The Pacer seems to have had an upgrade seat wise. Many of the ones used by Northern had bus seats, which added to the experience. Also the doors, imagine a crammed commuter train, where the doors open inwards squashing any one who forgot and moved too close!
The rough-riding was mostly to do with jointed track. When the Pacers were first introduced there were still quite a few branch lines with jointed track, with the introduction of continuous welded rail the rough riding has all but disappeared. I must say, Pacers do give an interesting ride over jointed track even a low speed, you can feel the joint.
I find with Pacers it depends on the unit, some of the 142/144s that Northern used were really bad and poorly maintained, but GWR looks as if its done a good job looking after their small fleet of 143s.
Pacers will forever live in infamy in the part of the country where I'm based. Here in Greater Manchester, we were lumbered with the majority of the Class 142 Pacer fleet for 35 years and have only now (December 2020) finally got rid of the last of them. I was unlucky with the first time I rode on a Pacer, between Bolton and Manchester Victoria, the ride the 142 provided nearly knocked me off my feet. The lack of bogies on Pacers, whichever class, is painful to listen to, when negotiating tight bends. Having said that, it's great that this footage has been recorded to preserve the sights and sounds of the units for posterity.
"desired Pacer" - probably the first time in history that those two words have appeared together. I suffered Northern's a few times, 2+2 seating would have been a serious upgrade. God-awful contraptions.
Lol there's a new definition for insanity : choosing to sit in a pacer when there's an empty 158 attached to it. But you're right, in that config, better than the 150s for sure.
I remember last year getting a Pacer between Rotherham and Sheffield for Uni and it still had the bus benches fitted. Looks like you got a posh Pacer at Exmouth!
Gonna miss these good little trains so much, oddly enough I could listen to the noise of that wheel flat all day. I'll miss the infamous screeching noise indicating a Pacer's presence too.
You got to travel on a 'posh' one! Northern still operated some Class 142s with 1970s Leyland bus style bench seating. Even the ones that were refurbished with 'normal' seats were pretty grim. They were so bad it was actually quite good fun travelling on them once in a while. I hope some of them are preserved. They are as much a part of UK rail heritage as a Deltic or a Class 37.
I quite like GWR’s 143s. Three units were refreshed and have GWR style seating. Before current restrictions came into place with how pacers could be operated, they occasionally escaped Devon and made it to Cardiff, Penzance and Westbury in recent years. One also covered a HST on a Paignton to Paddington train but only made it as far as Swindon. Thanks for posting, Exeter have looked after their 143s well and I will miss them. Most have been withdrawn but a couple are still available for use until 31st December.
That looks quite posh compared to the Class 142 Pacers we have up here, running out of Manchester Piccadilly. The first time I saw one, travelling from Manchester to Sheffield, it was filthy so I decided to wait for a better train. The last time I made that journey we were crammed in like sardines with a very grumpy driver. Once on a Journey from Leeds (?) to Sheffield I had to get off at Wakefield I felt so ill, and caught a non-Pacer back home. The noise of the engines is way too excessive for a comfortable ride.
An interesting video, thank you, the views of the estuary highlighting the importance of decent window/seat alignments to many people like myself. The people who design and commission trains don't seem to care about this. I was commuting daily from Starbeck to York when Pacers were introduced in the 1980's, and they turned a pleasant commute into hell! Even on that route, they were cramped. On one occasion I was on a Pacer that hit the buffers at York as it slid gracefully along the snow-covered rails. You also mention that in the old days standard couplings enabled any train to be coupled to any other train (more or less) - an advantage of British Rail that tends to get overlooked. Finally, I like the captions you use rather than the spoken voice that some RUclipsrs use.
As someone who used this train line every day for 2 years and now lives abroad it was real nice to watch that. I know the focus was the train but I liked the avocet lines scenery more!
12:20 Buses replace trains. I know, I'm on a bus right now. Thank you for a well produced & balanced presentation. I did have a soft spot for them, but did not ride them too often. Did you ever traverse the sharp curve north of Carnforth. Painful. Pity about the flat spot, but on welded rail with gentle curves they ran alright. Would love to see one on HS2, Probably would be a sweet ride.
One of those units that I think people will miss as time goes on and will think they weren’t so bad after all. Beautiful views on that line! Another great edit 👍
I once caught a Northern unit from Liverpool to Manchester just for the experience. By the summit of the climb out of Lime Street the stench of diesel fumes was overpowering. The three other passengers and I (the total passenger compliment) elected to open all the hopper windows (very hot day) only to be rewarded with a further rush of fumes from the exterior. I had a banging headache for hours afterwards. Ride? naff. Comfort? zilch. Visibility? excellent My local preserved railway (MNR) has just taken delivery of their third example arguing that at 25mph the ride quality will be less of an issue and the visibility an aid to tourist clientele in viewing the landscape. If they can properly maintain the diesel engines I might consider a second pacer ride!
Specifically, I think it's because on a 4-wheeled vehicle there's only one layer of suspension, whereas on an 8-wheeled (bogied) vehicle I believe there are 2 layers of suspension. Also, 15 metre length is a bit of a stretch for a 4-wheeled vehicle.
I once went through the Severn Tunnel on one - it was deafening. I agree that the Class 150 cannot be regarded as anything of an upgrage. As well as the generally cramped seating, the engines on the 150s are loud and make for a tiring experience. Now if GWR were to get something like the new class 195s ...!
Used to use these units on the Severn Beach line before they moved to Devon. Seats are comfy, but the rest is dire.... Noted that most of the passengers voted with their feet and travelled in the 158!🤔
Think I owe all Pacer users an apology. Sorry you lot. Ok, an explanation. 1980; I was staying at my grandparents gatekeepers cottage along the East Suffolk line (Ipswich to Lowestoft). The cottage, between Beccles & Oulton Board South was situated along a 1.5 mile straight. Now one Sunday morning, whilst I was out along the line picking apples (odd how many apple cores thrown out of the windows grew into trees) an odd looking orangely-yellow "thing" stopped outside the cottage and a couple of guys climbed out. I hot-footed it back to the cottage hoping they won't see me only to hear a familiar voice ... "Wanna trip to Lowestoft, Jon?" There was one of many relatives, the driver of said orange-yellow thingy. This thingy was the Leyland Experimental Vehicle 1 - LEV1 - the great grandfather of all Pacers. Here's someone's else's picture of said "train" further up the line ... www.traintesting.com/images/lev%20woodbridge%20grmortimer.jpg Ok, so I got a lift to Lowestoft. And back. And was asked about the ride. Which, to be honest, was far better than the class 101 / 105 DMUs we had at the time. So sorry. Maybe I was very *very* remotely responsible for Pacers. (I have photos of it somewhere....)
