01 July 2013
Last issue
Archive
RSS
Link to this
issue
Share 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
This list may be out of date if you are reading an archived page. For
the current list visit our Calendar.
July 2013
Saturday 6 July. The Welsh
N-Gauge Model Railway Show, organised by the N-Gauge Society
North Wales Area Group.An exclusively N-Gauge Exhibition with layouts
from the Group and visiting layouts in British and American outline. St
Mary's Church hall, Rosehill Street, Conwy LL32 8LD,10.00am to 4.00pm,
adults £3.00 Children £1.50 Refreshments available.
Hall fully disabled accessible - car parking, bus stops and rail
station adjacent.Further information: 01492 572633.
Saturday 6 July Excursion Statesman Rail
'Welsh Mountain Statesman' Saturday 25 May 2013 Sheffield, and stations
to Wolverhampton to Aberystwyth for the Vale of
Rheidol Railway. (Fully booked.)
Times:
Outward
/ Return
Saturday 6 July Northern
Belle
excursion from Birmingham International to Blaenau Ffestiniog
via Shresbury and Crewe. Times: outward
/ return.
Saturday 6 July Hooton to Helsby 150:
special
train
and
other
events.
Timings
at
Helsby
Saturday / Sunday 6-7 July Llangollen
Railway Classic Transport Weekend
Saturday / Sunday 6-7 July Talyllyn
Railway Garden Railway weekend.
Saturday 13 July Llangollen
Railway Murder Mystery evening
Saturday 20 July Excursion UK Railtours Cardigan Bay Panorama
London to
Aberystwyth. Note: entirely First Class Dining, fare £169.
27-28 July Llangollen
Railway July 1960s weekend
Sunday 28 July Steam on the Coast
Railway Touring Company 'North Wales
Coast
Express' Liverpool - Holyhead - Liverpool. Loco 45305, 46233, 60009 or
70013.
Tuesday 30 July Steam on the Coast Railway Touring Company 'The Welsh
Mountaineer'
Preston-Frodsham-Llandudno Jc -Blaenau Ffestiniog and return. Loco
45305 or 61994.
August 2013
3-4 August Llangollen
Railway Day Out With Thomas
Sunday 4 August Steam on the Coast
Railway Touring Company 'North Wales
Coast Express' Crewe - Holyhead, steam-hauled Manchester Piccadilly -
Altrincham - Chester - Holyhead and return by 45305/70013
8-11 August Llangollen
Railway Day Out With Thomas
Friday/Saturday 9 - 10 August Talyllyn Railway
beer festival
Saturday 17 August Vintage Trains 'The
Welsh
Dragon' Tyseley - Llandudno Junction and return. Loco 5043
Sunday 18 August Steam on the Coast
Railway Touring Company 'North Wales
Coast Express' Liverpool - Holyhead - Liverpool. Loco 45305, 46233,
60009 or 70013.
Tuesday 20 August Steam on the Coast Railway Touring Company 'The Welsh
Mountaineer'
Preston-Frodsham-Llandudno Jc -Blaenau Ffestiniog and return. Loco
45305 or 61994.
Thursday 22 August Talyllyn Railway
Children's 'Duncan' Day
Saturday 24 August Wirral 0
Gauge Group Open Day, Unit 7, The Odyssey Centre,
Corporation Road,
Birkenhead CH41 1HB American model trains running 13:00 to
17:00. Admission £2 - ample free parking. Nearest Station
Birkenhead Park.
Contact 0151 653 0637or j.elliott37[at]sky.com for more
information.
30-31 August and 1 September Llangollen Railway
Steam gala
September
2013
Sunday 1 September Steam on the Coast
Railway Touring Company
'North Wales Coast Express' Crewe - Holyhead, steam-hauled Manchester
Piccadilly - Altrincham - Chester - Holyhead and return by 45305/70013.
Tuesday 3 September Steam on the
Coast Railway Touring Company 'The
Welsh Mountaineer'
Preston-Frodsham-Llandudno Jc -Blaenau Ffestiniog and return. Loco
45305 or 61994.
