THE NORTH WALES COAST RAILWAY NOTICE
BOARD
Rheilffordd Arfordir Gogledd Cymru Bwrdd
hysbyseb
47 832 brings 2 September's 10:00 Manchester to Holyhead
into Bangor while 175 115 is on the 12:15 Bangor to Llandudno
Junction. (Alan Crawshaw)
This site is dedicated to all our regular contributors and
supporters, and especially the rail staff of North Wales.
Edition of 01 September 2004
Editorial
Regular readers will notice a couple of small changes to the style of
the Notice Board the last few issues. There are now so many people who
send in contributions that the list of regular contributors at the head
of the pages is really just something of a random selection, and
everyone gets a name check with their items anyway, so I've decided to
replace it with a simple dedication. This change in no way diminishes
our gratitude to everyone, and especially the long-time supporters who
fed my ego in the early Class 37 days: it's remarkable that the thing
has been rolling on for over seven years now. What the future brings
after 26 September remains to be seen, but with 4,226 visits recorded
to the Notice Board week ending 29 August I think we can claim some
degree of success. 'You've ... all ... done very ... well' as
young Mr Grace used to say.
At the bottom of the page in future is a selection of handy 'further
reading' 'inks to regularly-updated pages run by our friends and
dedicated to North Wales railways; all of them of very high
quality. If I've missed you off, do let me know. - Charlie, 2
September.
Fragonset to the rescue
After the failure of Riviera Trains loco 47 853 Rail Express at
Bangor on 28 August, the following Monday dawned with no power
available
for the Arriva Trains Wales loco-hauled diagram, and a Class 158 had to
be found to stand in until alternative arrangements could be made.
The replacement turned out to be Great Western-liveried 47 832,
now owned by Fragonset. This is the 10:00 Manchester to Holyhead on 1
September near Treborth, a short way west of Bangor. (Alan Crawshaw)
Approaching Rhosneigr station on Anglesey with the 13:39
Holyhead-Manchester (Ian Bowland)
The 17:20 Manchester - Holyhead on Wednesday 1 September, pictured
above by Tony Miles following the old Liverpool and Manchester
Railway route at Ordsall Lane with the Manchester skyline as a backdrop.
The same train calls at Flint. (Tim J. Rogers) If you fancy
renting the station building, the estate agent's phone number on the
sign is 01274 825700....
Thursday 2 September, and the 10:00 Manchester - Holyhead at Llysfaen (Larry
Goddard.)
The Virgin Class 47 turn also continues into September, although trains
have not been running through to London due to the inevitable
Engineering Works.: above is 47 826 Springburn on 1D87
to Holyhead at Treborth on 1 September. (Alan Crawshaw)
The same loco on the same day topping the hill onto the Rhosneigr
switchback in the September heat haze with the 13:23 from Holyhead. (Ian
Bowland)
Although it was thought that Freightliner would supply a loco if
Riviera Trains had problems, they had no locos available. Surprisingly,
though, their loco 47 843 Vulcan made an appearance on
the coast on 1 September with this train of side-tippers loaded with
ballast from Penmaenmawr quarry. It's been some years since a 47 worked
a Penmaenmawr ballast train, writes photographer Larry Goddard.
Oh yes, and on 2 September there was 57 301 Scott Tracy
again with a
Pendolino test run. Larry Goddard's picture shows it passing
the site of
Llysfaen Station soon after leaving Penmaenhead tunnel. - 2
September
Stay off the line - good
advice from the Evening
Leader
Youngsters are putting lives at risk by trespassing on and vandalising
the county’s railways. Two of North Wales’ top railway crime hotspots
are located in Flintshire, with 12 incidents of trespass and vandalism
reported near Shotton station in 2003-4 and 10 around the Bagillt level
crossing. The most shocking incidents in Shotton have included children
playing 'chicken' around the lines, throwing stones and debris onto the
tracks, and putting coins on the line. Rail bosses are today issuing a
stark warning to parents, urging them to alert their children to the
dangers of playing near railways. Alex Pilling, Network Rail’s external
liaison officer for North Wales, said: 'We implore parents and
guardians to make sure their children understand the dangers of playing
on the tracks. As well as the risk of being hit by a train, there is
the risk of electrocution from live rails or overhead lines. Previous
tragedies have shown children and young people do not survive these
massive electric shocks, and we don’t want any child to die as a result
of playing on our railways.'
