THE NORTH WALES COAST RAILWAY NOTICE
BOARD
Rheilffordd Arfordir Gogledd Cymru Bwrdd
hysbyseb
47 851 Traction Magazine at Bangor with an
inspection special, 9 August (Alan Crawshaw)
This site is dedicated to all our regular contributors and
supporters, and especially the rail staff of North Wales.
Last update 12 August 2005
Back at the
screen - and
a Cambrian steam train reminder
Well, here we are again following a very interesting few days spent on
the east coast of Yorkshire. The picture shows the 11:00 Northern Rail
/ North York Moors Railway service from Whitby to Glaisdale calling at
Grosmont on 9 August. (Special thanks to the train crew for stopping
the train with the brake van containing our bikes against the
platform.)
The locomotive is of course 76079, the same machine which will
be performing on the Cambrian Coast later this month. However the
arrangements for these workings are rather different from Arriva's
version in that tickets are sold on the platform and on the train, and
advance booking is not necessary or even possible. The trains are even
shown in the Esk Valley Line timetable leaflet. This does seem a better
way to appeal to passengers who might be on holiday in a seaside resort
than the telephone booking system and compulsory reservations for
the Cambrian trains. However, we believe bookings are going well enough.
Arriva Trains Wales now have a leaflet
available in PDF format which gives the days of operation, fares
and telephone number (01743 458130) for booking.
Monday, Wednesday and Thursday 22/24/25 August are: Depart Machynlleth
10:05, Arrive Porthmadog 12:00. Depart Porthmadog 15:50, Arrive
Machynlleth 18:00. The train also stops at Barmouth and Minffordd, and
tickets are £25. Unfortunately the first service train from
England does not arrive at Machynlleth until 10:45, but on Bank Holiday
Monday there will be a special connecting train from Shrewsbury,
departing at 07:44 (provisional time) and calling at Welshpool and
Newtown. The train will run to Barmouth (arr. 11:07), and then return
steam-hauled all the way from Barmouth (depart 14:55) calling at
Machynlleth, Newtown, Welshpool and Shrewsbury to Crewe, arriving
20:05. Fare is £50. On Sundays 21 and 28 August the train
will depart Aberystwyth at 11:40, Machynlleth 12:15 (reverse) 12:50,
Barmouth arr 14:05 dep 15:45, Machynlleth 17:00 (reverse) 17:40,
Aberystwyth arr 18:15. The fare for this one is £30. The leaflet
makes no mention of any fares for intermediate journeys, nor does it
suggest any arrangements for people from stations on the Cambrian Coast
line to use their tickets on service trains to meet the special,
although there are reduced fares for children. - 13 August.
Down the Coast by 37
- report by David White
According to the latest issue of Rail magazine, Arriva
Trains Wales are running a special train on 10/11
September from Cardiff to Crewe for the Works Open Day, pulled by
a Class 37. On Saturday it leaves Cardiff at 06:50 and
returns from Crewe 17:40 There is also a Sunday trip Cardiff 10:50am
and back from Crewe at 17:50.
On the Saturday only, ATW is using the stock to work an
09:53 Crewe - Blaenau Ffestiniog return special with
the 37. Special tickets must be pre booked at £40 for the the
trip from Crewe to Blaenau by calling 029 2072 0537. - 13 August
Friday doings
57 308 Tin Tin and 390 043 Virgin Explorer
at Bangor on Friday 12 August with the lunchtime arrival from London
right on time. Picture by Eifion Hughes.
This was followed just over an hour later by 20 306 + 20 308
plus one flask heading east towards Crewe. Picture by Eifion
Hughes.
- 13 August
Gardening notes - by
Alan Crawshaw
This is traditionally the "silly season" for news so here are some
suitable photos. Arriva have splashed out on hanging baskets at Bangor
station, and next to the entrance is a row of trees in pots - with the
Garden Hotel sign behind! It will be interesting to see if they escape
the thieves and the vandals, but it's a nice touch and I hope it
succeeds. - 13 August
On a more conventional note, here are 20 306/8 with the flask
train on 11 August.
