Had to use these daily between Sheffield and Huddersfield for Uni, they did have toilets but you were a brave person to try and use it while they bounced around quite wildly
For some reason I loved the twin pacers. When travelling from Teesside to Newcastle I'd always take the scenic coastal route, as opposed to the ECML, just to travel on them. Took hours. I must have been mad. And I have a bit of a cold but I don't sound THAT husky!
I like pacers; they have a lot of character. They did their originally specified job in the 1980s of keeping old branch lines afloat cheaply. Plus, the 142s were regulars alongside the 156s on my local route of the Durham Coast Line until they were withdrawn and Heaton got 158s instead. And they did have toilets, except only 144012 ever had a disabled loo. However, they were meant as a temporary measure, not to have a similar lifespan to the HSTs. I have an old hornby Northern Spirit 142065, and the EFE T&YPTE/TWPacer 143622 and the Realtrack Northern/West Yorkshire 144009; the latter two are fantastic but of course the Hornby one is a bit pants. I'm really looking forward to the Realtrack 142s. My boyfriend just got a Dapol SPT 156 today, so I'm trying to persuade him to get a 142 to go with it... I have the Dapol M7, terrier, and Standard 7. The M7 is the older one, and hardly has any traction, but looks good. The terrier is great, but the pickups aren't. And the Standard 7 runs beautifully, except its traction tyres expired and I haven't put new ones on yet.
It's worth noting that the Pacers were meant to be a temporary stop-gap measure until something better could be built, which took WAY longer than it should have.
No they where not, designed for a 35 year life span, the only reason they had rid of them in the finish was down to the DDA / level access regulations. At £350,000 for a 2 car unit they kept the subsidy heavy lines in Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire etc in business by slashing operating cost.
Great video sam!!!! I personally think the pacers are OK looking locos in 00, but look better in n gauge for some reason?!! I still find it incredible that n gauge has lights, and the slow speed is incredible too! Love it sam 🎉🎉
Yeah maybe you're right - they're quite boxy and simple looking in real life... so they look a bit more complex in N scale! Thanks for watching, Sam :)
Hi Sam! Nice to see you reviewing N gauge stuff now! Keep it up! FYI, The Dapol 121/122 and Farish 101 are a lot more detailed, feature separately fitted parts, and would be worth reviewing just for comparison! Also, for something that shows what is achievable in N gauge, try and take a look at a sound fitted Farish BR class 5MT! That is one awesome loco! All the best, Ian.
Thank you so much for your videos Sam, I've temporarily moved away from where my model railway is stationed so working on it is an occasional thing. Your videos give me something to look forward to whilst I'm away and can't indulge in the hobby, it really helps make the days less taxing knowing I have a new video about the hobby I love!
This model reminds me of DMus in Japan, along the country branches on single track. I can imagine a small diorama, but showing English scenery. I think it would look marvelous. Cheers for a great review.
Decent model Sam. A tad plasticy looking perhaps but certainly quite acceptable. With some diy one could perhaps make and apply internal led lighting from led strips available for the hobby. Perhaps even make it all work with just one decoder. These do remind me of the old German rail buses; much shorter wheel based but wider, very austere, noisy, and quite the lumpy commute..., but they did the job as a form of very simple light rail. Cheerio.
I believe Tramfabriek do a "cheaper than Dapol" lightbar that works with this model (haven't investigated yet). Whilst you probably could make it all work with one DCC decoder, you'd need to run some extra wires to the unpowered car (it only has the two, for track power, built into the coupling) to get the directional lights to behave.
@@theelectricmonk3909 Of course extra (super thin) wires will be needed, but that's easy peasy. Just use some super thin LED copper wires and coat them for insulation...
@@lindaoffenbachYep! You could use enamelled wires (they used to be a thing - and you can still buy them) - ultra-thin & already coated: Also available in a wide variety of colours! But black would probably be preferred... I doubt they'd cope with motor driving currents, but LEDs would be no problem.
Thanks for the review, Sam - I am 'N gauge only' so reviews of items for that gauge are more immediately interesting to me - it certainly seems an impressive slow runner once run in. Several years ago now, I took a ride on a Weardale line train from Stanhope to Bishop Auckland West and back and the conveyance was a Pacer. The Community Rail Service, as was, wasn't being very well used - I was the only passenger on the train both there and back and in my honest opinion that was mainly down to the extreme roughness of the ride. A couple of weeks later I was talking about it to another rail nerd and he said that they were perfectly OK on smooth track, so that may account for the differences in opinion you may find. Just looking around, I see that the Weardale Railway were still talking about a Pacer, maybe the same one, being resident on their heritage section of the line in 2023.
I know people hate the pacer, and I never managed to ride one, but there's something utilitarian about it that I really appreciate. This isn't an engine for sightseers or Rich folks on holiday, this isn't a high-speed train for your luxury business meeting to get to in london. This is a train for the working class, a simple no frills public transportation system. As much as I love trains for a lot of people they aren't this beautiful form of City infrastructure, they're just another thing they deal with in life. This is a train for people who have a job at Starbucks downtown and they need to catch this from their awful flat that they hate. That being said if I ever went to a preservation railway and I wrote a Pacer wall there I would probably grumble about it for the rest of the day.
The pacers were sometimes linked with super sprinters right at the end of their usage before withdrawal. The reason I heard was it's because it wasn't wheelchair accessible so needed to be linked to a more modern train. My thoughts are that they just didn't have enough capacity. I had to travel between brighouse and Leeds on them for sixth form and they were PACKED 😅
nice review Sam, I do think you should do a review of almost any Kato North American loco, especially if you want to see performance, twin flywheels as standard and all wheel pickup
Lovely, looking forward to the next N scale review, been very interested in this scale for a while now myself and it's amazing how well it stands up to even H0 sometimes, in my opinion anyway.