Wheel flats always develop during the Autumn leaf fall period, the problem this year is that the remedy involves tire-turning which reduces the wheel size by a fraction. As the supply of replacement wheel sets had already dried up nationally most sets are running on wheels of almost minimum size. At least two of the GWR units have been out of service for some time with scrap-size wheels and no replacements available.
The Class 143 Pacer Railbus trains were built around 1985 by Hunslet-Barclay and Walter Alexander. They were originally powered by Leyland TL 11 engines coupled to Self Changing Gearboxes and these were replaced by Cummins LTA10 engines coupled to Voith automatic gearboxes. The trains may get preserved at various different preserved, heritage railways. They are known as Railbus and not bus-train. The seat design is the Chapman SC1X bespoke Standard Class seat. If a wheelchair bound person needs to board a train, a member of rail staff will deploy a folding ramp, which will cover from the platform, over the step and into the floor of the saloon. Best wishes and take care. Kind regards, Peter Skuce. St Albans. Hertfordshire.
These Pacers have been a feature of my whole life - first on the Riviera Line and now as a commuter on the Valley Line. It's funny to think how something played a role without me really realising until recently.
Impressed you standing up for them but if you had been on them on the Hellifield to Heysham lines, methinks you might change your mind! Non-welded un-cared for track in a Pacer = hell!
Well maybe I’m one of the few that quite liked them! Probably down to teenage adventures all over the north west on them - different, bouncy and full of character! 💪
They certainly improved in later years but I remember the original Pacers when introduced with their 1980s bus seats and rickety suspension as the Class 142. Later they had upgraded interiors with more modern, but still bus derived seating and better suspension. That model you were on looks to be a much later refurbishment with some halfway decent train seating but that style of much more comfy seating was a much, much later addition and certainly not part of the original roll out back in the 80s. Believe me the originals and even later mid 90s refurbished units were much nosier and a hell of a lot less comfortable than that unit you were on.
Part of it was track upgrades. Pacers aren't too bad on welded track which pretty much all of GWR's Pacer-operated diagrams were by the end. But circa 2005 I often used to get the train to Exmouth for college and even 150s were clattery as hell down the branch on the jointed track of the time, fortunately the 8-strong 143 fleet Wessex had was much further up doing Taunton-Bristol via Weston services at the time. When the class 142 invasion happened to Devon in 2007 closely followed by moving the 143s to Devon the following year you could often see the gangway between the two carriages moving by 4 or 5 inches, and especially on the ex-Northern 142s which had the original bench seats they were very uncomfortable. Late-era 143s were fine on the 'Devon Metro' services they ran though.
We have just got rid of class 142's between Doncaster and Scunthorpe. Yes, they were a bit rough and ready, but were very open seating and quite sociable as the train rattled through the Isle of Axholme. Hot in summer, cold and draughty in winter (unless the heating was on 'greenhouse' setting), I will miss them rattling along like a runaway train.
I would love to go on one of these before they are all gone! I think TFW still have some I must try and get on one soon!! Once again amazing video don’t stop what you are doing we love it thank you so much!!!
An interesting aside; the West Country branches were one of the first areas to get Pacers, which were Class 142s, and were locally branded as Skippers to reflect the maritime heritage of the area. It backfired when they hit serious problems with flange wear, loud screeching and adhesion on sharply curved branches, leading to the nickname "Slippers"! They were rapidly replaced on the Looe and Gunnislake branches by first generation dmus with bogies, and I think St Ives as well. As a mixed fleet would be inconvenient, they were then transferred to the north. The awkward branches eventually got Class 150s and 153s with bogies. Pacers coped OK with the Exmouth and Barnstaple branches and the main lines.
Plenty of Pacer's have been earmarked for preservation, so they won't be entirely gone. The prototype Class 140 is around, a few 141's are still about, a whole bunch of 142's are going to preservation, and a few 144's are too. Not seen any numbers for 143's though.
Living up north pacers were my daily train for many years, cold in winter and boiling in summer, windows leaking, cramped, very noisy and smelly. Wheels screeching and bouncy wasn’t the half of it, been thrown around and out of your chair is the other half. As much as I didn’t like these trains, I still have fond memories of them and still to this day. They put a smile on my face. Do I want to go back to using them again, no. Do I want to see them in a museum, yes. As that’s now where they belong But the odd occasion they need to bring it out and use it as a special service. Lol
Sadly didn't get to ride one longer than 3 minutes between Exeter stations myself, so can't really comment on ride quality - but going uphill at full power round the corner, it was very loud - measured it at ~100dB at one point! Shame to see them go though.
I remember when the 143’s came down to the Bristol area when the franchise was called Regional Railways in the mid 90’s before privatization, A regular turn while they were on gradual transfer from the NE was the 16.00 BTM - Taunton. I always liked them as a train , Their exhaust note being quite characteristic and melodic .
In a recent article by someone whom has worked on them, the Pacers didn't really come cheap at all. They actually costed more to run than a Sprinter or Turboo units due to requiring more maintenance and they didn't save branch lines.
Great video. The pacers seem to be most dreaded on that route from the looks of things but definitely better than a 150 or a 166/165 for sure. I’d consider them decent units, if not great for the routes they used to serve (GWR Only 😛)
Interested in seeing how the 166 performs on the route, but it keeps failing to show up for its diagram. Apparently one had double engine failure a few weeks ago...
Great video. I love the Pacers and will be saddened when they are all gone. They have a lot more character than a boring class 150. The bounce is part of the experience😂 I do think a video of Pacers on the Valley lines would have put these a bit more on Par with the reality of the jointed track rather than on the ultra smooth mainline of the Devon coast which wins the bounce argument here. For me though its about the bounce that wins. Great content though. So thumbs up from me🤗
Nothing great about sitting on a pacer when it snowed in 2018 and 19. Fecking freezing between Preston and Rishton. Thankfully the stopping service is now a 150 or 158.