Sunday 8 September Steam on the Coast
Railway Touring Company
'North Wales Coast Express' Crewe - Holyhead, steam-hauled Manchester
Piccadilly - Altrincham - Chester - Holyhead and return by 45305/70013.
14 September Llangollen
Railway Murder Mystery evening
21 September Llangollen
Railway Diesel Day
|
Peter Lloyd took this
picture on 24 June from Moel yr Hydd, 2126 feet above sea level. 150 229 is leaving Blaenau
Ffestiniog station as train 2D19, 17:37 to Llandudno.
From this issue, the 'Forthcoming
events' section in the left column will include real-time links to the
timings of excursion trains whenever possible.
Drive the Pendolino Simulator
On 28 June, a team of rail staff will be cycling From Manchester
to London, setting off at the same time as the first Pendolino from
Manchester at 05:05, and travelling back 'in comfort, if a little
saddle sore' on the 22:05 train from London to Manchester, in aid of
the Christie Hospital charity fund. See www.pendocycle200.com for
details and how to donate.
In support of the effort, Virgin Trains have kindly donated a session
for two people on the Pendolino driver simulator at their Driver
Training Centre in Crewe, to take place early in 2014 - at present the
Centre is very busy training newly-recruited drivers. This opportunity
is being
auctioned
via
eBay - don't delay, as the auction ends at
18:18 on Tuesday 2 July.
Premier Express scenes
A classic view by Stavros Lainas
on 25 June of the southbound morning Premier Express at Dorrington,
Shropshire, scheduled passing time 08:18. The lower-quadrant bracket
signal and the ground disc complete the scene; note the modern ladder
safety hoops and higher handrails that now adorn this and many other
surviving semaphore signals. Network Rail plans to abolish all these
old signals and their associated signalboxes over the next few years,
with all the lines in Wales and the Borders controlled from a centre in
Cardiff. Efficient, but lacking in any 'character.'
Photographing the 18:21 express from Cardiff to Holyhead on the North
Wales line can be a challenge, even close to the longest day. Above is 67 001 heading out of Chester
passing Mold Junction. at 21:09 heading for Holyhead on 21 June (Bob Greenhalgh).
DVT 82306 leads the Holyhead-bound express over Green Lane crossing,
Saltney heading
for Chester on the single-line section of the Wrexham line at 20:57 on
24 June (Bob Greenhalgh).
Hooton to Helsby 150 - full details
Thanks to the North Cheshire Rail Users Group we have full details of
the special service between Liverpool, Hooton and Helsby which will
operate on Saturday 6 July to celebrate the 150th anniversary of
the line. The timings are:
Liverpool Lime Street
|
0942
|
|
Warrington Bank Quay
|
1012
|
|
Frodsham
|
1023
|
|
Helsby arr.
|
1029
|
|
dep.
|
1035
|
1210
|
Ince and Elton
|
1038
|
1213
|
Stanlow and Thornton
|
1041
|
1216
|
Ellesmere Port arr.
|
1047
|
1220
|
dep.
|
1053
|
1223
|
Overpool
|
1057
|
1227
|
Little Sutton
|
1100
|
1230
|
Hooton
|
1109
|
1238
|
|
|
|
Hooton
|
1137
|
1307
|
Little Sutton
|
1142
|
1312
|
Overpool
|
1145
|
1314
|
Ellesmere Port arr.
|
1148
|
1317
|
dep.
|
1149
|
1318
|
Stanlow and Thornton
|
1154
|
1322
|
Ince and Elton
|
1157
|
1325
|
Helsby
|
1202
|
1330
|
|
|
1332
|
Frodsham
|
|
1337
|
Runcorn
|
|
1346
|
Liverpool South Parkway
|
|
1355
|
Liverpool Lime Street
|
|
1407
|
The
shuttle services shown above between Helsby and Hooton will be
supplemented by a Vintage bus and new Stagecoach bus between Helsby
and Ellesmere
Port in the afternoon from Helsby at 13.35; 14.05; 15.00; 16.30; and
from Ellesmere Port at 13.00; 13.25; 14.15; 14.45 (times
provisional).
