‘PACERS': THE BR YEARS
The first of a two-part history of DMU Classes 142-144, which have finally been withdrawn from the main line.
Built as a ‘cheap and cheerful’ replacement for some of the first generation DMUs at a time when British Rail was starved of cash for investment, some of the ‘Pacers’ clocked up more than 35 years in service. In the first of two parts looking back over the history of the Class 142, 143 and 144 fleets, David Russell cover the years up to Privatisation.
THE ‘Pacer’ name is one that has become more widely known to the general public in recent years, although sadly this is largely due to the bad press these railbus fleets have received in the mainstream media owing to their continued use well after they should have been retired from service. It is unlikely that, when the first Class 142 was unveiled at Derby Litchurch Lane on May 17, 1985, that anyone involved in their introduction would have expected the units to be still carrying passengers on the main line into 2020 – or 2021 in the case of the ‘143s’.
Although BR had introduced its first batch of railbuses, the Class 141s, in West Yorkshire in 1984, it was not until the following year that the ‘Pacer’ brand name was chosen for the new Class 142 and 143 fleets, following on from the ‘Sprinter’ identity bestowed upon the Class 150s. The exception was the Plymouth Laira-based Class 142s, which were known as ‘Skippers’, although the ‘Pacer’ name was also applied to the later-built Class 144s.
The ‘142s’ were, despite having been ordered before the first Class 141s entered service, a development of these earlier units. The Class 141s were much more bus-like – featuring, among other things, Leyland National style headlights and narrow bus-width bodies. This meant that 2+2 seating had to be fitted, meaning a two-car set could only seat 94 passengers. A ‘142’, with 3+2 seats and a modified door and internal layout, could seat 121 passengers – a vast improvement, particularly when the new units were replacing three-car first generation sets on some routes.
Another improvement was that of the multiple working system between the units. Unlike the ‘141s’, which had tightlock couplers and cables to enable multiple working, the newer ‘Pacers’ had BSI couplings. This made them compatible with most other ‘second generation’ DMUs, such as Class 150s, which were being delivered around the same time.
Like the Class 141s, however, construction of the ‘142s’ was undertaken at two sites. The bodies were assembled at the Leyland Bus plant at Workington and then transported by road to BREL Derby Litchurch Lane, where the underframes were constructed. Here, the underframes and bodies were married together, after which the units were ready for service. Mechanically, they and all other ‘Pacers’ were fitted with the same Leyland TL11 engines and SCG gearboxes as the ‘141s’ – but, as detailed later, these were to cause severe problems in years to come.
FLEET ORDERS
The January 1984 ‘Pacer’ order comprised 50 Class 142s from BREL/Leyland bus and 25 Class 143s similarly constructed by Walter Alexander and Andrew Barclay. Based in Falkirk, Walter Alexander was a builder of bodies for buses and coaches. The Class 143 bodies were transferred to Kilmarnock, where they would be combined with the newly constructed underframes.
The first ‘Pacer’ to appear on the network was Derby built No. 142001, which – following a spell at the Railway Technical Centre (RTC) after its unveiling on May 17, 1985 – arrived at Newton Heath depot in Manchester on July 16 for staff training and familiarisation.
July 31 saw the release of the first ‘143’ from Kilmarnock – No. 143001 being towed to Derby
RTC for type testing by No. 25209 on July 31, 1985, running via the Cumbrian Coast. The following month, on August 7, No. 143002 ran from Kilmarnock to Heaton (Newcastle), where all 25 sets were to be initially based, for training to be carried out.
At this point it is worth recording the liveries applied to the Class 142 and 143 fleets when new. The ‘142s' comprised three batches: Nos. 142001-14 in Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive (PTE) Orange/Brown, primarily for local services in the PTE region and based at Newton Heath; Nos. 142015-27 in GWR Chocolate/Cream for use in the West Country, based at Laira; and Nos. 142028-50 in Provincial Services two-tone blue, again based at Newton Heath for services in the North West.
