The trains I've been on (Part 1)

I've decided to split this into four parts, for two reasons: 

1. There's been many types of trains

2. Covid is severely limiting how much I can go out, although with the reopening of some leisure facilities from next month, maybe the future is looking a bit brighter.

But today, I'll focus on a selection of those trains I've travelled on, starting with one of my favourites: the class 139 Parry People Mover. Running from Stourbridge Junction to Stourbridge town again, this unit provides a service every 10 minutes in each direction. It's the cutest train I've ever seen. 

There's not that much I can say about this unit to be honest, although I really liked the use of a smaller, more environmentally friendly, unit on a small branch line, such as Stourbridge, where passenger numbers are relatively low.  The frequency of the service is fab for those using it to connect with trains to or from Birmingham, with a service every 10 minutes, dropping to every 15 minutes on a Sunday. I like this train! Unfortunately I don't tend to have a reason for a trip to Stourbridge, but I'll be trying to get back at some point. 

Class 142 Pacer

I love pacers and will be sad to see them go in full, although I'm glad they've had some of their ranks preserved. 

I like the bumpiness, although I can see that that would be annoying on a long journey, I've only ever been on one for less than an hour at a time. There aren't many trains in this country that are unique, but the fact that the pacer is made from a bus body would in my eyes put it in that group. I'll miss them, and am glad I made the trip up to go and see a couple in Sheffield before they go. 

Class 153 Super Sprinter

I've only been on these a couple of times, and I don't have any pictures, but they seemed nice enough. They worked quite well in rural areas, such as in the East Midlands where I travelled on a few, and they were sufficient to cope with demand however on a number of occasions I have seen a couple of cars coupled together. It would be quite nice if we didn't have anywhere in this country which had single car trains running, however given the lower passenger numbers on some rural services I can definitely see the need for them. 

Class 158 Express Sprinter

I've been on one of these, from Manchester to Nottingham in January, and it was actually the last train I travelled on pre-pandemic. They were nice. If I'm honest I was too tired to pay much notice, but similar to a 153 if I remember correctly. They do the job well.

I'm going to leave it here now, to save enough trains to do another post in a few days.