British Rail Class 141

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British Rail Class 141 Pacer
141108 at the Colne Valley Railway
Interior of a Class 141.
In service1984 - 2005
ManufacturerBritish Leyland
Order no.
  • 30977 (DMS)
  • 30978 (DMSL)[1]
Family namePacer
Refurbishment1988 - 1989
Formation
  • 2 car
  • DMS+DMSL[2]
Diagram
  • DP228 (DMS)
  • DP229 (DMSL)[1]
Fleet numbers
  • 141001-141020 (sets, as built)
  • 141101-141120 (sets, from 1988-9)[2]
  • 55502-55521 (DMS)
  • 55522-55541 (DMSL)[3]
Capacity
  • 94 (total)
  • 50 (DMS)
  • 44 (DMSL)[2]
Operator(s)
Depot(s)Neville Hill[1]
Line(s) servedWest Yorkshire
Specifications
Car body constructionSteel[4]
Car length15.45 m (50.7 ft)[3]
Width2.5 m (8 ft 2 in)[3]
Height3.906 m (12.81 ft)[4]
Articulated sections2
Wheelbase9 m (30 ft)[4]
Maximum speed75 mph (121 km/h)[2]
Weight
  • 26 t (26 long tons; 29 short tons) (DMS)
  • 26.5 t (26.1 long tons; 29.2 short tons) (DMSL)[3]
Prime mover(s)1 × Leyland TL11[2]
Power output205 hp (153 kW)[3]
TransmissionSCGR500 4-speed[2]
Train heating
  • Engine waste heat
  • Ducted warm air[4]
BogiesAX1[4]
Braking system(s)Air[4]
Safety system(s)AWS
Coupling system
  • BSI (outer)
  • Bar (inner)[4]
Headlight typeFluorescent[4]
Track gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8 12 in) standard gauge
141113 standing at Swanwick shed, Midland Railway Butterley
Interior photo of 141113
141103 standing at Stanhope station, Weardale Railway
Cab of unit 141103

The British Rail Class 141 was the first production model of the Pacer diesel multiple units. They were created because then British Rail had a large shortage of trains so rather than spending lots of money on expensive proper trains, they invented the Pacer. British Leyland at the time had a surplus in the production of bus bodies so the idea was to weld the bus body from an old bus on to a freight waggon chassis. The result of this was that pacers have notoriously poor suspension and are noisier around corners due to flanging (the squeaky noise that you'll sometimes hear when travelling by train). This makes them non-ideal passenger trains so they are now being replaced (or have been replaced in the case of the class 141) by new trains.

References[change | change source]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Fox & Hughes 1994, p. 15
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 "Class 141". The Railway Centre. Archived from the original on 9 March 2005.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Fox 1987, p. 40
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 Vehicle Diagram Book No. 220 for Diesel Multiple Unit Trains (Railcars) (PDF). Derby: British Railways Board. 1982. DP228, DP229. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-01-21. Retrieved 2018-01-23. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)