Aaron Shotton, Flintshire council’s executive member for
transportation, planning and the environment, called on youngsters to
find safer places to play, and lent his voice to the call for parents
to take on more responsibility. He said: 'Flintshire Council, together
with community councils across the county, have provided free
activities such as play schemes and free swimming
to occupy young people over the summer. I would urge young people to
make use of these for the remainder of the summer holidays and stay
safe.'
Ninety per cent of crime on the railways is committed by children under
the age of 16, and six children died in 2003 in the UK, while playing
on, or taking shortcuts across the railway.
Thanks to George Jones for passing on this item. - 2
September
Picture miscellany
A feature at Chester on recent Saturdays has been the empty stock of
one of Virgin Cross Country's summer loco-hauled trains, which visits
Chester to run round. We believe this has worked the Paignton to
Preston train. 67 018 was pictured by Gary Thomas at
Chester at 16.30 on 28 August 2004.
Additional entertainment for those waiting for Duke of Gloucester
at Llandudno Junction on 28 August was provided by 47 826 Springburn
working the Virgin service to Holyhead.
Here's the DRS flask train with 20 314 & 20 308 passing through
Chester station at 17:10 on Tuesday 31 August. (Colin Partington)
Rowan Crawshaw writes: On 30 August I caught the 09:49 from
Bangor to Chester behind 47 841. Then I crossed over the bridge to ride
behind 47 826 on 1D87 back to Holyhead and returned on the 13:23 to
Bangor which was formed 2 Firsts which were open to all customers(!),
only 1 Standard, buffet car, 3 Firsts and Driving Van Trailer. I
enjoyed my luxury of travelling first class. I passed a Voyager
when entering Bangor from Holyhead.
47 841 Spirit of Chester on the Merseyrail platform at
its namesake station with the 09:20 Holyhead - Crewe. (Rowan Crawshaw)
47 826 at Holyhead on 30 August about to couple to the 13:23 to
Birmingham, Euston being closed due to upgrade work. (Rowan Crawshaw)
The view inside a Virgin Mark 3 first class coach. (Rowan
Crawshaw)
Totally overshadowed by the steam train at Holyhead on 30 August was a
Class 221 Voyager continuing the series of training runs. (Alan
Crawshaw)
Timetable news - by
Rowan Crawshaw
The Winter timetable for North Wales from 27 September to 11 December
is now downloadable
as a PDF from the Arriva Trains Wales website. I have made a
digest showing the new Virgin Voyager / Pendolino service, available on
the Rail
Elite website. There are also lots of changes with Arriva
itself. There are two trains to Birmingham via Wrexham which are 12:08
and 15:35 from Bangor, with returns at 07:33 from Birmingham to Bangor
and 11:33 to Holyhead. - 2 September
Two from the eighties
Darryl Thomas writes: 'I just found this slide that I took back
in 1989.... 47 401 & 47 050 sit in the headshunt at
Holyhead. Although we have got 47s up the coast at the moment, I don't
think that this photo could be recreated! All I can tell you is that it
was a Saturday in July 1989. Whatever happened to the St. Columba ?
Dave Sallery writes: 'Does anyone know where this picture was
taken (in 1988)? Its somewhere in Clwyd I understand. Penyffordd
perhaps?' - 2 September
To the Far North
Our correspondent Steve Morris rode the 'Northern Lights'
railtour to Kyle of Lochalsh on Friday 27 August, which was advertised
as a Class 40 to Kyle.
Steve writes: '40 145 came on at Preston taking over from 50
031, no problems. En route to Carlisle, riding inspector noticed a
crack in one of the turbochargers which was allowing coolant into the
lubricating oil. the loco was performing well but allowing this to
carry on could have resulted in a catastrophic failure of the
turbocharger and serious power unit damage as a result of pieces of it
entering the combustion cylinders.
'As a result it was decided to remove 145 at Carlisle as shown in the
picture above. The Class Forty Preservation Society and Pathfinder
staff dealt with the situation well and as far as I could see impact on
other services was minimal. 66 229 worked forward to
Motherwell, leaving about 60 minutes later than planned. Here, 37
427 and 37 406 were provided for the trip to Kyle (arrival
just about on time) and back as far as Carlisle where 50 031 was
waiting to return us to Crewe and Birmingham. Arrival at Crewe
was 10 minutes earlier than schedule following a storming run back down
the West Coast Main Line.
'My second picture shows the two 37s at the Kyle of Lochaslsh terminus
at 04:00 on Saturday morning. Clearly there were a large number of very
disappointed people but at the end of the day these things happen.
Everyone concerned made sure that the tour proceeded well in spite of
the problem and they should be commended for their efforts.Just have to
run it again next year I guess...' - 2 September