NORTH WALES COAST RAILWAY:NOTICE BOARD

Rheilffordd arfordir gogledd Cymru: Hysbysfwrdd


20 August 2012

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Recent issues

13 August 2012
 
60009 rides again, 12 August
 Four days of locomotive pictures - by Stavros Lainas
 Marine visitor
 Basingtoke to Buxton via Middlewich
 Driving Van Trailer Training
 Mystery structure identified
 Out on the 'Long Drag' - report by David Parry
 Manchester Jubilees
 Day Out with Thomas
 Consultation or imposition?
 Looking back: A weekend in Anglesey - with Mark Youdan


09 August 2012
 
On the Welshpool and Llanfair - pictures by Martin Evans
The Holyhead View - with M. Lloyd Davies
Penrhyn Railway news - report by Stephen Hughes
 Cambrian Coast in yellow

06 August 2012

Push-Pull training starts
Brush replaces Gresley - 5 August
Virgin on Anglesey - pictures by Steve Morris
The end of Virgin Trains?
The Welsh Mountaineer 31 July

02 August 2012

Prestatyn Progress - report by Dave Sallery
Compass Tours to Holyhead
175 002 repaired
60s Gala at Llangollen - report by Chris Jones-Bridger
On the Parliamentary - report by George Jones
Crewe 1995 - pictures by Peter Hanson
Four-car Voyager
Shrewsbury spruced up - report by George Jones
 Curzon Park Footbridge, Chester



Forthcoming events


This list may be out of date if you are reading an archived page. For the current list visit our Calendar.

August 2012

Tuesday 21 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)

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). Cancelled.

Saturday 31 August - 2 September  Llangollen Railway Autumn Steam Gala

September 2012

Sun / Mon 1 - 2 September  Llangollen Railway Autumn Steam Gala (continued)

Friday 7 September  Clwyd Railway Circle  Glyn Jones  “John Summers & Sons Ltd” A look at the Steelworks at Shotton from its opening in 1896 to the closure of the heavy end in 1980. The talk includes footage of the iron ore trains from Bidston.

Thursday 13 September Llandudno and Conwy Valley Railway Society Keith Jones with a double-barrelled show of 'The History of Penmaenmawr Quarry & its rail system' followed by 'Building and running miniature steam locomotives'

Monday 17 September RCTS Chester North Staffordshire from the mid 1960s to the Early 1990s By Max Birchenough.

Saturday 22 September Llangollen Railway Diesel Day

Thursday 27 September LCGB North West John Owen "Vintage US Steam in Cuba"


October 2012

Friday 5 October    Clwyd Railway Circle    Les Nixon “55 Years of Railway Photography (part 1)” The acclaimed railway photographer and entertaining speaker will treat us to an evening of nostalgia, including pre 1968 steam, foreign, modern traction and some preservation. The accent is on the unusual.

Thursday 11 October  Llandudno and Conwy Valley Railway Society John Barden Davies tells us “How railways made North Wales a Tourism destination”

Monday 15 October RCTS Chester Steam Classes that failed to make Preservation; Powerpoint presentation By John Cowlishaw Using Edgar Richards Photographs.

Thursday 25 October LCGB North West Tom Heavyside "B R in the North West"


November 2012

Friday 2 November    Clwyd Railway Circle  Dave Southern “Chester to Pwllheli” The slide show will follow a journey from Chester to Pwllheli via Oswestry. There will be slides of each of the lines we pass on the journey, based on the early 1960's.

Thursday 8 November  Llandudno and Conwy Valley Railway Society AGM followed a look at “The Llandudno Transport Festival over the Years” (Guest Speaker)


Monday 19 November RCTS Chester– Conway and Llandudno Junction in B.R Days by Larry Davies.

Thursday 22 November LCGB North West Norman Matthews "Steam in New Zealand"


December 2012

Friday 7 December    Clwyd Railway Circle   “Members Night & Christmas Celebration”  Members are invited to give a 15/20 minute presentation of their choice (any format). This will be interrupted by festive treats (all high calories).  Members must book their slot with David Jones no later than 20 November.

Thursday 13 December  Llandudno and Conwy Valley Railway Society Christmas Social helped along by members Alex Cowan confirming to us that “Trainspotting was an education” and Larry Davies taking us back to “1962 – a year of change”

Thursday 13 December  LCGB North West Les Nixon "55 Years of Railway Photography – Part Two"

Monday 17 December RCTS Chester Members Slide/Digital Images – 30 Slides or artefacts of your Choice

January 2013
   
Friday 4 January   Clwyd Railway Circle   Pete Gray “Welsh Highland Railway”  Our speaker for the night is the Safety & Development Manager of the WHR; previous to this, he was the Construction Manager from 2006-2010. Pete will be talking about his experiences during this time and the organization that is needed to keep the show on the road.

Thursday 10 January Llandudno and Conwy Valley Railway Society Speaker to be confirmed

Thursday 17 January LCGB North West Keith Naylor "Isle of Wight Railways"

Monday 21 January RCTS Chester Branch A.G.M. followed By British slides between 1983 & 2010 By Alan Donaldson.

   
February 2013

Friday 1 February   Clwyd Railway Circle   Gordon Davies “American Wanderings 2, the Great Plains Drifter” - Recollections of Gordon’s trip in 2008, covering the largest open cast mine in Wyoming plus the world’s largest marshalling yard.

Thursday 14 February Llandudno and Conwy Valley Railway Society Speaker to be confirmed

Monday 18 February RCTS Chester The Northern Hub. A Talk By Duncan Law, Senior Programme Development Manager, Network Rail.

