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British Rail Class 141 facts for kids

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British Rail Class 141 Pacer
141108 at Colne Valley Railway.jpg
141108 at the Colne Valley Railway
141113Interior.JPG
Interior of a Class 141.
In service 1984 - 2005
Manufacturer British Leyland
Order no.
  • 30977 (DMS)
  • 30978 (DMSL)
Family name Pacer
Refurbishment 1988 - 1989
Formation
  • 2 car
  • DMS+DMSL
Diagram
  • DP228 (DMS)
  • DP229 (DMSL)
Fleet numbers
  • 141001-141020 (sets, as built)
  • 141101-141120 (sets, from 1988-9)
  • 55502-55521 (DMS)
  • 55522-55541 (DMSL)
Capacity
  • 94 (total)
  • 50 (DMS)
  • 44 (DMSL)
Operator(s)
  • British Rail 1984-1997
  • Islamic Republic of Iran Railways 2001-2005
Depot(s) Neville Hill
Line(s) served West Yorkshire
Specifications
Car body construction Steel
Car length 15.45 m (50.7 ft)
Width 2.5 m (8 ft 2 in)
Height 3.906 m (12.81 ft)
Articulated sections 2
Wheelbase 9 m (30 ft)
Maximum speed 75 mph (121 km/h)
Weight
  • 26 t (26 long tons; 29 short tons) (DMS)
  • 26.5 t (26.1 long tons; 29.2 short tons) (DMSL)
Prime mover(s) 1 × Leyland TL11
Power output 205 hp (153 kW)
Transmission SCGR500 4-speed
Train heating
  • Engine waste heat
  • Ducted warm air
Bogies AX1
Braking system(s) Air
Safety system(s) AWS
Coupling system
  • BSI (outer)
  • Bar (inner)
Headlight type Fluorescent
Track gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 12 in) standard gauge
Class141Swanwick
141113 standing at Swanwick shed, Midland Railway Butterley
141113Interior
Interior photo of 141113
Class 141 at Weardale Railway
141103 standing at Stanhope station, Weardale Railway
Class 141 drivers cab
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.



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