Nice video! I like old trains, especially Diesel units! I saw that there are a lot of non-electrified railway lines in the UK. It reminds me when I was a child, my parents had a house near a similar line and there were a lot of diesel trains. :-)
That was a very good review. The Pacers get a lot of knocks because it is "fashionable" to so do. I have ridden on them on the Cardiff Valley lines and I agree with your comments. The ride is not bad, the seats are comfortable, and the view from the windows is unbeatable. The only complaint that I would have is about the flange squeal, but considering that the reliability of these trains is near the top of the league tables, I have no problems with them.
The departure station It looks a bit like Windsor and Eton Central, a single-platform terminus, the only thing is that it is served by a 2- or 3- coach Class 166. Also, I don't know why these pacers are still in operation, I thought they were put to the recycler years ago!
They were fine for branch journeys of up to half an hour. However...as we've seen with other units they were used on journeys way longer than they were designed for.
Last time I traveled on a Pacer!! Chinley to Sheffield, Seating was Bus bench seats Chrome Handrails on the seatbacks. Every time it passed thru tunnels water leaked in!! The floor was a wash. Yes, it really was a Leyland Bus on Rails just an awful ride.
Definitely their best point was the window, I think. Much better than a 150. They do have a light, airy feel, much better than most other types of modern unit which feel rather claustrophobic. Nice wheel flats on that one!
I do agree with you about windows. One thing that makes travel enjoyable is being able to look out the window and watch the world go by and it makes me very grumpy if I end up with a seat next to a broad stansion or section of carriage wall with no window. You never get that on heritage railway carriage stock. It's like nowadays they design the shell first then cram the seating in as an after thought. And I mean cram.
@@SuperalbsTravels yes in March 1986 three of them were borrowed from Heaton depot to operate on the new Edinburgh to Bathgate service until replaced by Class 101s. The 3 Class 143 were only there for 2 weeks. The only other times the Class 143w ran in Scotland were when they were being delivered from Walter Alexander at Kilmarnock, on specials or for maintenance when Thornaby's wheel lathe was out of action.
Seats on that are much better than the ones we had on Northern which were bus bench seats which made riding them even more uncomfortable. Also that looks like a different model to the ones I used to get on which had a front like a bus, that one has a different flat front.
Think you were on 142s, this is a 143. There was also a 144, which (in some cases) was a 3 coach version and had a similar body to a 143, just a different manufacturer
It's worth remembering that when the Class 150 Sprinters were originally introduced in the 1980s they were a real upgrade on the first-generation dmus that they replaced - the drivers gave them their nickname because of the better acceleration. The Pacers were less good but the ride seems to have been improved over the years and the seats are better now, at least on 143s. Track improvements may have helped - the Pacers seem better on long-welded rail than jointed track. And they were built to a very tight budget at a time when money was short.
No they didn't, they were branded as Sprinter when new and had a drawing of a person sprinting and the word "Sprinter" on the sides. 155s/156s had "SuperSprinter" on the side. Consider it kind of an equivalent to the "Inter-City 125" branding down the sides of HST powercars back in the day
@@Danse_Macabre_125 My recollection is that when the first few (probably the two pairs of prototypes) were introduced, the test drivers immediately took to them and started calling them Sprinters. British Rail managers/engineers realised that this was a good thing and very quickly adopted the name officially, so that all the production batches got the Sprinter name and logo, probably from the outset. They then tried the same idea with the Pacers or, in the West Country, the Skippers, but the snags with ride quality and bus-type seats tarnished the image. As you say, this then led on to the Super Sprinter branding for 155/6s, and also Express Sprinter for 158/9s.
@iankemp1131 Safe to say, you learn something new every day. I wasn't alive in the 80s so I only went off some old footage of Provincial liveried 150s taken circa '85, thanks for the info. Just out of curiosity, how come Pacers were branded as Skippers in the West?
@@Danse_Macabre_125 I'm trying to remember where I heard about the drivers naming the Sprinters, I think it was in a railway club talk at the time on the new generation dmus by a BR engineer. BR were pleased that the Class 150s proved popular as the first generation dmus were showing their age, though I loved the front views! - I took a number of videos before they disappeared.
@@Danse_Macabre_125 The West Country local branding of Class 142s as Skippers was intended to reflect the maritime heritage of the area. It backfired when they hit serious problems with flange wear, loud screeching and adhesion on sharply curved branches, leading to the nickname "Slippers"! They were rapidly replaced on the Looe and Gunnislake branches by first generation dmus with bogies, and I think St Ives as well. As a mixed fleet would be inconvenient, they were then transferred to the north. The awkward branches eventually got Class 150s and 153s with bogies.
I get the opportunity to ride on one at the place I volunteer. I haven't had any mainline experience with them but from the experiences I have had on really tight bends they do squeal a bit but not that bad, I find them quite nice actually
Great video on the pacer it seems like they are dissapearing fast from Britains rail network yes the doors and also the door buttons definitely a bus like feature but apart from that the coastal scenery in Devon looking out to the English Channel 😍
I hear what you're saying re: the 150s feeling cramped. Most of them up North have a 3+2 seating layout. I'd have to say that with a decent refurb and a change to 2+2, they'd probably be OK. The 15Xs, with exception to 158s, are coming up for replacement soon and as many run on partially electrified routes ideal for the 769s, it doesn't seem likely the 150s will be around much longer.
Yeah Pacers were trains with a lot of problems of design about comfort, but they were a very smart idea about how to build small and cheap trains to operate with low costs on small lines and keep open these small provincial lines
They gave nearly 30 years service on the valleys they were good trains with character was fun traveling up to Merthyr or ebbw vale the noise was really loud but they were the backbone of the services in the south Wales valleys miss them in the valley just seems odd now at Queen Street or central and not seeing them but they are now sadly gone 😥
You are right about them already having been withdrawn; according to the GWR Wikipedia page, they were withdrawn earlier this month. Presumably, this line is now operated by Class 158 and 150 units?
Wikipedia is wrong in this case, as they were withdrawn at the end of yesterday (12/12/20). That is, if GWR hasn't done what TfW did today (13/12/20) and put 3 142s in service the day after "their last day"! I heard that any remaining GWR 143s can still be used "in an emergency" until the end of the year. 158s, 150s and even 166s I believe.
