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[Albion] Has Everyone Recovered From The Rattler?



el punal

Well-known member
That bit of “transport” that takes you from Preston station to Burnley. Allegedly called a train, officially called the Sprinter!! Bus seats to sit on, no suspension, and a top speed of 18 mph. This must be the only train that has square wheels and a flat tyre and an alarming smell of burning when the brakes are applied.

I will never have a go at Southern again. :eek:
 




Gazwag

5 millionth post poster
Mar 4, 2004
30,093
Bexhill-on-Sea
What - Worse than the Lewes shuttles ???

You see our poor transport is an urban myth. One 4 carriage train an hour to Preston or Manchester the other way after a game and a 45 minute trip crushed like a sardine rather than the 10 we have at home
 




Cheshire Cat

The most curious thing..
Pacers are essentially buses on rails. They have been around for about 30 years and are rubbish.
 




Bevendean Hillbilly

New member
Sep 4, 2006
12,805
Nestling in green nowhere
If you spend any time on trains and busses in the north you will find a massive amount of shitty old rolling stock and poor tracks.

It seems that the different levels of prosperity in the north and the south really does make investment an issue.
 


Pacers are essentially buses on rails. They have been around for about 30 years and are rubbish.
The worst part about the Pacers is that the underframe is just a 2 axle freight wagon which gives it it's poor riding quality.
 


Pantani

Il Pirata
Dec 3, 2008
5,445
Newcastle
Northern Rail are due to replace every Pacer by 2019. So our next visit may be improved, though it seems extremely unlikely that they will manage this.
 




Frutos

.
Helpful Moderator
NSC Patreon
May 3, 2006
35,493
Northumberland
Northern Rail are due to replace every Pacer by 2019. So our next visit may be improved, though it seems extremely unlikely that they will manage this.
I'll believe that when I see it, although I hope it does happen.

My trains to/from work are usually Pacers - incredibly uncomfortable, not helped by the lack of legroom (I'm 6'3'').
 


Pantani

Il Pirata
Dec 3, 2008
5,445
Newcastle
I'll believe that when I see it, although I hope it does happen.

My trains to/from work are usually Pacers - incredibly uncomfortable, not helped by the lack of legroom (I'm 6'3'').

Nothing else up your way is there? The lady at the Heaton train depot just laughed when I mentioned all Pacers replaced by 2019. Pretty train ride though, presuming you are on the Newcastle to Carlisle line.
 


Frutos

.
Helpful Moderator
NSC Patreon
May 3, 2006
35,493
Northumberland
Nothing else up your way is there? The lady at the Heaton train depot just laughed when I mentioned all Pacers replaced by 2019. Pretty train ride though, presuming you are on the Newcastle to Carlisle line.
We do occasionally get non-Pacers, mainly on the few services on our line run by ScotRail.

It is a scenic route, although I'm not far enough outside of Newcastle to get too much of the scenery.
 








Bodian

Well-known member
May 3, 2012
11,599
Cumbria
They use the same trains on the Carlisle - Newcastle, and Leeds - Morecambe lines. It means the journey takes for ever, and isn't very comfy. The windows are often so filthy that you can't see the scenery to make up for it either.

Having said that, they're better than when I first came up here on holiday back in the 1980s. Then they really were trains full of bus seats - they also had hinged backs so that you could change the direction you were facing (so long as you all did the same). And I swear that they actually had gears like a bus - it felt like it anyway.

When I go down south now, I always marvel at your trains. You might have a poorly managed service, but at least they're fairly clean and comfortable.
 




Rodney Thomas

Well-known member
May 2, 2012
1,569
Ελλάδα
They use the same trains on the Carlisle - Newcastle, and Leeds - Morecambe lines. It means the journey takes for ever, and isn't very comfy. The windows are often so filthy that you can't see the scenery to make up for it either.

Having said that, they're better than when I first came up here on holiday back in the 1980s. Then they really were trains full of bus seats - they also had hinged backs so that you could change the direction you were facing (so long as you all did the same). And I swear that they actually had gears like a bus - it felt like it anyway.

When I go down south now, I always marvel at your trains. You might have a poorly managed service, but at least they're fairly clean and comfortable.

They used to have them on the Manchester Victoria to Liverpool line when I lived up there too but I believe they may have changed them now?
 


Bodian

Well-known member
May 3, 2012
11,599
Cumbria
They used to have them on the Manchester Victoria to Liverpool line when I lived up there too but I believe they may have changed them now?

Not a line I've been on for some years. I daresay there is a website (probably more than one) dedicated to all of this stuff somewhere! I belong to a small photographic group, and we're working our way through the alphabet choosing a word each month to go and take a picture of - there's two chaps who almost always have train/railway related images - and talk about numbers and DMUs and things. All a bit beyond me...
 


GT49er

Well-known member
Feb 1, 2009
46,473
Gloucester
I've had a few journeys between Gloucester, Cheltenham and Bristol in them, but haven't seen one in these parts for a few years now.
 


Cowfold Seagull

Fan of the 17 bus
Apr 22, 2009
21,578
Cowfold
In fact the coachwork of Pacer's is based on that of the Leyland National bus, which all but disappeared from our streets twenty odd years ago.
 









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