No fares will apply to the bus service but £5 donations, on the
day,
will be appreciated.
Here
is
a
real-time link to all movements planned at Helsby on the day
via Real Time Trains.
The
buses will be a 1950 39-seat Crosville Bristol LL6B SLB178 (LFM 759),
which was repainted beautifully by Howards of Moore, Warrington late
last year, and a brand-new Stagecoach vehicle (39 seats, and hopefully
just two
weeks old). So, 62½ years between them. The owner of
the Bristol bus is John Oates,
chair
of the Mid-Cheshire Rail Users Association, who writes: 'We'll be
doing photo shoots of the buses around 12:30 at Ellesmere Port before
the free bus shuttle to/from Helsby starts - see the MCRUA
Chairman's
blog.'
A special train ticket will be available for the occasion. The price is
£10 adult / £5 child. (No Railcard Discounts.) The ticket
is valid for travel on Saturday 6 July and Available to
purchase from any Northern or Merseyrail staffed station from Monday 1
July 2013 – ask for a 'Helsby Hooton 150 Day Ranger'. Valid for travel
on any Northern Rail service between Liverpool Lime Street and
Liverpool South
Parkway / Warrington Bank Quay including intermediate stations, plus
the special trains shown above. On Merseyrail Electrics the ticket is
valid on any service between Ellesmere Port / Hooton and Liverpool City
Centre
including intermediate stations; and any service between Liverpool City
Centre stations and Liverpool South
Parkway including intermediate stations.
A half-size narrow gauge steam engine will be on display at Helsby
Station as part of the station open day when the acclaimed Prize
Winning Gardens at Helsby Station will be open for viewing by kind
permission of Arriva Trains Wales; the newly overhauled and refurbished
station buildings at Helsby will be open to the public courtesy of
Network Rail. There will be the unveiling of a plaque to commemorate
the
occasion donated by Llechwedd Slate Quarry at Blaenau Ffestiniog who
provided the slate for the original station roof. Also, a Raffle Draw,
Birthday Cake and suitable celebrations to commemorate the event. At
Ellesmere Port Station between 12 noon and 1pm the Mersey Morris Men
will be performing.
WAG Express and Waverley -
report by Neil Worthington
I had an interesting trip on Wednesday 19 June. Some chums of mine from
'Darn Sarf' invited me
to join them on a cruise across the Bristol
Channel, on board the Paddle Steamer Waverley.
It
sounded
like
an
interesting
trip,
and I thought it would be a good
idea to combine it with a rolling breakfast on board the Premier
Service ('WAG Express' or 'Gerald' as it is known to some), the 05:33
Holyhead - Cardiff Central.
It no longer runs via Crewe, so I had to be at Chester by 07:15. This
meant catching the 05:50 Manchester Piccadilly - Llandudno, which in
turn meant an early morning cycle ride from my home into Manchester -
no great hardship at this time of year as it was broad daylight and
there was little road traffic about.
I didn't bother photographing the outside of the train, which performed
faultlessly, and didn't even notice the loco number. Instead I recorded
the interior and the views through the windows.
Tea was served on departure from Chester, followed soon after by
porridge (other cereals were available).
I then partook of the full Great British Breakfast. This used to be
parodied in Private
Eye
as the "InterCity Sizzler: contents 1 rasher bacon, 1 sausage, 1 egg, 1
tomato, 1 mushroom, 1 baked bean" but as the photo shows it's rather
more substantial on Arriva Trains Wales. I declined the black pudding
and seemed to get extra bacon instead. Eggs can be cooked in various
ways: mine was poached.
All this was freshly cooked in the kitchen adjoining the buffet
counter.
The views, of course, make the journey, though photographing them was a
distinct challenge. Patronage was poor, with never more than three
passengers in First and about 53 in Standard (south of Hereford), but
it was mid-week. The stewardess told me that Mondays and Fridays are
the busiest days for meals, and at this time of year they also serve a
lot of American tourists.