As a Driver of 142's from 1989 to 2011 I can say this.....Yes they did not ride too well except on good track and in Leaf fall they were terrible at either starting or stopping. I must have have driven them for thousands of miles and apart from ONE time when I was TOTAL failure with a massive air leak on the main line at Carnforth I always got to where I was going even if only on One engine.This is all a Driver wants to do get him or her and the passengers to destination or where assistance is available.
Bouncy but not rough i.e. low-frequency but high amplitude oscillation (no bogies). Rough can be an express heading into London at full tilt - lots of high frequency harshness (including the Azumas). The Pacers were unbelievably tough - the overloading I've seen on them and they just soldier(ed) on. Perhaps that overcrowding left many people with a distinctly unpleasant memory of them.
Great video - thanks for posting. I'd take a 14x over a 150 any day - good views, seating aplenty, bouncy ride, tad noisy - but the 150s remind me of an airport waiting area on wheels; horrid passenger experience. The press have programmed people into seemingly believing Sprinters are decent trains - they ain't! Amazed that railcards such as the 16-25, senior citizens, etc. continue to be available - total age discrimination against those not in the chosen categories.
The fact is for low density services you need a cheap simple train to keep the service viable and that was exactly what the Pacer was. Had it not existed then we would have lost a lot more services in the 80s as the first generation DMUs expired.
Could be a bit uncomfortable ride but much worse for the driver! Good for tourist lines - big windows and low seat backs. Had a great trip on the Settle and Carlisle in a set.
@@SuperalbsTravels ik. They just decided not to go anywhere near London and the trips i had planned to ride them (mainly the Northern ones) ended up getting cancelled due to Covid-19
No chance, Pacers were never cleared to run on any rails in Network SouthEast territory ... I can't think why the government would inflict these abominations on every other part of the country except the home counties 🤨
They filled the massive gap in the 80s, they were a necessary evil in the 90s and early 00s and from 2005 onwards they were considered to be life expired, uncomfortable (on some tracks) the bus seats on the 142s were an abomination to anyones backside for any longer than 10mins, and from an accessibility perspective they've been illegal for longer than they should've been. All in all nostalgically people will miss them, but their bodies and minds will soon bid them fair well when they get used to a either a 150, 158, 165, 166, 170, 195, 197, 231 or 756 on their local lines, and trust me when they get used to a quality Stadler 756 in Wales they'll very quickly forget all about them and wake up to what the rest of the country has had for years.
The class 158 end of the train looks much busier than the pacer end lol
Funny that, even the non railway nerds see a pacer and vote with their bums
At least 158 gives you proper-train ride quality lol
@@Euroduplex yes lol
@@Euroduplex Before we continue, let's pay respects to the Pacers that made our trains what they are.
@@AvidAtEverything Pacers should be connected with 180s and......
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The Pacer seems to have had an upgrade seat wise. Many of the ones used by Northern had bus seats, which added to the experience.
Also the doors, imagine a crammed commuter train, where the doors open inwards squashing any one who forgot and moved too close!
You did it! Nice. You need to go on a class 142 for the full experience. The old now gone northern 142s with the bus seats were something else.
Is that the thing that used to go from Picadilly to Manchester Airport? Five bus seats across?
They used to have them in Devon till a few years ago
Took one from Carlisle to Newcastle once. It was quiet so I got a whole 3 person bench to myself. It was surprisingly comfortable
I liked them, and will miss them when I next go to Bradford, when this virus ends.
@@danensisYep those were the ones
Thanks for the shout out. I thought it was my last working before their withdrawal,but worked both 617 and 618 today!
Ahh brilliant! I must confess that I have been out on them a lot lately as well. Thanks for watching! 😁
The rough-riding was mostly to do with jointed track. When the Pacers were first introduced there were still quite a few branch lines with jointed track, with the introduction of continuous welded rail the rough riding has all but disappeared. I must say, Pacers do give an interesting ride over jointed track even a low speed, you can feel the joint.
I find with Pacers it depends on the unit, some of the 142/144s that Northern used were really bad and poorly maintained, but GWR looks as if its done a good job looking after their small fleet of 143s.
Pacers will forever live in infamy in the part of the country where I'm based. Here in Greater Manchester, we were lumbered with the majority of the Class 142 Pacer fleet for 35 years and have only now (December 2020) finally got rid of the last of them. I was unlucky with the first time I rode on a Pacer, between Bolton and Manchester Victoria, the ride the 142 provided nearly knocked me off my feet.
The lack of bogies on Pacers, whichever class, is painful to listen to, when negotiating tight bends. Having said that, it's great that this footage has been recorded to preserve the sights and sounds of the units for posterity.
The nodding donkeys
143, what luxury, we have had to put up with 142's around Cardiff
"desired Pacer" - probably the first time in history that those two words have appeared together.
I suffered Northern's a few times, 2+2 seating would have been a serious upgrade. God-awful contraptions.
Did the 142s have actual benches?
@@hesterclapp9717I believe some had bench seats identical to those on a bus from the 1980s
That unit sounds like it has some serious flats
They alway sounded terrible, It is a bus body slammed onto a freight train chassis.
Hey man I like your vids this is the last place I thought I would see you
@@nationwidecoinhunt1176 I'm all places all times 😬😬
Sounded like a steamtrain thumping noice of the pistons.
A bus train
Lol there's a new definition for insanity : choosing to sit in a pacer when there's an empty 158 attached to it. But you're right, in that config, better than the 150s for sure.
Admittedly, I do prefer the 158s to a Pacer, however with the clock ever-ticking, I had no choice!
I remember last year getting a Pacer between Rotherham and Sheffield for Uni and it still had the bus benches fitted. Looks like you got a posh Pacer at Exmouth!
Gonna miss these good little trains so much, oddly enough I could listen to the noise of that wheel flat all day.
I'll miss the infamous screeching noise indicating a Pacer's presence too.
Oddly im going to feel the same
You got to travel on a 'posh' one! Northern still operated some Class 142s with 1970s Leyland bus style bench seating. Even the ones that were refurbished with 'normal' seats were pretty grim. They were so bad it was actually quite good fun travelling on them once in a while. I hope some of them are preserved. They are as much a part of UK rail heritage as a Deltic or a Class 37.
