The Lord Mayor of Manchester with attendant redcoats at the naming of 220 023, 17 September. See stories below. (Tony Miles)

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LAST UPDATE: 17 September 2001

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Having gatecrashed the naming ceremony at lunchtime on 17 September, on the way home from work the same evening I found that 220 023Mancunian Voyager had stayed on the diagram and was waiting to work the 17:49 to Birmingham, a chance for me to take a ride as far as Stockport, with luck overtaking my usual rain the 17:47 all-stations to Hazel Grove, at Stockport. In a sprit of research I 'settled' myself into a standard class seat against a plain wall with hardly any window view, and pulled down the 'adjustable' armrest.

Now I am 1.9m tall, which is quite tall I admit, but I have no problems at all in any seat on a 175 set. Here, on the other hand, I found myself sitting upright with my knees against the seat in front, and no chance of resting my head on the seat back or stretching my legs in any way. My shoulder was permanently in contact with the inward-tapering coach side, and when a lady sat in the seat next to me (the train was full) it was hard not to find my other shoulder in contact with hers.

As I was starting to be glad it was only a ten minute journey, the conductor informed us that due to a 'signalling problem' there would be a delay. At 18:05, he suggested that Stockport and Macclesfield passengers might be advised to transfer to the 18:23 London train, and many people got out - only to be told by platform staff to get back in as we were about to depart, which we did 24 minutes late. (Meanwhile, FNW trains had been departing normally from Piccadilly.) I elected to stand in the vestibule for the journey to Stockport, as I really could not face returning to my seat. There are some 'priority' seats with more legroom, but whether a tall person would be able to reserve these specifically I don't know.

Clearly there are good things about these trains: they are quiet enough for me, look sturdily built, and such things as mains sockets for laptops are handy, but the general ambience reminds me of cramped journeys in aircraft such as  Canadair Regional Jets, and is nothing like I believe a train should be. A couple of hours to Hamburg is, after all, a different proposition from Manchester to Bournemouth.  It would seem that in future all my Cross Country journeys will have to be in Club Class, which seems much more suitable, although that will mean huge expense in some cases. I would urge Mr Green to think again, and consider buying more coaches and spacing the seats better, but even then the decision to use a 'tilting' body profile for a non-tilting train seems sadly misguided, its only justification being to match the tilting 221s. - 17 September

Inspired by Mike Dunning's view of Curzon Park cutting, Larry Goddard sends this arhcive shot of the same location. Looking rather worse for wear, 40 016 Campania heads the 09.40 Manchester Victoria-Llandudno through Curzon Park cutting on 20 May 1978. Larry notes: 'I was shocked by the look of the location. Those full blown trees on the left of the cutting must have been in hibernation since the railway was built, just waiting for their moment of glory! Perhaps I should pinch myself and remember it ceased to be a 4-track cutting over 20 years ago.' - 17 September

175 overview - by John Oates

After the trials of the "hot" weather for the 175 fleet, it seems to have settled down with the arrival of a cooler September.  One of the Alstom Technical Riders was heard to remark at the end of August that there were more 175's on the depot than staff!  That's not the case now.

175 005 has returned from Longsight Eurostar depot after attention following its unfortunately fatal collision for the car driver with a Mercedes near Blackpool.  Its first working was the 15:03 Chester - Crewe on 10 September.  175 103 also arrived from the Eurostar depot a few days earlier for commissioning and can be seen around, still with its plastic seat covers on.  After it took well over a month to commission 175 115, perhaps we could start a lottery on how long it will take for 103!  The only long term inmate at Chester at the moment is 175 109.  It suffered from a split silencer under one vehicle a few weeks ago, causing much of the wiring to under it to be damaged.  It's in the process of being rewired (the two unaffected vehicles being parked outside alongside the depot) and is expected to be in there for another couple of weeks.

