18 July 2011
Last issue
Archive
RSS
Link to
this issue
Contributions
and
comments are encouraged: see the Contributions
Page
This site is dedicated to all our regular contributors and supporters,
and especially the rail staff of North Wales.
Forthcoming events
July 2011
Tuesday 26 July Conwy Valley Steam:
Railway Touring Company, 'The Welsh
Mountaineer' Preston - Blaenau Ffestiniog.
August 2011
Note: The Railway Touring Company tours in August can also be booked
together as
a
week's
package which also includes steam trips on the 'Cumbrian
Mountain Express' and 'The Cambrian'.
Sunday 7 August Steam on the Coast:
'The
North
Wales
Coast
Express'
Railway
Touring Company Liverpool and Chester to Colwyn Bay,
Llandudno, Bangor and Holyhead. Hauled throughout, by one of 6100
Royal Scot, 6201 Princess Elizabeth, or 60019
Bittern.
Tuesday 9 August Conwy Valley
Steam: Railway Touring Company,
'The Welsh Mountaineer' Preston - Blaenau Ffestiniog.
Sunday 14 August Steam on the Coast:
'The
North
Wales
Coast
Express'
Railway
Touring Company Liverpool and Chester to Colwyn Bay,
Llandudno, Bangor and Holyhead. Hauled throughout, by one of 6100
Royal Scot, 6201 Princess Elizabeth, or 60019
Bittern.
Sunday 14 August Excursion Compass Tours - Holyhead (dep. 07:30) to
Bath or Salisbury, 'Western Cathedrals Express'
Saturday 20 August Steam on the Coast:
Vintage Trains Tyseley -
Llandudno and
return with
5043.
Sunday 21 August Steam on the Coast:
'The
North
Wales
Coast
Express'
Railway
Touring Company Liverpool and Chester to Colwyn Bay,
Llandudno, Bangor and Holyhead. Hauled throughout, by one of 6100
Royal Scot, 6201 Princess Elizabeth, or 60019
Bittern.
Tuesday 23 August Conwy Valley Steam:
Railway Touring Company, 'The Welsh
Mountaineer' Preston - Blaenau Ffestiniog.
27, 28 & 29 August –August Bank Holiday Weekend Welsh Highland Heritage Railway,
Porthmadog – Fun Whatever The Weather!
'Who cares if it rains over the Bank Holiday? We’ve organised a
special fun weekend, including chance to win a prize if you find the
Welsh Dragons hiding in the Engine Sheds.'
See the Calendar page for more details and
later dates.
|
A recent view of 158 831 at
Morfa Mawddach, ex-Barmouth Junction. Compare the views below (Charlie Hulme). The Class 158
refurbishment programme is proceeding: 158 820 is the fourth to be
completed and the the next may be 158 841.
No 'hot news' from the weekend this
time as we are currently visiting the land of song and ERTMS.- Back to
normal with a catch-up next week.- Charlie
Halcyon Days on the Cambrian Coast
For those of us who were children in the 1950s, memories of the hard
conditions of life at that time tend to be eclipsed by fond nostalgia
for sunny seaside holidays, which for many people also meant long rides
behind steam traction. In those days, too, the people of the railway
had a much more open attitude to the public than the present
highly-regulated regime: necessary, of course, because of the faster,
quieter trains and the different general outlook on life and personal
responsibility that prevails
today.
We were delighted to receive these superb pictures from Tim Cutler, who writes: 'The
photographs were taken in the summers of 1957, 1958 and 1959 by
my father, Dr. W. O. Cutler (1914 - 2007). As a family, from the
Manchester area at that time, we used to holiday at a farmhouse just
outside Dyffryn Ardudwy on the Cambrian Coast, and a relative of the
farmer was the station master at Barmouth Junction, the station seen in
these pictures, south of Barmouth Bridge, where the line from Ruabon
(closed in 1965) joined the Cambrian Coast route (the station is now
reduced to a tiny unstaffed halt called Morfa Mawddach).
'This gentleman actually got my brother and myself on to the footplate
of a locomotive, and I can honestly say that I "pulled the lever"
and drove the loco over Barmouth Bridge. I have related that story to
many people over the years; I'm sure that they have thought I was
'telling fibs', but a couple of years ago my wife and I actually met up
with the daughter of the Station Master. When I told her of these
people's doubts, she was quite adamant that my story was true as she
was there at that time!'
