05 May 2014
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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
This list may be out of date if you are reading an archived page. For
the current list visit our Calendar.
May 2014
Thursday 8 May Llandudno
and
Conwy
Valley Railway Society 'The Deganwy Dock Story' Eric Smith
Saturday 10 May Wirral
O Gauge group open afternoon: 'We would like to invite model
railway people to come along and bring a loco or just watch. We are
also looking for new members to join us.' Unit 7 The Odyssey Centre,
Corporation Road, Birkenhead, CH41 1HB on 10th May 2014 from 13.00 to
17.00. Admission £2. 2 rail F/s DC & DCC continuous tracks.
More d etails can be obtained from Jenny Elliott on 0151 6530637 or
j.elliott37[at]sky.com'
Tuesday 13 May 8E Railway
Association Les Nixon - Railways of Scotland.
Tuesday 13 May (Change of Date)
North
Wales Railway Circle A.G.M. followed by Members Videos,
Prints, Slides, and Digital work in the Photo Competition.
Thursday 15 May Locomotive Club of
Great Britain AGM and Members/Visitors Slides & Digital
Photos.
Saturday 24 May Steam on the Coast Vintage
Trains Seaside
Flyer hauled by steam loco 5043 Earl of Mount Edgcumbe
from Tyseley, Wolverhampton, Stafford and Crewe to Llandudno for the
Llandudno Air Tattoo which is taking place that day.
Tuesday 27 May Denbigh Film Club
invites all railway enthusiasts to an evening of 'Railway Nostalgia -
on Film' in aid of the Llangollen Railway Corwen Extension. Theatr Twm O'r Nant,
Station Road, Denbigh. Doors open 7pm, show starts at 7.30.
Licensed bar and refreshments available. Admission £5.
June 2014
Sunday 15 June Excursion Compass Tours 'The Cumbrian Moorlander'.
Holyhead, Llanfairpwill, Bangor, Llandudno Junction, Colwyn Bay, Rhyl,
Flint, Shotton, Chester, Helsby, Frodsham & Warrington Bank Quay to
Carlisle via the Settle & Carlisle railway route.
July 2014
Saturday 5 July North Wales
Area Group of the N Gauge Society. Welsh N Gauge Model Railway
Show. St Mary's and St John's Halls, Rosehill Street, Conwy.
What? - The largest gathering of N Gauge model railway
layouts in Wales Opening times - 10.00am to 4.00pm Admission
£4.00 adults - £3.00 concessions - Children
under 15 Free when accompanied by a paying adult.
Sunday 27 July Steam on the Coast. Railway
Touring
Company. 'North Wales Coast Express' Liverpool, Broad
Green, Warrington BQ, Frodsham and Chester to Llandudno, Bangor and
Holyhead.
Tuesday 29 July Steam on the Coast. Railway
Touring
Company. Welsh Mountaineer. Preston, Warrington BQ,
Frodsham and Chester to Blaenau Ffestiniog.
August 2014
Sunday 3 August Steam on the Coast. Railway Touring Company.
North Wales Coast Express Crewe, Wilmslow, Stockport, Manchester
Piccadilly, Altrincham and Chester to Llandudno, Bangor and Holyhead.
Diesel-hauled Crewe - Manchester.
Sunday 10 August Steam on the Coast. Railway Touring Company.
North Wales Coast Express Crewe, Wilmslow, Stockport, Manchester
Piccadilly, Altrincham and Chester to Llandudno, Bangor and Holyhead.
Diesel-hauled Crewe - Manchester.
Sunday 17 August Steam on the Coast. Railway
Touring
Company. 'North Wales Coast Express' Liverpool, Broad
Green, Warrington BQ, Frodsham and Chester to Llandudno, Bangor and
Holyhead.
Tuesday 19 August Steam on the Coast. Railway
Touring
Company. Welsh Mountaineer. Preston, Warrington BQ,
Frodsham and Chester to Blaenau Ffestiniog.
September 2014
Tuesday 2 September Steam on the Coast. Railway
Touring
Company. Welsh Mountaineer. Preston, Warrington BQ,
Frodsham and Chester to Blaenau Ffestiniog.
Sunday 7 September Steam on the Coast. Railway Touring Company.
North Wales Coast Express Crewe, Wilmslow, Stockport, Manchester
Piccadilly, Altrincham and Chester to Llandudno, Bangor and Holyhead.
Diesel-hauled Crewe - Manchester.
Saturday 20 September Steam on the Coast. Steam Dreams: Cathedrals Express.
London -
Holyhead.
October 2014
Saturday - Monday 18-20 October Land
Cruise Compass Tours
Autumn
Highlander. Holyhead, Llanfairpwll, Bangor, Llandudno Junction, Colwyn
Bay, Rhyl, Flint, Chester, Delamere, Northwich, Knutsford, Altrincham,
Stockport, Manchester Victoria, Bolton, Preston, & Carlisle to
Inverness and Kyle of Lochalsh. A 3-day weekend break by rail to the
Scottish Highlands, inclusive of two nights stay in quality hotel
accommodation at Inverness. From £329.00 each.