I quite like GWR’s 143s. Three units were refreshed and have GWR style seating. Before current restrictions came into place with how pacers could be operated, they occasionally escaped Devon and made it to Cardiff, Penzance and Westbury in recent years. One also covered a HST on a Paignton to Paddington train but only made it as far as Swindon. Thanks for posting, Exeter have looked after their 143s well and I will miss them. Most have been withdrawn but a couple are still available for use until 31st December.
I haven’t ridden them for years but seem to recall they were bouncy and didn’t like tight curves. Their passing not bemoaned by many, I suspect.
They squealed through Gateshead off the High Level Bridge, like nails down a blackboard
That looks quite posh compared to the Class 142 Pacers we have up here, running out of Manchester Piccadilly.
The first time I saw one, travelling from Manchester to Sheffield, it was filthy so I decided to wait for a better train. The last time I made that journey we were crammed in like sardines with a very grumpy driver.
Once on a Journey from Leeds (?) to Sheffield I had to get off at Wakefield I felt so ill, and caught a non-Pacer back home.
The noise of the engines is way too excessive for a comfortable ride.
1:49 Indeed, the slam door stock could be mixed and matched between classes.
The 143 is the Bentley of Pacers.
Hahaha, absolutely!
No, it was more of a Plaxton of Pacers
An interesting video, thank you, the views of the estuary highlighting the importance of decent window/seat alignments to many people like myself. The people who design and commission trains don't seem to care about this. I was commuting daily from Starbeck to York when Pacers were introduced in the 1980's, and they turned a pleasant commute into hell! Even on that route, they were cramped. On one occasion I was on a Pacer that hit the buffers at York as it slid gracefully along the snow-covered rails. You also mention that in the old days standard couplings enabled any train to be coupled to any other train (more or less) - an advantage of British Rail that tends to get overlooked. Finally, I like the captions you use rather than the spoken voice that some RUclipsrs use.
As someone who used this train line every day for 2 years and now lives abroad it was real nice to watch that. I know the focus was the train but I liked the avocet lines scenery more!
12:20 Buses replace trains. I know, I'm on a bus right now. Thank you for a well produced & balanced presentation. I did have a soft spot for them, but did not ride them too often. Did you ever traverse the sharp curve north of Carnforth. Painful. Pity about the flat spot, but on welded rail with gentle curves they ran alright. Would love to see one on HS2, Probably would be a sweet ride.
Loved the FGW moquette!
That pacer sounds like machine gun fire! Quality video albie
Thank you muchly, glad you enjoyed.
Where I live, just outside Manchester our Pacers, have been recently retired. Manchester Victoria Train Station in rush hour was like Pacer Central.
Aka Cardiff central
One of those units that I think people will miss as time goes on and will think they weren’t so bad after all. Beautiful views on that line! Another great edit 👍
Great documentation of the Pacers. Nice to see the Class 143 with the bonus Class 158 Sprinter.
I once caught a Northern unit from Liverpool to Manchester just for the experience. By the summit of the climb out of Lime Street the stench of diesel fumes was overpowering. The three other passengers and I (the total passenger compliment) elected to open all the hopper windows (very hot day) only to be rewarded with a further rush of fumes from the exterior. I had a banging headache for hours afterwards.
Ride? naff. Comfort? zilch. Visibility? excellent
My local preserved railway (MNR) has just taken delivery of their third example arguing that at 25mph the ride quality will be less of an issue and the visibility an aid to tourist clientele in viewing the landscape.
If they can properly maintain the diesel engines I might consider a second pacer ride!
Yes another video on the famous bouncy castle train
Because of the suspension
Specifically, I think it's because on a 4-wheeled vehicle there's only one layer of suspension, whereas on an 8-wheeled (bogied) vehicle I believe there are 2 layers of suspension. Also, 15 metre length is a bit of a stretch for a 4-wheeled vehicle.
They may be bouncy but at least the seats are soft :)
@@thomasjones8648 yeah see u can sleep
I once went through the Severn Tunnel on one - it was deafening. I agree that the Class 150 cannot be regarded as anything of an upgrage. As well as the generally cramped seating, the engines on the 150s are loud and make for a tiring experience. Now if GWR were to get something like the new class 195s ...!
Used to use these units on the Severn Beach line before they moved to Devon. Seats are comfy, but the rest is dire.... Noted that most of the passengers voted with their feet and travelled in the 158!🤔
Think I owe all Pacer users an apology. Sorry you lot.
Ok, an explanation. 1980; I was staying at my grandparents gatekeepers cottage along the East Suffolk line (Ipswich to Lowestoft). The cottage, between Beccles & Oulton Board South was situated along a 1.5 mile straight. Now one Sunday morning, whilst I was out along the line picking apples (odd how many apple cores thrown out of the windows grew into trees) an odd looking orangely-yellow "thing" stopped outside the cottage and a couple of guys climbed out. I hot-footed it back to the cottage hoping they won't see me only to hear a familiar voice ... "Wanna trip to Lowestoft, Jon?" There was one of many relatives, the driver of said orange-yellow thingy. This thingy was the Leyland Experimental Vehicle 1 - LEV1 - the great grandfather of all Pacers. Here's someone's else's picture of said "train" further up the line ...
www.traintesting.com/images/lev%20woodbridge%20grmortimer.jpg
Ok, so I got a lift to Lowestoft. And back. And was asked about the ride. Which, to be honest, was far better than the class 101 / 105 DMUs we had at the time. So sorry. Maybe I was very *very* remotely responsible for Pacers. (I have photos of it somewhere....)
Wheel flats always develop during the Autumn leaf fall period, the problem this year is that the remedy involves tire-turning which reduces the wheel size by a fraction. As the supply of replacement wheel sets had already dried up nationally most sets are running on wheels of almost minimum size. At least two of the GWR units have been out of service for some time with scrap-size wheels and no replacements available.
That is what I had been told, thanks for confirming this!
The Class 143 Pacer Railbus trains were built around 1985 by Hunslet-Barclay and Walter Alexander. They were originally powered by Leyland TL 11 engines coupled to Self Changing Gearboxes and these were replaced by Cummins LTA10 engines coupled to Voith automatic gearboxes. The trains may get preserved at various different preserved, heritage railways. They are known as Railbus and not bus-train. The seat design is the Chapman SC1X bespoke Standard Class seat. If a wheelchair bound person needs to board a train, a member of rail staff will deploy a folding ramp, which will cover from the platform, over the step and into the floor of the saloon.