I remember having to ride these into Manchester. I used to hate them, while the Northern versions did have one small toilet, they had poor sealing doors, rode terribly due to the lack of bogies, and if you were tall, you struggled to fit your legs in between the bus seating, meaning you had to try and sit diagonally in a busy commuter service. They also were smaller than the Sprinters/323s and often ran at rush hour leading to overcrowding. Rail companies loved them as they were cheap to rent, hence their use till 2020. Northern must have bought/borrowed some Merseyrail Pacers at some point, as I remember riding them a few times (and one time arriving into Manchester the train automatically announcing our arrival into St Helens, confusing the guard). Northern also occasionally ran two together as a 4 car set. However now they have gone (several are preserved though, there's one at Butterley for example) and I find i want a OO model of them in the Blue and Purple, as they were very common. So much so, I've cracked and ordered a Realtrack 142 version.
2:53 the bottom coach with the whited out window does contain a toilet that flushes the waste onto the tracks, and some class 144s did run in 3 coaches. But the 142 never ran with any more or any less than 2
Must admit I have been waiting to see this one when your first showed that you had picked up an N gauge Pacer, looks really nice overall, although I don’t have any n gauge ones I do have 3 OO gauge ones, two hornby ones and one EFE rail one, overall good review here Sam.
I remember going to visit my grandparents in Harrogate and from the early to mid 80s onwards the train from York or Leeds to there was usually a class 141 Pacer which really did look like Leyland Nationals (there's one at the Midland Railway Centre at Butterley) there were some 3 car 144s iirc also the original (experimental) railbuses were single car LEV1, 2, 3, 4 etc I've also got a couple of friends down in Brighton who actually own a couple of Nationals.
That is a cool model. The smooth running, detailing and lights really add to the realism. My friends and I have Kato N scale track and models. We often run them without the bodies. Just the diecast chassis with exposed copper motor windings and tiny light bulbs front and rear. We call them naked or zombie trains and paint them up with eyes and teeth and such. They pull freight cars loaded with candies and other goodies. Cheers from Canada :-) 🚂 🚃🚃🚃
I think that I might have found my first N Scale piece of rolling stock. Bye bye TT120, I’d probably be long gone before Hornby brought one of these. A modern image bus/rail interchange is on the cards. Thanks for the video Sam.👍
I can see why this model would bring back your spooky travels to school. You're also scared of my ghost train and exploding Gunpowder Van requests. I hope you won't wind up trapped in one of your worst nightmares.
@@SamsTrains you just cut them to size. I couldn't find out where so had my local model shop do it. Put 2 different shades in thoogh 😬 🤭 but will do the same with my second one so they will then match up.
Even though a lot of people hate the pacers I kinda like how they look in terms of just the goofiness of them, the model was really well put together for n scale
Used to commute on these a lot on the Riviera line in Devon. They were utter crap. I remember on one, the cab seperator bulkhead had a massive crack in it and was held together by gaffer tape. First Great Western had two types, 142 (scum class with bus seats) and 143 (with half decent sprinter style seats). One wag suggested running a 142 and a 143 in multiple and charging for the 143 as first class! Ironically, the model may only have one car driven, but the real one had two engines per 2 car unit but only one driven axle per car so the model matches it for traction. The real one only had to encounter a slight incline in icy conditions and it was screwed for grip.... Had to reverse back down to Paignton station and get a two mile run up at max line speed to conquer the incline. And then only just!
Speaking of Rails of Sheffield, I saw that they have some 0n30 locos if you are curious. Anyway, a fun thing about N scale is that is that the "N" stands for "nine" (or "Neun", given that it came from Germany), as the rails are 9mm asunder. N is also not even the smallest scale, as Z and T have it beaten.
A Leyland National bus on tracks. As I child I loved travelling on our local London Country Leyland National buses, and couldn’t understand why Pacers were so hated. That is, until I visited a friend in the early 2000s and travelled on a Pacer into Sunderland. All I can say is my love for the Leyland National was not transferred to the Pacer. I know you will only find them on heritage railways now, but my advice is if you have any loose fillings or haven’t been to the dentist recently, you might want to wait to see what other locos are running at the heritage railway you are visiting before boarding a Pacer !
Hi Sam. Pacers were sometimes run coupled to Sprinters in their later years. For a train that everybody supposedly hated they were In service for quite a long time.
They was cheep to run . They had to run with other units at the end because you had to give wheel chair access and disabled wc . Sometime you be unlucky to have 2 pairs together as well
Yay, finally a review of a model item that I actually own! (I'm cheap - and hardly ever buy new locos, that's why this is a first). I must have done rather well, as I got a DCC fitted one for £123 from Hattons, towards the end of last year (i.e. before they decided to close). Mine's in Manchester Orange livery, as that was all Hattons had in at that price. Pretty much agree with everything you say here Sam - it's definitely a fine model at the heavily discounted price point - no way would I have paid £150+ for a DC model (I think the RRP on DCC Fitted was over £180). Note that the DCC fitted version does, indeed, come with two decoders (which are set to the same ID), although they're Dapol decoders of course, so you may want to put a fancier one in the driving car. One thing about my model though (and I don't know if it's because DCC, or what), mine seems very slow - even by prototypical standards... Your 50% running speed looked to be a tickle faster than mine manages flat out. I may investigate an alternative decoder one day; but for the moment, I don't mind it crawling around the layout getting in the way of all the "real" trains, just like the real thing used to do!
