19 March 2012
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This site is dedicated to all our regular contributors and supporters,
and especially the rail staff of North Wales.
Forthcoming events
March
2012
Wednesday 21 March Excursion Compass
Tours
'Cumbrian Mountains & Fells Explorer' Codsall, Telford Central,
Wellington, Shrewsbury, Gobowen, Wrexham General, Chester &
Frodsham to Carlisle via the Settle & Carlisle Line outwards and
returning via the Cumbrian Coast Rail route.
Wednesday 28 March Excursion Compass
Tours
'Welsh Mountaineer': Huddersfield, Brighouse, Sowerby Bridge, Hebden
Bridge, Todmorden, Rochdale, Denton, Stockport, Wilmslow & Crewe to
Cardiff Via the Heart of Wales route.
Thursday 29 March Merseyside Railway
History Group AGM Members Slides
Saturday 31 March Llangollen
Railway Diesel Day
April
2012
Friday 6 April Clwyd Railway
Circle change of date and speaker for this month
only: see 13 April, below.
Tuesday 10 April 8E Railway
Association Stephen Gay presents Walking The Line -
Discovering Lost Railways
Thursday 12 April Llandudno
and
Conwy
Valley Railway Society Clive Myers "The Llandudno &
Colwyn Bay Electric Railway"
Friday 13 April Clwyd
Railway
Circle new date. Geoff Coward will
be showing Black and White slides mainly of steam from 1905 to 1950.
Friday 13 April Altrincham
Electric Railway Preservation Society North West Film Archive
Evening featuring historic footage of buses, aircraft, trains and trams
across the North West
Saturday 14 April Excursion Cheshire
Cat
Tours Aberystwyth, Borth, Machynlleth, Newtown,
Welshpool, Shrewsbury, Whitchurch and Crewe to Carlisle. Outwards
via Shap, Return via Settle to Carlisle Line.
Saturday 14 April Steam to Chester Steam
Dreams 'The Cathedrals Express' London - Chester
Monday 16 April RCTS Chester
Branch
AGM
(Members
only)
Wednesday 18 April Excursion Compass
Tours
'The Roses Express'
Hooton, Chester, Delamere, Northwich, Knutsford, Altrincham, Stockport
& Denton to York. Scheduled for haulage by a Steam Locomotive
from Preston.
Saturday 21 April Excursion Chester
Model Railway Club
Shrewsbury , Gobowen, Wrexham, Bache, Hooton and Frodsham to Edinburgh
Waverley. 2 x Class 67s (top & tail) Tickets available in first and
standard class. Includes Chester avoiding line and Hooton - Helsby
through running as rare track.
21 - 29 April Llangollen Railway / Betton Grange Society Steel, Steam &
Stars III Gala 'featuring up to 12 main line steam locos including
6 guests.'
Thursday 26 April Merseyside Railway
History Group Geoff Coward: Quiz and informal
evening
May 2012
Sat - Mon 5-7 May Llandudno
Transport Festival. (No specific rail content this year but worth a
visit, especially if interested in buses)
Saturday 5 May Excursion Mid-Cheshire
Rail
Users' Association. The Lincolnshire Poacher Railtour to Lincoln,
Wainfleet and Skegness from most Mid-Cheshire Line stations. Further
Details at: www.mcrua.org.uk
Saturday 5 May Steam to North Wales Vintage
Trains 'Llandudno Victorian Fayre' Tyseley - Llandudno
Saturday 5 May Excursion to North Wales Statesman
Rail
'Llandudno Victorian Extravaganza' Departing from: Swindon
(06.50/21.55)
Kemble (07.05/21.30) Stroud (07.25/21.15) Stonehouse (07.35/21.05)
Cheltenham Spa (08.00/20.40) Worcester Shrub Hill (08.25/20.15)
Droitwich Spa (08.35/20.05) Kidderminster (08.55/19.50) Stourbridge Jct
(09.10/19.30) Tame Bridge Parkway (10.00/18.30) to Llandudno Junction
and Llandudno.
Saturday 5 May Excursion to North Wales NENTA
train
tours
'North Wales Extravaganza' from Norwich, Ipswich & East Anglian
stations to Chester and Llandudno Junction (coach transfer to
Llandudno).
Sat - Mon 5 -7 May Ffestiniog
Railway 'Blaenau 30' - celebrating the 30th anniversary of the
re-opening to Blaenau Ffestiniog.