Best wishes and take care. Kind regards, Peter Skuce. St Albans. Hertfordshire.
These Pacers have been a feature of my whole life - first on the Riviera Line and now as a commuter on the Valley Line. It's funny to think how something played a role without me really realising until recently.
Impressed you standing up for them but if you had been on them on the Hellifield to Heysham lines, methinks you might change your mind! Non-welded un-cared for track in a Pacer = hell!
Well maybe I’m one of the few that quite liked them! Probably down to teenage adventures all over the north west on them - different, bouncy and full of character! 💪
They certainly improved in later years but I remember the original Pacers when introduced with their 1980s bus seats and rickety suspension as the Class 142. Later they had upgraded interiors with more modern, but still bus derived seating and better suspension. That model you were on looks to be a much later refurbishment with some halfway decent train seating but that style of much more comfy seating was a much, much later addition and certainly not part of the original roll out back in the 80s. Believe me the originals and even later mid 90s refurbished units were much nosier and a hell of a lot less comfortable than that unit you were on.
Part of it was track upgrades. Pacers aren't too bad on welded track which pretty much all of GWR's Pacer-operated diagrams were by the end. But circa 2005 I often used to get the train to Exmouth for college and even 150s were clattery as hell down the branch on the jointed track of the time, fortunately the 8-strong 143 fleet Wessex had was much further up doing Taunton-Bristol via Weston services at the time. When the class 142 invasion happened to Devon in 2007 closely followed by moving the 143s to Devon the following year you could often see the gangway between the two carriages moving by 4 or 5 inches, and especially on the ex-Northern 142s which had the original bench seats they were very uncomfortable. Late-era 143s were fine on the 'Devon Metro' services they ran though.
We have just got rid of class 142's between Doncaster and Scunthorpe. Yes, they were a bit rough and ready, but were very open seating and quite sociable as the train rattled through the Isle of Axholme. Hot in summer, cold and draughty in winter (unless the heating was on 'greenhouse' setting), I will miss them rattling along like a runaway train.
I would love to go on one of these before they are all gone! I think TFW still have some I must try and get on one soon!! Once again amazing video don’t stop what you are doing we love it thank you so much!!!
I hadn't expect both them and the 332s to go out with a bang about the same time.
Well, it was an honour to know them while they lasted
I think Northern should get the 332s and then make all the 319s into bi-mode 769s.
@@danielsellers8707 the class 332s have been scrapped
2:47 POSH!
Some Nothern Pacers still has "bench" instead of seats.
They should have been scrapped in the 90s! They will still be screeching around Wales well into 2023!
Well, Pacers are definitely love-hate units (mostly hate) but you shouldn't underestimate the role they played.
An interesting aside; the West Country branches were one of the first areas to get Pacers, which were Class 142s, and were locally branded as Skippers to reflect the maritime heritage of the area. It backfired when they hit serious problems with flange wear, loud screeching and adhesion on sharply curved branches, leading to the nickname "Slippers"! They were rapidly replaced on the Looe and Gunnislake branches by first generation dmus with bogies, and I think St Ives as well. As a mixed fleet would be inconvenient, they were then transferred to the north. The awkward branches eventually got Class 150s and 153s with bogies. Pacers coped OK with the Exmouth and Barnstaple branches and the main lines.
Slippers! 😂😂😂
6:10 No air con, but free shower when raining.
This worth extra charge, indeed.
Well then,farewell my bouncy bois
Haha pacer goes bounce
This video was literally my life for 2 years.
I've also commuted a lot on these trains, really miss them.
Plenty of Pacer's have been earmarked for preservation, so they won't be entirely gone.
The prototype Class 140 is around, a few 141's are still about, a whole bunch of 142's are going to preservation, and a few 144's are too. Not seen any numbers for 143's though.
Living up north pacers were my daily train for many years, cold in winter and boiling in summer, windows leaking, cramped, very noisy and smelly.
Wheels screeching and bouncy wasn’t the half of it, been thrown around and out of your chair is the other half.
As much as I didn’t like these trains, I still have fond memories of them and still to this day. They put a smile on my face. Do I want to go back to using them again, no. Do I want to see them in a museum, yes. As that’s now where they belong But the odd occasion they need to bring it out and use it as a special service. Lol
Fair statement, their history and contributions to the nation should not be forgotten!
@@SuperalbsTravels completely agree. I love them but in a funny way lol
Even on a bad day that scenery is a little more interesting than the suburban wasteland between Stratford and Shenfield
Sadly didn't get to ride one longer than 3 minutes between Exeter stations myself, so can't really comment on ride quality - but going uphill at full power round the corner, it was very loud - measured it at ~100dB at one point! Shame to see them go though.
I remember when the 143’s came down to the Bristol area when the franchise was called Regional Railways in the mid 90’s before privatization, A regular turn while they were on gradual transfer from the NE was the 16.00 BTM - Taunton.
I always liked them as a train , Their exhaust note being quite characteristic and melodic .
Yeah, they were great to commute on.
In a recent article by someone whom has worked on them, the Pacers didn't really come cheap at all. They actually costed more to run than a Sprinter or Turboo units due to requiring more maintenance and they didn't save branch lines.
I believe I've read that they were cheaper than the ill-fated 210s, but similar to 150s. Having said that, they're nicer than 150s...
@@SuperalbsTravelsMore windows perhaps but ride and crashworthiness i.e. 142059 were the downside.
Great video.
The pacers seem to be most dreaded on that route from the looks of things but definitely better than a 150 or a 166/165 for sure. I’d consider them decent units, if not great for the routes they used to serve (GWR Only 😛)
Interested in seeing how the 166 performs on the route, but it keeps failing to show up for its diagram. Apparently one had double engine failure a few weeks ago...
Great video.
I love the Pacers and will be saddened when they are all gone.
They have a lot more character than a boring class 150.
The bounce is part of the experience😂
I do think a video of Pacers on the Valley lines would have put these a bit more on Par with the reality of the jointed track rather than on the ultra smooth mainline of the Devon coast which wins the bounce argument here.
For me though its about the bounce that wins.
Great content though.
So thumbs up from me🤗
Kept oversleeping for my trips to Wales, lol! Thanks for watching. :)
What a lovely little sendoff. Verrry cuTTe(!) :3
I'll miss Pacers cause they're great trains 😭😭😭
Tell that to the North 😂
They are rly great trains, I'll rly miss them in South Wales
None of these words are true
Nothing great about sitting on a pacer when it snowed in 2018 and 19. Fecking freezing between Preston and Rishton.
