THE NORTH WALES COAST RAILWAY NOTICE
BOARD
Rheilffordd Arfordir Gogledd Cymru Bwrdd
hysbyseb
Another of Riviera's 47s takes its turn to Holyhead on 3
January. This is 47 812 in the neck at Holyhead about to run
round for the return boat train to Manchester. We have requested
an appearance by large-logo liveried 47 847: any chance, Mr Paget?
Picture by Mark Lloyd Davies
This site is dedicated to all our regular contributors and
supporters, and especially the rail staff of North Wales.
Edition of 04 January 2005
Signalboxes
doomed
In a project which has been expected for a number of years, but for
one reason or another never carried out, Mold Junction signalbox
(182 miles 29 chains from London) and Sandycroft signalbox (184.73) are
to be taken out of service over the weekend of 22-23 January, their
functions transferred to the signalling centre at Chester station.
Rockcliffe Hall (MP 188.74) on the other side of Shotton station will
then become the 'fringe box' to Chester. The picture above shows
Mold Junction box in 1999, from Alan Crawshaw's web report 'The Ghost
on the Coast' - one of the most interesting North Wales Coast
articles out on the Web in our opinion.
Both boxes are London
and North Western Railway 'Type 4' buildings dating from 1900-1902 when
the line in this area was widened to four tracks, and still contain the
original LNWR levels with 'stirrup' handles.
Thanks to one of our ever-helpful railway 'insiders' we present
some
pictures taken inside the box at Mold Junction. At this location there
was a large freight marshalling yard, and also a locomotive shed, as
well as the junction for the branch line to Mold, all this being
controlled by no less than four signalboxes.The current Mold Junction
box was once 'Mold Junction No.1'. Mold Junction shed (6B) was known to
crews 'Spike Island' supposedly because of a ring of spiked
railings surrounding both a ditch and the entire shed and the
Saltney Ferry houses. In the mid-1950s it had an allocation of
around 50 engines, including 'WD' and Stanier 8F 2-8-0s, Stanier 'Black
5' 4-6-0s, Stanier 2-6-0s, LMS and Midland 4Fs, and 3F 'Jinty'
0-6-0s which shunted the marshalling yard.
Above we see a general view of the
interior from the Chester end. The signalman is clearing signals
for an Up train. The frame is now only 30 levers in length,
having been shortened some time ago as the layout contracted. The
working levers now comprise three signals in the Up direction (a
Distant and two Stop signals), and just one signal in the Down
direction.
A view of the lever frame from the Sandycroft end, with levers
reversed to clear the Up direction signals. The white levers are no
longer connected to anything: note that all the current signals are
colour-light ones, with their handles shortened to remind the signaller
that there is no need to pull hard.
The signalbox diagram is a mass of paint and paper labels
covering-up disused
facilities. Sandycroft is to the left and Chester to the
right. The line at the top of the diagram is the former Up Goods,
out
of use for several years and now lifted in places. For some views of
the place back in the 1970s when some of the other facilities remained,
there's a very interesting page on the excellent 2D53 website.
An unusual feature of this box (although not unique; we believe
Valley has something similar) the emergency indicator and controls for
the emergency signals
provided for Hawarden Aerodrome - the flightpath crosses the
railway.
The indicator on the right is worked by a switch at the Aerodrome
control tower. In the event of an incident likely to block the
railway, the control tower can warn the signalman at Mold Junction, who
then operates a switch to illuminate emergency signals on the Up lines
to stop traffic (the Down lines are protected by the normal railway
signals). This system is to be updated and transferred to
Chester.
The instruments refer to the 'RAF' although the aerodrome is no longer
a military facility. Names used by the railway often outlive their
namesakes: for example the level crossing near Penmaenmawr is
officially known as 'Little Chef Crossing' which will no doubt
puzzle future railfans when the restaurant chain of that name has
passed into the mists of time.
Here's Sandycroft signalbox, looking very much a centenarian. This
one does still have semaphore signals, as can be seen in the background
of the picture. At one time it was said that if a signalbox was be
repainted, the staff would know it would soon be closed, but the 'rule'
does not seem to have been applied in this case. When built, this box
was located between the two fast lines in the centre of the
four-track layout, roughly in the middle of the station which had
platforms only on the outer (slow) lines. This was not an original
Chester and Holyhead Railway station; it opened in the1880s with
typical LNWR wooden platform and buildings, and closed in 1961, even
before Dr Beeching started to swing his axe.
The moral of the story is - get round there with your cameras before
it's too late. Any reminiscences of these boxes and the Mold Junction
complex would be very welcome. For example, has the 'RAF emergency'
equipment ever been used in anger? - 4 January
Arriva Tog, or bringing
home the bacon - by Eryl Crump
(Thanks to Eryl for letting us have an enhanced version of his article
which first appeared in the Daily Post.)
These gleaming trains may look familiar and it's not just the paint
scheme. Yes, they are Alstom 'Coradia' units and they are in
service with Arriva Trains but these trains were introduced into
service in Denmark "straight from the box" and run on time. Two years
ago Arriva Tog
(Danish for 'train') won a contract to operate trains over 340
kilometres of Danish metals in Jutland. The venture got off to a bad
start because too few drivers opted to transfer from Danish State
Railways, but those early problems were sorted out and since then
Arriva has collected bonus after bonus for good performance.