Sat / Sun 5 - 6 May Welsh
Highland Heritage Railway 'Elements Gala'
Tuesday 8 May 8E Railway Association
Les
Nixon
presents
The
A
to
Z
of
Railways
Around
the
World
Thursday 10 May Llandudno
and
Conwy
Valley Railway Society "End of Indoor Season Special"
Saturday 19 May Steam in North Wales PMR Tours 'The Welsh Dragon' Bristol to
Holyhead
Friday 25 May Excursion to North Wales Compass
Tours 'Snowdon Mountaineer' Carnforth, Morecambe, Lancaster,
Preston, Wigan North Western, Garswood, St Helens Central, Liverpool
Lime Street, Liverpool South Parkway & Runcorn to Betws-Y-Coed
& Blaenau Ffestiniog.
Friday 25 May Excursion to North Wales UK Railtours
'The Snowdonian' London, Milton Keynes and Rugby to to both Llandudno
Junction and Bangor. From Llandudno Junction coaches for the scenic
trip up the Conwy Valley to Blaenau where the greatest narrow gauge
journey of all begins, right the way through via Porthmadog to
Caernarfon, where coaches will be waiting for the short hop to Bangor
where our main line train is rejoined. Half the passengers will do the
'circuit' in the opposite direction.
Saturday 26 May Excursion Cheshire
Cat
Tours Holyhead, Bangor, Llandudno Junction,Colwyn Bay, Rhyl,
Prestatyn, Flint, Chester and Warrington to Carlisle. Outwards via the
Settle to Carlisle line, Return via the Cumbrian Coast Line
June 2012
Sat / Sun 2 - 3 June Welsh
Highland Heritage Railway 'Family Fun Weekend'
Friday 8 June Excursion Compass
Tours
'Dorset
Coast Express' Holyhead, Llanfairpwll, Bangor, Llandudno
Junction, Colwyn Bay, Rhyl, Flint, Chester & Crewe to Brockenhurst,
Bournemouth or Weymouth.
Sat / Sun 9 - 10 June Welsh
Highland Heritage Railway 'Teddy Bear weekend. 'Children go FREE if
they bring a teddy bear. Find the bears hiding in the Engine
Sheds and win a prize.'
Saturday 16 June Excursion to North Wales Scottish Railway
Preservation Society From Glenrothes
with Thornton, Kirkcaldy, Dalgety Bay,
Edinburgh Waverley, Kirknewton over Beattock and Shap summits
to Chester and
Llandudno. (diesel-hauled)
Saturday 16 June Excursion Cheshire
Cat
Tours Whitchurch, Wem, Shrewbury, Wellington, Telford Central,
Codsall, Wolverhampton, Tame Bridge Parkway, Birmingham International
to Canterbury.
Sat / Sun 23 - 24 June Llangollen
Railway Heritage Railcar Gala
Sat / Sun 23 - 24 June Welsh
Highland Heritage Railway Slate industrial exhibition
Saturday 30 June Excursion to North Wales Compass Tours 'Snowdon Mountain
Ranger'
Skipton, Keighley, Shipley, Wakefield Kirkgate, Huddersfield, Denton,
Stockport, Altrincham & Knutsford to Betws-Y-Coed & Blaenau
Ffestiniog
July 2012
Saturday 7 July Excursion to North Wales UK Railtours
'Chester and the Pennines' Stevenage, Potters Bar, Finsbury Park to
Chester (break) and then through Wigan, Blackburn and Accrington
to
Copy Pit Summit, Hebden Bridge and Mytholmroyd before descending to
Wakefield and finally joining the East Coast Main Line to head homeward.
Sunday 22 July Steam in North Wales Railway
Touring
Company 'North Wales Coast Express' Crewe, Wilmslow,
Stockport, Manchester Piccadilly, Frodsham and Chester to
Llandudno, Llandudno Junction, Bangor and Holyhead (arr 15:10 dep
17:45).
Sat / Sun 28 - 29 July Llangollen
Railway 1960s weekend
Sunday 29 July Steam in North Wales Railway
Touring
Company
'North Wales Coast Express' Liverpool Lime Street, Broad Green,
Warrington Bank Quay, Frodsham and Chester to Llandudno,
Llandudno Junction,
Bangor and Holyhead (arr 14:30 dep 16:30).
Tuesday 31 July Steam in North Wales Railway
Touring
Company 'The Welsh Mountaineer' Preston, Warrington
Frodsham, Chester to Llandudno Junction and Blaenau Ffestiniog (arr.
13:15 dep 16:10)
[Note: again this summer there will be no steam trains on the Cambrian
Coast
line due to the rail industry's continuing inability to adapt
the new ERTMS signalling for use with a steam locomotive.]
August 2012
Sunday 5 August Steam in North Wales Railway
Touring
Company
'North Wales Coast Express' Crewe, Wilmslow, Stockport, Manchester
Piccadilly, Frodsham and Chester to Llandudno, Llandudno
Junction,
Bangor and Holyhead (arr 15:10 dep 17:45).