I commuted every day on a pacer (cardiff Queen street to Rhiwbina) for my first job after Uni and there was a rather spacious disabled accessible toilet, they were wider than a bus for sure and had disabled ramps - that was arriva trains wales. The downfall was the uncomfortable seats (although these were individual modern bus or train style seats not the old benches with a teeth-height steel ‘safety bar’) and the ride which appeared to have the same suspension arrangement as the 3rd class open wagons behind Stephensons rocket.
Yep, 142s/143s/144s were widened compared to the Leyland National and the Class 141. I believe the Pacers are actually about two inches wider than a bloody HST, believe it or not
just watched a video about the Sri Lanka version of the Pacer. They are based on Lanka-Ashok-Leyland buses and make the Class 142 look like the technological pinnacle of rail transport.
Long wheelbase and no bogies, I'm impressed that they go around the tight curves at all on a model railway PS I'd be very happy to see more N Scale reviews :)
Great to see you do some more N gauge, and “modern” at that. The Dapol Pacer is fairly typical of their DMUs and what I would call the previous generation of N gauge multiple units; needs multiple chips and is lacking interior detail. The most up to date Bachman units only need one chip, have full interior details and lighting included. You do pay for that though, newest Farish 158 is £220 at retailers. Dapol diesels are very good in my experience, some livery accuracy issues but that is improving. Also some issues with lights failing after a while (blown diodes). I would encourage you to look at, say, a Dapol Class 56 or 58. Not sure you would you make of the large Dapol tender steam locos, strange driveshaft mechanism choice. Loads more I could say but I do agree with your scoring. Love that more n gauge reviews are coming. Best
There used to be a lot of pacers at hull station and they sometimes put 2 sets of 2 together for longer journeys when sprinters,desiros or turbostars were unavailable and it was not a pretty site to see
some of the japanese n-scale passenger trains are really good too :0 i have a Tomix JR 323 commuter, and its pretty nice with the details. 3 car unit (center driven), tiny hinged pantograph, not DCC ready tho, but i suppose if your good at it you can convert it. forward and reverse lighting, so all 3 cars have independent pickups.
Hey sam, I know you're new to n-scale but the working lights on models aren't entirely uncommon given the advent of the LED. There is some REALLY impressive detail available in N, for instance I have a two-truck shay made by Atlas which has a simulated driveshaft on the side. Really neat stuff for such a small size. The last release was 2014, and I'm not sure if they've updated it since the first run in 2003, but for a 20 year old design it's quite nice.
I personally love the pacer sure they didn’t run that well on the railways but they are such a iconic train I remember taking the train to Cardiff for the first time in a pacer sad to see them not run again but it had to be done the class 150 is also a pretty good train
`It reminds me of the DMUs of my childhood. However, I do remember when Leyland was talked about. As you know I am a road transport buff mainly, so was very interested in this. However, I have never heard what happened to them further on~.
I love Pacers they look so cute! 😊 Maybe I'll change my verdict on them if I have to ride these railbuses every day haha, but that's not ever going to happen so they are in my good books.
i have a pacer in brown and cream livery ,wasnt impressed much with it,it did not like 2nd radius curves,it used to slip,but i made it in to a powered twin like the real thing and it improved alot.
Awesome review, and kind of Jack to lend it to you! I quite like Pacers myself, just for the quirkiness. And they did run in 3 car sets, as the class 144. Also, did you receive the bits I sent you? Thanks 👍
Thanks mate - it was very kind of him! Thanks a lot for sharing, and yes I did - really appreciate you sending them out to me... they look awesome! :D Thanks for watching, Sam :)
Many based out my local train station but not MerseyRail. It was a super fast train I mean top speed I’d say no more than 40mph. You’d be sitting on more what I’d call benches, It would shake, rattle and roll at any given time….not sure why we didn’t like them😂
Have one of these in Arriva trains wales. There relatively decent models but I’ve had to solder the connection between the 2 units as the metal tabs can become loose from my experience
Hi Sam just to let you know some class 144 pacer trains were 3 coaches long the 2nd out of the 3 coach 144s aka the middle carriage was used for extra capacity on major commuter corridors also the class 143 and 144 pacer trains were made by Alexander Dennis not Leyland.
Whilst i would be bit more harsh regarding the badly concealed loco bits personaly i can see that it works satisfactorily hence score dose make perfect sense. seems like good item to add to watchlist for dicounts.
I feel as though this is what you'll see on a preservation railway. A simple MU to get the services running and a small steam engine to run special trains
"Most of which are Dapol." Unfortunately for the most part, Graham Farish and Dapol are the only major contenders at N scale RTR. Other companies are shuffling in, but the model size difference isn't the only disparity between OO and N. You also have to really hunt if you want to find anything bigger than an 0-6-0 pannier for less than £100 new.
Us N gauge modellers also have a hugely restricted choice on prototypes too - as a GWR modeller I have no option to buy a King, the Castle is no longer manufactured by Farish, also Saints, County’s, Manors and Granges are off the table, as are a great many tank engines. It’s a case of if a manufacturer brings out a loco that fits your region and era, buy it, because it could be years before you see it again. In contrast you can buy just about whatever you want in OO gauge
As a regular passenger from Manchester to Liverpool. They were usually attached to the rear of more modern stock with a 3x2 seating they were not comfortable. Their 4 wheel and suspension would have been responsible for their nickname "nodding donkey". As a note a version of this abomination was proposed in the 1980,s as a modernized tramcar on the Manx electric railway
The prototype of the Pacers (Leyland Experimental Vehicle 1 & 2) where single units. They really where just a bus on rails. Sadly there was also a 3 coach version!
