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The Pacer Preservation Society Railbus Bulletin Issue No.9 - December 2012

PPPPPPSSS

Introduction

Welcome to the new-look version of the Pacer Preservation Society’s bulletin. This free bulletin is designed to

help you to keep up-to-date with all the latest news from the PPS. It covers not just the Class 142-144 ‘Pacer’

units, but also the less publicised LEV, RB and Class 141 railbuses too.

The bulletins are usually released every other month (mid-February, April, June, August, October and

December). Regular readers may have noticed that the release dates have changed and this is to avoid

clashes with printing deadlines for the Pacer Chaser magazine. The next big event in the society’s calendar

will be the AGM on 9th February 2013 and will be held in the Liverpool area. As the bulletin closes for press,

arrangements are still being finalised with a suitable venue and once these have been confirmed, full details

will then be released. The proposed AGM agenda can be found within this bulletin.

On behalf of the PPS I would like to wish you Seasons Greetings and I hope that you enjoy Issue No.9 of the

Railbus Bulletin!

Peter Dickinson

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RAILBUS BULLETIN No.9 – December 2012

CONTENTS

Society Officers 2 PPS Branded Clothing Range 5 Available Society Positions 3 PPS Clothing Range Order Form 6

Railcar of the Year Award 3 AGM Agenda 7 Class 140 Progress Report 3 Membership Details 8 The Ribble’s New Railbus 5 Membership Application Form 8 Pacer Chaser No.4 5

BULLETIN EDITOR: (To whom all correspondence should be addressed, please)

Peter Dickinson 51 Delph Lane, Whiston, Prescot, Merseyside. L35 7JE

Email: peter.dson@hotmail.com

COVER PHOTOGRAPH:

In keeping with the time of year, 142004 approaches a snowy Eccleston Park with a Liverpool to Wigan

service in December 2010. Peter Dickinson

BULLETIN RELEASE DATES

The bulletin will be available from the PPS website in mid-January, March, May, July, September and

November.

SUBMISSIONS

If you have any information or images of any of the railbuses, then feel free to email them to us at:

pacerpreservationsociety@hotmail.co.uk. Items for inclusion in the February 2013 issue should reach the

Editor by 1st February 2013. The date for the April 2013 issue is 31

st March 2013.

THE PPS WEBSITE: www.pacerpreservationsociety.co.uk

SOCIETY OFFICERS

Chairman: (pacerpreservationsociety@yahoo.co.uk)

PHIL ROGERS.

Vice Chairman: (peter.dson@hotmail.com)

PETER DICKINSON, 51 Delph Lane, Whiston, Prescot, Merseyside. L35 7JE.

Membership Secretary: (pacerpreservationsociety@hotmail.co.uk)

PHIL WALLIS, 22 Windermere Street, Whelley, Wigan, Lancashire WN1 3NW

South West Area Representative (pacerpreservationsociety@hotmail.co.uk)

GLENN BOWDEN.

Note: The Officers whose names are underlined are members of the Committee.

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Available Society Positions

As the PPS develops, so too does the amount of work needed to keep the society fulfilling all of its

commitments, be that in restoration, sales, fundraising or public awareness. In light of this, there are now a

number of roles that are available and these are as follows:

SALES OFFICER - The role would involve helping to organise and man the society’s sales stand at bus and

rail events. It is proposed to have the sales stand at between 5-10 events during 2013 and these can be local

to the successful applicant.

WEBMASTER – The role would involve keeping the society’s website up-to-date with the latest news,

products and information. The site itself has already gone through a number of major changes and this role

would help to further this work, whilst also incorporating an element of the successful applicant’s creativity.

If you are interested in either of these two roles, contact the PPS committee at:

pacerpreservationsociety@hotmail.co.uk.

Railcar of the Year Award

The Railcar Association is currently inviting votes for a new "Railcar of the Year" award from anyone. The light

hearted award (with no substantial prize) it is intended to record the general feeling of those who enjoy

preserved railcars by identifying vehicles of substantial merit for the year.

