144001 leaves Goole on 7 February 1998 with the 11:28 Goole to Doncaster service. 56133 can just be seen in the background waiting to follow it with the 6J50 11:34 Goole Docks to Rotherham steel train. This wide open view is no longer possible, as the field in the foreground has been built on. Several large industrial units now occupy the site, which is presumably what the sign that can just be seen to the right of 56133 in the background is advertising! Also the lineside vegetation has increased considerably.

144001 emerges from Brotherton Tunnel on 1 July 2019 with the 2Y87 10:15 York to Sheffield Northern service. This unit, along with the rest of the class, has just six months left in traffic, as the type does not meet the new disability access legalisation coming into effect on 1 January 2020.

The shadows are lengthening at Crabley Creek on 3 December 2019, as 144001 heads eastwards with the late running 2C71 12:30 Sheffield to Hull Northern service. After over three decades of use, these units will soon be removed from the national network, to the relief of many. Cheap and crude they may be, but no one can deny that the railways have certainly had their money's worth from them over the years!

After over thirty years of use, the sun is finally setting on the Pacer fleet. 144001 catches the very last rays of the setting sun, as it approaches Goole on 3 December 2019 with the 2C72 14:53 Hull to Sheffield Northern service.

A close up view of 144002, as it passes Thorne Junction in soft late evening light on 21 July 2014 with the 2R46 19:15 Scunthorpe to Doncaster Northern service. This livery, despite its odd combination of colours, suits these venerable 'buses'.

The well known photographic location of Burton Salmon is popular because of the high volume of freight traffic, with passenger trains being very much in the minority. On 12 March 1997, 144003 passes by with the 11:10 York to Chesterfield Regional Railways North East service. At the time there were just two passenger services over this route each day, with the other one only going as far as Sheffield. For some reason there were double the number of trains in the opposite direction!

144003 passes Swallownest on 25 November 2008 with the 2R11 09:27 Lincoln Central to Adwick Northern Rail service. Midway between this spot and the bridge in the background there was formerly situated North Staveley Junction, where a line curved away sharply to the right, forming a chord connecting with the Rotherham to Staveley line.

144004 passes Calder Bridge Junction, Wakefield on 18 October 1997 with the 14:54 Wakefield Westgate to Pontefract Monkhill service. In the best tradition of DMU operation the destination blind shows where it has come from rather than where it is going to! This is the only picture I took at this location. The footbridge from which it was taken was removed a few years later.

A Pacer comparison at Goole on 12 September 1998. I wouldn't normally take a picture with such a poor lighting angle as this, but I wanted to show the two different types of units. 144004 leaves Goole with the 16:43 Hull to Sheffield service, while 142089 waits in the up goods loop, prior to working the 17:30 train to Doncaster. It had arrived a little earlier with the 16:35 from Doncaster, and the goods loop is the only place it could have been put out of the way of the other train.

144004 passes Melton Ross on 26 July 2003 with the 14:56 Cleethorpes to Sheffield Arriva Trains Northern service. This has traveled from Cleethorpes as an all stations service, and will shortly be calling at Barnetby, it will then proceed via Retford, finally arriving at Sheffield at 17:05, no doubt any passengers making the whole journey will be then be very glad to get off!

144004 passes Hexthorpe on 28 July 2008 with the 11:16 Adwick to Sheffield Northern Trains service. The unit seems well loaded, but how many of the passengers are enjoying their journey as the bounce along is debatable!

144004 approaches Pontefract East Junction on 22 June 2013 with the 2F69 11:31 Wakefield Kirkgate to Knottingley Northern Rail service. The crossover in the background allows trains coming off the single track line from Ferrybridge to gain the correct line, after a short section of wrong line running.

With prominent 'Movember' moustache, 144004 passes Little Fenton in superb low evening light on 12 November 2013 with the 2Y89 15:02 York to Sheffield Northern Rail service. This picture is taken from a convenient public footpath crossing.

144005 calls at Crowle station on 28 November 2012 with the 2P63 09:19 Scunthorpe to Lincoln Northern service. This wide view clearly shows the unusual position of the station, bounded on both sides by water. On the left is the North Soak Drain, and on the right the Stainforth & Keadby Canal.

Less than four years into what at the time was considered was going to be a short lifespan, 144006 passes Milford Junction on 12 May 1990 with the 13:21 York to Sheffield service. Although these units have been the butt of many jokes, and seem to be constantly slated in the national press, they have spent over three decades providing local services on many routes that may well have been axed if they had not been built.