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While out on a bike ride along the North
Wales Coast Cycleway on
2 May, Peter Lloyd captured
this view near Penmaenbach tunnel of train 1D83, 09:10 London Euston to
Holyhead with 221 112 Ferdinand Magellan and 221 103 Christopher Columbus, running on
time at 12:08.
Premier Express events
The 05:33 Holyhead - Cardiff express failed at Valley on 29
April with locvo problems. It returned to Holyhead where fitted
attended loco 67 002; Alan Crawshaw photographed it in
Platform 3 later in the day as maintenance staff investigate the fault
which, we understand, involved the brakes.
Eventually, the train ran as empty stock, 16:15 from Holyhead to Crewe,
where after waiting in the Down Refuge Siding for over two hours, it
ran into the Carriage sidings (Ivor
Bufton), and continued from Crewe to Cardiff the next day. The
evening train from Cardiff and the next morning's
southbound ran as scheduled using a spare loco and coaches.
On 2 May, it was decided to send 67
015 David J. Lloyd
from Cardiff to Crewe for by the somewhat roundabout route of attaching
it to the
evening train from Cardiff to Holyhead along with 67 001, as pictured
at Rhyl (time 20:35) by Ivor Bufton...
And then light-engine to Crewe the next day - as in this picture at
Llanfair PG by Richard Fleckney.
Pausing at Llandudno Junction, 16 minutes early, Dave Trains enjoys the
moment, while Elwyn admires the loco (Peter
Lloyd).
Ffestiniog celebration
Saturday 3 May - by Alan Crawshaw
From 2 -5 May, the Ffestiniog
Railway celebrated the Diamond Jubilee of the Ffestiniog Railway
restoration era. As their website explained, 'over the past sixty
years, many thousands of people - tourists, enthusiasts, staff and
volunteers - have enjoyed amazing adventures on the Ffestiniog &
Welsh Highland Railways. Join us for a very special weekend, where we
will not only be running an intensive service of traditional and modern
Ffestiniog Railway trains, but also offering the opportunity to
experience your very own railway adventure on the F&WHR.'
The pictures are a selection from Saturday 3 May. David Lloyd George (above), still
in grey undercoat after its recent overhaul. and diesel Vale of Ffestiniog greeted us.
We caught the first train of the day, the 10:10. double headed by
double Fairlies, to Blaenau Ffestiniog where we watched 150 279 arrive from Llandudno.
As we arrived back at Porthmadog, Taliesin
and Fiji were waiting.
Fiji is visiting from
the Statfold Barn Railway: we took a ride behind it to Pont Croesor
(above) and back.
Back at Porthmadog, diesel Upnor
Castle with the vintage set of quarrymen's carriages.
Sunday 4 May - by Dave Sallery
Mountaineer at Boston
Lodge. Built by the American Locomotive Company (Alco) in 1916 (works
number 57156) for the British War Department Light Railways of World
War I, this loco came to the Ffestiniog in 1967. It was withdrawn,
awaiting overhaul, in 2006 and is normally kept at Glan-y-Pwll shed in
Blaenau Ffestiniog.
Linda, David Lloyd George (in grey
undercoat) and Taliesin leave
Harbour station on empty stock for Boston Lodge.
Recently restored Fiji,
visiting from Statfold Barn, at Boston Lodge.
Palmerston and Moelwyn on the quarrymen's train at
Minffordd. Palmerston
had failed on this train at Rhiw Goch causing the train to be
terminated there and returned to Porthmadog.
Eryl Crump has uploaded two
videos
to
YouTube showing some events on Friday 2 May.
'Caroline' in view
Unique inspection saloon 975025 Caroline
(above) has been out and about recently. Spotted at Stockport on 23 May
during a lunch break for the railway managers on board, DRS celebrity 47 790 Galloway Princess was providing the
power.
A closer look at Caroline, which was converted to the Southern Region
General Manager's saloon in 1969 from a buffet car originally
built for a London - Hastings line diesel-electric train. That line has
several narrow tunnels which required special flat-sided rolling stock;
when it was electrified in the 1980s, the section of line through the
problem tunnels was reduced from double to single track which 'solved'
the problem.
Caroline is fitted with control cabs which so that it can work in
push-pull mode with a locomotive, as seen later the same day heading
through Manchester Oxford Road station towards Bolton and Preston. In
her time, she has had some illustrious passengers, including Prince
Charles and Diana Spencer on their honeymoon, and Pope John Paul II on
his visit to Britain in 1982.
The plan for 28 April was a run from Newport to Shrewsbury, then to
Aberystwyth and back, requiring the addition of Network Rail
ERTMS-fitted locomotive 97 303
as pilot to locomotive 37 423 Spirit of the Lakes. Phil Donbavand photographed the
train waiting for 97 303 to arrive from Crewe.
No push-pull working with Caroline
on the Cambrian Lines, as the leading cab of any train must have the
in-cab display which replaces old-style signalling. Above, the train
waiting to cross a Birmingham International-bound passenger train at
Newtown (Phil Donbavand).
The next day, 29 April, the train continued its tour of Network Rail's
Mid- and North Wales principal routes by heading, now with 37 423
alone, departing from Shrewsbury at 08:43 (40 Minutes late) via Wrexham
and Chester to Holyhead, and then back over the same route to Newport.
