THE NORTH WALES COAST RAILWAY NOTICE
BOARD
Rheilffordd Arfordir Gogledd Cymru Bwrdd
hysbyseb
Although HST's were to officially take over InterCity's North Wales
services on 30 September 1991, the very first working occurred the
previous night. 43 082 departs Colwyn Bay with the 18.45
Euston-Holyhead in pouring rain on 29 September. 43 082 / 43 057 and a
spare East Coast set of coaches travelled empty from Bounds Green depot
in north London
to Euston to work the train. (Larry Goddard)
This site is dedicated to all our regular contributors and
supporters, and especially the rail staff of North Wales.
Edition of 30 May 2004
HST Nostalgia Special
To mark the end of the HSTs on the North Wales Coast, here are a few
pictures kindly dug out by contributors from the Archives. The 197 High
Speed Train (HST) power cars, more recently known as Class 43
locomotives, were constructed at Crewe works between 1975 and
1982, and were first used on the East Coast and Great Western
main lines, then later on the Midland Main Line and various InterCity
Cross Country services. In 1991 it was decided to also diagram them on
the Euston - Holyhead trains, permitting 100 mph running south of Crewe
without need for a locomotive change.
Driver-training in North Wales commenced on 2 July 1991, as pictured by
Larry Goddard on the first day passing Abergele headed by 43
013. It returned from Holyhead at 11:15 to Crewe. Today 43 013 is
one the yellow locos reserved for the 'New Measurement Train.'
Another driver training run pictured by John Lewis. This is
buffer-fitted 43 084 at Holyhead.
The same train passes Valley. (John Lewis)
Some of these driver training runs featured 'mini-HSTs' with just three
or four coaches. On 8 August 1991, the ferry from Ireland arrived late
and missed its connection with the London train. It was decided to use
the short 'driver training' HST as a 13:00 relief service to carry the
passengers to Crewe. Locomotives were 43 044 and 43 047,
and this train actually became the first HST-worked 'service train' on
the Coast ... unless anyone knows better!
However, an HST had visited Holyhead earlier than this, as John
Lewis recalls: 'The very first HST into Holyhead (I know they had
visited Chester and also Wrexham in the past, on diversions) was indeed
a special run from St. Pancras by Hertfordshire Railtours on 4 May 1991.
'I honestly can't remember what the tour was called, but I joined it
from Leicester and took a very unusual route to catch it! This was back
in the days when I was a poor student and still lucky enough to receive
free travel (first class too, I might add!) on account of my father
having been an officer with Sealink.
'I had to use the cheapest method
of getting there, so the only way I found to do it and still get a
reasonable night's sleep was to stay over at a friend's place in
Liverpool University, catch the 05:42 156 from Liverpool Lime Street to
Sheffield, an HST down the Midland Main Line to Leicester which left me
with just 2 minutes to catch the special! It was a risk, but it paid
off, and it got me on the first ever 125 into my home town.
'These shots show this train at Holyhead, and departing for
the run back south. 43 076 is at the London end, 43
047 at the
other.'
Doug of the 8A Rail website adds: ' My
records indicate that the
railtour was called the "North Wales Coaster". I suspect numerous other
photographers caught that the HST the same day as the big red machine
was out on the line also - obviously referring to 46229 Duchess
of Hamilton on the "Ynys Mon Express". I did not realise that the
HST was the 1st visit on the coast though!'
John Lewis was also around for the 'official' first HST: the
06:04 Holyhead - Euston on Monday 30 September 1991 with 43 057
leading 43 082. John notes: ,
but I travelled on this train myself.on the wet night of 29 September
1991 - see also our heading picture. This is the train awaiting
departure at Holyhead.'
An unusual picture by John Lewis of two HSTs together in Holyhead
during the daytime - generally this only happens on Christmas day or
Boxing day. No record of the year unfortunately, but the sight of the Stena
Hibernia berthed in the inner harbour dates the picture to between
'91 and '94.
HST workings continued after Virgin's takeover of the London
service: here's a Bangor view by Rowan Crawshaw showing a
mixture of British Rail and Virgin colours during a period when we have
to admit the Class 37s were seen by many as the stars of the show....
In 1998 43 101 was treated to a naming ceremony at Holyhead,
celebrating 150 years of the 'Irish Mail' named train featuring a new
style of locomotive naming using artistically-designed vinyls. The
smoky machine is seen at Holyhead in John Lewis's picture, with
37 401 Mary Queen of Scots, a regular on the line at the time,
lurking in the background. The actual naming took place in July 1998 at
Euston, but there was a dedication ceremony featuring the deputy mayor
at Holyhead on 1 August.