The loco in the picture above, 7310,
is
one of the ex-Great Western Railway 2-6-0s which were regulars on
the line. Note the tarpaulin on the roof, held by springs to the cab
handrail: should it rain (yes, it sometimes did even in 1950s summers)
this could be pulled back and attached to the tender to provide some
protection for the crew.
Above, GWR 0-6-0 'Collett Goods' 2237
takes a train from the Machynlleth direction out on to Barmouth Bridge
in July 1958. The coach, M 7784 M, is a corridor vehicle built by the
LMS railway in the 1920s, although the Cambrian lines were part of the
Western Region until 1963.
The view from Barmouth across the viaduct, with the Cader Idris massif
on the skyline, is indistinguishable from the same scene over 50 years
later.
Looking at Barmouth Junction station from the path which runs across
the bridge. The gate, or a replica, is still in position today, but of
the station and its buildings, signals and tracks, only a single line
curving round to the
right and a part of the platform remains. (See the heading picture.)
There was a triangle of lines
here, but there was no platform on the direct link between the Ruabon
and Machynlleth routes.
Inside Barmouth Junction signalbox, a standard Great Western Railway
design which must have replaced one or more Cambrian Railways boxes at
some stage.
The red box with curved top to the left is the token instrument for
single line working.
Crossing the swing spans of Barmouth Bridge in the afternoon of a sunny
July 1957 day is the 'Cambrian Radio Cruise' hauled by BR standard
4-6-0 75033. The history of
the these 'Land Cruise' trains, which ran around various circular
routes
in the summer is complex, but we think this train would have started
from Llandudno and run via Rhyl, Corwen and Ruabon to Barmouth, where
the passengers had a break for sightseeing, before it returned north to
complete the circuit via Barmouth, Porthmadog and Afon Wen. The fare
for the circuit was just over £1. For much
more about this train and its working, visit our 21 June 2010 special issue.
Finally, a visit to the Vale of Rheidol Railway in October 1958, with
loco no. 8 Llywelyn looking good in full
British Railways lined green express livery.
The new line at Minffordd - report by Ken Robinson
A view of the recent re-aligning of the Cambrian Coast line at
Minffordd Quarry to allow for the new road, taken with permission from
a nearby farmer's field on 1 July. Seen in the picture, right to
left: New channel for the drainage ditch, on previously
agricultural land, by the orange machine; new railway alignment, with
an unidentified class 158 on the 12:56 Machynlleth to Pwllheli train -
previously ditch and agricultural land; new road (Porthmadog/Minffordd
by-pass) where the yellow machine is working, previously the railway.
Inner quarry road - in front of the trees at the far end - no change
there.
Blaenau to Caernarfon non-stop - by Bob Cable
This feature will appear in the book
WHR Renaissance: the Story of the Restoration of the Welsh Highland
Railway from Caernarfon to Porthmadog to be published as a
limited edition in April 2012. We include it here by kind permission of
the publisher, Adlestrop
Press.
The Ffestiniog Railway has long been well known for its ability to
field extraordinary galas and special events. With the completion of
the Welsh Highland Railway, a whole new raft of possibilities have
opened up, as witnessed by the glorious 'Snowdonian' in March 2011.
However the FR family has also been adept at quietly doing
the extraordinary with little or no publicity. Thus it was at the
'Spring Thing' event in 2011 that the eagle-eyed might have noticed a
‘NONSTOP’ run from Blaenau Ffestiniog to Caernarfon, inserted almost
apologetically on Sunday 1 May. This train would surely be notable
as the longest non-stop run ever achieved on a preserved railway in
Britain.
Perhaps because no one quite believed it could be done, or because it
had to be diesel-hauled (even the FR has yet to perfect 2ft gauge water
troughs), the train ran with little fanfare. So it was that FR
Funkey-built
diesel Vale of Ffestiniog
set off with seven carriages at
the unusually early hour of 08.40, 10 minutes late as it happened, for
what was
an unremarkable run to Blaenau.
However once at
Blaenau, the Vale and her
crew of two, Messrs Bob Cable
and David Davies, crept off round the corner, out
of sight, to ‘kiss’ the buffer stops (above). The Vale would truly
become the only engine to have covered the combined
railway every inch of the way!
Departure time was set at 10:05 and departure was
(almost) deliberately a little late at 10:08. Now, as those in the know
will appreciate, the FR, and now the WHR, are not well set up for non-stop
working, as train crews operate
all the token and staff arrangements except at Rhiw Goch
and Harbour station. A 'mobile' signalman in the person
of Mike Baker, who had ably co-ordinated the arrangements
for the train, would race (carefully by road) from station to
station wherever the train was not scheduled to cross another
or where there was no resident signalman.
