What to do with an old Pacer

[WatcherZero]

Did a bit more research, Northern have apparently been refreshing the North East pacers since Feb 13 so no idea what it was doing on this side of the pennines, it had obviously been refreshed recently.

They said they would be doing 50 with each taking two weeks so approx 100 weeks later would mean finishing around now. I think it was number 142043.

 

[sprinterguy]

Yes. They sometimes appear on Manchester area services and have been doing for the past 10 years but there's only a small fleet of them so aren't a common site.

Small fleet, eh? There's only four less of them than there are bench-seated units (29 versus 33, off the top of my head).
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Just looking at the photo you linked to they did used to have overhead luggage racks on both sides, I was wondering that when I travelled on one a few weeks ago and noticed it only had luggage racks on one side.

Funnily enough I clocked that on a Pacer I was on during Saturday, and was thinking the exact same thing about them only having luggage racks on the one side.

 

[SpacePhoenix]

Is there any engineers trains purposes they could serve, maybe a mobile messroom perhaps?

 

[pemma]

Small fleet, eh? There's only four less of them than there are bench-seated units (29 versus 33, off the top of my head).

I meant there's only ever a small fleet of those type of 142s at Newton Heath which might explain how Watcherzero may have been catching 142s on a regular basis in the Manchester area for the past 10 years but never caught one of those before.

 

[sprinterguy]

I meant there's only ever a small fleet of those type of 142s at Newton Heath which might explain how Watcherzero may have been catching 142s on a regular basis in the Manchester area for the past 10 years but never caught one of those before.

Fair point, carry on.

 

[WatcherZero]

Yes usually a pair of bench seat pacers or a sprinter, occasionally seats but never ridden a converted one before, what surprised me more though was the refresh.

 

[sprinterguy]

Is there any engineers trains purposes they could server, maybe a mobile messroom perhaps?

There was a 141 unit converted into a weedkilling unit for a time following withdrawal from passenger service:

http://www.traintesting.com/images/SERCO Weedkiller class 141118 P searle.jpg

I’ve mused previously as to whether it would be possible to perform a similar conversion to fulfil a railhead treatment/sandite role.

 

[pemma]

Did a bit more research, Northern have apparently been refreshing the North East pacers since Feb 13 so no idea what it was doing on this side of the pennines, it had obviously been refreshed recently.

The 142s do get switched around between west and east diagrams. Merseytravel 142s can turn up on services in Lincolnshire and Cumbria.

 

[backontrack]

If Serco had been awarded the ECML, they'd have probably ended up running between LGX and Edinburgh.

Seriously, couple about 18 together, convert and modify, blah blah blah...

...Circle Line.

Even better, run them non-stop so that the passengers are subject to an endless sub-surface purgatory taking place on the long-fought over territory of the former Metropolitan District Railway.