THE NORTH WALES COAST RAILWAY NOTICE
BOARD
Rheilffordd Arfordir Gogledd Cymru Bwrdd
hysbyseb
A clarification of the events of 3 April: After 37 197
and 47 847 arrived in Chester the 47 ran light to Crewe and
collected the second rake, the 37 stabled in the sidings behind
platform 7 and eventually returned to Carnforth on Monday. (Dave
Skipsey)
This site is dedicated to all our regular contributors and
supporters, and especially the rail staff of North Wales.
Edition of 14 April 2005
Large
logo 37/4!
37 425 (ex-Concrete Bob) has been turned out by EWS Toton
paint shop in a version of the original Class 37/4 large-logo blue
livery, but with its number in a rather inappropriate font. This
gesture
is to celebrate the last few months of passenger train working by
these locos in the Cardiff Valleys. We believe another loco will appear
in British Railways green , which - to be rather churlish - is a shame,
as not only is this a very drab scheme, it has never really been
associated with the 37/4 type apart from an earlier one-off version.
It's a shame that Regional Railways livery could not be used,
although this would be more relevant to North Wales than South
Wales,
admittedly. (The April issue of Rail Express magazine contains
a very interesting article on the locos which carried RR livery, as
well as a fascinating item by prominent North Wales modellers John
Humphries about fitting a digital sound unit to a Bachmann Class 37
model.)
It is also reported that 37 422 Cardiff Canton (ex-Robert
F. Fairlie) has been repaired (again) and will hopefully be back in
service soon. - 13 April
Last train to Rossett
Concrete Bob writes: ' I noted with interest the items you have
published on the football special from Wrexham, and the comment "was
this the biggest train to leave here in recent times" ... Dunno, but
here is a picture of the very last train to use Rossett station in July
1989, I think it was, when the platform was still in situ; a school
special was specially booked to set down here; the platform had been
cleared and a white line painted along the edge. The idea was to
publicise the possibility of reopening it, perhaps as a park and ride
station, but the residents nearby were having none of it, and the
platform was duly removed a few years later. The engine is 47 666.
- 13 April
Charter trains - on ... and off
Laurence Wheeler sends Details of the Hooton Charter for
photographers up early or about late: 1Z60 Hooton - Minehead. Hooton
(plat. 3) 06:39, Bache 06:52, Chester (plat. 4) 06:57, Crewe (plat. 12)
07:27. 1Z61 Minehead - Hooton. Crewe (plat. 12) 22:04, Chester (plat.
7) 22.52, Bache 23:00, Hooton (Plat.3) 23:17. Top-and-tailed 67 Hooton
- Crewe (& rtn.), single 67 onwards, with set CP05
(ex-Virgin) Just a few seats still left, phone 01244 678070.
Lancashire
Railtours' 37-hauled Conwy Valley excursion planned for 16
April was condemned to a very early start from Carnforth. The
organisers said: 'Due to unforeseen engineering works we have a very
early start from Carnforth. This has been imposed upon us by
Network Rail' Latest news is that 'following consultation with
customers' this train has now been postponed until 25 June. -
13 April
Meet the new Boss..
A 31 March press release from Arriva Trains Wales reads:
'Graeme
Bunker, formerly deputy managing director of Arriva Trains Wales, has
been promoted to managing director. This follows the
decision by Peter Strachan to leave the business to take up an
appointment with Network Rail. Peter Telford, managing director of the
Arriva Group’s UK Trains division, said: “Graeme has a wealth of
experience and will lead the business as it continues to deliver
improvements for our customers in Wales and the border counties,
working closely with the Welsh Assembly, industry partners and other
stakeholders.” Mr Strachan will take up his new duties with
Network Rail at the end of April and there will be a progressive
transfer of responsibilities from him to Mr Bunker to ensure a smooth
transition within the business.
'Graeme Bunker, 30, joined Arriva Trains Wales as customer operations
director and deputy managing director in January and is based in
Cardiff. He was previously the Strategic Rail Authority's (SRA)
director for the western region. Prior to this he was at Virgin
Trains and Railtrack.'
Here in the old gits' reading room the cry goes up: ' By jove, these
managing directors are getting younger.' - 13 April
Train-free day
As predicted, no Arriva Trains Wales trains ran in North Wales on
Sunday 10 April, as all drivers decided not to volunteer for work as
they are apparently entitled to on Sundays, although Arriva
dispute this, saying there is an agreement to staff Sunday trains. The
drivers are saying nothing in any public forum, even this one, but we
understand they feel that the arrangements for Sunday working are
inferior to those in force during the First North Western era. Virgin
Trains were not affected, and seem to have made an effort to provide
more seats.
Our pictures by Corrie show large numbers of trains cluttering
up Holyhead station, and here is a lineside report from Geoff Morris:
'The 13:14 from Holyhead was again formed of a pair of Voyagers, 221
108 & 221 105. This was packed leaving Chester (where
over 100 people were waiting for it). Goodness knows what they'd have
done if there had been only one unit. The surprise was the 16:07 from
Holyhead which was formed of 57 301 Scott Tracy plus 390
012. I don't know if this was a one-off or not as I have not
observed this service previously this year.
'I've no idea whether these larger trains were arranged specially
because of the Arriva strike or whether they will be a regular feature
from now on - since the Sunday timetable "changed" at the end of
March. If it's regular then daylight pictures of dragged
Pendolinos should be easy on this duty. Incidentally, the roads around
Chester station looked like a coach park with up to 10 (road) coaches
parked up awaiting their next journey.' - 13 April
Manchester - Cardiff football reliefs, 16-17 April
Football fans travelling from Manchester by train to the FA Cup
semi-finals at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium on Saturday 16 and Sunday
17 April will be able to take advantage of eight additional services
provided by Arriva Trains Wales.