The 'N' gauge locomotive which I would like you to review would be a Lima AC electric (class AL1). Sadly it has been at least 40 years since they were last manufactured and before 'Lima', I think they were originally made by Tri-Ang. Thanks to eBay I've nearly bought one (several times) but I 'chicken-out' when the bids go high, so I'd love you to review one first as I've never even seen one in the flesh. Keep up the good work, I love watching your reviews of the locomotives that I have not heard of before.
Did a quick search (because curiosity piqued :D), looks like it was Wrenn who made the other AL1 in N gauge. IIRC Wrenn bought the old Hornby Dublo stuff when Hornby went bust the first time, I wasn't aware they did any N-gauge... so there's a new eBay saved search for me!
The Lima/wren 81 was actually an 86, so nowadays it would compete with the dapol version. They used to have a pancake model that prevented low speed running but later versions had a more conventional motor and worm drive.
I have to say that having been on Pacers many times I never enjoyed the experience, jerky and shaking ride, uncomfortable seats, bad ventilation and always too cold or too hot. They plugged a gap and kept the railways running; respect to those who loved them, but I will not miss them.
Great video Sam. The model you are reviewing is a Merseyrail example....quite possibly the worst of the Pacers due to the seating. The ex Arriva Trains North examples had a decent interior with high backed seats when refurbished in the late 1990s. Yes the ride quality left a lot to be desired but the Class 195s which we now have in the north dont ride much better.
Hi Sam. I just wondered the best option for getting some freight rolling stock. And where the best cheap deals normally come from. I’ve seen loads of your videos but I can’t pin down a main. Which is your fav?
Ah-hem Lev1 and Lev2 (the prototype pacers) were just 1-car; although they were experimental. Some (most?) Class 144 pacers had intermediate cars for extra bounce making them 3car. The one good thing Northern did was fit good comfy seats to compensate for the shocking suspension, especially on routes like the Penistone line. But yes most were 2-car from the class 140-143 and some 144s. (I wonder some times whether you make subtle mistakes to drive engagement 😂)
Cute little caterpillar. A bit too expensive for what you get but we both seen worse bargains, didn't we? Haha. If only I had some N gauge layout to run it on I surely would buy it! Nice "little" addition ;) Have a great day!
Hi Sam, I have never been keen on powered coaches and even DMU’s, it took me a good few years to get used to Diesel’s but I have got used to them now. Will it happen with Pacers I don’t know but your Video gives them a good chance. I am now almost 80 years old,what do you think? Regards from Ron 🚂👍😃🚂
I travelled on Northern pacers for years and never had a problem with them TBH. I'm not a rail enthusiast/hobbyist and, obviously, the 333's are much better, but pacers did a job and as an ordinary member of the travelliing public doing a short commute that was enough for me.
Remember, if there's any damage, poor performance, strange noises, bits fall off and it keeps breaking down, that's prototypical.
this is one of the best comments ive seen on this channel.
And leaks
Really funny comment
Lol 😂
Sam said in his Rapido 15xx video that its not an excuse to the manufacturer
Had to use these daily between Sheffield and Huddersfield for Uni, they did have toilets but you were a brave person to try and use it while they bounced around quite wildly
Just the one between the 2 cars I think
Oh boy, another dive into N Gauge! Honestly, I’m pace-ing around right now!
Yes indeed! Me too... been pace-ing the floor all day!
Thanks for watching, Sam :)
2:46 some class 144 Pacers were in 3-car configurations, although the other Pacers were only 2-car sets aside from prototype vehicles.
For some reason I loved the twin pacers. When travelling from Teesside to Newcastle I'd always take the scenic coastal route, as opposed to the ECML, just to travel on them. Took hours. I must have been mad.
And I have a bit of a cold but I don't sound THAT husky!
I had a Dapol class 68 and it was amazing. Smooth, quiet, powerful and it looked great.
Its nice to see these Trains now as we Underestimated them since they have no become Preservation, and now half of them have been scrapped!
You only need to preserve one as a warning from history...
haha true! Definitely some preserved Pacers luckily
Thanks for watching, Sam :)
Did they not just give alot away as long you could transport then to your site
@@JohnBoyAdvance 😂😂 100% agree
Even if all Pacers were scrapped, you just need to get an old Leyland bus and a VGA wagon and you can make a new one. Like a mule.
I like pacers; they have a lot of character. They did their originally specified job in the 1980s of keeping old branch lines afloat cheaply. Plus, the 142s were regulars alongside the 156s on my local route of the Durham Coast Line until they were withdrawn and Heaton got 158s instead. And they did have toilets, except only 144012 ever had a disabled loo.
However, they were meant as a temporary measure, not to have a similar lifespan to the HSTs.
I have an old hornby Northern Spirit 142065, and the EFE T&YPTE/TWPacer 143622 and the Realtrack Northern/West Yorkshire 144009; the latter two are fantastic but of course the Hornby one is a bit pants. I'm really looking forward to the Realtrack 142s.
My boyfriend just got a Dapol SPT 156 today, so I'm trying to persuade him to get a 142 to go with it...
I have the Dapol M7, terrier, and Standard 7. The M7 is the older one, and hardly has any traction, but looks good. The terrier is great, but the pickups aren't. And the Standard 7 runs beautifully, except its traction tyres expired and I haven't put new ones on yet.
It's worth noting that the Pacers were meant to be a temporary stop-gap measure until something better could be built, which took WAY longer than it should have.
No they where not, designed for a 35 year life span, the only reason they had rid of them in the finish was down to the DDA / level access regulations. At £350,000 for a 2 car unit they kept the subsidy heavy lines in Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire etc in business by slashing operating cost.