As previously mentioned, the entire Class 143 fleet was allocated to Heaton: Nos. 143001-19 emerged in the same Provincial Services colour scheme as Nos. 142028 upwards; while Nos. 14302025 were painted in Tyne & Wear PTE yellow/white on account of their sponsorship by the PTE.
INTO SERVICE
While Newton Heath was busy taking delivery of its new units in readiness for their introduction on the Oldham loop at the start of the winter timetable (September 30, 1985), Laira received its first set
No. 142015 in time for it to be displayed at the depot's open day on September 7. To assist with crew training in advance of the arrival of the rest of the units, GMPTE-liveried No. 142009 was sent to Laira on October 15, returning north the following month.
The first ‘143' passenger workings began on October 14, with the introduction of diagrams on the Newcastle to Hexham and Sunderland routes. At this time, only a handful of units had been delivered, and it was February 1986 before the first set in Tyne & Wear PTE colours (No. 143020) arrived.
March 1986 saw the opening of the branch from Edinburgh to Bathgate, which is now part of a reopened through route between Edinburgh and Glasgow via Airdrie. During the first two weeks of operation (from March 24 to April 5), three Class
143s Nos. 143006/16/19 were loaned to ScotRail and worked services on the branch. No. 143006 had previously worked a press outing along the line on March 17 and was on display at an open day at Bathgate on March 23. This was not the first
‘143' to carry people in Scotland, however, as on two consecutive weekends in November 1985, No. 143010 ran special trains from Falkirk to enable staff from Walter Alexander's to ride on one of the units.
The last of Heaton's ‘143s' was released from the Kilmarnock workshops in May 1986. Class 142 deliveries were completed around the same time, with the exception of the last two sets.
The penultimate ‘142' in the first order, No. 142049, was sent to Canada for the ‘Expo 86' World Fair in Vancouver. As well as being displayed, it was used on shuttles between the exhibition site and Abbotsford. It returned to the UK in February 1987 and entered service soon after. Hopes that its visit might generate some overseas orders came to nothing – railway authorities abroad were clearly not sufficiently impressed!
Meanwhile, No. 142050 went to Derby RTC where it was experimentally fitted with a Voith
T211 hydraulic transmission in place of the already problematic SCG mechanical transmission.
FURTHER ORDERS
In October 1985, when less than half of the Class
142s and 143s on order had been completed, BR ordered a further 69 ‘Pacers'. These comprised 46 more Class 142s and 23 sets of a new Class 144. The latter, which were primarily for use in West Yorkshire, utilised BREL-built underframes (as per the ‘142s') and Walter Alexander bodyshells (as per the ‘143s').
The second batch of ‘142s' (Nos. 142051-96) were designated Class 142/1, despite their numbering in the 1420xx series. There were minor differences with the first batch, such as a smoother roof profile (with fewer strengthening ribs) and a revised style above the cab windows incorporating the destination blind – to which many of the earlier-build units were later modified.
Delivery of the second batch of Class 142s began in September 1986, when No. 142051 arrived at Newton Heath. They carried the same Provincial Services livery as Nos. 142028-50, with units up to
No. 142070 being allocated to Newton Heath and
No. 142071 upwards based at Neville Hill.
The ‘144s' were all painted in the new ‘MetroTrain' colours of red and cream. The first set, No. 144001, arrived at Neville Hill on September 24 and was unveiled on December 11, after which it was put into service. Delivery of the remaining 22 units took place between October 1986 and July 1987.
One of the immediate issues after the introduction of the Class 144s was that of insufficient accommodation following a rise in passenger numbers. This resulted in West Yorkshire PTE ordering 10 powered centre cars for Class 144s to provide an increase capacity by more than 50% on the strengthened units (Nos. 144014-23). Ordered in
May 1987, they all emerged in March 1988, each unit visiting Derby to have its additional car inserted.
PROBLEMS BEGIN
Even before delivery of the last ‘142s', various issues were becoming apparent. The Laira-based ‘Skippers' were found to be unsuitable for the Cornish branches, struggling to cope with the gradients and suffering excessive tyre wear as a result of the many tight curves.