The train reverses at Chester of course; it was propelled in and hauled
out. The First Class and Catering vehicle is marshalled immediately
behind the locomotive. I'm not sure how these vehicles are designated
these days - RFB, Restaurant First Buffet?
I wandered along to the DVT at the end of the train and was intrigued
to see that it is locked off from passengers - but it has a 'doorbell'
marked 'Press for Conductor' (inset). An early arrival at Cardiff
Central gave me time to travel over to
Cardiff Queen Street and thence to Cardiff Bay on the shuttle, worked
by 153 353. I was
struck by the quality of all the Arriva Wales rolling stock that I
used: the trains may be old but they all seem to have been rather well
refurbished.
But the main reason for the trip was to board P. S. Waverley
at Penarth. I walked from Penarth station down through the Gardens and
caught sight of her steaming across from Clevedon in brilliant
sunshine, a wonderful sight that my compact camera is quite incapable
of recording adequately. Here she is alongside the pier head. The pier
is still under renovation but ice cream, Welsh cakes and other
souvenirs were available.
The workings of the ship are simple: a 2100 HP steam engine drives
these pistons, which turn the two paddle wheels.
A two hour trip across very smooth waters in glorious sunshine brought
us to Minehead harbour (above, and see also heading picture). The
ship's
shallow draught allows her to reach many small ports, and
her ability to turn in her own length, by rotating the paddle wheels in
opposite directions, makes her very manoeuvrable. There's more
information on the Waverley website at http://www.waverleyexcursions.co.uk/.
At Minehead we joined a West Somerset Railway steam train for a
leisurely ride through the Quantock Hills to Bishops Lydeard. The line
itself is linked to the national network but only for special trains.
We caught a bus from the station yard to Taunton station, where I
boarded a CrossCountry Voyager to return to Manchester.
With the logs
The Carlisle - Chirk log train is a favourite photograph subject of our
contributors. Above, on 24 June, the re-timed train with Colas loco 66 850 passing Frodsham at 14:27.
The earlier path at 10:12 from Carlisle appears to be common at
present, although as we write on 1 July, a look at www.realtimetrains.co.uk
suggests that there must have been a long wait for the driver, as after
apparently departing from Eden Valley Goods Loop at 11:35, it was 96
minutes later that it passed Tebay, on the other side of Shap Summit,
normally a 20-minute run, and did not reach Chirk until 16:30 instead
of 15:28. Access to real-time information is a dream come true for
freight train fans - but bear in mind that a train listed may not
actually run, even after being listed as 'Activated' it can still be
cancelled. Some freight trains in the timetable database never run at
all, and may represent a hope for a future flow.
25 June, and Stavros Lainas
was at Dorrington, Shropshire to photograph another Chirk service,
returning empty for another load of logs from Teigngrace, Devon. The
second wagon is one of the newly-converted Cargowaggon vehicles
recently
brought over from The Netherlands which turned out not to have enough
side-stakes to hold the required load, and had extra ones - shorter,
and not painted blue - fitted in Britain before they could be used.
Seen from Hoole Lane bridge, 56 094
approaches Chester with the logs from Carlisle for Chirk on 29 June.
Picture by Bob Greenhalgh. The
few Class 56 locos which survived the cull by their new American
owners after privatisation have considerable curiosity value. Regarding
our comment in an earlier article that they were rare on the northern
part of the West Coast Main Line, Simon
Pilkington writes: 'A Cardiff-based 56 was booked on the Margam
- Hardendale Quarry and 6V70 return [loaded with lime for the steel
industry] for a few years around 1995, as when heading for nights
at Crewe Control I often met a friend who was a driver at Hereford. He
would travel by passenger train to Warrington to work 6V70 and then
gave a noisy display as he traversed the Crewe Independent lines past
Salop Goods Junction signalbox! It is fair to say they were not common
overall but did have booked work, albeit nocturnal.'
