Where to find Pacers

[whole diary]

[Pavement]

Hello, I'd like to ride some Pacers before they all disappear. What are the best lines to find them, preferably within a day trip from Bristol?

Thanks!

[rogerw]

Still some operating in Devon.  Also the Welsh valley services still have loads

[chuffed]

Try Leeds to York ( the departure boards say Poppleton as the destination, to stop people taking the pretty route via Harrogate and Knaresborough, but it continues to York). That is , if you can get on. Ive tried several times but they are full to bursting with standees. I reckon that could be a station name....Full to Burstin with Standees.... in its own right.

[JayMac]

I really do miss Pacers.

Not the train type you understand.



 

[rogerw]

Try Leeds to York ( the departure boards say Poppleton as the destination, to stop people taking the pretty route via Harrogate and Knaresborough, but it continues to York). That is , if you can get on. Ive tried several times but they are full to bursting with standees. I reckon that could be a station name....Full to Burstin with Standees.... in its own right.

Leeds to York rarely Pacers nowadays.  Northern seem to be using their Cl 170s on this service

[jamestheredengine]

Best thing to do is to go to Cardiff Central and buy an Explore Cardiff and Valleys ticket (£13 for the day). Then go to platform 6/7 and wait until one pulls in and see where you end up.

It's possible to take buses between some of the outer termini (Rhymney-Merthyr, Merthyr-Aberdare, Aberdare-Llwynypia/Tonypandy-Bridgend, and Bargoed-Pontypridd are probably the most useful ones [edit: and Coryton-Taff's Well; it's been a while since I've ridden some of these!]), but this will cost extra.

If you only want to do short rides (as far as Llanishen/Coryton/Radyr both ways/Eastbrook/Penarth), then the Explore the Capital ticket at £4.50 is a cheaper option.

[REVUpminster]

I don't think Exeter is going to lose them for sometime on the Paignton-Exmouth route. The seating on them is not the bus type and is quite comfortable.

Operation wise the one drawback is you can't get between two units. On Saturdays at Paignton they often have a ticket seller in the booking hall and he gets in one unit while the guard is in the other so they can sell tickets as they go.

A good time to see them is June 1 & 2 when the Torbay airshow is on and see what stock GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) come up with. At times during the day in the last two airshows they have had trains every 15 minutes to Newton Abbot. The taxi's get thrown out of the rank those days and there is a tent to get the passengers through to the platform.

[Pavement]

Best thing to do is to go to Cardiff Central and buy an Explore Cardiff and Valleys ticket (£13 for the day). Then go to platform 6/7 and wait until one pulls in and see where you end up.

It's possible to take buses between some of the outer termini (Rhymney-Merthyr, Merthyr-Aberdare, Aberdare-Llwynypia/Tonypandy-Bridgend, and Bargoed-Pontypridd are probably the most useful ones), but this will cost extra.

If you only want to do short rides (as far as Llanishen/Coryton/Radyr both ways/Eastbrook/Penarth), then the Explore the Capital ticket at £4.50 is a cheaper option.

Brilliant, this sounds great. Thanks!

[grahame]

Long way from Bristol for a day trip - do NOT go to the National Railway Museum

From the Telegraph on 27th March

Trains promised to National Railway Museum have not arrived because they are still needed on the beleaguered Northern line, it has been claimed.

The National Railway Museum in York said it had plans to display a Pacer model, which was built in the 1980s, as it was an important part of the UK^▸ (United Kingdom)'s railway heritage.

[Lee]

I would just love to see the look on the faces of crowds of central London commuters if one of those turned up as their next service to Morden...

[jamestheredengine]

I would just love to see the look on the faces of crowds of central London commuters if one of those turned up as their next service to Morden...

I've always found it puzzling how the Pacers haven't been used on Greenford, Windsor, etc, despite those branches having short journey times and relatively light loadings that would recommend the use of such units.

[grahame]

I would just love to see the look on the faces of crowds of central London commuters if one of those turned up as their next service to Morden...

I've always found it puzzling how the Pacers haven't been used on Greenford, Windsor, etc, despite those branches having short journey times and relatively light loadings that would recommend the use of such units.

"They" wouldn't dare let a Pacer run in the London area ;-) would they?   Closest I can think of them getting is Swindon.

Even 150s have been pretty rare in London ... though I have come across a picture of 150001 at St Pancras on, I noted, a special working.

[johnneyw]

Best thing to do is to go to Cardiff Central and buy an Explore Cardiff and Valleys ticket (£13 for the day). Then go to platform 6/7 and wait until one pulls in and see where you end up.

It's possible to take buses between some of the outer termini (Rhymney-Merthyr, Merthyr-Aberdare, Aberdare-Llwynypia/Tonypandy-Bridgend, and Bargoed-Pontypridd are probably the most useful ones [edit: and Coryton-Taff's Well; it's been a while since I've ridden some of these!]), but this will cost extra.

If you only want to do short rides (as far as Llanishen/Coryton/Radyr both ways/Eastbrook/Penarth), then the Explore the Capital ticket at £4.50 is a cheaper option.

Have to agree, Cardiff is still good for Pacers. I saw a couple today at Cardiff Central not two hours ago. I think they still do the short run to Penarth from there, at least they certainly did so until recently.

[phile]

Best thing to do is to go to Cardiff Central and buy an Explore Cardiff and Valleys ticket (£13 for the day). Then go to platform 6/7 and wait until one pulls in and see where you end up.

It's possible to take buses between some of the outer termini (Rhymney-Merthyr, Merthyr-Aberdare, Aberdare-Llwynypia/Tonypandy-Bridgend, and Bargoed-Pontypridd are probably the most useful ones [edit: and Coryton-Taff's Well; it's been a while since I've ridden some of these!]), but this will cost extra.

If you only want to do short rides (as far as Llanishen/Coryton/Radyr both ways/Eastbrook/Penarth), then the Explore the Capital ticket at £4.50 is a cheaper option.

Have to agree, Cardiff is still good for Pacers. I saw a couple today at Cardiff Central not two hours ago. I think they still do the short run to Penarth from there, at least they certainly did so until recently.

They run between Penarth and Rhymney/Bargoed all day as they similarly do with the other Valleys to and from Barry Island and Bridgend.    They regularly work between Maesteg and Cheltenham and run also to West Wales and Ebbw Vale on occasions

[eightonedee]

Even 150s have been pretty rare in London ... though I have come across a picture of 150001 at St Pancras on, I noted, a special working.

To be fair, they do have over 100 class 455s, that are even older than Pacers and 150s, and most South London services that did not use them were still served by old slam-door stock well over a decade over such stock was replaced by Pacers and 150s in most of the west and north.

As to Pacers, presumably the ultimate Pacer experience, Barrow to Carlisle along the Cumbrian coast is still available?