Thanks to those who write in about Ians' sighting (last noticeboard) of the London-Holyhead HST turning "right" at Crewe. The set had failed at Bletchley with a central door locking fault (reportedly damages sustained after hititng something on the track), and all the passengers transferred onto a following Euston-Liverpool to Crewe. Virgin hired 158 759 from FNW and that ran empty to Crewe from Chester to work a 1T87 Crewe to Holyhead additional (Virgin) service. The return Holyhead - Euston, 1A77, was restarted at Crewe using a fresh HST from Longsight. The 158 ran a 1T77 Holyhead-Crewe additional and dumped its London bound passengers there. However, things were not well at Conwy. A cable fire delayed services off the Coast for up to an hour, some trains terminating at Chester to return back down the Coast.
11 and 12 July were Chester Races days, and the trains were very busy. Arriva Trains Merseyside, did themselves proud by providing 6car units on two out the three digrams to Chester as well as on train cleaners and ticket inspectors to 'keep order.' First North Western however went the other way, no trains strengthened to beyond their normal Saturday diagram and the pick of the bunch - the 10:24 Piccadilly to Chester via Northwich on 12 July was a single coach 153! ('It was a tad full. At Altrincham that is!') The locomotive and stock however did prove its usefulness again and brought a great deal more than a unit may have managed, although at the expense of many people having to stand. We have asked this before, but why not add a couple of coaches from the other set which is spare at Holyhead on a Saturday? - 14 July
Saturday 12 July, and your compiler's bicycle mingles with over 200 people waiting to board the 10:21 Birmingham - Holyhead at Crewe. The plan was to ride the North Wales Coast cycleway for the 10-mile section from Rhyl to Colwyn Bay. These loco-hauled trains are ideal for cyclists, having plenty of room in their spacious brake vans, albeit with rather less room for the number of passengers wishing to travel on this day. No camping out in the brake van either: it's park your bike and move to the passenger compartment, as the brake van doors are not fitted with central door locking. Rather different from the Class 37/4 days, when the brake van floors often resembled a small pop festival! Today, no sitting down at all...
Alighting at Rhyl, there was time to walk up the platform for a picture as a wheelchair was being ramped off the train. Then it's cycle down to the seafront and across the big bridge over the Clwyd river, turning right off the main road just after this and head for the sea wall, and you are away from the cars most of the way to Colwyn Bay.
Abergele and Pensarn station is the halfway point of this ride, with its handy toilets and cafes nearby. The cycle path here runs between the platform and the seashore. The only cloud in the sky on this day came from the engine of the Class 158!
The second half of the run has one or two short category 2 climbs as the yccle track finds its way through the quarry loading installations at Llanddulas, but most people should be able to reach Colwyn Bay in good time to photograph the passage of the 13:35 Holyhead - London, currently 47-hauled on Saturdays. The picture shows the train curving round the section of track which was moved in the 1980s to make room for the A55 road.
The Virgin train heads off east; note the train is a set of Mk2 coaches as used on the London - Birmingham service, with a Mk 3 buffet car. Special thanks to all the train crew of 1D87 and 1G11 for a highly enjoyable afternoon. - 15 July
D345 heads 1Z40, 10:10, Liverpool - Carlisle through Roby, 12 July (Dave Skipsey)
Thanks for all the comments received about our feature on Virgin/SRA plans for the London service (last noticeboard). Several echo the feelings of Steve Vaughan about the proposed new diagrams: ' What exactly do we benefit from having these nice shiney new trains? The flagship train (1A23 05:47 Holyhead - London as it is now) will be retimed to depart at 05:35 (12 minutes earlier than now) and arrive Euston 09:45 (16 minutes earlier than now). Therefore we gain a reduction in journey time of 4 MINUTES. Now presuming that the timings will be quite tight as the West Coast will be a World Class Railway with World Class Trains (!) the 09:45 arrival time will be about right. However, at the moment 1A23 with a clear run can easily arrive at Euston at 09:45 (I have made it earlier than 09:45). So with the new trains our flagship London train will actually take longer to get to London.'
It's hard to disagree with Steve's further suggestion: 'The solution for North Wales still lies with a pool of refurbished HSTs. Despite their age, the mid-life overhauls they are receiving together with the reliability modifications have proved them more reliable than the trains that have replaced them. Their 125 mph top speed would allow them to keep up with the Pendolinos, just (they would be out- accelerated). However this should not pose a problem as the World Class West Coast main line will be free of speed restrictions and therefore once 125 is reached it could be maintained pretty much all the way, especially if the Holyheads were first stop Crewe after Euston. Also the Mark 3 coach is still the best rail vehicle ever designed and a fully refurbished, properly maintained Mk 3 is in a league of its own when it comes to passenger comfort.'
However, this is not going to happen, because Mr Bowker and his friends have ruled it out, so it seems we are to have Pendolinos and 221s. According to sources close to Virgin Trains management, however, the coupling problems we predicted will be overcome by fitting all the Class 57 fleet with new couplers which will enable full connectivity with the Pendolinos in one "clunk" and no need for jumper cables etc. In the short term, essential systems will be monitored on the 390s by keeping a second driver in the cab of the 390 - but the 57s will, we are told, receive an upgrade to allow full display of systems on board the Pendolinos as soon as possible.
We can confirm that 5-car Class 221 Voyagers will work on the North Wales services, with the 4-car sets moving to work a new Manchester to Glasgow service on a self-contained set of diagrams. The Holyhead - Birmingham run in the provisional timetable is to allow 221s to cycle to and from Central Rivers maintenance depot (near Burton-on-Trent) - so the unit will not turn back at Birmingham New Street but will be replaced by an incoming set. - 15 July
The Sunday evening double train calls at Bangor on
13
July, with 47 739 Resourceful in charge. (Rowan Crawshaw)
George Jones writes to remind us that Pete Waterman’s 'small Prairie' GWR tank loco 5553 will be appearing as Special Guest Star at the Llalngollen Railway's Holiday Haunts Steam Gala on 26/27 July. Details on the Llangollen Railway website. - 15 July
Dave Skipsey writes: The Merseyside Model Railway Society web site (http://www.merseysidemrs.com) has just been updated to include some photos of our latest O Gauge layout - Johnstown Road - which is based on the Tanat Valley line of the Cambrian Railways (period modelled: 1908) - again nearly North Wales ! (incidentally this has been largely built by the "Mostyn Crew" - definitely North Wales)
Dave also notes that The Silver 508 - 508 110 - made a foray from Birkenhead North - West Kirby and back on the evening of Saturday 12 July - getting ready for entering service? - 15 July
As this is the website for the longest railway in North Wales, I thought a photo of the shortest would be appropriate! This freight only "railway" at Llechwedd is used to return the hard hats of visitors back to the starting point when they have finished their Deep Mine tour - a total journey of 6 feet. The rolling stock is a rebodied quarry rubbish wagon and the track gauge is 2 feet - 60cm. The railway is electrically powered using a remote electric motor and a continuous chain.
Incidentally the visitors descend to make the Deep Mine tour on
Britain's
steepest passenger railway, with a gradient of 1:1.8. They travel in a
specially made 24-seat car, on a track with a gauge of 3ft
(0.914m).
See www.llechwedd-slate-caverns.co.uk.
- 15 July