The Horror of Pacers

Pacers are miles better than 150's from the driving point of view. There is loads of legroom under the drivers desk. The drivers desk is far better designed and the controls are all easy to reach from the chair without having to lean forwards and down as per the 150. The 142's have a pull-down sun blind in the cab side window, which also doubles up as making the drivers cab more private from the public. The 150 cab is also much louder. The windscreen wipers only clean a small % of the windscreen, leaving the rest of it a disgusting mess of dead insects. The 150 cab's are also much, much dirtier and more vandalised than the 142 equivalent. The 150/2 cabs are even more hideous with the big door on the front.

The 142's will be missed when they go, but only because the 150 is worse. 156's also suffer from most of the same cab design flaws as the 150, though the overall quality in the Units is noticeably higher.

The 142's are by far the worst to travel on as a passenger though.

Captain Beaky said:

Nothing was fun on the railways back in the early ‘80’s.

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I think a few of us old-school cranks might just disagree with that statement!

Grannyjoans said:

Pacers are miles better than 150's from the driving point of view. There is loads of legroom under the drivers desk. The drivers desk is far better designed and the controls are all easy to reach from the chair without having to lean forwards and down as per the 150. The 142's have a pull-down sun blind in the cab side window, which also doubles up as making the drivers cab more private from the public. The 150 cab is also much louder. The windscreen wipers only clean a small % of the windscreen, leaving the rest of it a disgusting mess of dead insects. The 150 cab's are also much, much dirtier and more vandalised than the 142 equivalent. The 150/2 cabs are even more hideous with the big door on the front.

The 142's will be missed when they go, but only because the 150 is worse. 156's also suffer from most of the same cab design flaws as the 150, though the overall quality in the Units is noticeably higher.

The 142's are by far the worst to travel on as a passenger though.

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I can imagine that 150/2s and 156s have very claustrophobic cabs (like any other rolling stock with a gangway) and can see why crews would prefer a 142 or a 150/1. I cannot agree that the 142 is worse to travel on as a passenger as they offer excellent visibility, though of course they can be cold in winter due to draughts through their bus doors.
I would have thought that the cab would be the worst part of a Pacer to feel the harsh ride when going around bends, but evidently some drivers prefer them.

Just found this thread, very interesting to read the views of enthusiasts about pacers.

Personally, I have always liked pacers and to me they will be a big miss when they are gone. It is difficult to pin down the exact reasoning why I like pacers although the large windows offering great panoramic views as well as their distinctive features such as bus bodies and ride quality mean they "stand out from the crowd" against Sprinters and other DMU's. Perhaps the most important reason though is that I have had many a great day out throughout my childhood by pacer and therefore these trains will always be associated with these great memories.

As the withdrawal of pacers nears I have been trying to maximise the journeys I have on them and have been lucky with this. Some journeys include 142025 on the ECML Chathill service, 142066 on the express Tyne Valley service from Newcastle to Carlisle and 142095 the full journey from Hexham to Danby. I'm sure spending this long on a 142 would be most peoples's worst nightmare but I have really enjoyed all these journeys.

Thinking about the interiors, the majority of pacers I have traveled on are Class 142's with Northern Spirit interior. I find these seats fine comfort wise although a few of them do have problems now such as loose cushions on the seat base etc. Probably my most unusual opinion is in regards to the bench seats. I always really enjoy when a bench seat pacer turns up. Last week I searched for 142063 and took a return journey from Newcastle to Middlesbrough on it. I thoroughly enjoyed these journeys although I was very clearly in the minority with many passengers complaining about the bus seats. With bench seats, I do admit they are not the most comfortable but again I think it is the fact that they are unique and not run of the mill that makes me like them.

Having said all this, I only travel by Pacers for leisure and I do feel that if I was a regular commuter my thoughts may well be different. One such example is a freezing wet day last November during the Northern Saturday strikes. I was waiting in Carlisle station for the last train of the day back to Newcastle which arrived over 25 minutes late due to rail adhesion (if I remember correctly). I must say I was glad when a warm and comfortable Class 156 arrived rather than a Pacer.

In summary, I will miss the Pacers although i'm sure the regular commuters will be glad to see the back of them. In my area this will be with 156 and 158 Sprinters which are trains that I also like, although I do think the ex Scotrail Class 156's and a high number of 158's could desperately do with an interior overhaul so I hope this happens soon.

ed1971 said:

I would have thought that the cab would be the worst part of a Pacer to feel the harsh ride when going around bends, but evidently some drivers prefer them.

