NORTH WALES COAST RAILWAY:NOTICE BOARD

Rheilffordd arfordir gogledd Cymru: Hysbysfwrdd


07 May 2012

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Forthcoming events

May 2012

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 Cancelled

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

Sat / Sun 4 - 5 August Talyllyn Railway Tom Rolt Steam & Vehicle Rally

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. Cancelled.

Saturday 15 September Excursion Cheshire Cat Tours Aberystwyth - and stations to Crewe - to Carlisle.

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. Cancelled.




















A busy scene at Llandudno Junction on 5 May, with 4965 Rood Ashton Hall and 5043 Earl of Mount Edgcumbe in Platform 1 on the Tyseley -Llandudno steam charter, 175 104 operating Llandudno shuttles, and 175 112 arriving from Holyhead (Mark Riley).

Extravaganza: Saturday 5 May was an extraordinarily busy day for locomotive-hauled trains on the North Wales Coast line. The weather was fine, so our contributors were busy with their cameras, too; thanks as always to all of them, as well as the operators of the trains.  We have compiled a picture report on each train (most other items have been held over), so get your scrolling fingers ready...

Diary date: Llangollen Railcar Gala 23 - 24 June



Llangollen Railcars is proud to announce that the visitor for this year's event is Class 141 141 113 (seen above when in the British Rail West Yorkshire Metro fleet). This will be the first time a second-generation unit has been seen on Llangollen Railway metals.

The 2012 event will also feature the first diesel trains to carry passengers over the new section of the extension between Carrog and Bonwm, and a late train service on the Saturday with a barbecue at Carrog. Also in service will be:

Class 104 DMBS 50454+DMC 50528
Class 108 DMBS 51907+DTC 54490
Wickham DMBS 50416 + DTC 56171
Class 127/108 DMBS 51618+DTC 56223
GWR Pannier tank 6430 and autotrain

Prices: One Day – Adult - £18, Senior - £15, Child - £10, Family (two adults & two children) £45. Two Day – Adult - £33, Senior - £25, Child - £18, Family (two adults & two children) £82. The Llangollen Railcars website has full information.


Tyseley to Llandudno, 5 May



Great Western Railway 4-6-0s 4965 Rood Ashton Hall and 5043 Earl of Mount Edgcumbe double-headed a Vintage Trains Tyseley - Llandudno Special on 5 May. Above, the westbound train passes Rhyl.  (Ian Pilkington).



West of Rhyl at 10:57 (Stavros Lainas).



5043 and 4965 top-and-tail the train on the Llandudno Branch, as seen approaching Llandudno (Ian Pilkington).



From a position on the road bridge, Mark Riley was able to photograph 4965 bringing the empty coaches back into Llandudno Junction station with 5043 at the other end, just as 47 580 departed for Holyhead (see below), with 47 851 at the rear. The two locos took  water at The Junction before going to Valley to turn on the triangle.



5043 and 4965 pass Conwy Morfa from Llandudno Junction to Valley for turning, an hour late (Ian Pilkington).



Llanfair PG (Richard Fleckney).



The Hall's tender was well-stacked with coal (Richard Fleckney).



At Valley, the locos reverse on to the triangle of lines leading to the flask-loading siding, where they will reverse (Carwyn Jones).



The two locos, having been turned, approach Llandudno Junction, still an hour late (Ian Pilkington).



The view across the estuary from Deganwy (Darren Durrant)



The train being made ready to shunt into platform 1 for departure to Tyseley. The second visit to Llandudno was cancelled due to the engines being so late off the Valley triangle. The 300 passengers stranded in Llandudno were rescued, courtesy of two Arriva 3-car 175s, at 17:44 and 18:08 (Peter Lloyd).



A spectacular departure from Llandudno Junction (Gary Thomas)


The return train near Abergele (Greg Mape)



Evening scene at Flint (Glyn Jones).