Eisteddfod for
sale
Here's an interesting item from the EWS
website:
EWS has the following locomotive nameplates for sale (one of each):
* West Burton Power Station
* City of Chester
* Eisteddfod Genedlaethol
* Willesden Yard
* Bescot TMD (not including the 'quality assured'
plate)
Bids for any of the five locomotive nameplates above close at 10:00 AM
on Tuesday 23 August 2005, and should be e-mailed using the box on the
right of this
page. Postal bids should be sent to the Disposals Manager
Russell Coggle
Disposals Manager
EWS
Email: disposals@ews-railway.co.uk
Telephone: +44 (0)1332 265149
Fax: +44 (0)1332 265285
Eisteddfod Genedlaethol! 37 429 - the loco that
began and ended the era of 37/4 operation in North Wales! How many
readers of this site will be bidding? Those with deep pockets, maybe.
It would be interesting indeed to hear from whoever succeeds in
obtaining this remarkable collector's item. The locomotive itself still
exists, officially in 'stored' condition, and was last seen languishing
in a siding at Toton depot. As far as we know this is only the second
of the Coast 37/4s to have had its nameplate put up for sale, the other
being Cathays C & W works a couple of years back.Thanks to
'lazybugger' for alerting us to this story. - 13 August
Another loco-hauled
weekend
The weekend of 6-7 August saw Virgin Trains giving their business to
yet another locomotive hire company, as Cotswold Rail's 47 828 Joe
Strummer made its way to Holyhead with the afternoon train from
London on Saturday 6 August, pictured at Holyhead by Corrie.
A modeller's view of the loco in Holyhead sidings on Sunday 7 August
awaiting its next working. (Corrie)
The silver machine passes Bangor with 1A53 16:07 Holyhead - London. (Alan
Crawshaw)
The same train at Connah's Quay (Tim J. Rogers)
Arrived at Chester (Dave Bramley) This silver paint varies in
shade in pictures depending on the position of the sun.
... and departure (Dave Bramley). Joe Strummer, the leader
of Seventies 'punk' band The Clash, died of a suspected heart attack
aged 50 in December 2002. The following comes from the very interesting
'enthusiasts' section of the Cotswold Rail website:
'After a very interesting conversation on a very long train journey in
October it was suggested that we should honour the lead singer of the
Clash ... by naming one of our locomotives after him. It was our
intention to mark the 1st anniversary [of his death] with the naming;
however, due to the time restraints of fitting TPWS to our fleet, this
was postponed. But adamant to make this gesture, we decided to proceed
to name one of our locomotives in the early part of 2005."
Also on duty for the weekend was 57 304 Gordon Tracy,
with the other set of Mk 3 coaches featuring Driving Van Trailer 82126
proudly bearing its new name Wembley Traincare Centre. (Picture
by Corrie) Apparently, this vehicle ans 82127 were repainted
and refurbished by Wembley depot for use on the Silverlink London -
Northampton 'Cobbler' commuter trains, but these workings have now gone
over to Class 350 'Desiro' electric railcar sets. Gold-painted buffers
have become a trademark of the remaining DVTs of late, but it appears
that gold has now spread to nameplate backgrounds. Interestingly, the
picture taken by the Railway
People website to celebrate the naming in July 2005 shows black
backgrounds to the nameplate. Note also that the name is cast in
the BR 'transport alphabet' font and not in the Virgin style seen on
82101 above, perhaps because it was not intended to be used by Virgin.
Portrait of the train awaiting departure from Holyhead platform 1 (Eifion
Hughes)
The classic view from the bridge, by Eifion Hughes.
A close-up of the works plate fitted to the 'B side' of 57 304, showing
some of the parts carriage washing machines cannot reach! (Eifion
Hughes) - 13 August
More shipping views - by
John Eyres
Following the recent shot of the Hebridean Princess at
Caernarfon, and the note on her visit to the Manchester Ship Canal,
here are two views of her; firstly passing under the Runcorn – Widnes
Bridge ...
... and secondly at the cantilever bridge in Warrington. At least it is
something different to photograph! - 13 August
Welsh spelling query #2
We hesitate to return to the topic of Welsh language grammar and
spelling, since our recent discussion about the dodgy railtour
headboard resulted in people pointing out various errors in our
bilingual page headings, but let's look again at Larry Goddard's
picture showing the new Arriva-ised look at Llandudno station. Could it
possibly be that when following 'i' the word 'gorsaf' (station)
should be rendered as 'orsaf' because of the soft mutation? -
13 August