The Ordsall Chord will need to be a very curvy section of track. Pacers are banned from lines in Cornwall such as St Ives Bay Line because it's too curvy. Could the Ordsall Chord finish up being unsuitable for Pacers?
The oldest units to use it will proberbly be 158s...
The actual cord is intended to be used by (from current service patterns)
Cleethorpes - Sheffeild - Manchester airport
The Ordsall Chord will need to be a very curvy section of track. Pacers are banned from lines in Cornwall such as St Ives Bay Line because it's too curvy. Could the Ordsall Chord finish up being unsuitable for Pacers?
Was in a Northern Hub draft doccy IIRC...
According to the Sectional Appendix Class 142's and 143's ARE actually passed for ALL Cornish branch lines.
They are unlikely to work on any of them however due to crewing issues.
Would not the supposed date of Pacer renewal to a different vehicle with correct bogies be really all that far removed from the completion date currently envisaged for the operational use of the Ordsall Chord. I am sure that the matter of any class 142 Pacer using the Ordsall Chord will have already been subject to technical evaluation, knowing how many of these units will still be in operational use.
Plus the main reason for not using them on the branchlines is that if they stay on them long term they go through wheelsets like a big wheelset eating thing. They were needing new sets near constantly.
One or two trips shouldn't be a big issue though
The oldest units to use it will proberbly be 158s...
The actual cord is intended to be used by (from current service patterns)
Cleethorpes - Sheffeild - Manchester airport
Newcastle - Manchester Airport
Middlesbrough - Manchester Airport
Calder Valley - Manchester Airport
None of these should be pacers, the Calder Valley being formed of either 155, 156 or 158 units based at Leeds or Manchester. Since it's proberbly going to be the Semi-Fasts through the Calder Valley being sent to the Airport, linking Bradford, Toddy etc. directly.
The Ordsall Chord will need to be a very curvy section of track. Pacers are banned from lines in Cornwall such as St Ives Bay Line because it's too curvy. Could the Ordsall Chord finish up being unsuitable for Pacers?
....Calder Valley - Manchester Airport
None of these should be pacers, the Calder Valley being formed of either 155, 156 or 158 units based at Leeds or Manchester. Since it's proberbly going to be the Semi-Fasts through the Calder Valley being sent to the Airport, linking Bradford, Toddy etc. directly.
If you look on google maps you will see how tight the curves at ordsall lane are currently. 142s are common sights there at present and I cannot see the chord being any more tight than those already there.
Well I can't say exactly what is used for what services, but I do know that 143s are used on the Calder Valley line aswell.
That shouldn't still be so much of an issue now as Pacers had modifications to reduce the effect of wheel ware. If they hadn't they wouldn't be used on very tight curves at Carnforth, Lincoln, Altrincham etc. The Merseyrail 507s and 508s had a similar problem on the city centre loop but modifications to the units cured the problem.
Even then remember that those are just isolated curves. Last time I took the Looe branch the 153 was squeeling for about 50% of the run. If a unit spends the day shuttling back and forth on the branch it's going to suffer a lot more then a unit that squeels around say Lincoln and is then on fairly straight track for the next hour or two.
Calder valley services are operated by classes 142, 144!!!,150,153,155 or 158.
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It's easy to know the differance.
143- South west/south wales.
144- Yorkshire.
I see your point but how intensive are the FGW diagrams? If the unit has a 15 minute break at both ends before running a return service then it won't have as much effect on the unit as if it has a 5 minute break at both ends.
Whether its 5 minutes or 15 minutes, the wheelsets are still being worn by constant use on a line with endless sharp curves. Its that simple.