Swindon to Llandudno



An excursion from Swindon to Llandudno was organised by Statesman Rail. Above, with West Coast Railways 57 601 leading some stylish coaches, the train passes Rhyl at 11:52. On the rear was 47 804 (Stavros Lainas). West Coast's often seem to look shabby, especially when hauling colourful coaches.



Colwyn Bay (Jack Bowley)



47 804 is seen on the rear as the "The Llandudno Victorian Statesman" negotiates the route to the Llandudno branch (Mark Riley).



57 601 hauls the train through Deganwy station (Gary Thomas).



57 601 'on the blocks' at Llandudno (Greg Mape). The top marker light on the cab of the 57 helps distinguish it from a 47.



The return train round the curve into Llandudno Junction headed by 47 804 (Gary Thomas).

Pendolino * 2, 5 May



The regular Saturday 'Pendolino drag' of the London - Holyhead train was delayed due to problems and was slotted behind the Statesman special. Running over, 20 mins late, it made lively departure from Rhyl, passing Stavros Lainas at 12:07.



Colwyn Bay (Jack Bowley)



Departing Llandudno Junction. The Pendolino was 390 026 (Mark Riley).



Llanfair PG (Richard Fleckney).



The classic scene as 57 314 brings the London-bound train across Conwy Cob (Gary Thomas).



As extra Voyager units were needed for to cover for engineering work on the line to London the following day - a shuttle was to be operated between Nuneaton and London via the Chiltern line - train 1D90, the 16:10 (re-timed to 16:06) London - Holyhead was Pendolino-worked in addition to the usual Saturday run. So 57 314 made its second foray to Holyhead, and is seen (above) at Rhyl (Ivor Bufton).



Arriving at Llandudno Junction at 19:38 14 minutes late: the Pendolino was 390 003 (Peter Lloyd).



In late evening sunshine passing Penmaenmawr at 19:46 (Stavros Lainas).

Norwich to Holyhead 5 May



Very popular with photographers is the Stratford 47 Group's 47 580 County of Essex, which wears well-remembered British Rail 'large logo blue'. On 5 May it headed along The Coast with an excursion from Norwich organised by NENTA Tours and operated by West Coast Railway Company. Running to time, she rolled through Rhyl at 12:35 (Stavros Lainas).



Colwyn Bay (Jack Bowley).



Conwy Morfa (Ian Pilkington).



Dwygyfylchi (Gary Thomas).



Llandudno Junction (Mark Riley). Yet again we see someone wandering off the end of the platform.  Illegal, and unnecessary too.



Mochdre (Peter Lloyd)



Llanfair PG (Richard Fleckney).



47 851 takes the empty stock out of the platform for servicing (Stavros Lainas). The Class 67 loco and coaches for the weekday Cardiff express can be glimpsed in the distance.



Another view of 47 851 at Holyhead. Note the coach in InterCity livery (Stavros Lainas).



47 580 brings the stock back into Holyhead station (Stavros Lainas).



47 580 at the rear of the train, as its heads east at Rhosneigr (Stavros Lainas).



Llanfair PG, with its Chester and Holyhead Railway signalbox, retained to operate the level crossing (Carwyn Jones).



Arriving at Llandudno Junction (Peter Lloyd)



47 580 on the rear at Llandudno Junction; the coaches for the steam special are in the siding (Peter Lloyd)



47 851 working hard at Colwyn Bay (Jack Bowley).


Chester to Skegness



Also on 5 May, The Mid-Cheshire Rail Users' Association organised an excursion from Chester, and mid-Cheshire line stations. It is seen above awaiting departure from Chester (Andrew Vinten).



Greg Mape photographed 'The Lincolnshire Coast EXpress' at Altrincham in the morning (above) as Metrolink tram 1019 departs for Piccadilly.



Two class 66s worked the train in top-n-tail format: 66 165 on the front (above) and 66 078 on the rear. These locos, normally used on freight trains, were perhaps chosen because their six axles give them a lower individual axle-load than the four-axle Class 67s, and the Skegness branch has some weight restrictions. The train included a generator vehicle to supply service power to the coaches.


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