175 114 which derailed in the depot a week ago had one of its bogies damaged.  One of those off 109 has therefore been utilised to keep 114 going, the damaged bogie having to be sent off to France for repair.  Meanwhile 175 112 which has been known as "The Batmobile" following its batting all over the place testing further modifications, is shortly to return to traffic.  The next unit expected for commissioning is 175 116 from Washwood Heath.  This then leaves 175 001, 002, 101 & 102 to come, all of which are undergoing modifications, to provide the full compliment.  101 is also undergoing vehicle repair - many will remember that when 101 was running around under test as a 2-car it had a big scrape down one side of both vehicles.  I'm told the scrape happened at Washwood Heath and is very severe on the centre vehicle and Alstom Eastleigh are fixing this as well. - 17 September

The October 13 special from Hooton, Bache and Chester to the Settle & Carlisle is booking well and is now loading to 13 vehicles.  First class is full, but at time of writing there are still around 40 standard class seats left.  Details from / bookings to laurence.wheeler@tesco.net for anyone who's interested.  Traction is almost definitely going to be a 47/7 and it is expected through Chester around 07:40, though final timings have yet to be received. - 17 September

Once again very little unusual activity on the HST front, the sets doing the job just as well as always:

Tues 11 Sep: 43 087/079 1A23. 43 180/067 1D87/A70/D89.
Wed 12 Sep: 43 180/067 1A23. 43 087/079 1D87/A70/D89.
Thu 13 Sep: 43 087/079 1A23. 43 180/067 1D87/A70/D89.
Fri 14 Sep: 43 180/067 1A23/D89. 43 087/079 1D87/A70. 43 008/196 1D90.
Sat 15 Sep: 43 180/067 1A01. 43 008/196 1A13/D89.
Sun 16 Sep: 43 008/196 1A02/D87/A75. 43 087/180 1A61/D89. - 17 September

47 785 Fiona Castle runs round at Holyhead before working the 13:35 to London, 15 September.  Picture by Rowan Crawshaw, who writes: 'I have updated my Rail Elite website,  which now includes a selection taken at  Stafford on 10 September. - 17 September

220 023 was named Mancunian Voyager by the Lord Mayor of Manchester before working the 13:09 Manchester Piccadilly to Birmingham on 17 August. The picture above shows the train crew posing for pictures with the presentation copy nameplate.

I made a quick visit to the interior to snatch this picture, which shows the aircraft-like interior with a very limited number of facing seats, which will disappoint many of the family groups which are a significant proportion of Cross Country's passengers. As I expected, my knees made contact with the back of the seat ahead; the spaciousness characteristic of the Class 175s is absent, compounded by the inward-sloping coach sides.

The booklets provided for passengers go into great detail about the radio stations available through the at-seat sockets, which are three Virgin stations and Radio 4, so there's no escape from chattering DJs, but no doubt someone will enjoy Ken Bruce playing 'Monday Monday' by the Mamas and the Papas.

The inward working from Birmingham was a Class 86 and 7 coaches; this was quickly spirited away, perhaps in case His Worship noticed how much smaller the new train is. The 07:08 to Brighton had been worked by a 220 earlier in the day, but our report that the Pines Express to Bournemouth would also be a Voyager did not come true, although this will be the next to be converted in a couple of weeks. Instead this was worked by a 47 and what seemed like just four coaches: an acclimatisation programme, perhaps? - 17 September

47 799 Prince Henry awaiting departure from platform 4 at Chester on 1Z81, 10:52 Chester - London Victoria VSOE charter, Sunday 16 September. (John Skipsey)

175 108 waits at Chester for the arrival of the 14:23 Birmingham - Holyhead, which could to its rear, 15 September. (Charlie Hulme)

Railtour weekend

The Hertfordshire Railtours charter from Finsbury Park to Chester on 15 September was worked by 67 027, which seems to have performed OK. Ian Bowland's picture above shows 1Z38,  the outbound train at Crewe. The 13-coach train arrived at Crewe 5 minutes down and left 3 minutes down at 11.09.
 

Laying over in Chester sidings during the afternoon (Charlie Hulme)...

... and return train 1Z39 rolls on time into  Crewe, watched by a man in a hat. (Charlie Hulme)

Also around on 15 September at 17:00 was a Pathfinder loco-basher's spectacular, brought into Crewe by a Class 56 and taken forward by 58 050 Toton Traction Depot. - 16 September

To get the pictures above, I had to travel by the 16:17 Chester - Crewe service on 15 September. This train arrived at Chester from Crewe formed of two 158 sets, and people for Crewe climed aboard. We were then informed that only the first two coaches were for Crewe, which resulted in much detraining and retraining. No sooner was this completed than we were told that the front unit was being failed by the driver due to a problem with one of the drive shafts, and we should transfer to the rear two cars. We then travelled backwards to the west end of platform 3, and travelled over the crossover into the centre road to get past the failed 158 and make our way to Crewe. And people write to ask why I am so much against these squalid things! - 16 September.