Thankfully the stopping service is now a 150 or 158.
Nice video! I like old trains, especially Diesel units! I saw that there are a lot of non-electrified railway lines in the UK. It reminds me when I was a child, my parents had a house near a similar line and there were a lot of diesel trains. :-)
That was a very good review. The Pacers get a lot of knocks because it is "fashionable" to so do.
I have ridden on them on the Cardiff Valley lines and I agree with your comments. The ride is not bad, the seats are comfortable, and the view from the windows is unbeatable. The only complaint that I would have is about the flange squeal, but considering that the reliability of these trains is near the top of the league tables, I have no problems with them.
I have to agree, it's 'cool' to hate the pacers, but from a passenger perspective, this fleet isn't exactly that bad. Others, not so good, admittedly.
The departure station It looks a bit like Windsor and Eton Central, a single-platform terminus, the only thing is that it is served by a 2- or 3- coach Class 166.
Also, I don't know why these pacers are still in operation, I thought they were put to the recycler years ago!
They were fine for branch journeys of up to half an hour. However...as we've seen with other units they were used on journeys way longer than they were designed for.
I liked them personally. I did the pacers farewell tour around the Cardiff Valley lines.
I like them too, I was on the very last Pacer service in England with my friend. :(
Last time I traveled on a Pacer!! Chinley to Sheffield, Seating was Bus bench seats Chrome Handrails on the seatbacks. Every time it passed thru tunnels water leaked in!! The floor was a wash. Yes, it really was a Leyland Bus on Rails just an awful ride.
My first and last ride on a 142 were both on the Hope Valley line...
4:45
Sounds as though a wheel has got a flat spot !
I love pacers and will forever miss them.
Definitely their best point was the window, I think. Much better than a 150. They do have a light, airy feel, much better than most other types of modern unit which feel rather claustrophobic. Nice wheel flats on that one!
I do agree with you about windows. One thing that makes travel enjoyable is being able to look out the window and watch the world go by and it makes me very grumpy if I end up with a seat next to a broad stansion or section of carriage wall with no window. You never get that on heritage railway carriage stock. It's like nowadays they design the shell first then cram the seating in as an after thought. And I mean cram.
Exactly, there's never problems with the view on a 143!
I haven't been to Exmouth in ages
Me neither
I remember seeing one of the class 143 in their early days in the north-east.
Ooh yes, I believe some were even in service in Scotland once!
@@SuperalbsTravels yes in March 1986 three of them were borrowed from Heaton depot to operate on the new Edinburgh to Bathgate service until replaced by Class 101s. The 3 Class 143 were only there for 2 weeks. The only other times the Class 143w ran in Scotland were when they were being delivered from Walter Alexander at Kilmarnock, on specials or for maintenance when Thornaby's wheel lathe was out of action.
Seats on that are much better than the ones we had on Northern which were bus bench seats which made riding them even more uncomfortable. Also that looks like a different model to the ones I used to get on which had a front like a bus, that one has a different flat front.
Yeah, there are a few types, I prefer this one! :)
Think you were on 142s, this is a 143. There was also a 144, which (in some cases) was a 3 coach version and had a similar body to a 143, just a different manufacturer
It's worth remembering that when the Class 150 Sprinters were originally introduced in the 1980s they were a real upgrade on the first-generation dmus that they replaced - the drivers gave them their nickname because of the better acceleration. The Pacers were less good but the ride seems to have been improved over the years and the seats are better now, at least on 143s. Track improvements may have helped - the Pacers seem better on long-welded rail than jointed track. And they were built to a very tight budget at a time when money was short.
No they didn't, they were branded as Sprinter when new and had a drawing of a person sprinting and the word "Sprinter" on the sides. 155s/156s had "SuperSprinter" on the side.
Consider it kind of an equivalent to the "Inter-City 125" branding down the sides of HST powercars back in the day
@@Danse_Macabre_125 My recollection is that when the first few (probably the two pairs of prototypes) were introduced, the test drivers immediately took to them and started calling them Sprinters. British Rail managers/engineers realised that this was a good thing and very quickly adopted the name officially, so that all the production batches got the Sprinter name and logo, probably from the outset. They then tried the same idea with the Pacers or, in the West Country, the Skippers, but the snags with ride quality and bus-type seats tarnished the image. As you say, this then led on to the Super Sprinter branding for 155/6s, and also Express Sprinter for 158/9s.
@iankemp1131 Safe to say, you learn something new every day. I wasn't alive in the 80s so I only went off some old footage of Provincial liveried 150s taken circa '85, thanks for the info.
Just out of curiosity, how come Pacers were branded as Skippers in the West?
@@Danse_Macabre_125 I'm trying to remember where I heard about the drivers naming the Sprinters, I think it was in a railway club talk at the time on the new generation dmus by a BR engineer. BR were pleased that the Class 150s proved popular as the first generation dmus were showing their age, though I loved the front views! - I took a number of videos before they disappeared.
@@Danse_Macabre_125 The West Country local branding of Class 142s as Skippers was intended to reflect the maritime heritage of the area. It backfired when they hit serious problems with flange wear, loud screeching and adhesion on sharply curved branches, leading to the nickname "Slippers"! They were rapidly replaced on the Looe and Gunnislake branches by first generation dmus with bogies, and I think St Ives as well. As a mixed fleet would be inconvenient, they were then transferred to the north. The awkward branches eventually got Class 150s and 153s with bogies.
I get the opportunity to ride on one at the place I volunteer. I haven't had any mainline experience with them but from the experiences I have had on really tight bends they do squeal a bit but not that bad, I find them quite nice actually
Great fun! Take care of it well. 🙂
@@SuperalbsTravels yup I'm part of the team that is keep an eye on it. Hoping to get it on proper services this year if all goes to plan!
Good to hear! 😍
Great video on the pacer it seems like they are dissapearing fast from Britains rail network yes the doors and also the door buttons definitely a bus like feature but apart from that the coastal scenery in Devon looking out to the English Channel 😍
thank god we no longer have them no northern. Horrid things. I'm surprised gwr even had any.
I miss 144012 though, why did they get rid od it?