Consequently, between August and November 1987, all 13 sets were transferred away to Neville Hill (Nos. 142015/16/18-22/25) and Newton Heath (Nos. 142017/23/24/26/27). In their place came a motley collection of first generation DMUs. Transferred-in during 1987 were a mix of Class 101, 108, 121 and 122 vehicles from Bristol, Heaton, Neville Hill and Tyseley, along with a Bath Road Class 118 set (B472), which had been a Laira unit until the arrival of the ‘Skippers' a year or so earlier!
The other major problem that had developed was the SCG gearboxes/transmissions, which were proving to be extremely unreliable.
By October 1987, 10 sets, Nos. 142002/07/08/ 10/28/29/32/39/43/45 had all been placed in store at Crewe Carriage Shed. In the meantime, No. 144010, which had also been out of action for some time, was fitted with a Voith hydraulic transmission like
No. 142050. A further four units, Nos. 144009/11-13, followed soon after.
By the end of 1988, several of the ‘142s' stored at Crewe had been reactivated after receiving Voith transmission, following a decision to replace the SCG gearboxes in the Class 142, 143 and 144 fleets. This work improved the reliability of the ‘Pacers', but came at considerable cost.
1988 also saw the appearance of another Class 143, No. 143026. In reality, this ‘new' unit was the combination at Heaton of one car from No. 143002 (DMS No. 55643) and one from No. 143010 (DMSL
No. 55676), formed while the other cars from these two sets were out of traffic. The reformation became permanent and the set was renumbered to
No. 143010 a few months later, while the other two cars from these sets (Nos. 55661 and 55668) became No. 143002. Another permanent reformation took place in 1989 when vehicles from Nos. 143003 (which had been out of traffic since early 1988 with fire damage) and 143017 were swapped. The ‘143' fleet was suffering similar problems to the ‘142s', and it made sense to make one good set out of two to maximise availability, although first generation DMUs were drafted in to assist and a loco-hauled rake, made up of three coaches, was regularly used on the Newcastle to Carlisle route.
RENUMBERING
A renumbering scheme was devised in 1989, changing the fourth number in each set to differentiate between SCG and Voith units.
It was planned to renumber the ‘Pacers' into the following series
SCG units: 1422xx, 1433xx, 1444xx.
Voith units: 1425xx, 1436xx, 1447xx.
In reality, Heaton was the only depot that bothered to implement any renumberings. All its Class 142s, which it had received in October 1988, had been given the new Voith transmission to become Nos. 142516/18-22/25.
The Class 143 fleet was split into two batches: the Tyne & Wear PTE sets (Nos. 143020-025) still had SCG gearboxes and thus became
Nos. 143320-325; the remainder, which had been modified, became Nos. 143601-619 and remained so ever since. When Nos. 143320-325 were fitted with Voith transmission in 1990-91, they were renumbered into the 1436xx series.
No further renumberings into the planned new series took place, and the seven ‘142s' that had been given 1425xx numbers reverted to their original identities in the early 1990s.
MOVE TO SOUTH WALES
1991 was to see the Class 143s start disappearing from the North East following a decision to transfer the fleet to South Wales. The first set to depart for Cardiff was No. 143614 in July 1991, which the previous month had emerged from Doncaster Works in the new Regional Railways colours, the first ‘143' to do so. This colour scheme was also applied to
No. 142023 around the same time.
No. 143601 moved to Cardiff after a repaint later in 1991, and over the next 12 months or so the remaining Class 143s left the North East for a new home in South Wales. The six Tyne & Wear-liveried sets, by now numbered in the 1436xx series, all gained Regional Railways colours before they arrived at Cardiff.
As well as being used on the Valley Lines, the ‘143s' were used on other routes radiating from Cardiff – such as to Maesteg, Weston-super-Mare and Gloucester – as well as branches like Bristol Temple Meads to Severn Beach. Their arrival enabled the withdrawal of more first generation DMUs based at Swansea Landore, Cardiff Canton and Bristol
Bath Road.
They were also used on a new ‘Swan Line' service between Cardiff and Swansea, this being funded by three County Councils (Mid Glamorgan, South Glamorgan and West Glamorgan), which took ownership of seven units.