The Dee Marsh Enterprise passing Curzon Park, Chester on 11 September. Can aynone identify the loco? (Mike Dunning)

Reflections on a journey - by John Murray

I had a pre-arranged business meeting in London on 13 September.  There had been suggestions of cancelling it, but I feel very strongly that if we don't do our best to go about business as normal then the perpetrators of such immense evil have achieved their objectives.  They must not be allowed to win.

I decided, as a mark of respect, not to take my camera on this journey. Starting on the Chester to Crewe shuttle at 09:22 the mood was very sombre. A large group of American tourists boarded the train, as would be expected from Chester at this time of year, and sat in an uncustomary silence throughout the journey.  The train was much quieter than normal.

At Crewe the station was quiet as I waited for the 10:11 to London on platform 5.  The previous train on the same platform was the 10:03 First North Western service to Manchester Airport with only 3 passengers.  The Glasgow to London train, despite being the first on which Saver tickets are valid, was less than half full, many reservations not being taken up.  Arriving in London on time at 12:17 I walked to Euston Square tube station along an eerily deserted Euston Road, normally one of the busiest roads in London particularly at lunch time.  Returning from my meeting I boarded the Piccadilly Line at Earl's Court at 17:45 in height of the rush hour.  The usual rush and push being noticeably absent, instead a silence, reminders of the weeks events being present everywhere on newspaper billboards.  The tube train was only at half capacity at what would normally be the busiest time of day.

Arriving at Euston, I had a reservation for the 19:05 Holyhead train which was estimated as 50 minutes late, so I transferred to the 18:30 Glasgow service which was slightly late.  Lack of reservation was not a problem as again the train was about half full despite the time of day.  An eerie silence throughout the train. The effect of the week's appalling events on people could not have been more apparent than on this journey, both in the strikingly sombre and reflective mood of passengers and the stark observation that large numbers of people are clearly staying away from central London.

As we reflect on these events with our thoughts and prayers to our friends, colleagues and fellow humans, let us not forget the day when a form of public transport, which we have taken for granted for so long, was turned into a weapon of war.  Ease of travel can never be the same again.  Think for a moment of the people who serve us in all forms of public transport, facing difficulties on a day to day basis, some of whom have lost their lives in the course of duty. - 15 September

Penmaenmawr ballast : 66 606 on Monday 10 September; 66 603 on Tuesday 14; 66 509 on Wednesday 15; 66 606 on Thursday 16 September, an additional to the normal sequence. The next ballast should be working Monday 17 - Thursday 20 September.

47 701 Waverley worked to Holyhead on Tuesday 11 September with two Porterbrook barrier vans to collect HST trailer guard standard coach 44017, which had been languishing at Holyhead since 6 September with one of its doors detached. Does anyone know how this happened? - 15 September

Monday 10 September saw the first use of Freightliner class 66 locos on the Llandudno branch when 66 514 worked the Railtrack "autoballaster" train top and tail with 66 606.Running as 6B70 19:18 Crewe Basford Hall - Llandudno Jct, the train arrived at The Junction at 23:00,  then worked between Llandudno Junction and Llandudno town, returning to Crewe as 6B70 05:00 Llandudno Jct - Basford Hall.

The granite ballast itself would have been quarried some time ago at Penmaenmawr,  carried to the 'virtual quarry' (i.e. big pile of ballast) at Basford Hall sidings in the Railtrack open box wagons, and unloaded by a grab. It now finds itself (if we can be forgiven for anthropomorphising a heap of stone) loaded into a different train and tracing much of its original route. The 'Autoballaster' hopper wagons have powered doors which be controled remotely by someone at the lineside to dispense measured amounts of stone on to the track.

Thanks to Tony Flusk and Ivor Bufton for help with this item. - 15 September

It is believed that ex-Coast regular 37 402 Bont Y Bermo is facing a renewed lease of life with news that parts have been ordered to replace those removed whilst in recent storage at Crewe Diesel Depot. It is at Crewe Diesel recorded as 'B/SPT' - undergoing a B exam and special tests, currently 'expected ok 30/09' The reason behind 402's expected reinstatement is unclear yet but it was amongst the original batch of 37s considered for reinstatement during the Sandite season so its return may only be short lived. Whether it moves to the Motherwell or Cardiff pool isn't known. Thanks to everyone who drew this to our attention: keep an eye on the Class 37/4 preservation project pages for breaking news. - 15 September

Anglesey Morning - by Alan Crawshaw

I took the 07:06 Chester to Holyhead stopper between two of  Anglesey's request stops, Llanfair PG and Valley, chatting with a Holyhead commuter who will have to find an alternative route to work when the winter timetable comes into force. This service will terminate at Bangor and a later train from Llandudno will be the first to stop at Llanfair PG, not arriving at Holyhead until 09:41. The guard was remarkably cheerful and efficient at the end of a night shift which started with the 01:50 Holyhead to Birmingham. A drunken passenger on this train, in an escalating argument with his female companion, hurled a glass down the train, showering fragments over frightened passengers who had to change seats. He was taken off by police at Chester but the guard spotted him on the platform the following morning ... as was said here previously, similar behaviour on an aircraft would not be treated so lightly.