Still wearing its original Regional Railways Metro Train livery, 144006 heads south past Colton Junction on 16 May 1998 with the 17:52 York to Hull service. The start of the 1980s constructed Selby diversion line can be seen in the background on the right.

144006 calls at Goole station on 14 February 1999 with the 18:57 Hull to Sheffield Arriva Trains Northern service. The brick station building was demolished the following year, and replaced by a small nondescript box like building, although thankfully both the impressive platform canopies still survive.

144006 passes through Adwick station in the rain and the gathering darkness on 20 December 2019 with a northbound ECS. The destination blind is obviously incorrect, as the train has just come from Doncaster!

144007 arrives at Goole on 5 September 2014 with the 2C76 16:25 Lincoln Central to Hull Northern service. This was the only train of the day at the time directly linking Lincoln with Goole and Hull. The level crossing in the foreground is the notorious Goole town centre crossing, the cause of many a traffic jam!

144007 approaches Thorne South station on 18 April 2014 with the 2P71 13:19 Scunthorpe to Lincoln Northern service. It is appropriate that the new wind farm in the background is situated near Four Winds Farm!

144007 accelerates away from Goole station on 3 December 2019 with the 2C62 09:51 Hull to Sheffield Northern service. Six minutes later, one of Northern's other class of Pacers arrived from the opposite direction with the 2C63 09:30 Sheffield to Hull train.

144008 passes Maud's Bridge on 13 March 2008 with the 2R63 09:25 Sheffield to Scunthorpe Northern Rail service. Note that the only indication of the new operator's ownership is the subtle Northern Rail logo underneath the first passenger window, otherwise the livery is the obsolescent Metro colour scheme.

A very grubby 144009 slows down for the stop at Crowle whilst working the 09:03 Doncaster to Scunthorpe service on 1 May 1999. The line runs parallel with the Stainforth & Keadby Canal for some distance here. Presumably the odd cantilevered signal gantry is to improve sighting, although I would have thought cutting the bushes back would have been easier!

144009 passes North Rigton on the Leeds to Harrogate line with the 07:10 Leeds to York service on 6 September 2004. The soft autumnal sun was just burning off the mist, which can still be seen lingering in the background. The 39 miles between Leeds and York is possibly about the furthest you'd want to travel in one of these railbuses. Lively is possibly the kindest description of quality of their ride, with a very basic bus like accommodation. At least they were cheap!

144009 passes Kilnhurst on 20 April 2019 with the 2C72 14:53 Hull to Sheffield Northern service. It is clearly evident that there were once four tracks at this location. This is the site of Kilnhurst West station, which closed in 1968.

144010 passes Old Denaby on 17 April 2006 with the 09:27 Lincoln to Adwick Northern Rail Metro service, in a brief patch of sunshine. Very brief, as Mexborough station in the background is not in sun, and there are some threatening dark clouds approaching! This is not what you would call a speedy service taking 2 hours 20 minutes and calling at Saxilby, Gainsborough Lea Road, Retford Low Level, Worksop, Shireoaks, Kiveton Park, Kiveton Bridge, Woodhouse, Darnall, Sheffield, Meadowhall, Rotherham Central, Swinton, Mexborough, Conisbrough, Doncaster, Bentley and Adwick. I pity anyone that has to endure the entire journey!

A typical desolate Yorkshire mining landscape background at Hatfield & Stainforth on 15 March 2007, as 144010 heads away from the camera with the 09:25 Sheffield to Scunthorpe Northern Rail service. This side view shows off the crude construction of the underframe of these vehicles.

144010 slows down on the approach to Goole on 15 October 2011 with the 2C55 13:18 Hull to Doncaster Northern Rail service. Despite being a Pacer unit operated train, this is not a completely 'all stations' service, as it doesn't call at either Broomfleet or Saltmarshe.

144010 & 142023 at Thorne Junction on 18 December 2016, with the 2C32 12:24 Sheffield to Goole Northern service. 66206 waits at the signal in the background with the 4R50 12:43 Milford West Sidings to Immingham biomass empties.

144011 departs from Goole on 11 October 2004 with the 09:00 Beverley to Doncaster Arriva Trains Northern service. Passengers got a slightly better deal shortly afterwards, with these relatively long distance trains being replaced by the more suitable Class 158 units. The barriers are going up and traffic is already crossing the road in the background.

144012 is completely dwarfed by Goole's two water towers, as it leaves the station on 9 August 1997 with the 19:52 Goole to Doncaster service. The superb low evening light did mean it was quite critical that I pressed the shutter at just the right moment, as most of the track was in shadow. The unit is just approaching Potters Grange Junction, where the Knottingley line diverges. The first of Goole's distinctive 'Salt and Pepper Pot' water towers was built in 1885, to be followed in 1926 by the much larger concrete second tower, which at the time was the largest in Europe.

