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If a Pacer ran on welded straight track laid on a billiard table, it would still, squeal, groan and nod (and still be draughty). I remember them being introduced around Leeds in 1984. There are still a lot of them around Leeds 32 years later. When introduced as a cheap stop-gap, the brains behind the organisation didn't work out the maintenance costs involved. Because of their fixed 4 wheel undercarriage, wheel flange wear has been horrendous, especially on the sharp curvatures encountered in Devon/Cornwall and South Wales. The overall safety of the general public has been quietly pushed out of sight following the crash on the West Coast several years ago of a luckily empty unit in which the bodies were pushed off the frames. They have been mobile accidents waiting to happen for 32 years now. For how much longer?
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