NORTH WALES COAST RAILWAY:NOTICE BOARD
Rheilffordd arfordir gogledd Cymru: Hysbysfwrdd
01 April 2019
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April 2019
Tuesday 2 April North Wales Railway Circle Gareth Haulfryn Williams, archivist and author, on 'Rails to/from Bethesda.'
Wednesday 3 April RCTS Liverpool "Manchester to Liverpool by CLC" Ken Grainger
Friday 5 April Clwyd Railway Circle "Scotland in the 1960s" The talk covers the whole of Scotland - going up the west side to Wick and Thurso and returning down the east side from/to Carlisle. John Cashen
Friday 12 April Altrincham Electric Railway Society Great Western and Southern Steam in the West Country. A colour slide presentation by Alf Storey.
Monday 15 April RCTS Chester "Steam on the North Wales Coast" (Video Presentation) Ron Watson Jones
May 2019
Saturday 4 May Steam on the Coast: Vintage Trains: Llandudno Victorian Extravaganza - Dorridge - Llandudno 7029: Dorridge - Wolverhampton - Llandudno and return
Saturday 4 May Steam on the Coast: A1 Steam Trust: 'The Ynys Mon Express' 60163: Leicester-Holyhead-Crewe
Tuesday 7 May North Wales Railway Circle AGM and Members' Photo. Competition.
June 2019
Tuesday 6 June Steam on the Coast: West Coast Railways: London Euston - Holyhead
Steam Crewe-Holyhead and return
July 2019
Sunday 21 July Steam on the Coast: West Coast Railways. Liverpool-Holyhead. 45690: Liverpool - Chester - Llandudno Jn - Holyhead - Chester
Tuesday 23 July: Steam on the Coast: West Coast Railways, Welsh Mountaineer: Liverpool-Holyhead Preston-Blaenau Ffestiniog 48151 or 45600: Preston-Manchester-Chester-Llandudno Jn-Blaenau and return
August 2019
Saturday 3 August Steam on the Coast: UK Railtours, 'The Irish Mail' London Euston - Holyhead
34046, 46100 or 70000 Crewe - Holyhead and return
On 26 March, 319 365 departs from Liverpool Lime Street with a Blackpool North service. On the right is Transport for Wales 150 235 on route-learning duties in respect of the new Halton Curve working between Chester and Liverpool from 18 May. Presently the route learning is between Liverpool and Frodsham Junction. Picture by Martin Evans.
Looking back - with Dave Sallery
On 29 June 1988 47 401 brings a train from London Euston to Holyhead through Prestatyn.
Not every train in the Class 37/4 haulage era featured a Class 37/4. On 24 June 1995 37 509 - a loco unable to generate heating for the passengers - is seen near Conwy. After two years of this operation there was still the odd coach still not in full Regional Railways livery.
Llandudno Junction on 11 July 1995, with 37 207 in engineers' 'Dutch' colours on a train of engineers' wagons.
13 September 1996: 37 417 Highland Region pilots 37 505 British Steel Workington past Mostyn Dock with the 17:18 Bangor - Crewe. The tanks in the siding carried acetic acid from BP chemicals in Hull for Warwick Chemicals in Mostyn (More information).
The first coach was one of those hired for the summer season from Riviera Trains to give extra capacity. That logo with a big T in a circle looks rather familiar...
The EWS era was in full swing on 22 October 1997 when 37 667 Meldon Quarry Centenary was seen in Chester station. The wagon behind the loco looks freshly painted, possibly at the nearby wagon repair works which closed the following year.
Steam in Cheshire
The 'Salopian' Express on 27 March was a West Coast Railways railtour from Barrow to Shrewsbury. Phil Clarke photographed the train near Crewe ...
... formed of 12 coaches and with diesel 37 518 attached to the rear of the train for operational purposes.
Diesel hauled from Barrow to Preston, picking up passengers from Ulverston, Grange over Sands, Carnforth, Lancaster, Preston where the LMS 2-8-0 Stanier 8F 48151 was attached, and then on to Wigan North Western and Warrington Bank Quay to Shrewsbury. Above, 48151 passes through Nantwich heading towards Wrenbury en route to Shrewsbury. Picture by Robert Meredith.
The return train passes Acton Bridge (Phil Clarke).
A Locomotive Services train on 30 March from Swansea to Sunderland, originally advertised as the 'Britannia Express' appeared on the day as 'The Brexit Express' - hauled by 4-6-2 70000 Britannia. Robert Darlaston was at Crewe with his camera.
Phil Clarke's picture shows it working hard through Chelford.
Stockport (Peter Cross). The owner of Locomotive Services, Jeremy Hosking, has been using his wealth to support the cause for some time; this train appears to have been an invitation-only trip to thanks supporters on what should have been our first day out of the EU.
Stockport (Peter Cross). The passengers had just a very short time to explore the delights of Sunderland; having arrived via Newcastle, the train departed for York via the coast route through Hartlepool just two minutes later.
The following day, Sunday 31 March, the train worked another private charter, from York to Bristol. Phil Clarke photographed it passing the loops at Chelford ...
... with D1924, now famed Crewe Diesel Depot, on the rear.
Goostrey (Robert Darlaston).
Liverpool Heritage
Find you way to the First Class Lounge upstairs at Liverpool Lime Street station and you will find in the adjacent 'customer lounge' some museum exhibits, including relics from the Lime Street signalbox, close in 2018.
The frame is of the 'miniature lever' type, interim between the old lever frames and the modern panels (and now computer screens).
A board explains its interesting history. (Thanks to Dave Sallery for finding this place.)
New livery 158s
One of the re-liveried Class 158s crosses the causeway south of Barmouth bridge on 26 March. The stripes in the concrete mark some work recently carried out by Network Rail. Can anyone explain the reason for this?
158 830 (unbranded, as in the image above) departs from Ruabon on 29 March with a Birmingham International - Holyhead service.
Miscellany
68 034 and 88 009 Diana bring FNA flask wagons 550048, 11 70 9229 008-1 and 550037 past Gronant towards Crewe. The new-style wagons are appearing more often recently as another batch has been delivered by wagon-builder WH Davis (Tim Rogers).
The New Measurement Train paid one if its regular visits to the Coast main line on 28 March. Seen leading the train passing Rhyl is 43 013, now named Mark Carne CBE (a ceremony was held at Paddington in July 2018) to honour the outgoing Network Rail Chief Executive. On the rear was 43 062 John Armitt (Tim Rogers).
TransPennine Express 185 118 pauses at Manchester Piccadilly on 26 March, forming a Cleethorpes - Manchester Airport via Sheffield service (Martin Evans). This is now the only route on which a reversal at Piccadilly is now necessary, as trains from the Leeds direction to the Airport run via Victoria and the Ordsall Chord. These units will be redundant when TPE's new stock finally enters service; there are suggestions that they may be re-gauged and sold to Ireland.
Goostrey restored - report by Robert Darlaston
Goostrey station, seen above with 66 744 on an intermodal service from Trafford Park,. Although the Crewe - Manchester line was completed throughout in 1842, Goostrey station was not opened until 1891. It is a typical LNWR timber building of that time, now quite rare. It was well maintained throughout the BR era until the station became unstaffed in 1994. Thereafter it was neglected and deteriorated badly.
Local pressure to have the building restored was unsuccessful until 2018 when the Heritage Railway Trust offered financial assistance, subject to further support by Network Rail and Northern. Works is now under way.
How it looked in 1994.
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