144012 passes Ackworth on 7 May 2007 with the 11:01 York to Sheffield Northern Trains service, one of only two daily direct trains on this route. It is approaching the site of Ackworth station, opened by the Swinton and Knottingley Joint Railway in 1879 and closed by British Railways in 1951.

144013 finds a very lucky patch of sun as it buzzes past Maud's Bridge on 13 March 2008 with the 2P65 10:18 Scunthorpe to Sheffield Northern Rail service. This type of picture is preferable to a blue sky day shot, as at least the sky looks more interesting. Unfortunately, the trains have a habit of coming during the dull periods!

With Hatfield Colliery in the background, 144013 approaches Hatfield & Stainforth station on 28 November 2012 with the 2P67 11:19 Scunthorpe to Lincoln Central Northern Rail service. The growth of the bushes on the right have made this a much more difficult location for photography during the winter, due to the lengthening shadows.

The distinctive concrete water tower at Thorne dominates this view, as 144013 arrives at Thorne South station with the 2R65 10:24 Sheffield to Scunthorpe Northern Rail service on 4 June 2015. Thorne South station is on the Doncaster to Scunthorpe line, while Thorne North station is on the Doncaster to Goole route.

144014 pulls away from Sherburn-in-Elmet on 17 September 1996 with the 17:52 York to Hull service. Although the level crossing has been closed to road vehicles and replaced with a bridge (upon which I am standing), and clearly the only crossing over the line in this view is a footpath, the level crossing barriers were still operational when this picture was taken, merrily going up and down for each train for no reason whatsoever. Unfortunately this sort of stupidity is typical of Britain in recent years.

A change from the normal three quarter front style of photography. I wanted to picture the closed Eggborough Ings Crossing at Hensall, with Eggborough Power Station in the background. The only way to achieve this was a close up view of the front of a train as it passed over the former crossing. So here is 144014 accelerating away from Hensall on 20 March 2000 with the 13:34 Goole to Leeds Arriva Trains Northern service. As this was the only passenger train on this line during daylight there was no margin for error in taking this picture! The crossing was closed (except as a footpath) when the road just to the south of this point was severed by the construction of the M62 motorway in the 1970s.

144015 rounds the curve at Old Denaby on 9 December 1995 with the 12:15 Doncaster to Sheffield service. Even the humble Pacer looks good in low winter light, although at the time most photographers totally ignored them. This original Metro Train livery shows up especially well. 144015 was the second of the ten three car 144s, and was introduced in 1987. The class was seen very much as a temporary stop gap, but three decades later they are still with us!

An unusual, and unrepeatable view of the railway at Goole, taken on 13 March 1999. 144019 passes Potters Grange Junction with the 08:49 Hull to Sheffield Arriva Trains Northern service. This view cannot be repeated today, not only because of tree growth in the foreground, but also because an industrial estate has appeared on the muddy field in the foreground. Surprisingly, the gas holder in the background is still in existence.

144020 approaches Normanton on 30 April 2000 with the late running 2L09 16:21 Leeds to Sheffield Arriva Trains Northern service. 156484, which was working an ECS to Neville Hill, has come to a stand at a red signal at Altofts Junction in the background. The line straight ahead leads to Leeds, and the line curving away to the right goes to Castleford and York.

After arriving at Knottingley on 11 March 2011 with the 2F09 09:00 Northern Trains service from Leeds, 144020 passes England Lane, just around the corner from the station. A few hundred yards further on it will reverse and head back towards the station, where it will form the 2F66 09:53 departure to Wakefield Kirkgate. Note that the driver has already changed the destination blind.

After reversing just past the point in the background, 144020 passes England Lane, Knottingley, on 11 March 2011, and heads back towards Knottingley station, where it will form the 2F14 11:16 Northern service to Leeds.

144020 approaches Knottingley station on 11 March 2011, where it will form the 2F14 11:16 Northern service to Leeds. Coming in from the left of the picture is the line from Doncaster. Knottingley West Junction is just beyond the bridge in the background, where the York line diverges to the north.

144021 passes Brancliffe East Junction Signal Box (since demolished) on 16 December 2000 with the 12:26 Lincoln Central to Huddersfield Northern Spirit service. I'm not quite sure what the flags in the windows indicate. I assumed Huddersfield Town might be playing at home, but apparently they were away at Portsmouth. However, Sheffield United were playing Sheffield Wednesday (which ended up 1 - 1), so it may have been United fans going to that match.