The full horror of the new style: one or two other Class 43s received
this decoration before Mr Green took over at Virgin and ordered a
reversion to 'proper' nameplates. 43 101 appears to have quietly lost
these stickers around September 2000, after which it was running with
no name all. It was last reported in April 2004 at the Brush
Works in Loughborough, painted in a strange black livery, rumoured to
be the test-bed for a 're-engine-ing' scheme. - 29 May
HST thoughts and legends
What do the workers think about the HST? Here's a few thoughts we have
picked up from the ether. The concept is agreed to be a good one:
plenty of horsepower, a cab each end, and two sets of air pipes
between the trailers. It's easy to deal with defects such as a burst
pipe, and there is flexibility in that power cars or trailers can be
removed and changed when they have defects, unlike the Class 220
/ 221 / 390 replacements which are in more or less fixed formations and
will be out of use if an insoluble problem is found on one coach while
at Holyhead, foe example. Many drivers will also, we suspect, miss the
chance to work on a more varied selection of traction with different
characteristics.
Less successful is the emergency 'bar-coupling' which has to be brought
in to use when an HST needs assistance from a normal locomotive. This
has caused all sorts of problems over the years, resulting in delay
when compared to a conventional drawbar and hook plus a host of
incidents when the bar has not been able to cope with the strain
of use in service. On one occasion an HST made it from Euston to
Stockport being hauled by a AC electric loco only to come away on
Stockport viaduct on the last leg into Manchester. Other troubles have
been a result of incorrect assembly and testing by the train crews of
these devices which are only used occasionally.
There have also been a number of little-publicised incidences of
'running out of fuel' on the West Coast Main Line - in some cases
involving 'Control' overriding train crews' concerns. This
trouble can also be caused by incorrect fuelling at depots, due to
airlocks the fuel pumps giving the impression of a full tank,
plus inaccurate fuel gauges, and substantial amounts of sediment in the
bottom of the tank.
Another factor that could lead to trouble was high coolant temperature,
which would leave one engine working longer and harder than planned,
while the defective engine remained at 'idling.' Contraction of joints
in the pipework after engines are shut down can lead to coolant leaks:
this which may well have led to some of the instances that took place
at Holyhead. A number of other delays in traffic were perhaps due to
the cab heater control being next to a similar switch which
prevented power being taken ...
The politics of the privatised railway have not always produced the
best for the HSTs: after the maintenance was relocated from
Edinburgh Craigentinny (which was thought by many to be the best place)
to Plymouth Laira. Work was then sub-contracted to other depots; along
with arguments over warranty after overhaul, things got to a stage
where they were put in to traffic without proper repairs being done due
to contractual wrangling, so the end has not seen them in the condition
they could have been. It is also worth noting that the HSTs operated by
other companies apart from Virgin have had a 'mid-life overhaul' which
has greatly imprved their reliability.
So, with the general decline in standards of maintenance on sets in
recent years along with the wear that comes with age, (some drivers
desks have become loose and started to shake in sympathy with the
increase in engine revs), it is with mixed feelings that train crews
will respond to their departure. The driving cab is noisy by recent
standards, although some drivers will miss the ability to open the cab
door and value the 'thrash' when starting away! As a design they would
benefit from mid-life overhaul and a refinement of the engineering to
improve on the 1970s technology.
As for the coaches, comparison between the HST and the new Virgin stock
inevitably leads to controversy. Many people (your compiler included)
would say the passenger accommodation is superior in ergonomic
specification to their replacements and could be renewed while
retaining the benefits of space and amenities of luggage accommodation,
number of toilets etc. Power-operated doors could be fitted: similar
vehicles built for the Irish Railways do have them. The new trains do
seem claustrophobic and lacking in legroom and window view by
comparison to the older stock and the Arriva Class 175 units, partly
due to the sloping walls required by tilting bodies. We suspect,
though, that many people are now so used to the cramped conditions in
cars and aircraft that they have come to accept this as normal.
Finally for now, let's touch on the question of their replacement of
HSTs by Class 47-hauled trains for Summer 2004. This is a subject which
will certainly produce many strong opinions from readers of this site,
with no common ground between the 47-lovers and 'bashers' and the
die-hard HST fans. Well, the Strategic Rail Authority has ordered
Virgin Trains to do this, and we very much doubt whether the SRA are
likely to write and tell us why; presumably it will save money.
Doubts have been cast on the reliability of the Virgin 47s - time will
tell, although things are not going too well so far with major delays
in the first week culminating in an London - Holyhead train on Friday
28 May which reportedly needed four locomotves to get it through to
Holyhead. We have seen it suggested that Class 57s will take over in
July,
requiring Virgin drivers from Liverpool to be brought to Holyhead by
taxi for the two early morning departures, although this is not
official information. Interesting times, as they say. - 28 March
Finally, who remembers this one-off livery as applied to 43
028? Although some sources have it that this was an experimental
'West Coast' HST livery, the truth seems to be that it was a bit of fun
perpetrated by Longsight depot. Since many Holyhead passengers are
Irish, it was decided to give a train a front end matching the colours
of the Irish Railways to make them feel at home! Picture by John
Lewis.
Thanks to everyone who helped with this page - they know who they
are! - 30 May