Great video sam!!!! I personally think the pacers are OK looking locos in 00, but look better in n gauge for some reason?!! I still find it incredible that n gauge has lights, and the slow speed is incredible too! Love it sam 🎉🎉
Yeah maybe you're right - they're quite boxy and simple looking in real life... so they look a bit more complex in N scale!
Thanks for watching, Sam :)
Hi Sam! Nice to see you reviewing N gauge stuff now! Keep it up! FYI, The Dapol 121/122 and Farish 101 are a lot more detailed, feature separately fitted parts, and would be worth reviewing just for comparison! Also, for something that shows what is achievable in N gauge, try and take a look at a sound fitted Farish BR class 5MT! That is one awesome loco! All the best, Ian.
Thank you so much for your videos Sam, I've temporarily moved away from where my model railway is stationed so working on it is an occasional thing. Your videos give me something to look forward to whilst I'm away and can't indulge in the hobby, it really helps make the days less taxing knowing I have a new video about the hobby I love!
This model reminds me of DMus in Japan, along the country branches on single track. I can imagine a small diorama, but showing English scenery. I think it would look marvelous. Cheers for a great review.
Decent model Sam. A tad plasticy looking perhaps but certainly quite acceptable. With some diy one could perhaps make and apply internal led lighting from led strips available for the hobby. Perhaps even make it all work with just one decoder. These do remind me of the old German rail buses; much shorter wheel based but wider, very austere, noisy, and quite the lumpy commute..., but they did the job as a form of very simple light rail. Cheerio.
I believe Tramfabriek do a "cheaper than Dapol" lightbar that works with this model (haven't investigated yet). Whilst you probably could make it all work with one DCC decoder, you'd need to run some extra wires to the unpowered car (it only has the two, for track power, built into the coupling) to get the directional lights to behave.
@@theelectricmonk3909 Of course extra (super thin) wires will be needed, but that's easy peasy. Just use some super thin LED copper wires and coat them for insulation...
@@lindaoffenbachYep! You could use enamelled wires (they used to be a thing - and you can still buy them) - ultra-thin & already coated: Also available in a wide variety of colours! But black would probably be preferred... I doubt they'd cope with motor driving currents, but LEDs would be no problem.
Thanks for the review, Sam - I am 'N gauge only' so reviews of items for that gauge are more immediately interesting to me - it certainly seems an impressive slow runner once run in. Several years ago now, I took a ride on a Weardale line train from Stanhope to Bishop Auckland West and back and the conveyance was a Pacer. The Community Rail Service, as was, wasn't being very well used - I was the only passenger on the train both there and back and in my honest opinion that was mainly down to the extreme roughness of the ride. A couple of weeks later I was talking about it to another rail nerd and he said that they were perfectly OK on smooth track, so that may account for the differences in opinion you may find. Just looking around, I see that the Weardale Railway were still talking about a Pacer, maybe the same one, being resident on their heritage section of the line in 2023.
I know people hate the pacer, and I never managed to ride one, but there's something utilitarian about it that I really appreciate. This isn't an engine for sightseers or Rich folks on holiday, this isn't a high-speed train for your luxury business meeting to get to in london. This is a train for the working class, a simple no frills public transportation system. As much as I love trains for a lot of people they aren't this beautiful form of City infrastructure, they're just another thing they deal with in life. This is a train for people who have a job at Starbucks downtown and they need to catch this from their awful flat that they hate.
That being said if I ever went to a preservation railway and I wrote a Pacer wall there I would probably grumble about it for the rest of the day.
The pacers were sometimes linked with super sprinters right at the end of their usage before withdrawal. The reason I heard was it's because it wasn't wheelchair accessible so needed to be linked to a more modern train. My thoughts are that they just didn't have enough capacity. I had to travel between brighouse and Leeds on them for sixth form and they were PACKED 😅
nice review Sam, I do think you should do a review of almost any Kato North American loco, especially if you want to see performance, twin flywheels as standard and all wheel pickup
Great to see some reviews of N scale models. Really looking forward to the others that you've got planned.
Lovely, looking forward to the next N scale review, been very interested in this scale for a while now myself and it's amazing how well it stands up to even H0 sometimes, in my opinion anyway.
Love the pacers, quite decent in saving our railways
I remember having to ride these into Manchester. I used to hate them, while the Northern versions did have one small toilet, they had poor sealing doors, rode terribly due to the lack of bogies, and if you were tall, you struggled to fit your legs in between the bus seating, meaning you had to try and sit diagonally in a busy commuter service.
They also were smaller than the Sprinters/323s and often ran at rush hour leading to overcrowding.
Rail companies loved them as they were cheap to rent, hence their use till 2020.
Northern must have bought/borrowed some Merseyrail Pacers at some point, as I remember riding them a few times (and one time arriving into Manchester the train automatically announcing our arrival into St Helens, confusing the guard).
Northern also occasionally ran two together as a 4 car set.
However now they have gone (several are preserved though, there's one at Butterley for example) and I find i want a OO model of them in the Blue and Purple, as they were very common. So much so, I've cracked and ordered a Realtrack 142 version.
2:53 the bottom coach with the whited out window does contain a toilet that flushes the waste onto the tracks, and some class 144s did run in 3 coaches. But the 142 never ran with any more or any less than 2
My first exposure to the Pacer series of DMUs was watching your passenger burning one. It was quite a memorable experience. 😂
hahaha yes I remember that well too!
Thanks for watching, Sam :)
Must admit I have been waiting to see this one when your first showed that you had picked up an N gauge Pacer, looks really nice overall, although I don’t have any n gauge ones I do have 3 OO gauge ones, two hornby ones and one EFE rail one, overall good review here Sam.
Thanks David - is the EFE one good? I'd love to try one!
