class 142/143 ....are these the worst loco's ever?

[roadie stu]

I have been down to visit My girlfriend in devon for the last few days and have had my first experience of the class 142 and 143 DMU's,

I have to say, I'm not impressed, to me it felt like the running gear wasn't attached to the body, the body roll was terrible, and I didn't feel safe in them, the last few time's I've been the rolling stock used were the 150 and 153 units that are vastly superior,

I suppose I'm used to the networker turbo's used by the TOC's by me (chiltern and first great western lines),

just want to know what everone else thinks about them

Cheers

Stu

[Bufferstop]

- to me it felt like the running gear wasn't attached to the body, the body roll was terrible, and I didn't feel safe in them,

If you call a few lumps of rubber an attachment, it's sort of attached. When one went SPAD a few years back and shoved its way out onto the WCML in front of an '86 the body of the rear coach ended up where the front one should have been! This was just at the time that the 'elf-n-safety muppets were insisting on the withdrawal of Mk1 stock because they had a chassis, not a one piece body.

[ste234]

I have about a 50/50 chance of a 142 on my journey to and from college,and i bloomin hate them!
Everyone can see each other, hardly any sort of privacy (unlike 156's etc), feel every little bump in the track, horrendous over pointwork at high speeds (well, 70mph ish anyway...), squeel like little piggies when going round corners and the doors almost cave in when a train goes past in the other direction

Saying that i can't wait till Dapol bring out their 142 in Northern Livery!

[thomas the plank engine]

What is a 142/3 anyway. Its just a bus on rails really so what more would you exspect than a nasty bumpy ride that bounces around all the time. Its like being on a roller coaster ride but ata 60/70 mph. The joys of travelling from Paignton to Exeter and back again on a 142/3.

Ian

ps I would rather face the prospect of a long drive than travel on the 142/3's again

[m8internet]

Not a loco, a DMU

I've only ever been on one Class 142/143, this was between Carlisle and Newcastle, sometime in the lates 1980s
At the time they were having their tranmsission systemes replaced, as a result of which they were going through renumbering so that they could identify the converted ones

These DMUs are relatively cheap to operate
However as mentioned above there was an accident with one on the WCML that showed how poor the construction was at surviving a high speed accident
Sadly there were too many units to order a full-scale withdrawal
It was decided such units should be "banned" from operating on main lines where the line speed was 75mph or higher, and there was the risk of a train of higher speed on the same line
As a result many units were transferred to areas in the UK where this risk was reduced

A decision on these units will have to be made in the next five years on a replacement, as they will need to be replaced in some of the next franchise renewals

[Bufferstop]

I've only made two return trips on one, I'll try to avoid increasing that total. My first encounter was where they were being used in totally the wrong place, the Looe branch. For those not familiar with it, to get to the junction station at Liskeard involves reversing, then climbing a steep, tight spiral ending up almost vertically above the starting point. You could hear it from the moment it started to climb until it reached the platform. On the way down it was even worse as the squeal from the brakes was added to the cacophony. My second encounter was Harrogate to York. As this was the sort of line they were designed for I thought they might do better. Nope it just meant they could get up enough speed to demonstrate the atrocious ride quality. We exported some of their first cousins to Iran, no wonder international relations are so bad
he WCML incident showed the folly of changing the system piecemeal. The loop (or was it the end of a slow line) had no trap points to guard against a SPAD, because someone had decided it would be dangerous to derail a slow moving train at that point. The driver, having misread the green aspect for the main, came to his senses having crashed through the trailing point and finding himself out on the main, decided to start following the rules and STOPPED his empty train in the path of "Wolf of Baddenoch" to report what had happened. His best action would have been to squeeze every ounce of power out of those engines and hope that he could get far enough ahead to allow the following driver to make an emergency stop when he came up on an unexpected red. There might still have been a collision but the closing speed would have been much less.