The lime train still runs three times a week in 2013, but with Class 66
haulage: here is a link
to
a
picture. The lime is now carried in containers in place of the
covered hoppers used in the 90s, and after unloading the empty
containers at the Quarry in the early hours it continues to Carlisle
for the loco to run round the train, and stables for the day before
returning the following evening for the loaded containers and heading
back south to Margam.
Gwynt y Mor ships - report by George Jones
The Friends of the
Mersey Ferries River Cruise on 22 June into the north Liverpool
dock system allowed for close photography of two offshore supply
vessels which frequent the wind farm installation at Gwynt Y Mor
off the North Wales coast. Above, the Normand
Tonjer which sports a helicopter landing platform in the forward
position
The Polar Prince which has
heavy lifting gear on the stern. Both are Norwegian owned and operated
and came into Liverpool docks for servicing. It would be interesting to
know if the helicopter landing facility on Normand Tonjer has been used at the
scene of current operations.
As can be seen on the Ship AIS
website, the Gwynt y Môr wind farm installation is attracting
a lot of shipping in support of the development which brings unusual
activity to both Mostyn on the Dee and various facilities on the Mersey.
Past Times with John Hobbs - Tranquillity in Cheshire
Have you ever wondered what all those Ivatt 2-6-2T at Crewe North depot
did? Here is one answer. You can feel the tranquillity as 41212 waits for the road at
Calverley on Sunday afternoon, 27 September 1964 with three six-wheel
milk tanks and a brake van forming 3.45pm Calverley to Crewe milk train
which served the creamery that once existed here; the tanks would have
been combined with loads from other creameries and found their way to
London.
Earlier in the day 'Royal Scot' 46148
The Manchester Regiment
had passed Calverley but is seen here near Gresty Lane, Crewe
with train 4A19, the 9.00am Holyhead to Willesden containerised meat
train. Unbeknown to me this was to be the last time I was to see 46148
working.
Further my recent item featuring water troughs, I have written a
detailed article on the subject on the 6G Llandudno
Junction site.
The new North Wales coast railway - report by Keith Jones
I am a member of the North Wales Model Engineering Society,
which had a permanent raised track at a school in Llandudno, but
have had to relocate. We are now building a new track and club house at
West Shore Llandudno; this again is a raised track of 3½-inch
and 5-inch gauge, as you
can see track is going down. We hope to have 400 feet laid in a few
weeks; the picture (above) shows new track that was laid over the
weekend of 15-16 June. Now we need to lay the flag stones at the
station area then we can make a start on public running on a small
scale for now just up and down.
Once we have 400 feet we
can start to run 'up and down' while we build and lay track around the
site.
We also plan to
put the turntable and steaming bays in by the end of this
year; we
will then complete the inner section and join up two outer curves to
give
us 1800 feet of track. If any of your readers is interested and Would
like more
information then the web site is www.nwmes.org.uk.
Coast Class 50
This picture, from the 'Ingy
the
Wingy' Flickr site and reproduced here by permission, was taken
by an unknown photographer (if it was you or you know who it was,
please get in touch ) and shows 50 029
(yet to receive its warship name Renown)
entering
the
Up
Loop at Abergele and Pensarn station heading
east. According to the caption, the photograph was taken after
the 2 March 1974 when D429 was renumbered 50 029, and probably
before February 1976 when the locomotive was transferred from Crewe
Diesel Traction Maintenance Depot to Bristol Bath Road Traction
Maintenance Depot.
Class 50s have never been very common on the North Wales Coast, but
between May 1974 and the summer of 1976 they did make some appearances
on both passenger and Freightliner services. According to the
book North Wales Diesels by Steve
Morris they were most common on the 10:15 from London (from Crewe) and
00:55 return from Holyhead, which would have passed in darkness.