Thanks for watching, Sam :)
I at first wondered why one would hate a pacer, but know that I heard about it, it all makes sense now.
I remember going to visit my grandparents in Harrogate and from the early to mid 80s onwards the train from York or Leeds to there was usually a class 141 Pacer which really did look like Leyland Nationals (there's one at the Midland Railway Centre at Butterley) there were some 3 car 144s iirc also the original (experimental) railbuses were single car LEV1, 2, 3, 4 etc
I've also got a couple of friends down in Brighton who actually own a couple of Nationals.
That is a cool model. The smooth running, detailing and lights really add to the realism. My friends and I have Kato N scale track and models. We often run them without the bodies. Just the diecast chassis with exposed copper motor windings and tiny light bulbs front and rear. We call them naked or zombie trains and paint them up with eyes and teeth and such. They pull freight cars loaded with candies and other goodies. Cheers from Canada :-)
🚂 🚃🚃🚃
I used to travel from Merthyr Vale to Cardiff Uni. ATW frequently ran a 142 and a 143 in multiple.
I think that I might have found my first N Scale piece of rolling stock. Bye bye TT120, I’d probably be long gone before Hornby brought one of these. A modern image bus/rail interchange is on the cards. Thanks for the video Sam.👍
I can see why this model would bring back your spooky travels to school. You're also scared of my ghost train and exploding Gunpowder Van requests. I hope you won't wind up trapped in one of your worst nightmares.
haha thanks Kelly - yes very much scared of thoe too!
Thanks for watching, Sam :)
I love to see Sams review the Thomas N gauge
Waited years for the Tyne & Wear pte one and finally got it last year. Getting a second sometime this year.
You have to cut the light bars down too as they're too long for these.
Ahh fantastic! That's interesting about the light bars too - so they're not even purpose designed for these??
Thanks for watching, Sam :)
@@SamsTrains you just cut them to size. I couldn't find out where so had my local model shop do it. Put 2 different shades in thoogh 😬 🤭 but will do the same with my second one so they will then match up.
The newest Farish 101 DMU is amazing; especially the sound fitted version but it is not cheap! Great to see another N Gauge review Sam!
Even though a lot of people hate the pacers I kinda like how they look in terms of just the goofiness of them, the model was really well put together for n scale
Used to commute on these a lot on the Riviera line in Devon.
They were utter crap. I remember on one, the cab seperator bulkhead had a massive crack in it and was held together by gaffer tape.
First Great Western had two types, 142 (scum class with bus seats) and 143 (with half decent sprinter style seats).
One wag suggested running a 142 and a 143 in multiple and charging for the 143 as first class!
Ironically, the model may only have one car driven, but the real one had two engines per 2 car unit but only one driven axle per car so the model matches it for traction.
The real one only had to encounter a slight incline in icy conditions and it was screwed for grip.... Had to reverse back down to Paignton station and get a two mile run up at max line speed to conquer the incline. And then only just!
Really great review. Would love to see more N gauge videos.
Speaking of Rails of Sheffield, I saw that they have some 0n30 locos if you are curious. Anyway, a fun thing about N scale is that is that the "N" stands for "nine" (or "Neun", given that it came from Germany), as the rails are 9mm asunder. N is also not even the smallest scale, as Z and T have it beaten.
A Leyland National bus on tracks. As I child I loved travelling on our local London Country Leyland National buses, and couldn’t understand why Pacers were so hated.
That is, until I visited a friend in the early 2000s and travelled on a Pacer into Sunderland. All I can say is my love for the Leyland National was not transferred to the Pacer. I know you will only find them on heritage railways now, but my advice is if you have any loose fillings or haven’t been to the dentist recently, you might want to wait to see what other locos are running at the heritage railway you are visiting before boarding a Pacer !
Hi Sam. Pacers were sometimes run coupled to Sprinters in their later years. For a train that everybody supposedly hated they were In service for quite a long time.
I remember this and I remember most people dashing for a seat on the Sprinter 😅
They was cheep to run . They had to run with other units at the end because you had to give wheel chair access and disabled wc . Sometime you be unlucky to have 2 pairs together as well
The main reason for their longevity was they were significantly cheaper for the operating companies to rent than a Sprinter.
Yay, finally a review of a model item that I actually own! (I'm cheap - and hardly ever buy new locos, that's why this is a first). I must have done rather well, as I got a DCC fitted one for £123 from Hattons, towards the end of last year (i.e. before they decided to close). Mine's in Manchester Orange livery, as that was all Hattons had in at that price. Pretty much agree with everything you say here Sam - it's definitely a fine model at the heavily discounted price point - no way would I have paid £150+ for a DC model (I think the RRP on DCC Fitted was over £180). Note that the DCC fitted version does, indeed, come with two decoders (which are set to the same ID), although they're Dapol decoders of course, so you may want to put a fancier one in the driving car.
One thing about my model though (and I don't know if it's because DCC, or what), mine seems very slow - even by prototypical standards... Your 50% running speed looked to be a tickle faster than mine manages flat out. I may investigate an alternative decoder one day; but for the moment, I don't mind it crawling around the layout getting in the way of all the "real" trains, just like the real thing used to do!
I LOVE pacers, and I sound like that! (They remind me of my holidays to South Devon/Torbay!)
I commuted every day on a pacer (cardiff Queen street to Rhiwbina) for my first job after Uni and there was a rather spacious disabled accessible toilet, they were wider than a bus for sure and had disabled ramps - that was arriva trains wales. The downfall was the uncomfortable seats (although these were individual modern bus or train style seats not the old benches with a teeth-height steel ‘safety bar’) and the ride which appeared to have the same suspension arrangement as the 3rd class open wagons behind Stephensons rocket.
