This photograph was only taken because of its subject matter as it is taken from the worst possible position in relationship to the sun, shooting almost directly into it. The subject is of course the prototype two car 4 wheeled DMU 140001 whose body utilised standard bus components and which would lead ultimately to the Pacer fleet. 140001 is standing in platform 1 at Derby having just arrived from a test run and is waiting for the road into the Railway Technical Centre, 13th April 1981.
Unit History
The class 140 was the next step from the single car railbus prototypes with bodywork constructed using Leyland National bus components. The class 140 was built in 1980 to British Rail's stringent regulations regarding crashworthiness and resistance to end loading. This meant that its cabs where much more substantial than the prototype railbuses with the body also being strengthened. The original traction power consists of a Leyland TL11 200bhp engine, Self-Changing Gears mechanical automatic gearbox and a Gmeinder final drive unit driving only one axle on each vehicle of the two car set. The unit ran for many years in evaluation service before entering use as a driver training unit at Neville Hill, Leeds. Falling out of use, consideration was given to converting it to a Sandite unit, but this never took place, and the unit was withdrawn and sold for preservation arriving at Dufftown in 1994 on the Keith and Dufftown Railway. For the next eighteen years received only occasional attention. In October 2012 the unit was started up and in summary 55500 is in remarkably good shape however 55501 has a bad engine and is in a generally poorer condition.
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