However, they did appear sometimes on other trains deputising for Class
47s. A Summer 1976 Working timetable on www.2d53.co.uk
shows that the headcode 1D73 shown by the loco was the 15:53 (Saturdays
only) Llandudno - London Euston, which did call at Abergele and was
air-braked and booked for a Class 47. However this was a summer-only
train. Does anyone have a timetable for Summer 1974 or Summer 1975
and/or a record of what day this loco worked?
50 029 still exists in preservation, owned along with 50 030 by the Renown Repulse Restoration Group
based on the Matlock - Rowsley Peak Rail line. The current group saved
the locos from scrapping in 2002, and 029 has been cosmetically
restored but returning it to working order is a long-term project.
Grant funding for Dwyrain Corwen East - report by George Jones
The Llangollen
Railway
Trust (LRT) is pleased to announce the award of a
£59,074 Cyfenter
grant for the provision of the phase 1 station at Corwen.
Cyfenter is a project administered by Mentor Môn, financially
supported by the European Regional Development Fund and Denbighshire
County Council, that provides financial investment into the development
of Social Enterprise in North West Wales. Announcing the outcome of the
successful application for funds to Corwen community and business
leaders on 28 June, LRT Chairman Jim Ritchie, said the award will allow
the Railway to go out to tender for work to be undertaken on the
installation of concrete foundations for the platform at the phase 1
station site, to be known by a bi-lingual name as Dwyrain Corwen
East. Above is a view of the station site.
The platform timber sections will be constructed in the Railway’s own
workshops and will be delivered to the station site for erection once
track is in place later this year. The rail head would shortly be
extended to the location at Bonwm Bends. Thereafter, once base
ballasting is complete, track will extend towards over bridge 28 near
Plas Derwen. Repairs to the brick arch of the overbridge will be
undertaken by contractors. It was envisaged that track laying will
continue beyond the bridge into the station site during the autumn of
2013. However, there are potential impediments to this schedule. In
particular, the need to rebuild underbridge 29 to allow pedestrian
access to the site of a nature reserve on the north side of the Dwyrain
Corwen East site and, also, for underbridge 30 to be incorporated into
Denbighshire County Council’s Corwen Flood Relief scheme, at the
western end of the station site. Completion of both of these schemes as
a priority need if work on the station was to proceed to schedule.
In addition, the Llangollen Railway Trust still needs to raise funds to
complete the Phase 1 project. Thanks to the grant aid, some recent
generous donations and other fund raising activities, the current need
is to raise an estimated £78,000, much of which would be needed
to ballast the extended track before trains can operate. Subject to
these needs being met, Jim Ritchie announced that the first train for
invited guests and supporters would arrive at Dwyrain Corwen East on 1
March 2014, appropriately St David’s Day.
This Phase 1 station is just a few minutes’ walk from the town centre
and the railway looks forward to bringing visitors to the town next
year. There will be offering subsidised transport for local residents
between Corwen and Llangollen for those who wish to take advantage of
the extended railway. Whilst recent donations and this grant reduce the
total amount of money needed to complete the extension, the LRT
continues to appeal for more financial support to reach Corwen by the
St David Day’s target next year.
Plans of the Dwyrain Corwen East station and photographs will be
displayed in the promotional caravan to be sited in the Corwen town car
park during the Llangollen Railway’s forthcoming Classic
transport weekend on 5/6 July. It is planned that vintage buses
will operate between Glyndyfrdwy and Corwen bus interchange to bring
visitors to see work on the line’s extension.
Above, Corwen representatives and members of the Llangollen Railway
Trust survey the site of Dwyrain Corwen East station from the present
gated access point. From left to right they are: Neil Evans deputy
chairman LRT, Ian West Corwen Business Association, Chris
Jones,chairman Corwen Community Council, Howard Sutcliffe Denbighshire
Countryside Services, Norman Jones Corwen Business Associates, Bill
Shakespeare vice president LRT, Jim Ritchie chairman LRT, Gordon Heddon
vice president LRT, and County Councillor Huw L Jones.
Out and about - with Martin
Evans
On 26 June I travelled to the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway and
found BR Standard Tank loco 80002
in steam - a classmate of 80072 at Llangollen (above).
