Pacers: The End

Maybe, but when he signed for Cardiff, after his transfer from Reading, he did travel down by train, ticketless, and got gripped. The first contact he had with his new manager was when the station staff at Cardiff had to phone Cardiff City and get the manager to come down to the station to pay his fare!

Great start to a new club!

 

OK, that’s two - where are the other 141?

Tom

 

Just had a couple of pints of this. It was smooth, enjoyable and showed up when I expected. So nothing like its namesake

 

What would a real Pacer ale taste like? Oily, rough and gritty and chips your teeth if you stop drinking it suddenly?

 

Faint odour of toilet cleaner on the palate

 

Really? From my experience of most "on train facilities" I would expect the odour to be toilet, pure and simple - not toilet cleaner! Unless you're mistaking it for the disinfectant used to mop up the vomit around the seating areas...

Yours cynically

Steve B

 

At this point, the thread seems to have hit rock bottom...then started drilling further...

 

Robin Friday, the inspiration behind one of the best songs ever!

 

Yes, by the Super Furry Animals!

The only other thing called “Pacer” I can think of is an American car called the AMC Pacer, Mike Myers drove one in Wayne’s World. They has a bit of a reputation for being rubbish too.....

 

To the Murph Mobile!

 

I seem to remember a mint version of the Opal Fruit which was marketed as Pacers?

 

Heart Pacer!

 

On a pacer ar this very moment. Cromford to Duffield. Wife has just commented. What nice airy trains. Better than what we get from Weymoutb (new 444's) Women!

 

However, its a Sprinter Doh!

 

Having seen a number of them parked up at Huddersfield today and had the misfortune of riding one or two, an immediate thought came to my mind. Self propelling p-way plant. Plenty of space for tools, volunteers, compressors, soup. They have their own brakes and must be more comfortable than riding in a drafty guards van hauled in an unfitted set by a small industrial diesel. Or at the very least, use the engines for ancillaries like pie warmers and the like.

 

Not a new idea.
The old 4 wheel railbus that we had on the NYMR in the early days was used for this.

 

Getting equipment on an off when not in a station might be more difficult though, not exactly the widest of doors on the pacers. The 121 on the EVR has a ruddy great hatch on the side hacked into it for that purpose.

 

Are the pacer preservation group still going? Imagine they'll want a couple of units so will probably start geting in touch with the pacers owners about acquiring some.

 

As an aside - I used to say that the old style East Berlin trams were very good at highlighting any loose fillings you may have.

You probably wouldn't have them by the end of the journey.

 

Seeing as it hasn't been brought up in the thread, I thought I would add that a 142 with the original bus seating has been designated for the National Collection. She'll be able to tell the story of how the Pacers, although the polar opposites of the HST's, equally helped save the railways in BR's darkest days. I for one always enjoy a trip on a Pacer (aside from the bleakest winter mornings!). The trip between Exeter St Davids and Newton Abbot is perhaps the highlight of their current service, although an odd trip from Newcastle Central-Carlisle Citadel is also quite pleasant, even for a long legged chap such as myself!