After a short wait at Valley, 1A46 produced 47 847 (picture above) but I was out of luck with the nuclear flask train, giving up at 10:20 to cycle home via Llangefni with a stop to photograph 1D87 west of Bangor near the Menai Bridge (upper picture.) . - 15 September

Kevin's Class 47 notes

The new winter timetable confirms London - Holyhead train 1D87 on Saturdays as running in the same path between Crewe and Holyhead - i.e. 1031 off Crewe (earlier than the HST during the week). Leaving Euston even earlier than during the summer as it will be running via the Birmingham area. 1D87/1A62 is indeed loco hauled according to all my sources (with a Res 47 ex Crewe at least for now), apparently not due to HST shortage, simply because the HST off the 03:36 Holyhead-Euston does not arrive at Euston in time to form 1D87. 1D87 is provided necessary loco change time at Crewe for the purpose of this.

This does not however mean there are any extra London services loco hauled with a 47 up the line - though whether any regular HST substitutions are necessary at weekends remains to be seen. It should only be 1A46 and 1D88 still that are hauled during the week. With all other unmentioned turns remaining booked HST.

However good news for anybody wishing to have 47 haulage locally on Sundays this winter timetable. Both Crewe-Preston and Crewe-Liverpool direct line are shut all day on Sundays right through from September 30 -January 6. With all London trains in the timetable diverted via Manchester and dragged by 47s between Crewe-Preston/Liverpool (many Glasgow/Preston trains are booked via Manchester Victoria as there is a shortage of paths through Piccadilly - Miles Platting bank here we come!). There are also many Cross Country long distance services still loco hauled that will be diverted via Manchester with
47s in charge.

The 07:30 Euston-Liverpool and 08:30 Euston-Preston (along with the first one or two Euston - Wolverhampton services) are booked 47s throughout on Sundays until January - then may see 47 haulage (ex Euston) if only part-way right through until May 2002. Power isolations on Southern sections of the WCML have once again necessitated diesel traction on services prior to 09:00. January 12 - March 24 every weekend (Saturday & Sunday) there are a limited number of services running via the Settle & Carlisle line north of a Preston - with a few HSTs involved and a some 47s dragging the West Coast/remaining Cross Country loco  hauled turns. I will pass on full details of these and other drags in future weeks when more details are available. They can then be obtained on request.

I note the picture of the 220 on the recent news update; this will become more regular north of Birmingham from 17 September, when the first Cross Country class 47 turns are planned to succumb to units. 1O30 07:08 Manchester - Brighton / 1M50 14:18 Brighton - Manchester and 'The Pines Express' 1O09 08:17 Manchester - Bournemouth / 1M14 14:18 Bournemouth - Manchester finish class 47 haulage the preceding Saturday, finally spelling the beginning of the end for loco hauled trains. Virgin XC should be all but "dead" by next April/May, replaced by stuffy 4 car glorified sprinters! There will be very little in the way of class 47 haulage left by that point, except a couple of turns up the coast and a few on the Great Western mainline - all surviving on borrowed time.

[Compiler's note: I travelled on the 14:18 Bournemouth - Manchester on 7 September, and the seven-coach train was full and standing for much of its journey.] - 15 September

Two Class 47s in the corporate blue of the 1970s, withtheir respective Euston to Holyhead train formations. Both pictures were taken at Flint (or Fflint) and show both up and down trains, the locations for each pic appearing in the opposite pic! The Holyhead to Euston (above) was photographed in 1978, having just called at Flint and approaching Pentre Crossing, not far from where I lived at the time. The other view (below) dates from the same year and shows a non air-con Euston to Holyhead about to pass under the bridge shown in the previous photo. Ian Allan once published a picture of the Irish Mail, hauled by a Britannia, at this spot, but captioned it as 'near Bagillt.' Well, what else do you expect from a publisher in Surrey who has probably never been north of Kensal Rise! Sadly, the loco identities went unrecorded. - 15 September

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