Thus, six minutes after departure, the train inched through
Tanygrisiau, and off at a very gentle pace to allow the signalman
to get ahead of the
train. Indeed the order of
the day was for the drivers
to be patient and to
roll along gently. Giving in
to temptation and romping
though any sections
would lead to a wait in a
loop somewhere and ruin
the day.
Tan-y-Bwlch was passed
at 10:36, five minutes later
than the working timetable,
before continuing onward
through the woods to
Rhiw Goch (above - seen from the co-pilot's seat). Here the 'Express'
comfortably passed
the 10:15 from Porthmadog
to Blaenau behind the Earl of
Merionydd.
Onward past Penrhyn,
the train slipped passed
Minffordd, still 5 late, with the General Manager manning
the signalling arrangements. Swinging round Boston
Lodge curve the down home was seen to be clear but
the discs beyond, controlling the points to the WHR,
were firmly 'on' as they should be. After passing the
home, the signal could be returned to danger and the
points set for the WHR, so the train edged forward
gently towards Porthmadog. When the WHR Points
disc signal cleared, the engine swung on to the WHR, passing Harbour
station 58 minutes after leaving Blaenau.
Exchanging the token for the Pont Croesor 'staff', the
ensemble rumbled at the prescribed 5mph over Britannia
Bridge, round the back of Wilkinsons, over Snowdon Street,
and finally we clattered over the Cambrian Coast line at Cae
Pawb. The Welsh Highland Heritage Railway were in fine
form, with no less than three engines saluting the train with
a chorus of whistling and waving, responded to with much
blowing of the Vale's horn,
and waving in return. Who says
there is any animosity between the two organisations?
Due to an anomaly in the working timetable the train was
now two minutes early, so progress was pedestrian to spill a
little time. Mike Baker appeared for the third time at Pont
Croesor, activating the crossing with the staff before exchanging
it with the loco crew.
From here we have to admit
that there was a little cheating going on, or at least those
involved were making use of technology that was unavailable
to our forebears. A mobile call from Control warned the
crew that the 10:00 from Caernarfon was running a bit late
and that an arrival at Beddgelert at 11:42 was needed to guarantee
a non-stop transit. A splendid dawdle ensued, hardly
a hardship on a wonderful sunny day with the mountains of
Snowdonia filling the windows ahead of the train. Having
given the passengers plenty of time to enjoy the delights of
the Aberglaslyn Pass, the train nosed rather tentatively into
Beddgelert. With no mobile signal hereabouts were we still
too early? There were lots of people on the platform but
was No. 87 round the corner out of sight? Happily the 10.00
from Caernarfon was comfortably in the platform, and the
special could surge away up into Beddgelert Forest, with this
potential obstacle behind it.
The next excitement was whether or not the Vale would
overheat on the 1 in 40 climb. Due for a new radiator last winter,
an unfulfilled ambition, the engine had given trouble though
much of 2010 with overheating, although in fairness this was
often when double-heading with the small Beyer-Garratt K1. This loco
did not
have a good year in 2010 either, and the practice of pushing
a sulking K1 in front, as well as hauling nine carriages, became
known amongst some diesel drivers as 'pushing the pram' up
the hill! No wonder the Vale
was often nearly on the boil.
Careful handling however got us to the top of the hill this
time, with the temperature gauge just hovering at the 100
degrees mark.
Our mobile signalman offered appropriate
token exchanges, to see the train past Rhyd Ddu, and Waunfawr
for the fifth and final time. Still, the train was forced to
amble, with the prospect in mind of crossing the 12:30 from
Caernarfon at Dinas. Suddenly, just before Tryfan Junction,
a call from Control confirmed that the Up train was safely
in the loop at Dinas.
The Vale was able to surge
away with
her train.
The 'Express' now rattled down the bank, past Plas Bodaden,
exchanged staffs with the crew of the waiting 138 at
Dinas, and had a burst of line speed running down the bank
into Caernarfon. Clattering out from under St Helen's Road
Bridge as Caernarfon Castle hove into sight the train, now
checked to the required 5mph, drew to a stand in
Caernarfon Station (above), exactly on schedule at 13.00.
With just a tad under 40 miles under its belt, the Non-stop
Special had indeed done it non-stop in a time of 2 hours and
52 minutes.
After a few photos for the record, the crew drew the Vale
forward to 'kiss' the stops at Caernarfon. Every inch of the
railway had been covered.
