THE ‘PACER’ STORY Part 1: The BR Years

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