Mark Pike has compiled this album of photographs of Class 142, 143 and 144 Pacer DMUs, which formed the mainstay of many shorter-distance local services from the mid-1980s until the late 2010s. They were intended as a short-term solution to replace first generation DMUs at a time when funding constraints required creative thinking about temporary coaching stock. In the event, many Pacers lasted well beyond their original 20-year life expectancy.
All photographs in the first chapter, which takes up about two-thirds of the book, were taken in Devon, including 142s in chocolate & cream livery when new in the 1980s and Class 142 and 143 units under First Great Western/Great Western Railway in the 2000s and 2010s.
The second chapter features Class 142, 143 and 144 units in other parts of the country in the 2000s and 2010s, including South Wales, South and West Yorkshire and the North-West. A variety of liveries are illustrated including Valley Lines, GWR, Arriva, North Western Trains and West Yorkshire Metro. Contains over 200 colour photographs. 96 pages.