In the same time we might have gone from Paddington to
Port Talbot or Euston nearly to Penrith, but we wouldn’t
have had so much fun. Was it the longest non-stop run, in
terms of time that is, anywhere on Britain’s railways that day
or month or even year? The FR and WHR can be proud to
have set a time and distance record for any non-stop run on
a preserved railway.
Who will beat it?
Changes at Wrexham - Report by George Jones
Work is now under way at Wrexham General station for the provision of
the new disabled access to platform 4 (the Bidston Line -
formerly Wrexham Exchange) seen to the right of the picture. The
contractors, Osborne, have now closed the footbridge extension to
platform 4 from platform 2/3 overbridge, and access is directed via the
road bridge and ramp, as seen in the picture taken on 11 July.
Passengers southbound from Bidston wishing to connect for the
southbound train might wish to know about this, as these connections
can be tight - arrive xx.28 and depart xx.38 on most trains. Northbound
connections are more generous for those coming from the south.
The diggings reveal evidence of previous structures from the days when
there were two separate stations - one controlled by the Great Western
Railway and the other by the Great Central (later the LNER.) Older
Wrexham inhabitants still refer to the Bidston line as the GC (or maybe
North Eastern) although the habit is dying out.
The final form of the new facility will be of interest justifying the
£1m price tag which has been quoted. (or was it £1.4m?) At
least a great deal of overgrown vegetation has been cleared - note the
clip-on safety fencing joined to the line in platform 3 which is now
required for this kind of work alongside running lines.
Llanbadarn Level Crossing
The automatic half-barrier level crossing on the Cambrian main line at
Llanbadarn, just outside Aberystwyth, adjacent to another one which is
on the Vale of Rheidol narrow-gauge line, has had its problems in the
past, and here it is again in a recent Railway Accident Investigation
Board preliminary report:
The RAIB is carrying out an
investigation into an incident which occurred at the level crossing at
Llanbadarn, near Aberystwyth, Dyfed, on the railway between Aberystwyth
and Machynlleth, on Sunday 19 June 2011.
At 21:52 hrs on 19 June, the late-running 21:30 hrs Aberystwyth to
Machynlleth train passed over the crossing while the barriers were
raised, and came to a stop with the front of the train about 40 metres
beyond the crossing. There were no road vehicles or pedestrians on the
crossing at the time.
Llanbadarn level crossing, which is on the A4120 Heol y Bont, is an
automatic half-barrier crossing, whose operation is monitored locally
(ABCL). For trains travelling from Aberystwyth towards Machynlleth,
operation of the crossing is normally initiated by the driver pressing
a plunger on the platform at Aberystwyth station shortly before the
train is due to depart. There is a driver’s crossing indicator,
positioned a short distance on the approach side of the crossing, which
normally displays a flashing red light. This changes to a flashing
white light when the crossing equipment has operated normally, i.e. the
red road traffic signals are showing and the barriers have lowered.
Passenger trains are permitted to pass over the crossing at 65 km/h (40
mph).
This section of the national rail network is equipped with the European
Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS), which was commissioned in March
2011, and replaced the previous signalling system on the Cambrian lines
between Shrewsbury, Aberystwyth and Pwllheli. The status of automatic
level crossings is not indicated on the driver’s cab display.
The RAIB’s preliminary examination has found that the operation of the
crossing had been initiated at Aberystwyth by the train driver, but
that by the time the train reached it the crossing had ‘'timed out' and
re-opened to road traffic.
The investigation will examine the sequence of events leading up to the
incident, the risk associated with the level crossing, the history of
previous incidents involving train driver error at this location, and
the factors that influenced the behaviour of the driver on the approach
to the crossing.
The last
mishap, in 2008 involved a train (158 831) heading towards
Aberystwyth, and a 'near miss' - the train stopping 2 metres short of a
road tanker which was crossing. The report on that incident said that
'Since 2001 there have been three previous occasions recorded when a
train ran through Llanbadarn level crossing in an uncontrolled manner
when the barriers were not lowered, on 17 August 2001, 8 November 2005,
and 24 April 2007. None resulted in any collision with a road vehicle,
or any injury or damage. The 2005 incident involved an up train, and
the other two down trains.'
Mostyn Dock visitor - report by Dave Sallery
M.V. Clipper Pace, normally
used on the Seatruck service from Liverpool to Dublin, paid a visit to
Mostyn on 3 July and departed on the 4th; the ro-ro ship is seen here
at Talacre. It is understood this vessel will be used in the
future to bring in wind turbine parts.
North
Wales Coast home page Archive Previous Noticeboard
|