CLASS 142 PACER

I don't have many models from my younger days, just a couple of items of rolling stock and the odd locomotive that I can't part with. One of the oldest items is this Hornby Class 142 Pacer, bought in the late 1980s with some birthday money. I can remember the parcel arriving from Hattons and the excitement of opening the brown paper and string wrapping! The real Pacers had not long arrived on my local line, so the having a model of the same trains so soon was thrilling.

Now that the real 142s are dwindling and some heading for scrap, it felt like a good time to dust off this old model and give it a new lease of life, courtesy of a Branchlines re-motoring kit. The original Hornby motors were awful and the wheels enormous, so an upgrade of both has made a massive difference. The bodyshells are pretty good for their age and I've left the original 4-piece folding doors in place for this early period recreation. Indeed, until a superior 4mm scale version arrives (Realtrack have been working on one for years), the Hornby model is still the only option.

With a few more defunct Hornby Pacers stashed away, I think I'll invest in a couple more of the Branchlines kits to get them all working. High Level kits also offer an upgrade kit, so maybe I ought to try one of those as well...