British Rail Class 141

The British Rail Class 141 was the first production model of the Pacer diesel multiple units. Its lifespan in the UK was 14 years, and in Iran its lifespan was 8 years, for a total lifespan of 22 years.

Description
In the early 1980s British Rail were looking to replace the remaining 1950s first generation diesel multiple units on lightly  used  branch lines. Financial pressures  precluded  them  ordering  more heavyweight  second  generation  units  (the  business  case  could  not be  made  to  balance) so  were  looking  for  a  cheaper  alternative.

British Rail  engineers  looked  at  the  Leyland National bus,  then  in widespread usage, with its modular design as a basis for the design. Several single and two car prototypes were built before an order was placed with Leyland Bus for twenty class 141 two car units in 1984.

The units were notoriously unreliable, but reliability improved when the units were modified by Hunslet-Barclay between 1988 and 1989. At the same time the railway couplings (which was a Buckeye coupling) were replaced with the type fitted to the later Class 142, for more flexible working.

The driving axles (one per coach at the inner end) were fitted directly to the chassis rather than being mounted on bogies, leading to a rather rough ride especially over pointwork, and because of this the units were generally less popular with passengers.

The trains were based mainly in and across West Yorkshire on routes radiating from Leeds, where they worked up until 1997 when they were replaced by Class 142. They were sponsored by West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive, and were initially painted in the PTE's Verona green and buttermilk livery with "MetroTrain" branding, later receiving the red and cream "Metro-Train" livery.

The units were numbered from 141001 to 141020. After modification they became 141101 to 141120, although not in order, since the opportunity was taken to match the final digits of the unit numbers with those of the vehicle numbers.

Overseas
In 1984, an unidentified Class 141 unit was converted to metre gauge and shipped to Thailand and Malaysia for trial running. However, the trial running wasn't successful. The vehicle was different to the twenty British trains having only longitudinal seating for 120 passengers and space for another 140 standing. Only 1 car was powered with the other being a trailer vehicle. After the unsuccessful trial in Thailand the Pacer went to Malaysia and then to Indonesia for further evaluation. It was last seen outside the Ulu Yam station, on a railway siding, in Malaysia in fairly derelict condition in 2000.

At the end of their career with British Rail, most members of the class were sold to Islamic Republic of Iran Railways and were exported during 2001/2002. These units have since been withdrawn and replaced by new DMUs. Two units were also exported to Holland but they are not currently being used. However, some trains did remain in the United Kingdom. Three units are operational in preservation:- 141103 at the Weardale Railway, 141108 at the Colne Valley Railway, and 141113 at the Midland Railway – Butterley. 141110 is also at the Weardale Railway, but is not in operational condition (spares donor) and one vehicle has been scrapped.

12 units are known to have been exported to Iran, with two spotted in service in 2005, whilst another 2 (106+112) have survived in Holland. The whereabouts of these two units are currently unknown.

Non-passenger use
Unit number 141118 was modified for use as a weedkilling unit by Serco. It gained a grey and red livery and black wrap-around window surrounds. It was among the units later exported to Iran. A photograph of this unit, in SERCO livery, at Huddersfield is shown on page 36 of Modern Locomotives Illustrated - August/September 2012.