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The ride quality is definitely very poor on the 142. However, the driving cab itself is better than a 150, even if the rest of the Unit is inferior.

xotGD said:

I think a few of us old-school cranks might just disagree with that statement!

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Things had a lot more character back then. There was nothing like the sound of the turbo whistle of the old locos such as the Class 37 or 40. In the early 1980s, I could hear them from my bed late at night, as I lived not far from Springs Branch depot. This video of 40192 at Bolton in August 1984 illustrates the point:

I wonder if this thread will have sequels entitled:

“The Revenge of Pacers”
“The Curse of Pacers”
and
“The Evil of Pacers”

ed1971 said:

Things had a lot more character back then. There was nothing like the sound of the turbo whistle of the old locos such as the Class 37 or 40. In the early 1980s, I could hear them from my bed late at night, as I lived not far from Springs Branch depot. This video of 40192 at Bolton in August 1984 illustrates the point:

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Dreadful! Thanks for sharing.

Mogz said:

I wonder if this thread will have sequels entitled:

“The Revenge of Pacers”
“The Curse of Pacers”
and
“The Evil of Pacers”

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'Harry Potter and the bus-seat Pacer.'

xotGD said:

'Harry Potter and the bus-seat Pacer.'

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Let's go for the full list, eh?

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Bus Seat
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Sardines
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of the Random Unit Generator
Harry Potter and the Train Catching Fire
Harry Potter and the Class 144e of the Phoenix
Harry Potter and the Half-Length Peak Service
Harry Potter and the Deathly Horrors of Travelling on a Pacer

We Built this Pacer from Bus Parts

I don't remember the 1980's but I remember the 1990's and yes the railway used to be a lot more fun! There was plenty of Clagtastic 37's and 56's around! Especially from the 3 main freight companies: Loadhaul, Transrail and Mainline Freight.

Grannyjoans said:

We Built this Pacer from Bus Parts

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Nice (and all the better from being sung in a Northern accent), but "We Built this Pacer from Bits of Bus" would have fit the meter a bit better.

We built this Pacer...
That's funny.

So much for the thread being about the 'Horror of Pacers'...!

I travelled on Tuesday on what you would call the Belgian equivalent of a Pacer from Welkenraedt cross border to Aachen in West Germany.
Belgian Class AM66/AM70 646 was built in the period 1966-71 and is one of about 30 of the class still in service in the Liege area. They do make our Pacers look and feel superd with their three step access (one down and two up) and their bench seating.

childwallblues said:

I travelled on Tuesday on what you would call the Belgian equivalent of a Pacer from Welkenraedt cross border to Aachen in West Germany.
Belgian Class AM66/AM70 646 was built in the period 1966-71 and is one of about 30 of the class still in service in the Liege area. They do make our Pacers look and feel superd with their three step access (one down and two up) and their bench seating.

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But they must have plenty of character!

https://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co...ll-gone-within-next-nine-months-1-9981330/amp

Northern is keeping some past the end of 2019, looks like it's going to be 23 Class 144's which Northern says have the most capacity and are the newest.

Looks like they'll be gone from around Manchester and I will be able to enjoy riding around on 150's

Oh well, at least they're relatively warm, less screechy and have decent PRM bogs.

The thing that irritates me most about the pacers is the laziness of politicians and journalists who constantly describe them as “the hated pacers” despite probably never having travelled on one

Yes, they’re not overly comfortable and they’re draughty in winter and boiling in summer, but with Northern over the last few years the only alternative would’ve been a cancellation.

I don’t remember travelling on one in the early days as they didn’t have any where I lived at the time, but the traditional view of them having a terrible ride quality was I think more to do with them being used on lines with jointed track. On CWR they’re fine

Certainly the 142’s need to be withdrawn soon, they are rotting away! This is a photo’ of one of the windows of 142026, which I took last Wednesday at Hull Paragon, showing the extent of the rust and rot plus wavy panelling that the 142’s, in general, are all now in. Being aluminium and not steel, bodied, the 144’s extension in service makes a small degree of sense, but the 142’s had all better be gone by the end of December. They will probably rust away before then anyway.
Anyway, here’s that photo’.....