Sunday 12 August Steam in North Wales Railway
Touring
Company
'North Wales Coast Express' Crewe, Wilmslow, Stockport, Manchester
Piccadilly, Frodsham and Chester to Llandudno, Llandudno
Junction,
Bangor and Holyhead (arr 15:10 dep 17:45).
Tuesday 14 August Steam in North Wales Railway Touring Company
'The Welsh Mountaineer' Preston, Warrington Frodsham, Chester to
Llandudno Junction and Blaenau Ffestiniog (arr. 13:15 dep 16:10)
Saturday 18 August Steam in North Wales Vintage
Trains 'The Welsh Dragon' Tyseley - Blaenau Ffestiniog (Steam loco
5043 as far as Llandudno Junction; Class 47 diesel to Blaenau)
Sunday 19 August Steam in North Wales Railway
Touring
Company
'North Wales Coast Express' Liverpool Lime Street, Broad Green,
Warrington Bank Quay, Frodsham and Chester to Llandudno,
Llandudno
Junction,
Bangor and Holyhead (arr 14:30 dep 16:30).
Sat / Sun 25 - 26 August Llangollen
Railway Classic Transport weekend
Sunday 26 August Steam in North Wales Railway
Touring
Company
'North Wales Coast Express' Liverpool Lime Street, Broad Green,
Warrington Bank Quay, Frodsham and Chester to Llandudno,
Llandudno
Junction,
Bangor and Holyhead (arr 14:30 dep 16:30).
Tuesday 28 August Steam in North Wales Railway
Touring
Company
'The Welsh Mountaineer' Preston, Warrington Frodsham, Chester to
Llandudno Junction and Blaenau Ffestiniog (arr. 13:15 dep 16:10)
Saturday 31 August - 2 September Llangollen
Railway Autumn Steam Gala
September
2012
Sun / Mon 1 - 2 September Llangollen
Railway Autumn Steam Gala (continued)
Saturday 15 September Excursion Cheshire Cat Tours Holyhead,
Bangor,
Llandudno
Junction,
Colwyn
Bay,
Rhyl, Prestatyn, Flint,
Shotton, Chester and Frodsham to Edinburgh.
Saturday 22 September Llangollen
Railway Diesel Day
October
2012
Saturday 20 October Excursion Cheshire Cat Tours
Aberystwyth , Borth, Machynlleth, Newtown, Welshpool, and
Shrewsbury to Bath and Salisbury.
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47 832 and 47 790 top-and-tail the 'Northern
Belle' over Cefn Viaduct near Ruabon. The train was returning from
Shrewsbury to Liverpool Lime Street in the early evening of Sunday 18
March (Ian Pilkington).
This week we have
some interesting historical items in the mix. Thanks for those, and
also thanks to everyone who sent added items for the Forthcoming Events
column, which has now been updated. - Charlie
Class 67 for Arriva service - planned date (updated 20 March)
The Arriva Trains Wales Holyhead - Cardiff 'rugby special' ran
again on Sunday 17 March, photographed by Stavros Lainas at Hargrave
heading for Cardiff. 57 313 leads, with 57 316 on the
rear.
Update: contrary to eariler
information, we are now being told that Class 67 working on the Cardiff
express will begin on Monday 26 March, with the southbound train being
the last to see Class 57/3 traction.
The 57/3s have been sub-leased from Virgin Trains, whereas the 67s are
from freight company DB Schenker, which like Arriva Trains Wales is
owned by the German State Railway. 67 001 - 003 have now been painted
in Arriva blue, as seen above on 67 001 while on driver
training duty on 7 March. Initially, the 67s may work in traditional
haulage mode, with the Driving Van Trailers for push-pull working
coming into service later.
57 313 also took last week's special, seen above near
Mostyn on 10 March (Tim Rogers)
Rhyl 1966 - by Dave Marks
The last Notice Board featured a Class 40 at
Bangor. My picture (above) shows a pair of Class 40s taken on August
Bank Holiday Monday 1966 on the Down Through road at Rhyl station. From
the headcode it is a class 1 train, probably to Holyhead. I
assumed at the time that it was a relief to the 'Irish Mail', but I
never checked it out. Maybe some of our readers will be able to
identify it. I estimate the time of the two 40s passing would have been
between 10:30 - 11:30 as I had to make my way back to the Wirral for
late turn in Bromborough signal box.
