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Class 142 Pacer
Ninety-six two-car railbuses that British Rail built at Derby in 1985-87 with Leyland, their bodies made largely from the Leyland National bus's parts on a four-wheeled underframe, each car riding on two single axles 29 ft 6 in (9 m) apart rather than bogies. They were cheap stopgaps for the regional lines of the North of England and the West Country, and later Wales, and stayed for 35 years, until accessibility rules that came into force in 2020 retired them.
Class 142 Pacer · schematic drawing GB Trains · gbtrains.uk/stock/142/ · CC BY 4.0
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Liveries 1
The same measured train in each livery, each drawn from a cited source. The drawing above shows the largest fleet’s.
Former liveries 3
- Type
- Diesel multiple unit (two-axle railbus)
- Builder
- British Rail Engineering Limited, Derby, with Leyland Vehicles (bodies on the Leyland National bus's parts)
- Built
- 1985-1987
- In service
- 1985–2020
- Formation
- 2 cars (DMS and DMSL), each on two single axles 29 ft 6 in (9 m) apart
- Trains in fleet
- 96
- Top speed
- 75 mph (121 km/h)
- Power
- Diesel: a Leyland TL11 engine under each car as built (later Cummins), mechanical then hydraulic transmission · how it works
- Bogies
- the Pacers' single axles (Class 142)
- Train length
- 102 ft (31.092 m)
- Car height
- 12 ft 8 in (3.863 m)
- Car width
- 9 ft 2 in (2.80 m)
- Profile
- main-line
- Status
- Withdrawn in 2020: Northern ran its last on 27 November 2020; Transport for Wales withdrew its last in December 2020. More than thirty are preserved.
unverified Some of these figures haven’t yet been checked against an official source or a published history. What’s in doubt ↓
Car types
| Code | Car | Length | Doors per side |
|---|---|---|---|
| DMS | Driving motor second (DP234) | 51 ft 0 in15.546 m | |
| DMSL | Driving motor second with lavatory (DP235) | 51 ft 0 in15.546 m |
Sources
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Show the 8 sources from Wikimedia Commons, British Railways Board, Mechanical & Electrical Engineering Department, Wikipedia
- Vehicle Diagram Book No. 220 for Diesel Multiple Unit Trains (Railcars), with the Class 150/2 (DP242, DP243; October 1986), Class 156 (DP244, DP245; March 1987) and Class 155 (DP248, DP249; September 1988) diagrams British Railways Board, Mechanical & Electrical Engineering Department (PDF copy by J. D. Faulkner, 2010, from the book lent by L. Anton; copyright BRB Residuary Ltd), 1982, revised to March 1989, pp. DP234 and DP235 (pp. 62-64)51 ft 0 in (15,546 mm) vehicle length, 15,122.5 over the body, 14,596 over headstocks, 2,798 + 9,000 + 2,798 between the axles and headstocks, 3,863 high, 2,800 wide; seats 62 (DMS) and 59 (DMSL); air brakes, AX1/Pa suspension, automatic BSI couplers at the outer ends, bar couplings and flexible gangways at the inner ends, 75 mph (121 km/h), Leyland TL11 engines, BR Derby and Leyland Vehicles
- British Rail Class 142 Wikipedialead only: 1985-87, 96 built, the operators and liveries, withdrawal in 2020 and its reason, the preserved count
- 142 055 BR Pacer DMU - 53150448553.jpg (photograph, CC BY 2.0) Wikimedia Commons (kitmasterbloke), 29 August 2023142055 preserved in Northern colours, the DMS broadside from a little ahead: the Class 142 drawing's doors, windows and livery are measured on it (a 1-D fit through the sheet's pillars, then rectified).
- Northern Rail Class 142, Newcastle.jpg (photograph, CC BY-SA 3.0) Wikimedia Commons (Adamharrison2010), 25 March 2011142021 at Newcastle, from the side: the underframe, the axles' springs and guards, the coupler under the cab (oblique).
- Pacer at Hellifield - geograph.org.uk - 6308051.jpg (photograph, CC BY-SA 2.0) Wikimedia Commons (Bill Harrison), 13 August 2019142071 at Hellifield: the Northern livery at the DMS's cab end and the door step.
- Class 142 Pacer DMU.jpg (photograph, CC BY-SA 4.0) Wikimedia Commons (Samson Ng), 10 June 2018142074 at Cardiff in Arriva Trains Wales's turquoise: that livery.
- 04.04.12 Colne 142.048 (7046198941).jpg (photograph, CC BY-SA 2.0) Wikimedia Commons (Phil Richards), 4 April 2012142048 at Colne in Northern colours: a check of the cab end and the livery.
- 142 055 BR Pacer DMU.jpg (photograph, CC BY 2.0) Wikimedia Commons (kitmasterbloke), 23 August 2023142055's cab end and underframe, three-quarter view.
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- Dates, the fleet of 96, the last runs (Northern 27 November 2020, Transport for Wales December 2020), the engines and the preserved count: from Wikipedia, used as a lead only
- Wheel diameter 2 ft 10 in (860 mm): read off the sheets' drawn wheel, not printed
- Drawing: the roof pod drawn 220 mm above the roof (3,780), as 142055 shows it; the sheets draw it about 340 and print 3,863 as the height
- Drawing: the DMSL's doors and windows from DP235 (a rough CAD plot), not checked on a broadside photograph of a DMSL; its livery taken as the DMS's mirrored
- Drawing: the underframe's cases and the axles' parts placed from oblique photographs (142021 at Newcastle, 142055, 142001, 142080)
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