All of the trains will have eight carriages, so we assume that they
will be loco-worked top-n-tail affairs. Tickets and reservations
must be purchased from Manchester or Stockport booking offices, in
person, in advance. Reservations are compulsory for both the outward
and return journeys.
Saturday 16 April
2005
Manchester Piccadilly depart
6.45am 7.07am
Stockport
arrive
6.55am 7.19am
Cardiff Central
arrive 10.09am
11.02am
Cardiff Central
depart
3.58pm 4.20pm
Stockport
arrive
7.17pm 7.46pm
Manchester Piccadilly arrive
7.31pm 8.00pm
Sunday 17 April 2005
Manchester Piccadilly
depart
7.00am 7.20am
Stockport
arrive
7.12am 7.32am
Cardiff Central
arrive 11.08am
11.43am
Cardiff Central
depart
5.30pm 6.30pm
Stockport
arrive
9.49pm 10.47pm
Manchester Piccadilly
arrive
9.58pm 10.56pm
(Arriva appears to believe that football fans cannot understand the
24-hour clock system.)Passengers should be aware that Cardiff Central
Station will be very busy after the match. Admittance to Cardiff
Central will be via a queuing system for safety purposes and no alcohol
will be permitted on the train. - 13 April
Cambrian Coast
developments (updated)
Network Rail are now estimating a further three weeks to repair the
damage to the Cambrian Coast line at Friog. However, the good
news is that a Class 158 train was carried by road from Chester on 10
April to implement a temporary service between Fairbourne and Pwllheli;
a vital traffic for on this line is schoolchildren travelling to school
at Harlech and Tywyn. A temporary
timetable has now been published on the National Rail website,
including the Barmouth - Caersws buses as well as the trains and the
Fairbourne - Tywyn bus link.
Here's a picture from Arriva Trains Wales showing the damage to the
embankment wall. - 13 April
Wot, no roof? 57 301 Scott Tracy stands in
platform 12 at Crewe about to be detached from 1R19, the morning train
from Holyhead on 11 April. The roof has now been cut back at both ends
of this platform. (Dave Bramley)
87s in action
Destined for Bosnia they may be, but Class 87s can still be found on a
few Wolverhampton - London trains, these two pictures taken at
Wolverhampton by Dave Bramley show. Above, 87 010
King Arthur.
In the evening sunshine, photographers cast shadows on 87 019
ACoRP looking rather unreal in its new LNWR blackberry black
livery. - 11 April
The Wrexham football
special : Report by George Jones
10 April was a Big Day for Wrexham with the footie team appearing at
Cardiff. One might have expected the railways to be able to respond to
the occasion, even if the direct route was closed. However, with one
train full there was no provision to supply a second or a third to take
up the potential for travel and demonstrate the ability of rail to move
large numbers of people.
So what happened on the day? The train was due off Wrexham at 08:40. At
08:27 with a large crowd assembled in the station forecourt there was
no sign of the empty stock. Word then arrived that the train would be
one hour late due to difficulty getting the stock out of Crewe (not for
the first time!). At 08:50 word came that the ecs was passing Beeston.
At 09:10 the crowd of ATW staff and the large presence of Police
started letting passengers into the station and across to platform 2.
Anyone carrying alcohol had their drinks confiscated.
At 09.20 the train could be heard approaching and 47 843
appeared hauling a mix of ex Inter City / ex VT stock with 47 805
on the tail. It ran through to stop beyond Watery Road crossing and
then came back to cross into platform 2. Even now not all the fans had
been allowed in the station so there was a further wait whilst the last
of them were processed and crossed to platform 2. Finally the train got
away for 09.37 to run via Chester and Crewe to Shrewsbury, thence
Cardiff with 47 805 in the lead. Was this the biggest train to start
from Wrexham - since when?
Here are some pictures by Darryl Thomas showing the progress of
the 'footex.' This is Pulford Level Crossing.
The view from the Road Bridge at Gresford.
And the train on its return to Chester in the evening. Darryl also sent
a WMV video of this train departing,
'edited to load 3' which you might enjoy. (1.4 MB) - 11 April
Pictures Galore!
The 'Irish Mail' special with 6233 passing Abergele, 9 April. . (Larry
Goddard)
Recent events have brought in oodles of pictures from our loyal
contributors: we have created two dedicated pages for you to visit as
follows:
Steam Special -
9 April
Arriva's
'Diesel Gala' - 3 April
We hope you enjoy the viewing.- 10 April
More Class 175 duties
Monday 4 April was the first day of class 175s being diagrammed onto
the Manchester - Cardiff services.
175 001 worked the 1334 Piccadilly - Cardiff (blank on the train
destination display) operated by a Crewe traincrew.
Another award for Helsby
- report by Frank Thomas
On Friday 1 April, Network Rail held a ceremony to unveil a plaque at
Helsby station that they were awarded recently as a result of them
rebuilding the signal box at Helsby station. The plaque was unveiled by
local MP Mike Hall and Graham Hughes who has retired after 30 years as
a local signalman.
Here are some pictures of the unveiling, the plaque and a view of the
signal box in its restored condition. The plaque can be seen in the
middle of the box below the windows. On the left can be seen the two
awards for winning the Cheshire Best Kept Station competitions in 2003
and 2004. The JPD award was for 2003 and the NatWest award was for 2004.
For much more information about the Helsby line, visit the website of
the North Cheshire
Rail Users Group which looks after the stations on the North
Cheshire line at Helsby, Frodsham and Runcorn East. - 9 April
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