What are the longest distance services Pacers are booked to work?

[Liam]

What does the 1622 Newcastle to Whitehaven service? It's over 3 hours.

 

[Tetchytyke]

What does the 1622 Newcastle to Whitehaven service? It's over 3 hours.

It is supposed to be a 156 and it usually is, as its a very busy train. But you do see the odd 142.

 

[darloscott]

I've had a 2-car 158 up there, albeit that was a couple of years back.

There is a 158 on a morning that goes down stuck to a 3-car 144. I think they split at Retford and the 158 goes back to Leeds and the 144 continues to Lincoln. 0530ish out of Sheffield if I remember right.

The Leeds-Heysham & return is a 150 apart from a Saturday when I think it might be a 144?

 

[yorksrob]

There is a 158 on a morning that goes down stuck to a 3-car 144. I think they split at Retford and the 158 goes back to Leeds and the 144 continues to Lincoln. 0530ish out of Sheffield if I remember right.

The Leeds-Heysham & return is a 150 apart from a Saturday when I think it might be a 144?

It's almost always a 144 on Saturday's whenever I catch it. Usually a 3 carriage one as well.

 

[Shaw S Hunter]

One former Pacer turn which could be fun was the FGW 143 on the 09.33 Exeter St Davids to Cardiff Central and 1300 return: 2 hours 45 minutes each way with extended periods of maximum speed running on top quality mainline track. While Pacers are undoubtedly cheap and nasty I've always found them to be perfectly tolerable on welded rail away from pointwork provided the suspension is in good order with unworn wheel profiles. Thrashing up to Whiteball summit flat out in bright sunshine with a HST in your imagination chasing hard on your heels made for a pleasant interlude during an ALR! These days the outward morning service starts back from Penzance so I would expect that anything other than a 158 is a rarity.

As for the Cumbrian Coast I know that at one point Northern's diagrammers created the turn to assist in local traincrew maintaining their traction knowledge. As they get withdrawn from service in the coming years it'll be interesting to see how their "empire" is scaled back over time.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

I've had a 2-car 158 up there, albeit that was a couple of years back.

There is a 158 on a morning that goes down stuck to a 3-car 144. I think they split at Retford and the 158 goes back to Leeds and the 144 continues to Lincoln. 0530ish out of Sheffield if I remember right.

I think you two must be talking about different routes- the Penistone line can't be take more than a 45m 3*144 or 46m 2*155/158 due to short platforms. Even if one unit is locked out, it'd have to use P1 or P4 at Huddersfield due to the dedicated P2 being similarly short. The plan is to make the whole line suitable for 3-car 150s.

 

[STEVIEBOY1]

Thank you for all these replies. All being well I am going on Holiday to Scunthorpe in a few months time, so may be will be able to get one or two trips on 142s or 144s pacers.

 

[xotGD]

Thank you for all these replies. All being well I am going on Holiday to Scunthorpe in a few months time, so may be will be able to get one or two trips on 142s or 144s pacers.

Definitely the first time I've seen the words 'holiday' and 'Scunthorpe' in the same sentence

Enjoy the bendy-buses!

 

[Whistler40145]

Many years ago I had a single 142 from Leeds to Blackpool North over Copy Pit