Thursday 21 February LCGB North West Mike Taylor "Preston and North"

March 2013

Friday 1 March    Clwyd Railway Circle   The Committee & Larry Davies.  AGM followed by the talk “60 years ago – Diamond days” After the formality is over, we look forward to the talk by one of our favourite speakers.           

Thursday 14 March Llandudno and Conwy Valley Railway Society Speaker to be confirmed

Monday 18 March RCTS Chester B.R in the early 1980’s By Tom Heavyside.

Thursday 21 March LCGB North West Tony Harrison "The Dragon's Last Roar"


April 2013

Friday 5 April   Clwyd Railway Circle   Michael Murphy 'Liverpool Overhead Railway' To finish off the season, a highly recommended speaker known for his light-hearted style of presentation. The talk will be followed by film footage of the railway in its heyday.

Thursday 11 April Llandudno and Conwy Valley Railway Society Speaker to be confirmed

Monday 15 April RCTS Chester Even Further Down Under: New Zealand In 2011 & 2012 By Geoff Morris.

Thursday 18 April LCGB North West John Sloane 'Steam Sheds and Diesel Depots'

May 2013

Thursday 9 May Llandudno and Conwy Valley Railway Society Speaker to be confirmed

Thursday 16 May LCGB North West AGM and Members/Visitors Slides & Digital Photos.




















5043 Earl of Mount Edgcumbe passes Abergele with the 'North Wales Explorer' from Tyseley to Blaenau Ffestiniog on 18 Aug 2012. Full report below. Picture by Chris Morrison.

Welsh Dragon picture special today - thanks to all who sent pictures, and of course the train staff and operators. A general issue will appear later in the week. - Charlie

The Welsh Dragon - 18 August



On Saturday 18 August Vintage Trains ran a very interesting 'hybrid' excursion from their base at Tyseley (near Birmingham) to Blaenau Ffestiniog. 'Castle' class 4-6-0 steam locomotive 5043 Earl of Mount Edgecumbe hauled the train to Llandudno Junction, with Class 47 diesel D1755 (47 773) on the rear, ready to haul the train to Blaenau and back while the steam loco and its support coach headed off to Valley to turn, returning to take over the train again from Llandudno Junction back to Tyseley. Above, taking water at Crewe with admiring crowd. Picture by Richard Fleckney.



Heading west near the Broughton aircraft factory. Picture by Derek French.



Rhyl (Roly High).



John Myers writes: 'With the morning initially being cloudy, I decided to watch the 'Castle' and its rake of chocolate and cream coaching stock from what normally would be the "wrong side of the line" and whilst passing the caravan parks at Towyn.'



Passing Abergele station (Larry Goddard). Both the steam loco and the diesel are part of the fleet at Tyseley Locomotive Works, although on trains to the  North Wales Main Line and Llandudno, a back-up diesel loco is not normally used by Vintage Trains. The Conwy Valley with its gradients is a perhaps a different matter, and in any case ex-Great Western locos are wider about the cylinders than LMS locos such as the 8F 2-8-0 and (as far as we know) not permitted on the line.



The train, 1Z66, which had started from Tyseley at 06:33, rolls into Llandudno Junction (Larry Goddard). Who is allowing those sidings to get in such a state?



The Earl takes water at Llandudno Junction prior to running to Valley to turn (Larry Goddard).



D1755 takes the train along the Conwy Valley at Tal-y-Cafn (John Myers)



North Llanrwst (Garry Stroud). This concept of steam and diesel for the Conwy Valley allows a longer train to be operated, within the capacity of the Class 47, compared to using a steam loco all the way.



Approaching Blaenau Ffestiniog (Garry Stroud).



Running round the train, with Ffestiniog Railway diesel Criccieth Castle in attendance (Garry Stroud),



After arrival, the loco ran round the train which was then stabled in the run-round loop to allow the branch local train to arrive (Garry Stroud).



Earl of Merioneth departs with the Ffestiniog Railway 15:10 to Porthmadog (Garry Stroud).



D1755 and its stock in the loop at Blaenau Ffestiniog waiting for the FR train to return with its passengers  - at least one man and his dog are interested! (Ken Robinson).



150 255 arrives as the 13:22 from Llandudno (Garry Stroud).



D1755 is shunting the train back to the platform - the Ffestiniog Railway connecting  train has arrived (Ken Robinson).



Ready to form the 1Z69 return train at 16:18 to Llandudno Junction and Tyseley - the FR empty stock train with Merddin Emrys at the head waits on the right. Who said it always rains at Blaenau? (Ken Robinson).



The FR loco takes water (Chris Morrison).        



Merddin Emrys and empty stock leaves for Porthmadog whilst 'The Welsh
Dragon' has a few more minutes to wait before departure at 16:18 (Ken Robinson).



Crossing the Conwy river near Llanrwst (Garry Stroud).




At Llandudno Junction,  5043 and support coach await the return of its train as 175 009 leaves on the 16:38 Holyhead to Cardiff Central (Larry Davies). The support coach has not been turned on the triangle: its guard's compartment is still at the Holyhead end.



The train arrives from Blaenau Ffestiniog (Garry Stroud).



The steam loco back in charge, departing Llandudno Junction (Garry Stroud).



Near Abergele with Gwrych Castle behind (John Myers).



Roly High writes:  'One of Shrewsbury shed's Castles,  5050 Earl of
St. Germans
, rolls into Chester's platform 11 with an afternoon
Paddington to Birkenhead express ... or is the time the present, and my memory is taking me back to my boyhood, when this was a common sight? Yes, for this is the Earl of Mount Edgecumbe, returning with its train.'



Picture by Ivor Bufton.


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