Replacing the ‘143s' in the North East were a mixture of Class 142 and 156 units. Heaton's Class 142 allocation, some of which had been based there since 1988, included a number of the Chocolate/ Cream former ‘Skipper' sets, and six of these were painted into Tyne & Wear PTE colours.
MORE COLOURS
A number of other new colour schemes appeared in the early 1990s. Merseyside PTE's yellow/white livery with black/grey bands was initially applied to Nos. 142051-58, while a new Greater Manchester PTE scheme of two shades of grey with red and white bands replaced the previous orange and brown colours. As well as being applied to Nos. 142001-14 (which had been orange/brown since new), a large number of other Newton Heath based sets also received this livery.
West Yorkshire PTE's livery was also given a makeover, and while the same colours were retained, the new version had a thinner cream band, and the narrow yellow stripe was dispensed with. It was applied to Nos. 144001-10/14-23, while Nos. 144011-13 were repainted into Regional Railways livery.
ACCIDENT VICTIM
The only ‘Pacer' never to undergo a change of livery was No. 142059, which was written off in an accident at Liverpool Lime Street on October 5, 1991 – less than five years after it was built. It suffered a brake failure while running from Edge Hill to Liverpool Lime Street and ran into the bufferstops at around 40mph, causing severe damage to the leading car. Fortunately the unit was running empty at the time and the traincrew on board survived, the driver retreating from the cab before impact.
No. 142059 was moved to Edge Hill, where it was stored for some time. Severely damaged DMSL
No. 55755 was cut up on site in 1993, with No. 55709 moving to Newton Heath where it was used as a spares donor until being scrapped in 1999. A proposal to pair it up with a Class 141 car from No. 141104, which had been involved in a collision at Huddersfield in 1989, had been abandoned some years earlier.
ENGINE REPLACEMENT
After the earlier transmission/gearbox issues, BR now found itself with another problem concerning the ‘Pacers' – their engines. The Leyland TL11 engine, fitted to the entire ‘Pacer' fleet, had been discontinued in 1988 and components were getting difficult to come by. Fleet reliability was once again becoming an issue.
Experiments had already taken place with alternative power: a Class 141 (No. 141113) had been fitted with Cummins engines in 1988, while
No. 142084 had received Perkins engines in 1991. The latter was a downrated version of the engines fitted to some Class 158s and later to the ‘165/166s'.
A decision was made to undertake a complete replacement of the Leyland TL11s fitted to the Class 142, 143 and 144 fleets. New Cummins engines were chosen based on those trialled on the ‘141' since 1988. By late 1993, several units from all three classes had received the Cummins LT10R engines. The programme, which included Perkins-powered
No. 142084, was completed in 1995.
Another modification made to the ‘142s' during the first half of the 1990s was replacement of the four-leaf folding doors with twin-leaf doors, as per the Class 143 and 144s.
PRIVATISATION BECKONS
In preparation for the Privatisation of British Rail in the mid-1990s, the ‘Pacers' were put in the ownership of leasing companies along with other rolling stock. The Class 142s were allocated to Angel, with the Class 143 and 144 fleets coming under Porterbrook. There was a complication with the latter, however, owing to a number of vehicles actually being owned by other concerns:
Mid Glamorgan CC – 143601/10/14.
South Glamorgan CC – 143609.
West Glamorgan CC – 143617-19.
West Yorkshire PTE – 55850-59 (centre cars from 144014-23).
These vehicles became managed by Porterbrook on behalf of their owners.
Each unit was allocated to one of the train operating companies, the ‘Pacers' being split as follows:
Class 142 – Regional Railways North East/North
West Regional Railways
Class 143 – Cardiff Railway Company/South Wales & West
Class 144 – Regional Railways North East
The sale of the leasing companies was completed in early 1996, with the four franchises that operated ‘Pacers' being awarded in October 1996 and March 1997. The Cardiff Railway Company and South Wales & West were won by Prism Rail; Regional Railways North East passed to MTL; and North West Regional Railways went to Great Western Holdings.
The ‘Pacer' fleets continued to see front-line service with all four new operators, and the postPrivatisation story will be covered in Part 2 of this feature. E