Five vehicles have been nominated and voting can be done very quickly using an online form available at:

http://www.brcw.co.uk/#/vote/4570875017. Votes will be accepted until 31st December 2012.

Class 140 Progress Report (from the Keith & Dufftown Railway)

Since the end of October, the Class 140

No.140001 has had some restoration work done

on it and has been stabled in the line’s new shed.

Waterproofing has been carried out on the roof

vents and some seams which were allowing

water ingress. Vehicle 55000 is in remarkably

good shape at the moment. The other car 55001

or 14001 has still a bad engine and until that is

fixed and new pipe work to replace some rusting

fuel lines it will not be a runner unless on one

engine.

The photograph (left) shows vehicle 55000 of

140001 on 17th December 2012 at the Keith &

Dufftown Railway. The engine was running and

the lighting was all on. Only door interlock

problems were stopping the car moving under its own propulsion. It is hoped to run to run the second engine

on 55001 in the near future to warm it up prior to draining the oil and water for the winter. This engine will run

but it has a cracked head, a broken cylinder liner or a head gasket problem. The batteries were borrowed for

the line’s steam weekend DMUs but this should now have been refitted. The KDR does have spares for the

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second engine but finding shed time will be a problem with the bread and butter DMUs to be painted and

serviced for the 2013 season.

Here is a list of the things that currently work on the Class 140:

Windscreen wipers

Horn (very loud and runs at 90psi as opposed to 80psi on the line’s other DMUs)

Getting 90psi in the reservoir tanks and 50psi on the brake pipes

Engine pre-heater motor runs but is not heating yet!

Air conditioning

Saloon lighting

Guard’s buzzer

Cab intercoms and the public address in one car (batteries need reconnecting to test the other car)

Internal and external start and stops

Engine running/stopped lights

Vestibule lights

Headlights, marker lights and tail lights

The Ribble’s New Railbus

As first reported in Bulletin No.8, Waggon und Maschinenbau railbus E79960 has now moved to the Ribble

Steam Railway and will be used on certain dates in 2013. It was previously based on the North Norfolk

Railway and is on long term loan. The move follows the North Norfolk Railway’s decision that it has grown to

such an extent that only one DMU is required in service. National Collection Class 101 DMU Nos.51192 and

56352 had arrived on loan in place of LEV1, with E77963 having been sold to the East Anglia Railway

Museum and LEV1’s move to the Wensleydale Railway (via Shildon).

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Pacer Chaser No.4 – Winter 2012

Issue No.4 (Winter 2012) of the society’s “The Pacer Chaser”

magazine is now available to purchase through the PPS website.

It benefits from an having more pages than previously and has a

full colour centre-spread.

Featured within the magazine are:

Chairman’s Report

News

Membership Report

LEV1 on test in the USA

Pacer Accessibility

South Wales Pacer Bash

Colne Valley Railbuses

An Enthusiast’s Notebook

Keeping Pace – Class 142s on the Cumbrian Coast

Society Details

The magazine costs just £1.99 including UK postage and can be

purchased at: http://www.pacerpreservationsociety.co.uk/pacer-

chaser-4.html

Want to see your photographs or article in the Pacer Chaser?

Article and photographic contributions for the Pacer Chaser Summer 2013 issue are now being taken. Articles

can cover a wide range of different topics related to Pacer railbuses; maybe you work on them and would like

to recount some operational tales? Or maybe you are an enthusiast and would like to share your sightings of

these railbuses (see An Enthusiast’s Notebook article in PC4)? If you are not comfortable writing, then why

not submit copies of any timing logs or photographs you have taken?

If you would like to contribute, email: pacerpreservationsociety@hotmail.co.uk or get in touch using the

contact details on the PPS website.

PPS Branded Clothing Range

The Pacer Preservation Society is now able to offer branded society clothing in

a wide range of colours and sizes. Simply fill in the form on the next page and

return with payment using the details below.

The following colours can be chosen for all items unless otherwise stated: Red, Blue, Green, White, Grey, and Black. Please state your colour when ordering.