I had just alighted from a Bank holiday special from Birkenhead to
Llandudno, hauled by a 'Crab' 2-6-0 42942 (above). The Crab had
been specially cleaned by a group of enthusiasts the previous day at
Birkenhead and was used on a number of specials at the time, as well as
Birkenhead London Woodside - Paddington trains as far as Chester.
[Quick reminder of the Class 40 Preservation
Society's appeal for funds.]
Lein Llangefni?
It was in 2009 that the Welsh Assembly Government asked Network Rail to
make a feasibility study regarding the re-opening to passenger traffic
of part the disused Amlwch Branch from the junction at Gaerwen as far
as Llangefni, the county town of Anglesey. As part of this study,
contractors cleared vegetation from the route, which still has track in
place, having been last used by freight trains to the now-closed Octel
plant at Amlwch in 1993.
The Government apparently prefers to keep the results of these studies
to itself, but following a Freedom of Information Request the report,
along with other rail feasibility studies, was released to the press.
The Llangefni report is summarised in the
March issue of Modern Railways
magazine. We searched for the full report on the Welsh Government
website with no luck ... but thanks to Eryl Crump of the Daily Post, a good friend of this
site, we can tell you that, the 98-page report can in fact be found
on
the Government site.
Network Rail have estimated the cost of re-instating the 4½
miles from Gaerwen to Llangefni at £25.1 million, including a new
junction and crossover at Gaerwen and associated signalling, the
previous junction having been removed a few years ago and replaced by
plain track. This seems an enormous sum, especially as the building and
car park Llangefni station, the only one proposed for re-opening, and
already owned by Anglesey Council. Network Rail say that this large sum
is a 'preliminary' figure; one imagines it will probably be large
enough to prevent the project going ahead. The report does say that a
35% 'risk percentage' is included in the figure, but even so, railway
things do seem to cost a lot of money these days.
The idea, it seems is to run an hourly local stopping service between
Llandudno Junction and Llangefni, calling at Conwy, Penmaenmawr,
Llanfairfechan, Bangor and Llanfair PG, supposedly allowing the
Holyhead services to omit calls at the smaller stations. Whether the
residents of those places, and visitors them, would welcome such an
idea, is open to debate.
Meanwhile, the group which aims to open the line to Amlwch as a tourist
railway still exists: in 2011 it was granted access to the track to
clear vegetation and make surveys. Sustrans, developers of the National
Cycle Network, would like to see it made into a cycleway, which may
possibly be able to co-exist with a railway ... maybe one day something
will result from all the effort that many people have put in to find a
use for the line.
Times and Headcodes
Every individual train service that runs on Network Rail is allocated a
four-character 'headcode' - so-called because at one time the code was
often displayed on the front of the train. (The Southern Region had
their own type of display.) The codes are used to identify trains in
the railway's 'working timetable' but are not normally shown in
documents for passengers, or on most websites.
However, the Railway has recently made access to some of its data
available to people wishing to create their own we interfaces, and some
technically-minded railfans have taken up the challenge, including Tom
Cairns whose site at www.traintimes.im
is shown above. Specify a station and a time period and
passenger train arrivals and departures will be listed. (At present, a
site such as this does not offer real-time train running information,
although this may be possible in the future.) Click on the headcode and
you'll see the full itinerary for that train. By choosing 'advanced' it
is also possible to search for details of a train if you know the
headcode.
Note, however, that headcodes are not unique, even within an area. All
the driver's diagram sheets on Arriva now show three numbers: (1) Train
Headcode and driver's number for for the 'black box' data recorder, (2)
A unique number for the Passenger Information System, and (3) An
unique number for every train that operates on the new GSM-R radio
system being introduced across the network, or on the Cambrian ERTMS.
Heart of Wales by Club 55 - with Stephen Hughes
Having never travelled on the 'Heart of Wales' (HoW) line before, or
indeed ever west of Cardiff by rail, I was determined that I would
remedy that this year, and therefore. utilising the cheap fare offered
to people over 55 years old by Arriva's 'Club 55' offer I set out from
Bangor on Monday 12 March aboard the 06:02 express to Cardiff. It was
easily possible to undertake a circular tour via the HoW either
northbound or southbound, I elected to travel northbound, as I
particularly enjoy the WAG express and still have some sort of perverse
enjoyment in alighting at Cardiff and then not having to go to a
meeting in Cathays Park!
I thought that the train seemed well loaded, and arrival in Cardiff was
a minute early. The train, hauled by 57 313, included two extra
coaches locked out of use. following the 'Ruggex' the previous Saturday
...