Yep, 142s/143s/144s were widened compared to the Leyland National and the Class 141. I believe the Pacers are actually about two inches wider than a bloody HST, believe it or not
just watched a video about the Sri Lanka version of the Pacer. They are based on Lanka-Ashok-Leyland buses and make the Class 142 look like the technological pinnacle of rail transport.
Those are heavily modified road buses. Because of that, they are not exactly better than Pacers.
They dn make a lovely model. I've an old hornby oo and even that looks the part on the layout, although it's very basic now
Long wheelbase and no bogies, I'm impressed that they go around the tight curves at all on a model railway
PS I'd be very happy to see more N Scale reviews :)
Great to see you do some more N gauge, and “modern” at that.
The Dapol Pacer is fairly typical of their DMUs and what I would call the previous generation of N gauge multiple units; needs multiple chips and is lacking interior detail.
The most up to date Bachman units only need one chip, have full interior details and lighting included. You do pay for that though, newest Farish 158 is £220 at retailers.
Dapol diesels are very good in my experience, some livery accuracy issues but that is improving. Also some issues with lights failing after a while (blown diodes). I would encourage you to look at, say, a Dapol Class 56 or 58.
Not sure you would you make of the large Dapol tender steam locos, strange driveshaft mechanism choice.
Loads more I could say but I do agree with your scoring.
Love that more n gauge reviews are coming.
Best
There used to be a lot of pacers at hull station and they sometimes put 2 sets of 2 together for longer journeys when sprinters,desiros or turbostars were unavailable and it was not a pretty site to see
You should check out a Kato train in N Scale
+1 this! The Kato models I've seen have been very, very nice
I’m really happy to see you covering N gauge!
Finally a model I own being reviewed - I've got a GMPTE one! Great review!
Huh, snap! Did you get yours from Hattons as well? :D
@theelectricmonk3909 Rails I think!
Funny, I had bought one years before while I was modelling UK trains in N scale. It was a good model, as far as I remember.
You need to have a look at Katos n gauge British train sets eg, GWR 800 set
some of the japanese n-scale passenger trains are really good too :0 i have a Tomix JR 323 commuter, and its pretty nice with the details. 3 car unit (center driven), tiny hinged pantograph, not DCC ready tho, but i suppose if your good at it you can convert it. forward and reverse lighting, so all 3 cars have independent pickups.
Amazing review sam
Thanks Justin! :D
Awesome video Sam's trains
Wish there was more merseyrail items, especially the class 507/508's :(
Good too see u slammin sam !
Hey sam, I know you're new to n-scale but the working lights on models aren't entirely uncommon given the advent of the LED. There is some REALLY impressive detail available in N, for instance I have a two-truck shay made by Atlas which has a simulated driveshaft on the side. Really neat stuff for such a small size. The last release was 2014, and I'm not sure if they've updated it since the first run in 2003, but for a 20 year old design it's quite nice.
I personally love the pacer sure they didn’t run that well on the railways but they are such a iconic train I remember taking the train to Cardiff for the first time in a pacer sad to see them not run again but it had to be done the class 150 is also a pretty good train
`It reminds me of the DMUs of my childhood. However, I do remember when Leyland was talked about. As you know I am a road transport buff mainly, so was very interested in this. However, I have never heard what happened to them further on~.
Nice video Sam
Thank you! :D
I love Pacers they look so cute! 😊
Maybe I'll change my verdict on them if I have to ride these railbuses every day haha, but that's not ever going to happen so they are in my good books.
haha I'm sure if you ever get a chance to ride one you'll understand why people feel the way they do!
Thanks for watching, Sam :)
I love pacers despite not being comfortable. Great video ❤
Great review, i've been looking at the Arriva trains version.
i have a pacer in brown and cream livery ,wasnt impressed much with it,it did not like 2nd radius curves,it used to slip,but i made it in to a powered twin like the real thing and it improved alot.
Awesome video today Sam can’t wait for this weekend am going to a train show in Doncaster
Awesome review, and kind of Jack to lend it to you! I quite like Pacers myself, just for the quirkiness. And they did run in 3 car sets, as the class 144. Also, did you receive the bits I sent you? Thanks 👍
Thanks mate - it was very kind of him! Thanks a lot for sharing, and yes I did - really appreciate you sending them out to me... they look awesome! :D
Thanks for watching, Sam :)
I've actually never been on a pacer Sam. But from the stories I've heard about them, thank goodness I never did lol.
Cheers Jasper & Willow
If you are based in the US (I think you are?) one of the prototypes was tested over there for potential export!
@@timbervalleyproductions really, I didn't know that.
haha you're very lucky indeed if you never have!
Thanks for watching, Sam :)
@@NWRJ_WStudios Yeh they did
Many based out my local train station but not MerseyRail. It was a super fast train I mean top speed I’d say no more than 40mph. You’d be sitting on more what I’d call benches, It would shake, rattle and roll at any given time….not sure why we didn’t like them😂
Have one of these in Arriva trains wales. There relatively decent models but I’ve had to solder the connection between the 2 units as the metal tabs can become loose from my experience
Happy Chinese New Year Sam, and early happy train birthday to you too. :)
Chinese people eat dogs 🤢
Joking happy new chinese year
And all the same to you too, haha!
Thanks for watching, Sam :)
Hi Sam just to let you know some class 144 pacer trains were 3 coaches long the 2nd out of the 3 coach 144s aka the middle carriage was used for extra capacity on major commuter corridors also the class 143 and 144 pacer trains were made by Alexander Dennis not Leyland.
