Announced on the morning of 23 May is that the contract to operate
the
Merseyrail network, which includes the Chester - Liverpool line, has
been
awarded to a consortium of Serco
(current operators of Manchester Metrolink)
and Nederlandse
Spoorwegen: the Dutch national railway. Well, NS and
Merseyrail
both have yellow trains! More on the BBC
Liverpool site. - 23 April
47 770 Reserved approaches Prestatyn with the 14:00 Holyhead - Birmingham, 21 April. (Ian Bowland)
Cockup at Earlestown
As well as the much-publicised over-running engineering works which kept Paddington station in London closed for most of Tuesday 22 April, the Coast Line staged its own version when the weekend work at Earlestown (see below), which should have been complete by Tuesday morning, over-ran and the line was not handed back to the operators until about 17:00. Manchester - North Wales services were diverted to run non-stop via Stockport and Northwich (did this include the 06:33 Bangor - Manchester loco-hauled train?) and a shuttle service ran between Chester and Warrington. - 22 April
This page was quoted in the Welsh edition of the Daily Post on 22 April, complete with namecheck for your compiler. The occasion was a story by our old friend, the paper's Llandudno Junction correspondent Eryl Crump, on the various incidents of late running, etc., which have been reported here recently, plus the experience of Daily Post columnist Alice Douglas who described a ten-hour rail journey between Bangor and London she made on 21 April as an "absolute nightmare", after her train to Crewe, the 10:28 from Bangor, suffered brake failure at Chester. "We sat on the train for half an hour and heard nothing from no one. Then we were herded on to another train to Crewe." Does anyone of details of that incident?
Thanks to Deiniol Williams for the picture above showing 47 798 Prince William about to make its very late start from Crewe on 17 April, as recounted below by Richard Boyd. - 22 April
This picture from April 13 shows 08 436 in the sidings at the Albion Chemicals plant on the Middlewich branch at Sandbach. We have prepared for your interest a picture report on our journey aboard the diverted 12:20 from Crewe on this day: the same thing will be happening on 27 April and 4 / 11 May. Well worth a visit for the nice slow ride through the Cheshire countryside. - 22 April
Class 47 city, Arizona (© R. Boyd, Reginald Perrin Appreciation Society): Holyhead on 19 April, with 47 770 Reserved and 47 798 Prince William stabled, while 47 798 Lindisfarne has just arrived in platform 1 with the 10:21 from Birmingham. Picture Charlie Hulme.
Is there anyone left who can remember all the engineering works that are going on? On Easter Sunday and Monday, the platform lines used by Manchester - North Wales trains at Earlestown station were relaid, as these pictures by John Eyre from 20 April show. At the time of the pictures, the down line had been relaid and the up line was about to be done.
The attendant ballast train was hauled by 37 308 and 37 047. Trains between Chester and Manchester were (we assume) diverted via Stockport and Northwich, except the morning and evening loco-hauled 'club trains' on Monday 21 April which ran only between Chester and points west. - 21 April
Steam at Crewe - by Ian Bowland
46233 Duchess of Sutherland was out again on 19 April, pausing at Crewe for water before heading for Blackpool. As usual the loco was the centre of attention while watering.
Impressive at it leaves Crewe. -21 April
40 015 Aquitania takes a well earned rest on a sunday afternoon in Rhyl yard in October 1988. Earlier in the day the loco had been involved in permanent way duties. - 21 April
Oh no, not Lindisfarne again ... - by Charlie Hulme
On Saturday 19 April the loco-hauled Birmingham - Holyhead diagram was working only between Crewe and Holyhead due to the inevitable engineering works. Emerging from Crewe Carriage sidings at 11:15 for its 11:31 departure is 47 798 Lindisfarne four of the 'new wave' of First Great Western coaches, namely 9481 - 5740 - 5631 - 5632.
The final passengers load ready for the departure from Crewe. (Ian Bowland). Out of interest, and in the light of recent comments about timekeeping, while travelling on this train I recorded the running times at the four intermediate stops, to compare against those advertised.
Actual Advertised Mileage Average
(decimal) speed(mph)
Crewe
d
11:32 11:30
0.0
Chester a
11:51
11:48 21.14 67
Chester d
11:53½
11:50
Rhyl
a
12:20½
29.96 67
Rhyl
d
12:22 12:16
Llandudno J a
12:35
12:29 14.39 66
Llandudno J d
12:37
12:31
Bangor a
12:53
15.40 58
Bangor d
12:53½ 12:47
Holyhead a
13:19
13:16 24.76 58
These are just approximate wrist-watch timings, but they give some idea of what a 47 can do on this line against timings designed for Class 175, with no out-of-course signal checks etc. As can be seen, the schedule was kept quite closely, allowing for the late start from Crewe.