[m8internet]

I've only made two return trips on one, I'll try to avoid increasing that total. My first encounter was where they were being used in totally the wrong place, the Looe branch. For those not familiar with it, to get to the junction station at Liskeard involves reversing, then climbing a steep, tight spiral ending up almost vertically above the starting point

Is that the rail line that can be seen from the Plymouth - Penzance rail ine? (sweeps off to one side then reappears directly beneath)
If it is, that looks a scary route to do in a Class 14x unit

[Bufferstop]

Is that the rail line that can be seen from the Plymouth - Penzance rail ine? (sweeps off to one side then reappears directly beneath)
If it is, that looks a scary route to do in a Class 14x unit

That's the one. There's a freight only branch (or was) meets end on with the Looe branch and the spiral is the access to the main line. The branch platform is at right angles to the main line ones. It sets off in the wrong direction then turns through 180 degrees before passing under the main line. Then turns through a further 180 stopping under the main line viaduct. Then it reverses and sets off down towards Looe following the route of an old canal. Just as it enters Looe the track dips below the line of the highest tides, so trains occasionally go for a paddle. I wouldn't have fancied being at the front of a train of empty wagons going down with only hand brakes and a brake van on the end, but I bet there was a good show of fireworks getting the full ones back up.

[Bufferstop]

Is that the rail line that can be seen from the Plymouth - Penzance rail ine? (sweeps off to one side then reappears directly beneath)
If it is, that looks a scary route to do in a Class 14x unit

That's the one. There's a freight only branch (or was) meets end on with the Looe branch and the spiral is the access to the main line. The branch platform is at right angles to the main line ones. It sets off in the wrong direction then turns through 180 degrees before passing under the main line. Then turns through a further 180 stopping under the main line viaduct. Then it reverses and sets off down towards Looe following the route of an old canal. Just as it enters Looe the track dips below the line of the highest tides, so trains occasionally go for a paddle. I wouldn't have fancied being at the front of a train of empty wagons going down with only hand brakes and a brake van on the end, but I bet there was a good show of fireworks getting the full ones back up.

[mixturesweb]

I quite often travel on them, living in West Yorkshire with goodness know how many 142s and all 23 144s running about

[Metrocamel]

I'm on a 142 pretty much daily. Undoubtedly they're a poor design and probably unsafe - supposedly they were modified after that accident to anchor the bodies down better but I doubt it would make much difference seeing as they were intended for buses. That said, I quite like them The heating is great in winter and they just have their own sort of rugged character just like 156's. What I can't stand are the 185's. Briefly caught one to Penrith and it just felt gimmicky and sterile and had no character to it.

So given the choice between a safe, modern, hassle free journey and a rickety, noisy 1980's death-trap, I'll take the latter

Liam

[hobby boy]

i'm sure that the class 319s that first capital connect use are noisy and slow (well some of them are)

Andrew

[sprite.]

I like how a pacer is seen down south as a horror ride.... Up North we have them on most routes. When Northern's 180's ahve to go back (soonish too), then 180 diagrams will be covered by some 142's as happens when they fail.
I was on 144020 (had 142049 at the rear, locked) and the ride was smooth - bit loud at times but I love pacers. Also enjoyed the 158 I had as a connection - except the toilet door was buggered. It kept opening then closing of its own accord.

[tinsleytmd]

They might be old & they might bounce everywhere & break your neck before you get to your destination but i personally think their is something about the humble pacer that i like. I see them daily on the Colne line & they are not as bad as everyone makes out & i'm told if it wasnt for them we wouldnt have half the branchlines we have now because they would have closed down.

Simon.

[m8internet]

i'm sure that the class 319s that first capital connect use are noisy and slow (well some of them are)

The Class 319 may appear noisy and/or slow depending on the route
The Class 318 / 320 has a virtually identical interior construction, and when these are on the low level lines in Glasgow the same can be said; noisy and slow
However, in the countryside these units perform well, although the Class 320 doesn't see much of the countryside!

Certainly can't be compared to a Class 14x unit!