Have pacers ever been used "down south"

DPWH · 2 Jun 2019

Have pacers ever been used "down south", snd if so where did they operate?

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/may/29/pacer-trains-village-halls-send-down-south

As a very regular rail passenger in the north of England, I often have the extreme displeasure of travelling on Pacer trains. Famously cobbled together on the cheap, using the shell of a Leyland bus welded to a freight wagon frame, they went out of service in the south-east of England many years ago

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Mills444 · 2 Jun 2019

Yes Devon and Wales as well as an small amount of time in Bristol I belive.

dgl · 2 Jun 2019

and Cornwall originally, the sharp curves weren't kind to them though.

Ianno87 · 2 Jun 2019

dgl said:
and Cornwall originally, the sharp curves weren't kind to them though.

Nor were they kind to the sharp curves either!

PHILIPE · 2 Jun 2019

Mills444 said:
Yes Devon and Wales as well as an small amount of time in Bristol I belive.

They still are but not in Bristol, stay local to Exeter but occasionally have an outing a little further afield. South, and to a lesser degree West Wales, also.

Jozhua · 2 Jun 2019

One could argue the south west is almost mistreated as much as the north infrastructure wise!

I've seen them around Exeter and Bristol a couple of years ago, although in my recent journey to Bristol I didn't see any Pacers bouncing around.

randyrippley · 2 Jun 2019

dgl said:
and Cornwall originally, the sharp curves weren't kind to them though.

but called Skippers, not Pacers

PHILIPE · 2 Jun 2019

Jozhua said:
One could argue the south west is almost mistreated as much as the north infrastructure wise!

I've seen them around Exeter and Bristol a couple of years ago, although in my recent journey to Bristol I didn't see any Pacers bouncing around.

They haven't worked round Bristol for about 5 years now although the odd unscheduled one may appear. They can be seen visiting St Philips Marsh for tyre turning but not on diagrammed work.

Non Multi · 2 Jun 2019

They used to be run to/from Swindon on routes such as the Golden Valley line.

Parallel · 2 Jun 2019

Yes, Pacers have operated ‘down south’ and continue to do so. They look however, as far as the passenger eye can see, in good condition giving the impression that GWR’s 143s are well looked after.

gka472l · 2 Jun 2019

142015-142027 were the original Devon & Cornwall based ones from new, but all had moved north to Newton Heath or Heaton in 1987/8, none of these came back south when 142's worked off Exeter a few years back (142001/9/28-30/63 were some of those).

MatthewRead · 2 Jun 2019

Just in case you don't know they are banned from working on any sections of third rail in case the pistons may contact the live rail causing a power surge.

Kite159 · 2 Jun 2019

MatthewRead said:
Just in case you don't know they are banned from working on any sections of third rail in case the pistons may contact the live rail causing a power surge.

Can't be all third rail, otherwise the short section of third rail around Hunts Cross would cause issues

Jozhua · 2 Jun 2019

MatthewRead said:
Just in case you don't know they are banned from working on any sections of third rail in case the pistons may contact the live rail causing a power surge.

Oh no, nothing like a pacer would ever touch the South East. Just the south west that has to suffer them as well!

MarlowDonkey · 3 Jun 2019

Jozhua said:
Oh no, nothing like a pacer would ever touch the South East. Just the south west that has to suffer them as well!

Doesn't that go back to British Rail's division into business sectors? London and the South East formed Network South East which ordered diesel Networkers (165/166). Provincial, covering the rest of the country had Pacers to deploy.

anamyd · 3 Jun 2019

MarlowDonkey said:
Doesn't that go back to British Rail's division into business sectors? London and the South East formed Network South East which ordered diesel Networkers (165/166). Provincial, covering the rest of the country had Pacers to deploy.

wasn't Provincial called Regional Railways by that point...? OK, maybe I'm being picky

Xenophon PCDGS · 3 Jun 2019

randyrippley said:
but called Skippers, not Pacers

Am I right in thinking the Skippers were painted in the "Chocolate and Cream" livery when first introduced in the West Country?

DPWH · 3 Jun 2019

I meant "down south"-(east), not "out (south) west". But what about the Midlands?

AndyW33 · 3 Jun 2019

DPWH said:
I meant "down south"-(east), not "out (south) west". But what about the Midlands?

Depends how you define Midlands.
The northern edge of Derbyshire sees 142s working out of Manchester. The northern edge of Nottinghamshire sees 142s and 144s working out of Sheffield, as does Lincoln. But do they appear in the West Midlands conurbation or the Derby-Leicester-Nottingham triangle? No, nor have they ever done regularly.

Bletchleyite · 3 Jun 2019

Xenophon PCDGS said:
Am I right in thinking the Skippers were painted in the "Chocolate and Cream" livery when first introduced in the West Country?

Yes, that's correct. They made it to service in the North West in that livery.

themiller · 3 Jun 2019

They’re still used ‘down south’ - in Lancashire,, Yorkshire etc!

sprinterguy · 3 Jun 2019

Bletchleyite said:
Yes, that's correct. They made it to service in the North West in that livery.

A couple made it to privatisation in that livery.

With regard to the thread's original query, Pacers have never, to my knowledge, operated in south east England.

Bletchleyite · 3 Jun 2019

I'm sure I recall reading of one making it to Reading, but no further?

PHILIPE · 3 Jun 2019

Bletchleyite said:
I'm sure I recall reading of one making it to Reading, but no further?

A 143 once made it from Cardiff to Paddington when Wales and Borders ran a service there. It was round about 1997

Bringback309s · 3 Jun 2019

PHILIPE said:
A 143 once made it from Cardiff to Paddington when Wales and Borders ran a service there. It was round about 1997

Indeed it did, normally was a 158, arrived into Paddington around midnight.

Mikey C · 3 Jun 2019

The South East didn't get them, but then did it retain heritage DMUs and DEMUs for longer than other parts of the country?

It might well have been a positive, but Thumpers operated until 2004 and the GOBLIN had heritage diesels until 2000.

anamyd · 3 Jun 2019

PHILIPE said:
A 143 once made it from Cardiff to Paddington when Wales and Borders ran a service there. It was round about 1997

you mean Wales and West...?

That's impressive :lol:

JonathanH · 3 Jun 2019

The point about the Midlands is of course that it got allocated 150/1s for local services rather than pacers.

Bletchleyite · 3 Jun 2019

Bringback309s said:
Indeed it did, normally was a 158, arrived into Paddington around midnight.

Did it actually get to Paddington? It was an incident like that that I heard about on that sort of timeframe, but I thought Pacers were banned east of Reading so it terminated there.

themiller · 3 Jun 2019

Bringback309s said:
Indeed it did, normally was a 158, arrived into Paddington around midnight.

How did it get that far without being route cleared?

Have pacers ever been used "down south"

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