, 003 could fill that gap with a connection.

Edited July 19, 2023 by adb968008

[Reorte]

30 minutes ago, adb968008 said:

And without pacers and dft going tight, whats going to save these lines now ?

Closing lines would be politically far more damaging now than it was then.

[adb968008]

Just now, Reorte said:

Closing lines would be politically far more damaging now than it was then.

5 years is a long time in politics, especially when you know youve already lost.