Rowan Crawshaw was on hand as the train called at Bangor. Rowan reminds us that this loco was once 47 616 Y Ddraig Coch/The Red Dragon - a rather more appropriate name for this line, perhaps...
From Holyhead I decided to have a change by riding back as far as Colwyn Bay on 1A62 the 13:35 to Stafford (what, you thought it was going to London?) seen waiting at platform 2 with 43 101 on the head and buffer-fitted 43 084 on the rear.
Just 20 minutes for a browse in the Bay Bookshop opposite Colwyn Bay station, and back for Lindisfarne again on 1A62, due Colwyn Bay at 14:51. The picture shows the section of line that was moved to make room for the A55 expressway back in the 1980s. Needless to say, taking this picture was followed by a fast traverse of the footbridge, but it was worth the effort I think.
Here's your cut-out-and-keep Lindisfarne nameplate: one of the better Class 47/7 names, it commemorates the Holy Island of that name off the north east coast of England. Here is its website, which reveals among lots of other interesting stuff that it is served by a local bus service whose timetable depends on the tide tables...
As a postscript to this enjoyable journey, at Stockport at 17:00 I spotted the very same HST on its way home empty from Stafford to Longsight depot. - 21 April
As a passenger in the train, I'd like to expand on the story about the failure of 47 750 at Crewe on 17 April while working the 17:21 Birmingham-Holyhead. I'm afraid this was another instance of the railways failing passengers very badly and the circumstances are a bit more complex than is suggested.
As is sometimes the case, the 17:21 ex-Birmingham arrived early and proceeded to sit in Platform 12. At about departure time the guard announced that the loco had failed (internal oil leak) and that there would be a "10 to 15 minute" delay whilst another engine was found. The public must be getting used to this sort of thing by now because one "normal" passenger correctly remarked that they had to find one first! Gradually passengers drifted away with those for Chester catching the 19:23 Crewe - Chester local, as indeed did those for stations further along the Coast.
By about 19:30, announcements were being made over the station public address that any passengers for the Virgin 19:47 departure to Holyhead should go to the station entrance and await the replacement coach. This information wasn't relayed directly to the passengers on the stricken train and many were left what on earth was going on. As passengers watched for a replacement engine, one passenger remarked to me that this situation was making an anorak of everyone; I explained that whilst I was an anorak, I had left the said garment behind on account of the weather. Another lady asked me if the loco that had just gone south through the centre road was for our train. Without getting too technical, I explained that 92 022 would have one or two problems getting to Holyhead!
By 19:50ish there were very few passengers on board the train still and the platform staff had long since lost interest and gone elsewhere. I was talking to a couple of the remaining passengers who were wondering if they should see if the coach had gone when 47 798 Prince William came off the shed and headed north (this loco had arrived from the north at about the time that 47 750 was declared a failure). I told these passengers to get on the train because this would be our loco. It duly coupled up and I was looking forward to a nice run up to Holyhead on a lightly loaded train when suddenly there was a latter-day version of the charge of the Light Brigade down the steps onto Platform 12, Virgin's replacement coach having failed to materialise. We set off a shade after 20:00 and arrived in Holyhead a little after 22:00.
The moral of all this is that railway staff should really let passengers know what's going on and that on this occasion they failed with honours. As for myself, I was delighted to have 47 798 (much better than 47 750) and was spared two and half hours in the pub in Holyhead!
[Compiler's note: The last ferry of the day to Ireland departs Holyhead at 21:35, so some people would probably have been stranded there for some time. It would be interesting to know why it should take so long to obtain a replacement locomotive when the depot is only minutes away.] - 21 April
The driver climbs aboard the Virgin HST, powered by consecutively-numbered 43 094 and 43 093, after receiving the right-away from Llandudno Junction with the 13:35 Holyhead-Euston on Good Friday, 18 April 2003. (Larry Goddard)
For those who are wondering what 508 110 looks like in its new-style Merseyrail livery, Tim J. Rogers has sent along another of his pictures taken at Wrexham diring the delivery run from Eastleigh. For some other takes, see Dave and John Skipsey's website.- 21 April