90-073 Standing in the shadows - two of two; Class 141 No.141-107 under the footbridge at a sunny Harrogate
Scan of a slide taken 20/04/90. Not a class I know much about, so a history of the 141s from Wikipedia:
"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 20 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 sametime the railway coupling (which was a Buckeye coupling) was replace with same 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.
It looks like all of the units were withdrawn by 1997 and amazingly three have been preserved. Again from Wikipedia:
"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.[2] 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."
90-073 Standing in the shadows - two of two; Class 141 No.141-107 under the footbridge at a sunny Harrogate
Scan of a slide taken 20/04/90. Not a class I know much about, so a history of the 141s from Wikipedia:
"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 20 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 sametime the railway coupling (which was a Buckeye coupling) was replace with same 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.
It looks like all of the units were withdrawn by 1997 and amazingly three have been preserved. Again from Wikipedia:
"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.[2] 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."