@@YorksLancsTransportHub very stupid of northern/DfT.it only been refurbed a few years ago
@@YorksLancsTransportHub yeah 144012 was the king of the Pacers because it was accessible but the livery at the toilet end looks a bit off
I hear what you're saying re: the 150s feeling cramped. Most of them up North have a 3+2 seating layout. I'd have to say that with a decent refurb and a change to 2+2, they'd probably be OK. The 15Xs, with exception to 158s, are coming up for replacement soon and as many run on partially electrified routes ideal for the 769s, it doesn't seem likely the 150s will be around much longer.
If I recall correctly it's only the 150/2s (the ones with the front gangway) that were built with 2+2 seats
Yeah Pacers were trains with a lot of problems of design about comfort, but they were a very smart idea about how to build small and cheap trains to operate with low costs on small lines and keep open these small provincial lines
They gave nearly 30 years service on the valleys they were good trains with character was fun traveling up to Merthyr or ebbw vale the noise was really loud but they were the backbone of the services in the south Wales valleys miss them in the valley just seems odd now at Queen Street or central and not seeing them but they are now sadly gone 😥
It is sad! 😭
You are right about them already having been withdrawn; according to the GWR Wikipedia page, they were withdrawn earlier this month. Presumably, this line is now operated by Class 158 and 150 units?
Wikipedia is wrong in this case, as they were withdrawn at the end of yesterday (12/12/20). That is, if GWR hasn't done what TfW did today (13/12/20) and put 3 142s in service the day after "their last day"! I heard that any remaining GWR 143s can still be used "in an emergency" until the end of the year.
158s, 150s and even 166s I believe.
Mostly Class 150s with the occasional 158.
@@nitrax8629 Thanks, he says it in the video as well. That's what I get for not watching the whole video before commenting 😂.
Cool stuff. Thank you! 👍
Mixed views on the Pacers for me. Once did TOT-PNZ, slow, noisy and basic sitting on a classic low back bus seat. Return on a FGW HST, super comfort.
Over a dozen Pacers across the classes have been preserved so far on heritage lines.,
Oh good, I'm so glad to hear that! 😊
I don't know why we need a dozen. We have a about that many original Great Western (1835-1948) 5700 steam engines. Quieter then these.
6:00 ‘‘twas a fine day
As a Driver of 142's from 1989 to 2011 I can say this.....Yes they did not ride too well except on good track and in Leaf fall they were terrible at either starting or stopping. I must have have driven them for thousands of miles and apart from ONE time when I was TOTAL failure with a massive air leak on the main line at Carnforth I always got to where I was going even if only on One engine.This is all a Driver wants to do get him or her and the passengers to destination or where assistance is available.
They may sometimes be dumpy and jumpy, but I'd rely on them! :)
Our GWR Pacers were very reliable I believe.
Bouncy but not rough i.e. low-frequency but high amplitude oscillation (no bogies). Rough can be an express heading into London at full tilt - lots of high frequency harshness (including the Azumas). The Pacers were unbelievably tough - the overloading I've seen on them and they just soldier(ed) on. Perhaps that overcrowding left many people with a distinctly unpleasant memory of them.
They were hard workers, and I hope that's what they are remembered for. :)
They were hammered in the Valleys but were very reliable units 🏴
They're HSTs- High Screech Trains. Got that from a Geoff Marshall vid.
lol
They're also HSTs - Highly Shit Trains
The windows are pretty clean. I can't say the same about the train I was travelling on recently from Exeter to Paignton.
Great video - thanks for posting. I'd take a 14x over a 150 any day - good views, seating aplenty, bouncy ride, tad noisy - but the 150s remind me of an airport waiting area on wheels; horrid passenger experience. The press have programmed people into seemingly believing Sprinters are decent trains - they ain't!
Amazed that railcards such as the 16-25, senior citizens, etc. continue to be available - total age discrimination against those not in the chosen categories.
A national railcard scheme available for everyone would be something I could support - that's the case in most other countries.
And 100%, the 150s are very nasty bits of tat.
The fact is for low density services you need a cheap simple train to keep the service viable and that was exactly what the Pacer was. Had it not existed then we would have lost a lot more services in the 80s as the first generation DMUs expired.
A lot of pacers have been used in my area the Northwest of England.However I haven't seen any recently on Northern trains .
They are all gone now from Northern
Could be a bit uncomfortable ride but much worse for the driver!
Good for tourist lines - big windows and low seat backs.
Had a great trip on the Settle and Carlisle in a set.
Wow, quite a long journey in one that! Some sort of 144 I presume?
haha I've just heard that 143617 and 143618 will be back in service tomorrow (18/12/20!)
They were out on the 21st together, it was a good time.
Did a pacer from Bradford to Manchester a few years ago... it was everything everyone says, noisy, uncomfortable... thank got the scenery was nice
Will sadly miss these trains. Wont even be able to ride one as they dont run anywhere near london which makes me sad
Such a shame you couldn't ride them! :(
@@SuperalbsTravels ik. They just decided not to go anywhere near London and the trips i had planned to ride them (mainly the Northern ones) ended up getting cancelled due to Covid-19
The flats may be due to how stupidly easy it is to lock up all wheels under braking when low adhesion occurs. Even in brake step 1.
amazing video really well done
ignite your passion, return the much beloved pacers #blovedpacers #Ilovepacers
I thought at beginning it said pacer from exmouth to Paddington, not paignton, and i was like WHAAATTTTT
No chance, Pacers were never cleared to run on any rails in Network SouthEast territory ... I can't think why the government would inflict these abominations on every other part of the country except the home counties 🤨
The big question
Would you rather have more legroom and Iron board seats or less legroom with more comfortable seats?
I'd probably have to choose comfortable seats. :)
They filled the massive gap in the 80s, they were a necessary evil in the 90s and early 00s and from 2005 onwards they were considered to be life expired, uncomfortable (on some tracks) the bus seats on the 142s were an abomination to anyones backside for any longer than 10mins, and from an accessibility perspective they've been illegal for longer than they should've been.
All in all nostalgically people will miss them, but their bodies and minds will soon bid them fair well when they get used to a either a 150, 158, 165, 166, 170, 195, 197, 231 or 756 on their local lines, and trust me when they get used to a quality Stadler 756 in Wales they'll very quickly forget all about them and wake up to what the rest of the country has had for years.