THE NORTH WALES COAST RAILWAY NOTICE
BOARD
Rheilffordd Arfordir Gogledd Cymru Bwrdd
hysbyseb
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Edition of 11 August 2004
221 105 has been running up and down to Holyhead on crew training
duties, and we do have some pictures of that and lots of other stuff
coming soon, but as a change I thought we'd follow your Compiler on a
couple of recent journeys to get a picture of rail travel in Summer
2004. - Charlie
Part the First
Trains in the Stockport area are thin on the ground at present due the
the 11-week engineering blockade that's closed Stockport station, which
has deterred me from many visits to the Coast line, but in the last few
weeks I have an effort to get out and about on Saturdays to have a look
at the state of things and how the Coast line is managing the peak
summer traffic. The nearest station with a connection to the national
network at present appears to be Heald Green, on the Styal loop,
approximately five miles from my house. On 24 July I thought I'd take
the bike with me and board a train from there to Crewe, formed of one
of First North Western's excellent Class 323 electric units with a fine
bike space so I could take the bike with me to Crewe.
There are plenty of trains passing this way, including services to
Manchester Airport and all the long-distance services from Manchester
which would normally pass through Stockport. And between trains one can
watch the planes coming in to land at the Airport ... the picture has
been 'digitally-enhanced' a little, though!
At Crewe I was surprised to see how many Class 87 electric locos were
working Virgin's West Coast Main Line trains, outnumbering the new
Pendolino units. This is 87 013 John O'Gaunt at
Platform 6.
On standby in Platform 2 was 87 001 Stephenson looking
rather attractive in its restored original colour scheme, with a new
version of the nameplate which it received back in the 1970s as a rare
example at the time of a loco naming, until the BR senior manager
who hated naming locos pushed off to Australia.
This is 87 021 Robert the Bruce at the rear of a
southbound train leaving Platform 5.
47 828 Severn Valley Railway sits in Platform 8.
Unknown to me at the time, this loco had failed that morning at Rhyl
while hauling 1A13 05:20 Holyhead - London, which was then cancelled
and 'dragged' empty to the loop at Holywell Junction by 66.029 borrowed
off a stone train, and then from there to Crewe by 47 810 Porterbrook
which was summoned from Longsight to take over the rest of the diagram.
Having locked my bike on one of Crewe station's cycle racks, I
eventually made my way to Platform 9 to join the 14:30 Crewe - Holyhead
which I planned to use as far as Chester. As I arrived at the platform
to join the train I found it was already full and standing with large
luggage piled everywhere and almost impossible to get aboard.
Eventually, I found a corner of a vestibule standing on one leg between
a very tired man who'd travelled from Nantes to London by coach and an
elderly lady who got into a discussion with some of the other 15 people
in the vestibule about how much she'd approved of the Poll tax.
Seemingly there had been delays on trains from London and people had
missed their connection to the previous North Wales train.
I was certainly relieved to get off at Chester, as even more people
tried to climb aboard 175 106. At least it was a three-car
train. (see below.)
For the record, here's a portrait of the new 'laser display board' at
Chester station replacing the computerised (ZX81?) platform displays
which are all out of action, have been for several weeks, and will be
until further notice. All credit to the hard-pressed station staff for
their felt-top artistry, but is this really suitable for a major
tourist city? Note the 15:00 Virgin train to London shown as 16 minutes
late. This eventually turned into half an hour, reportedly due to a
tail lamp falling off, livestock on the line and police having to be
called to an incident on the train.
While waiting, I noticed one of the refurbished Merseyrail units, 508
112, on the Liverpool service. Very smart, and quite comfortable
looking, with a good bicycle space too.
Eventually 47 810 Porterbrook makes its appearance at
Chester. The clock visible is one the few surviving public clocks on
Chester station, and the face on the other side was showing a time five
minutes different from the one visible. Of course these are controlled
from some remote central timepiece...
... a quick ride to Crewe in loco-hauled comfort, just making it back
in time to get on a 323 set forming the 16:03 to Deansgate, and
interesting train which calls at all stations to Styal and then express
to Manchester Piccadilly. I decided to leave the train with my trusty
Dawes at the sparsely-served station at Styal, and cycle home from
there. I say sparsely-served, but there is actually another train calls
at Styal five minutes later, which has started from Alderley Edge. The
bike poses for its picture as another 87-pushed train heads south.
Part the Second
Two weeks later, 7 August, I tried again, this time starting in the
morning. On the way I had to take my bike wheel to the shop for
straightening following an ugly incident in which I was run into from
behind by a man in one of those electric wheelchair/scooter things, so
it was replacement bus to Manchester Piccadilly for the 12:17 Llandudno
train on a really hot and sticky day.
Big mistake! Luckily I got a seat by virtue of happening to stand in
the right place, but the train was overcrowded with people standing
before leaving Piccadilly, and the air-conditioning was not working.
The reservations were not labelled, so people with reservations had to
stand. Passengers were left behind at most stations from
Newton-le-Willows onwards, and many would have stood from Manchester -
Rhyl. I was not the only one recording this scene on camera as we made
our sweaty, magazine-fanning, baby-screaming way west, punctuated by
someone pulling the emergency brake between Warrington and Runcorn East.
By the time we arrived at Chester, we were 25 minutes late and I knew a
Crewe - Holyhead train should be close behind, so I fought my way off
the train, seen above as more people try to board - some of them of
course will have arrived for the Holyhead train, making matters worse.
Note this is two-car set 175 004,
Go by train for a relaxing journey?
The journey to Prestatyn in another 2-car 175 was less of an ordeal,
there were a few seats available the air conditioning was working very
well. I had bought a ticket to Colwyn Bay, but thanks to the late
running I had to get off at Prestatyn instead in order to catch the
47-hauled train back to Crewe, although this turned out to be 20
minutes late, as was this Llandudno -Manchester train of five coaches
which preceded it
Eventually 47 828 Severn Valley Railway made its
appearance, and I managed this picture not helped by the efforts
of my camera to under-expose the view. Despite the lack of tracks
outside and the armless signal, Prestatyn signalbox is still in use.
A view inside the London train, the Mk 3 coach does have a spacious
feel, although again, air-conditioning was conspicuous by its absence.
I was able to get to the buffet to buy a drink, though, whereas there
was no chance of any trolley service on the overcrowded Arriva trains
as the trolled could not have passed though.
Not that conditiones inside the coaches bothered me too much, as I
spent nearly the whole trip stood at an open droplight window,
something we won't be doing much of in the future. Apologies to the
rail staff readers who don't approve of this kind of thing, but I
didn't lean out very far or flail my arms about - forgive me for old
times' sake.
Having called at Platform 7 at Chester because Platform 4 seemed to be
full of failed 175s, we arrived at Crewe at the time the train should
have been departing for London, with the loco change still to carry
out. 47 828 waits to be unsaddled and have a blanket thrown over him
....
... and then 87 022 Lew Adams The Black Prince is
attached to the rear to propel the train for the rest of the trip.
The moral of the story: well, if you feel like a pleasant trip to the
seaside on a fine summer Saturday, don't travel by Arriva
Trains Wales. - 11 August