Pacer

Built in the mid 1980s, the Class 144 Pacer trains have now all been withdrawn from mainline service. Twenty three of them saw use, mainly in and around West Yorkshire, including my (now) local Wharfedale and Airedale lines before they were electrified in 1994. This one (144011) has made the rapid transition to heritage status and can now be found in preservation on the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway. 

The train has been repainted in its original West Yorkshire PTE livery. One advantage of heritage railways is that they regularly wash their trains, so you can enjoy the colours without the typical grime. This livery was once the source of a debate between myself and my Dad. I insisted that West Yorkshire didn’t have a Metro, he referred me to these “MetroTrains” that he’d once ridden out to Ilkley to start his walk of the Dales Way. I, at that time living in Tyne and Wear and enjoying the benefits of a proper Metro, said that wasn’t the same thing. We agreed to disagree.

I viewed this one in passing as I had stopped off in Keighley for an hour or so on my way to football at Silsden. See extras for an impressive Keighley mural, and for the bold mustard and claret away livery of Emley AFC, who were Silsden’s opponents and who went home with a comfortable 3-0 victory.