As I travelled back via Crewe and Chester I pictured a number of
interesting events. Above, 90
036
was noted between Platforms 11 and 12 at Crewe having just arrived from
the Electric depot in loking freshly-painted in DB Schenker colours.
142 088 arrives at
Chester from Manchester Piccadilly in warm evening
sunshine.
37 261 (once famous
as an Inverness-based loco) ...
... and 37 194 arrive in
Chester from the Helsby direction with a Network Rail measurement train
ready to return to Crewe DRS depot.
150 256 amongst the weeds
at Chester, its livery to be updated shortly as the class are being
repainted. Chester signalling centre is the brown building in the right
background; built in the 1980s, like every little signalbox it too will
vanish under Network Rail's masterplan.
Chester Platform 5 - by John Oates
If anyone wants to depart from Chester station platform 5 at a
reasonable hour, it is not necessary to get up early or go to bed late
as suggested in the recently-published item. The 14:04 Mid-Cheshire
train to Manchester Piccadilly departs from there.
This happens because the 09:17 from Manchester Piccadilly arrives into
platform 6 as a 150/142 combination. This is formed up in
platform 10 at Piccadilly from the arrival of the 06:02 from Chester at
07:30 (class 142, stables overnight at Chester having arrived off the
22:17 from Piccadilly) and the 06:58 from Chester at 08:29 (comes in
empty from Stockport carriage sidings as part of a 6-car 150 set, the
other 4 cars previously forming the 06:35 to Stockport which then goes
empty to Hazel Grove before forming a train to Preston).
The 142 from the 09:17 is shunted off the back into platform 5 and sits
there until departing as the 14:04, with the 150 returning to
Manchester as the 11:04 departure. The 12:17 from Manchester is a
class 150 or 156. This arrives at 13:45 and is left in platform
6, the traincrew returning at 14:04 on the 142 from platform 5. The
13:17 from Manchester is the class 150 that left at 11:04 arriving back
at 14:45 and coupling up to the 150 in platform 6. The resulting
4-car class 150 leaves at 15:04 usefully being 4-cars to cope with the
scholar flows from Greenbank and then from Knutsford, arriving into
Piccadilly at 16:35 and then forming the 16:51 to Buxton. This is
why it has to be 2 x class 150 or 156 as class 142s are not permitted
to Buxton.
[The timetable database shows this departure from platform 6, but such
are the complexities of Northern Rail's train planning. A
picture of the 14:04 departing, anyone? - C.H.]
A narrow-gauge exploration - pictures by Peter Dickinson
Here are some photographs I took over a short break in Caernarfon. I
spent Wednesday 26 June on the Ffestiniog Railway and then the
following day doing the Welsh Highland Railway. Above, diesel
loco Vale of Ffestiniog at
Porthmadog Harbour station.
Earl of Merioneth and
Ffestiniog train near Dduallt.
Approaching Moelwyn Tunnel.
On the Ffestiniog side of Blaenau Ffestiniog station, Earl of Merioneth runs round its
train.
150 242 waits in the
Arriva Trains Wales stationat Blaenau Ffestiniog, 26 June.
Rhyl views - by Roly High
The signal is clear for Colas-owned Plasser & Theurer 08-4x4/4S-RT
switch & crossing tamper. DR73910 Jupiter, waiting at Rhyl's
platform 1, to proceed to Warrington Civil Engineers' sidings on
27 June.
On the evening of 29 June, 158 835
departs from Rhyl with the 18:21 Holyhead to Birmingham New Street.
175 005, which has been
held at signals to the east of Rhyl while the 158 clears the station,
arrives with train 1D70 the 20:00 from Chester, which ran on 29 June
only, all stations to Rhyl where the service terminated, treating the
passengers to a relatively rare crossover move.
After the passengers have disembarked at Platform 1. 175 005 heads back towards Chester
as 5D70 empty stock working to Chester.
North
Wales Coast home page | Archive
| Previous Notice Board
|