THE NORTH WALES COAST RAILWAY NOTICE
BOARD
Rheilffordd Arfordir Gogledd Cymru Bwrdd
hysbyseb
The 1Z14 08.00 Crewe-Bangor Track Assessment Train on 26 May,
before traversing the Conwy Valley Line to Blaenau Ffestiniog and back
to Llandudno Town before returning to Derby. The train was top &
tailed by 37 669 and 37 670, pictured entering Blaenau
... yes, the Conwy Valley is open again! More below. (Larry Goddard)
This site is dedicated to all our regular contributors and
supporters, and especially the rail staff of North Wales.
Edition of 04 June 2004
Chester Steam
A private charter train, 1Z47/48, is booked to be steam-hauled by
LMS
pacific 6233 Duchess of Sutherland from
Preston to Chester and return on Saturday 5 June. Times, courtesy of www.uksteam.info,
are : Preston d 11:04, Wigan NW pass 11:25,
Warrington BQ pass 11:39 Helsby pass 11:53,
Chester arr 12:10. Chester d 16:28, Helsby 16:41,
Warrington BQ 17:01, Wigan NW 17:13, Preston arr 17:34. Note,
however, that there seems to be some doubt about the running of theis
train since 6233 appears to be on display at the York 'Railfest.'
- 4
June
Conwy Valley line reopens
The Conwy Valley branch re-opened to traffic on 22
May as promised by the National Rail website, although morning trains
ran only as far as Llanrwst North. Overnight work paid off when the job
along the breached section of line south of Llanrwst was completed by
around 1pm and the first train allowed over this section was the 13:32
Llandudno - Ffestiniog. Two Class 153s headed by 153 313 are
seen cautiously traversing this rebuilt section en route to Blaenau
Ffestiniog.
Large diameter pipes will allow any future flood
water to pass through the railway embankment without damaging the
infrastructure - we hope! (Larry Goddard)
Neil Kennedy travelled the line on the
second day, Sunday 23 May. Neil writes: 'At Betws-y-Coed it was very
confusing as the regular service had been re-introduced, but the
information on the notice boards hadn't been updated and the services
were still being shown as a bus service. No 153 321 is seen
approaching the station (dead on time) with the 15.27 service to
Llandudno Junction. On the left of the photograph can be seen the
tracks for the tram, and the narrow gauge train at the adjoining Conwy
Valley Museum.'
Douglas waiting for the right of way round
the museum grounds. (Neil Kennedy)
Some unusual trains appeared on the line in the
first week: A Class 67 traversed the Conwy Valley for the first time on
27 May when 67 029 went to Blaenau on 'driver training'. It is
seen awaiting the service train at Llanrwst North at 12:15 (Larry
Goddard.) Even more interesting was a measurement train with Class
37 power on 26 May: see the heading picture.
Flashback to the events of 3 February, when John
Wilkinson almost got marooned taking pictures for us at
Llanrwst North; no trains ran after this day until 22 May.
And here's one of Network Rail's official pictures
from a few days later when the water had subsided. The line was
breached like this in several places.
24 May was the official opening day, although
celebrations were rather low-key; no special trains and certainly no
loco-naming despite Larry Goddard's daydreaming above ...
passengers on this day were promised a 'surprise' (what was it,
somebody?) and there was the official 'adoption' of Blaenau Ffestiniog
station by pupils of Ysgol Maenofferen and Ms Ann
Griffiths of Cyfle Ffestiniog [Opportunity
Ffestiniog] under Arriva's 'Adopt a Station' initiative. We believe
that the 'Red Rover' day pass (Adult £4.40 Child £2.20)
valid on (and sold on) most buses in Snowdonia National Park and along
the Conwy valley is now also available on the branch trains.
Betws-y-Coed now has a 'Platform 2' for the buses outside the
station - £250,000 investment apparently - and in a similar vein
there is 'Platform 5' at Llandudno Junction. Read Arriva's
press release and note how they 'sex up'
the events by mentioning everything twice!
Anyway, let's congratulate Network Rail on getting
the line back in service again. . -
3 June
The Irish Mail in
Miniature
Last
year, a group of steam railway enthusiasts from the Wrexham Society
of Model Engineers re-created the Irish Mail Express from Holyhead
to
London
Euston.The “265 mile journey”was a great challenge, and the 23 actual
miles was
covered in just under four hours at the Pant-yr-Ochain track, Gresford
raising
£765 for Nightingale House Hospice.
On
Saturday 5 June the journey will be repeated, but this time from
Euston to
Holyhead.
Last year, two 1/12 scale steam locomotives were used, this year the
challenge
is to complete the run with only one steam locomotive - L.M.S. Royal
Scot class,
No. 6159 The Royal Air Force. A feature of the Irish
Mail was the
collection
and dropping off ofmail whilst on the move. This will be re-enacted
during the
journey at the relevant points making this Britain's only
Travelling Post Office. The train
will leave
“Euston” at 12 o'clock prompt on Saturday 5 June and,
after brief
stops at “Rugby”, “Crewe”, and “Chester” will arrive at “Holyhead” at
3-50 p.m.
after achieving an average speed of 75 m.p.h! You can
have the
opportunity of sending and receiving a letter, sorted and delivered by
the
Irish Mail Travelling Post Office. At the same time you will be
supporting
Nightingale House Hospice in Wrexham. For further details please
contact Dave
Wilson on 01978 750434 or David@davwilson.freeserve.co.uk.
John Murray's picture report on the
2003 event is still available. - 2 June
Last 31s to Chester
The timetable change saw the last run of Fragonset Railways 31s on the
St Annes - Greenbank and Chester - Blackpool diagram. On the
penultimate day, John Myers took a ride with his camera on the
Chester - Blackpool train. Above 31 602 Cerberus
(leading) and 31 459 Chimaera were seen stabled in
Chester carriage sidings at the respective ends of their coaching stock
that afternoon.
31 602 heads the penultimate 2N97, 15:49 FNW Chester-Blackpool North,
shortly before departure on the sunny afternoon of 20 May. John
writes: 'I enjoyed a very pleasant and comfortable run as far as
Manchester Piccadilly aboard this train, which was in exemplarily clean
condition both inside and out.'
The last day on the Chester line, Friday 21 May, and the morning St
Annes - Greenbank (running late) was pictured by Greg Mape near Ashley station.
The final working, the 15:49 Chester - Blackpool, arrives at Manchester
Piccadilly on 21 May. (Charlie Hulme)
The same train arriving at Manchester Oxford Road (James Palmer)
From 24 May the 31s and their stock moved to a different diagram, in
the shape of a Monday - Friday 'Blackpool Club Train' in the
morning from Blackpool North to Manchester Victoria and return in the
evening peak, with the train standing idle in Newton Heath Depot during
the day. Back in the early 1990s, when a similar train operated, the
stock worked as a boat train from Manchester Victoria to Holyhead
and back during the day... These two pictures by Tony Miles show the morning train on
the first day on the approaches to Manchester Victoria. 31 459 is
leading, with 31 602 on the rear.
Brief details of the diagram, for those interested: Blackpool North
dep. 07:16, Manchester Victoria arr 08:28, then empty
to Newton Heath depot, arr. 08:37. Empty from Newton Heath, dep, 16.43,
Manchester Victoria dep. 17:06, Blackpool North arr. 18:21. - 3 June
The Notice Board page received 4,373 visits in the week ending 31
May 2004: thanks to everyone for your continuing support.