Sam, try the Dapol Terrier in N gauge, it's a lovely little model AND you'll have covered it in three different scales!
Whilst i would be bit more harsh regarding the badly concealed loco bits personaly i can see that it works satisfactorily hence score dose make perfect sense.
seems like good item to add to watchlist for dicounts.
I feel as though this is what you'll see on a preservation railway. A simple MU to get the services running and a small steam engine to run special trains
Sam did you hear Accurascale bought out some Hattons Originals, specifically: Warwell Wagons, The P Class, and Andrew Barclay Tanks
you sam should do awards to the 5 best locos of the year😉
"Most of which are Dapol."
Unfortunately for the most part, Graham Farish and Dapol are the only major contenders at N scale RTR. Other companies are shuffling in, but the model size difference isn't the only disparity between OO and N. You also have to really hunt if you want to find anything bigger than an 0-6-0 pannier for less than £100 new.
Us N gauge modellers also have a hugely restricted choice on prototypes too - as a GWR modeller I have no option to buy a King, the Castle is no longer manufactured by Farish, also Saints, County’s, Manors and Granges are off the table, as are a great many tank engines. It’s a case of if a manufacturer brings out a loco that fits your region and era, buy it, because it could be years before you see it again. In contrast you can buy just about whatever you want in OO gauge
As a regular passenger from Manchester to Liverpool.
They were usually attached to the rear of more modern stock with a 3x2 seating they were not comfortable.
Their 4 wheel and suspension would have been responsible for their nickname "nodding donkey".
As a note a version of this abomination was proposed in the 1980,s as a modernized tramcar on the Manx electric railway
I used to travel on those trains, they had a certain charm
The prototype of the Pacers (Leyland Experimental Vehicle 1 & 2) where single units. They really where just a bus on rails.
Sadly there was also a 3 coach version!
The 'N' gauge locomotive which I would like you to review would be a Lima AC electric (class AL1).
Sadly it has been at least 40 years since they were last manufactured and before 'Lima', I think they were originally made by Tri-Ang.
Thanks to eBay I've nearly bought one (several times) but I 'chicken-out' when the bids go high, so I'd love you to review one first as I've never even seen one in the flesh.
Keep up the good work, I love watching your reviews of the locomotives that I have not heard of before.
Did a quick search (because curiosity piqued :D), looks like it was Wrenn who made the other AL1 in N gauge. IIRC Wrenn bought the old Hornby Dublo stuff when Hornby went bust the first time, I wasn't aware they did any N-gauge... so there's a new eBay saved search for me!
The Lima/wren 81 was actually an 86, so nowadays it would compete with the dapol version. They used to have a pancake model that prevented low speed running but later versions had a more conventional motor and worm drive.
It can’t be, it everyone most dislike train. Excellent review of your latest N gauge model for your collection 👍
Thanks very much Joe!
I have to say that having been on Pacers many times I never enjoyed the experience, jerky and shaking ride, uncomfortable seats, bad ventilation and always too cold or too hot. They plugged a gap and kept the railways running; respect to those who loved them, but I will not miss them.
Great video Sam. The model you are reviewing is a Merseyrail example....quite possibly the worst of the Pacers due to the seating.
The ex Arriva Trains North examples had a decent interior with high backed seats when refurbished in the late 1990s.
Yes the ride quality left a lot to be desired but the Class 195s which we now have in the north dont ride much better.
are you going to add any thing to the n gauge layout
You should check out the kato class 800. One of the best N scale multiple units you can get imo
Hi Sam. I just wondered the best option for getting some freight rolling stock. And where the best cheap deals normally come from. I’ve seen loads of your videos but I can’t pin down a main. Which is your fav?
Ah-hem Lev1 and Lev2 (the prototype pacers) were just 1-car; although they were experimental.
Some (most?) Class 144 pacers had intermediate cars for extra bounce making them 3car. The one good thing Northern did was fit good comfy seats to compensate for the shocking suspension, especially on routes like the Penistone line.
But yes most were 2-car from the class 140-143 and some 144s.
(I wonder some times whether you make subtle mistakes to drive engagement 😂)
The Reliant Robin of the train world. Travelled on them many times - some much better than others - the worst are - b-a-d.
As a model I actually quite like it. Have to say - the Mersey yellow is much better looking than the Northumberland colours. 😄
Cool
Cute little caterpillar. A bit too expensive for what you get but we both seen worse bargains, didn't we? Haha. If only I had some N gauge layout to run it on I surely would buy it! Nice "little" addition ;) Have a great day!
Yeah absolutely right - best I've seen in N scale so far!
Thanks for watching, Sam :)
Hi Sam, I have never been keen on powered coaches and even DMU’s, it took me a good few years to get used to Diesel’s but I have got used to them now. Will it happen with Pacers I don’t know but your Video gives them a good chance. I am now almost 80 years old,what do you think? Regards from Ron 🚂👍😃🚂
I hope it comes with realistically uncomfortable seats! Thanks as always Sam.
hahaha sadly not!! This model has even worse comfort than the real thing!
Thanks for watching, Sam :)
Hey Sam. I am starting a model railway and was wondering if you could be able to give me some advice on where to use insulated rail joiners?
I travelled on Northern pacers for years and never had a problem with them TBH. I'm not a rail enthusiast/hobbyist and, obviously, the 333's are much better, but pacers did a job and as an ordinary member of the travelliing public doing a short commute that was enough for me.
Are you able to review some narrow gauge engines please?
New to this. Never seen scharfenberg couplings before. How do you make them couple!? Do you just push the two units together?
Pacers are adorable.
I kind of got excited when I saw it was a pacer review but then was sad it was N scale .... Hate riding on a pacer but kind of want one