Mogz said:

I wonder if this thread will have sequels entitled:

“The Revenge of Pacers”
“The Curse of Pacers”
and
“The Evil of Pacers”

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you forgot..............
"The Return of the Pacers"

I'm looking forward to it

I guess if I travelled on them every day, I'd soon be pretty weary of them but, despite the noise of them ,the one I was on a couple of weeks ago between Skipton and Lancaster manged to get me nodding off. Possibly the combination of engine noise and jointed track sent me into a stupor despite only being early afternoon....

I'm on the 1012 Huddersfield-Sheffield train, waiting for it to leave Huddersfield. Its a 144 so better than a 142. It's got high backed seats but hardly any legroom and I'm not that tall.

The problem though is how tired and scruffy they look. There's water inside the windows too.

Northern is like two companies at the moment. Lovely new trains which are a pleasure to ride on, and then this. Mind you, at least this Pacer hasn't had its seat covers replaced. Some of the 'new' ones are already in an awful state.

anti-pacer said:

I'm on the 1012 Huddersfield-Sheffield train, waiting for it to leave Huddersfield. Its a 144 so better than a 142. It's got high backed seats but hardly any legroom and I'm not that tall.

The problem though is how tired and scruffy they look. There's water inside the windows too.

Northern is like two companies at the moment. Lovely new trains which are a pleasure to ride on, and then this. Mind you, at least this Pacer hasn't had its seat covers replaced. Some of the 'new' ones are already in an awful state.

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Haha, my experience is of one company, with all the trains being pretty old and awful. The only class I ride on that I actually don't mind is the 319's.

Only once ridden on a train in the UK built in this decade and that was the 700's running on Thameslink down in London. Even then, I had to go out my way to use it, choosing that journey over the Northern Line on the tube! I'm not someone who goes out their way to ride certain classes, as much as I would like to, but I still do a few thousand miles by train each year just getting around day to day.

Grannyjoans said:

The 150 cab's are also much, much dirtier and more vandalised than the 142 equivalent.

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Never heard of drivers vandalising the cabs they have to work in before. Does this really happen?! And why would sprinters be more affected than pacers?

OK I live in the south but to me pacers are a bit of a novelty. I managed to get a few miles in them last week. A bit of a pacer bash so to speak. Yes, they're falling apart, no dispute there. I didn't mind the bus seats. I found them far more comfortable than any ironing board seat but I'm not that tall.
They do have advantages, one is the good view out of the windows. On the 150's and 319's it's hard to get the "best" seat with a decent view. The acceleration isn't that bad either. From what I read, the guards and drivers like them.
I did notice last week that Northern were pairing up pacers with a 150. I opted for the pacer

Due to circumstances, I've missed out on lots of final eras of various classes. I'm catching up now and I'm not missing out on pacers or HST's 508's, 507's 313's 314's before they go for razor blades.

Weird how Northern gets slated for Pacers
and hardly a word on GWR and TfWs ones.
Oh look what I've started now lol.

All I can add is,enjoy whilst you can.
Having a Pacer day today on the Valleys network. Will upload a vid on youtube in celebration lol.
As my next visit to Cardiff wont be until Feb 2020,and these should be retired by then.
Gracefully and with respect I applaude

Chris217 said:

Weird how Northern gets slated for Pacers
and hardly a word on GWR and TfWs ones.
Oh look what I've started now lol.

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GWR has 8 pacers
TFW has 30 pacers
Northern has 101 pacers...

In the context of disastrous timetable changes, strikes and continued frequent cancellations to this day, you can see why Northern gets so much bad press!

EMT was more reliable and usable during their strikes than Northern is on a normal day of operations...

Chris217 said:

Weird how Northern gets slated for Pacers
and hardly a word on GWR and TfWs ones.
Oh look what I've started now lol

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The TfW and especially the GWR ones are quite nice to travel on compared to Northern’s, due to the seating, and overall most tend to work doubled up and on suitable routes with frequent stops.

BucksBones said:

Never heard of drivers vandalising the cabs they have to work in before. Does this really happen?! And why would sprinters be more affected than pacers?

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Yes. Train driving cabs receive very little attention and are generally filthy unpleasant places to work. Vandalism with pens or scratched into panelling is supplied as standard.