This year Arriva introduced 29 new Alstom Coradia diesel trains, to
replace the 25-year old MR units (left in the picture above) deemed
obsolete - they were leased
from DSB, the Danish State Railways, as an interim measure.
The new trains are smooth and quiet, easy to board and have giant
picture windows. Even with a huge Santa Claus logo it was still
easy
to enjoy the view from the train.
The 850bhp Mercedes engines give the trains a top speed of 120km/h -
slower than the 175s but acceleration is the key requirement and
drivers
love the smooth operation allowing them to make up lost time between
stations. Management love the trains too. Despite the air
conditioning units, which
are absent on the older trains, their fuel-efficient engines mean they
consume 33% less fuel.
Arriva's rail network in Denmark is similar to its services in North
and Mid Wales, connecting towns and ports, and serving small rural
communities on the way. The line from Thisted in the north-west
to Tønder on the German border is similar in many respects to
the Cambrian Coast. The line from Herning to Aarhus could be Holyhead
to Chester. A similar sort of line runs from Struer to Århus.
Arriva Tog operate trains on behalf of a local authority between Varde
and Nymindegab.
Most of the network is single track with frequent passing loops.
There is little freight traffic and there is no competition from DSB,
the state company. The two companies connect at some points on the
network but there is little scope for through ticketing and neither
company waits for each other's services.
As in Wales the company operate bus services, 30% of all services are
operated by Arriva in Jutland and services are in line with local
authority requirements.
During my visit managers got upset about a train that had not appeared
just one minute after it was due. It arrived at Silkeborg less than two
minutes late. Arriva gets a bonus if 97% of trains are on time. A train
is classed as late if it's four minutes late or more, while a Welsh
train isn't officially late unless it's at least five minutes after the
scheduled time. If a train is late every minute delay is multiplied by
six impacting on punctuality targets. Since May 2003 Arriva has
collected its bonus every quarter, and
typically about 98% of trains are on time. On the
day before my visit in December 2004, it was 100%.
There's another bonus on offer too - decided by the passengers
themselves. The results of monthly surveys are logged on a scale from
zero to five. If the rating is low, Arriva faces stiff fines. If it's
over 3.5 (as it has been every month since May 2003) Arriva gets a
bonus. They are on track to increasing the average to beyond 4 earning
an even bigger bonus.
I was pretty impressed. If Arriva Tog can operate trains
punctually and reliably with new trains why can't Arriva Trains Wales
do the same here?
Peter Strachan, managing director of Arriva Trains Wales, said his
company was learning lessons from Denmark. "As a successful public
transport operator in eight European countries, Arriva is working to
share best practice from its different businesses through a group
forum."
But, he said, the Danes worked in a very different environment from the
specifications set for Wales by the Strategic Rail Authority. "We share
our Danish colleagues' drive and passion to provide the best service we
can for our customers and are striving to achieve this in all areas,"
he said. "We know that a consistently reliable and punctual rail
service is what our customers want and expect, and we are focusing hard
on performance. We hold regular performance drives with management
teams, identifying and overcoming challenges." - 4 January
Loco Haulage
continues
John Skipsey took this picture (with some help from a
stepladder) on the last day of 2004 showing 47 805 passing
Sandycroft down home signal with the 10:05 Manchester - Holyhead. We
believe that loco haulage is now to continue until 31 January, and on
Saturdays as well as Mondays - Fridays.
Note: this caption when it first appeared achieved a record for
the most editorial typing errors per sentence in the history of
the site, and even the corrected version was wrong, with the date
between 10 years ago and 18040 years in the future, not to mention the
dreaded 'not' instead of 'now' which the world's best spelling checker
fails to find. Less of the Pinot Grigio required, we think. - 4
January
Virgin colours from
Christmas
47 805, one of Riviera Trains' new acquisitions, has been the
staple performer on the North Wales Arriva service over the Christmas
period, complete with a matching rake of Virgin-liveried coaches.
Here's a few pictures for you: first, above, we see the train at
Llandudno Junction heading for Holyhead on Christmas Eve. Picture by Simon
Pritchard.
Holyhead on the same day, with Mark Lloyd Davies in attendance
to record events. 47 805 has run round its train ready to form the
13:35 to Manchester (above)...
... and pulls up the gradient out of the port.
28 December, at Chester on arrival from Manchester. (Concrete Bob)
Also on 28 December, 47 805 works the erstwhile "Irish Mancunian"
into Rhyl. (Dave Sallery)
The next day, 29 December, the classic 'run over the bridge' picture
and the classic cloud of clag from 47 805 at Llandudno Junction (Ian
Bowland)
30 December, and 805 prepares to work the 07:27 Chester - Manchester.
Note the 'Freightliner' sticker applied by the loco's previous
operator. (Concrete Bob)
Later that same morning, an insider picture by Concrete Bob as
805 mingles with the Pendolinos in the sidings of Longsight depot where
the loco runs round and the train stables before working 10:03 to
Manchester. We understand that this loco-hauled diagram will also be
working on Saturdays. - 1 January