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Pacer Preservation Society

Branded Clothing - Order Form

Item Size (Circle Size) Colour Quantity Cost Total

Unisex Polo Shirt S M L XL XXL £14.50

Unisex Polo Shirt

(with membership

number)

S M L XL XXL

£16.50

Unisex Fleece S M L XL XXL £22.50

Unisex Arbroath Jacket

S M L XL XXL

£47.50

High Visibility Vest ORANGE £10.50

Beanie Hat One Size £7.50

Baseball Cap One Size £10.50

TOTAL ORDER: £_________

All prices include UK postage and packaging.

Cheques should be made payable to “The Pacer Preservation Society” and sent to: Staddlestones, Mewburn

Road, Banbury, OX16 9NZ

Name

Address

Postcode

Phone/Mobile

Email

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Annual General Meeting Agenda

1. Welcome & Registration

2. Apologies of absence

3. Membership details

4. Positions held:

i. Chairman – Phil Rogers

ii. Vice-Chairman - Peter Dickinson

iii. Membership Secretary – Phil Wallis

iv. Pacer Chaser & Bulletin Editor - Peter Dickinson

5. Acceptance of Minutes from Last Meeting

6. Financial Report for 2012

i. To receive and adopt the accounts for the society for the year ending 31st December

2012

7. Fundraising

i. Feedback on the success of the PPS stall over the 2012 season

ii. Changes to the bank account

iii. Discussions of fundraising ideas and stock for PPS stall in 2013.

8. Website Improvements

i. Progress and feedback on the website’s development

ii. Anything members would like to see/have changed on the site?

9. Membership Package

i. 2 issues of the Pacer Chaser magazine, free bulletins and meetings.

ii. Anything else members would like to see?

iii. Pacer Chaser now has been lengthened and includes colour photographs. How would

members like to see the magazine further developed?

iv. Editor role availability – PD to continue as editor/website manager?

10. Preservation

i. Update on 142059’s cab front restoration work and proposals for its future use.

ii. Update on the development of the Poulton & Wyre Railway Society and integration

of a Pacer railbus into their plans.

11. Gala Commitments & Forthcoming Events

i. Discussion on Gala and Event commitments for 2013.

12. Meetings

i. Where will next meeting be held in June/July 2013?

13. Any Other Business

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Membership

The Pacer Preservation Society is an enthusiast-led group, which is raising funds to purchase and maintain at

least one example of the Class 142, 143 and 144 railbuses. Since the society was created in early 2011, we

have been slowly putting the foundations in place in readiness to act when we are in a position to help secure

a member of the Pacer railbus fleet for operation in preservation.

Why not join us?

If railbuses interest you, why not join us? You don’t need to take an active role to support us; indeed our

members are located all over the UK - but if you would like to

support the PPS, our Membership Secretary will be happy to hear from you.

Membership benefits

- Regular members' magazine - The Pacer Chaser

- Unique, personalised membership number (click here for available numbers)

- Free access to the Pacer Archives

- Regular meetings (usually held in January & July)

- Helping to save an important part of Britain’s heritage for future generations to enjoy.

The current individual membership fee is just £10 a year.

Further details, as well as an online membership application using Paypal are available on the Society’s

membership webpage: http://www.pacerpreservationsociety.co.uk/join-us.html

Return this form to:

Pacer Preservation Society

22 Windermere Street,

Whelley,

Wigan,

Lancashire.

WN1 3NW

I wish to become a member of the Pacer Preservation Society:

Name: _______________________________________________________

Address______________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

Postcode_____________________________________________________

Email Address________________________________________________

Membership Type: Method of Receiving the Society’s Pacer Chaser magazine

E-mail ADULT/OAP (£10) Post ADULT/OAP (£10)

My Membership Number Choices:

First Choice ___________________ Reserve Choice_____________________

I agree as a member to be bound by the PPS Constitution and confirm I am over 16.

I have enclosed a cheque/made online payment (please delete) for £_______

including £_______ donation

Signature Date: