Class 142 - Northern - 142070

142070 (55720+55766) Bishop Auckland / Saltburn

Rounding off the first run of the Accurascale ‘Pacer’ fleet is a pair of Northern Rail units, once ubiquitous from the late 2000s almost anywhere between Chester / Sheffield and Carlisle / Newcastle. 79 members of the Serco-Abellio operated fleet carried the purple/blue/grey livery, although sadly none received promotional vinyls like several of the company’s Class 150, 156 and 158 DMUs. The Northern fleet was complicated by bringing together units that had been refurbished to different levels by various predecessors, including several different seating configurations. For the first run, we will be focussing on units that have retained their classic Leyland bus-style 2+3 seating. Ex-First North Western 142062, one of 12 sets to return to the South West in 2007, represents the first half of the Northern era. Based at Newton Heath it gained this livery in 2009 and was scrapped in at EMR Kingsbury in January 2020. 142070 was another of the FNW units to briefly see service in the Exeter area in 2007/8. Also repainted Northern in 2009, our model of this ‘Pacer’ wears the additional bicycle and disabled stickers applied to the hopper vents and other later warning labels. Both sets also feature the extra cab front louvre, plated roof heating vents, factory-installed NRN roof pods and sanding equipment.