... and 57 315 dead on the rear. I had time in Cardiff for a
coffee before catching the 10:40 service to Swansea (a Manchester -
Carmarthen train, 2-car 175). Alighting at a very gloomy Swansea, I was
not impressed with the city centre, so a quick lunch and a pint of Tomos Watkin and then back to
the station for the 13:14 service to Shrewsbury, a single car 153
already waiting in platform 1. Never having knowingly travelled in a
153 I was keen (well, not too keen) to see what they were like on a
four hour journey.
My first surprise was that the 153 was already comfortably full, and I
wondered how far this state of affairs would last along the line. My
fellow
passengers seemed to be a rather disparate group, there were young
locals, a few young families, some 'tourists' heading for Llanwrtyd
Wells and the inevitable 'rucksacks' who slept for most of the journey.
I think that I was the only person along for the ride.
After the reversal at Llanelli, the sun came out and as we travelled
north
it became a glorious early spring day, and my misgivings felt in Swansea
about choosing the wrong day to travel soon disappeared. I wasn't
disappointed either, with some stunning scenery, and generally felt
that the HoW line was everything that it was cracked up to be.
Most passengers left at Llandeilo, Llandovery and Llanwrtyd - all pretty
stations - I can recall only one exiting at a request stop. After
Llanwrtyd, less than a dozen remained.
At Llandrindod (Llan'dod), one of the five crossing places on the line,
our train arrived a couple of minutes before the 14:04 ex Shrewsbury, I
was able to alight and stretch my legs, here also the crews swapped.
Upon departure from Llan'dod, the wonderful scenery continued and I
caught a glimpse of the sweep of Knucklas viaduct probably a couple of
miles before we reached it - an impressive sight. Before long we joined
the Marches route at Craven Arms and arrived at Shrewsbury a couple of
minutes early. The 153 was tolerable enough for such a long journey but
of course I had plenty to see, however it would have been good to have
had an open window!
I decided to spend an hour in Shrewsbury (a much better centre than
Swansea, in my opinion) to wait for the northbound Premier service which
arrived, well loaded and on time (above), behind 57 315 - we
were a few minutes ahead of time as we approached Crewe but were held
at signals which led to a late departure. A pleasant run then ensued
arriving at Bangor about ''right time.'
A good day out and a very impressive scenic route in such glorious
weather. Given the nature of today's service it was hard to imagine
that this was once a busy through route from the north-west of England
to South Wales, and with only (it seems) a handful of excursion trains
a year the tourist potential of the line isn't really exploited enough.
The Club 55 Offer
runs until 28 March.
Bersham 1987 - by Robert Meredith
Following the recent photographs from Mark Riley of the current scene
at the former Bersham Colliery sidings, these pictures show what is
believed to be the last 'Merry-Go-Round' train leaving the colliery
with 47 320 on 10 January 1987 for Ironbridge Power Station.
Cardiff to Rhyl 37s - pictures by Dave Sallery
The use of Class 37/4 locos on the North Wales main line from 1993 -
2000 became famous, and indeed led to the foundation of this website,
but some years earlier, in 1989, for a short period there was a daily
Class 37/4 to be seen on a Cardiff - Rhyl and return working. Above, on
4 May 1989 Cardiff-allocated 37 427 Bont Y Bermo
is seen near Prestatyn. This diagram was intended for one of the the
then-new Class 155 railcar sets, but after incidents in which the doors
of those trains opened while the train was moving, they were all
withdrawn for modifications and 37/4s were brought in to take over
these and the Manchester - Cardiff trains.
Some former Scottish 37/4s were also pressed into service. Above, seen
at Prestatyn Frith on 6 May, is 37 422 complete with 'Westie
Dog' symbol of Eastfield depot, Glasgow. un-named at that time, this
machine later became Robert F. Fairlie under Regional Railways
and a regular North Wales performer.
12 May, and 37 431 Sir Powys / County of Powys. Later
that year the 155s re-appeared, and the 37/4s returned to their more
normal work such as the through trains to the Cambrian line from
London. Later still, most of two-car 155s were split into single
coaches, and altered to become the 153s we know and love(?) today.
Conwy Valley engineering - pictures by Peter Lloyd
On the night of 14 March a ballast train ran on the Blaenau Ffestiniog
line. The train was 6L94 with 66 002 (above), 66 109 on
the rear and 10 'autoballaster' hopper wagons. The train is seen after
arrival at Llandudno platform 4 at 21:35; it and went on the branch at
22:15.
The procedure was repeated the next night, this time as 6L96 with 66
206, 66 185 (pictured, at 22:30) and again 10
autoballasters.
Virgin views
Now-nameless 57 304 appeared again on the Saturday Pendolino working to
Holyhead on 17 March, as these pictures by Darren Durrant
illustrate.
For a Video version, visit Darren's
YouTube channel.
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