Picture above at Chester by Mark
Barber.
Crossing Conwy Cob westbound, 37 423 propelling (Garry Stroud).
Bangor (Rowan Crawshaw).
The loco has lost its DRS branding on one side: following a graffiti
attack perhaps?
At Llandudno Junction on the way back (Peter
Lloyd).
Passing Rhyl Marine Lake on the return run (Ivor Bufton).
Saturday 3 May saw 423 and Caroline
at Crewe to work an 11:16 to Derby Rail Technical Centre, this time
without passengers (Darren Durrant).
Caroline ... no! - by Alan Crawshaw
I cycled from home
to Holyhead on 29 April with the intention of catching 37 423 on the
way. I waited at Valley; 175 007
came along (above) and knowing that the 37 was supposed to be ahead of
it, I carried on to Holyhead. Here, 67 002 was receiving attention from
three Arriva fitters (see previous article). I spoke to a Merseysider
who was photographing the same scene, he'd seen nothing of the 37 so I
bought my ticket for the 12:32 back to Bangor and checked the other
side of the station just in case. When I got home I discovered that it
had run late but left Holyhead a couple of minutes early, and I'd have
seen it had I not been distracted by the failed 67.
Great bike ride though, and an opportunity to use a Beach Boys song
title as the subject.
An Hour at Llanberis - with Alan Crawshaw
I set off for a bike ride on 2 May but was distracted by the sight
(above) of three steam locomotives lined up at the Snowdon Mountain Railway's
Llanberis yard, an unusual sight now that the railway have cut back the
use of steam.
The occasion was a visit by a party of German steam railway operators
so I lingered to observe events. Diesel 9 Ninian
set off for the summit at 10:00 with one of the new carriages which
were delivered from late 2012.
Next, number 3 Wyddfa was positioned for the
visitors to climb inside the cab and take photographs, a rare
opportunity for a clear view of the front end which is normally up
against the coach.
The railway management have introduced 'Ivor the Engine' as a
feature in their cinema, and No. 3 has been dressed up as Ivor. More
than 20 Ivor the Engine animated films are being shown continuously at
the Snowdon Mountain Railway's cinema in Llanberis. For a video, and
the full story, see the Daily Post website.
The veteran of 1895 returned to the shed to allow diesel 11 Peris
to run into the station with a works train; a drinks machine was in the
wagon at the back and was unloaded, presumably defective.
Number 6 Padarn, built in 1922 left at 10:30
to take the party to the summit in the "Snowdon Lily" coach. From the
railway's website: 'The Snowdon Lily is built on the original chassis
and bogie from the original carriage of 1896. The unique original
nature of our railway means that the visitor of today will experience
exactly what our ancestors did back in 1896 and see for themselves how
beautiful the mountain is as they journey through the clouds to Yr
Wyddfa, Snowdon.
'Pushed by one of our three working steam locomotives from 1896, the
Snowdon Lily is an accurate re-construction of one of our original
Snowdon Mountain Tramroad & Hotels Co Ltd 1896 observation
carriages. Seating only 34 passengers with a central aisle, in twos and
fours, we urge passengers who prefer a little more room [yes please! -Ed.] to book their trip on the
Snowdon Lily.' A return trip by steam on the Snowdon Lily costs £35
compared with the normal £27.
Locomotives at Crewe
A guest locomotive at the 'West Coast 40' event (40 years from
completion of the West Coast Main Line electrification) over the
May-Day weekend at Crewe Heritage Centre was 90 034, which has recently
the first Class 90 locomotive to receive DRS livery. Hired from DB
Schenker, it will be used by Virgin Trains to power their
'Pretendolino' set of Mk3 coaches, used for charter trains and the
Thursdays- and Fridays-only 1G40 19:03 London Euston - Birmingham and
1B94 20:50 Birmingham – Euston. Picture by Darren Durrant.
Also present at the Heritage Centre, an old favourite, 57 307 Lady Penelope, the only one
of the ex-Virgin Trains Class 57/3s to retain its 'Thunderbirds' TV
show name (Darren Durrant).
An even older favourite: 47 847,
still
surviving
in
its
'large
logo' re-creation applied by Virgin
Trains in the latter days of their Class 47 fleet, shunting coaches at
Crewe on 1 May. (Martin Evans).
In its heyday as Railway World
Magazine / Brian Morrison from 2002 to 2006, this worked
Cross-Country and North Wales trains, to the delight of many
enthusiasts. Today it rarely ventures out on to the main line.
On 1 May DRS loco 66 302
brings the Daventry to Coatbridge intermodal into Platform 11 at Crewe
for a crew change (Martin Evans).
West Coast Railways continue to eschew the bright colours and bold
logos of other companies: 47 247
worked through Crewe light-engine from Tyseley to Carnforth on 1 May (Martin Evans).
D3871 (08 704) at
the former Crewe diesel depot on 1 May, wearing a replica of 1960s
livery (Martin Evans). This
loco belongs to the Harry Needle Railroad Company.
Two gauges at Welshpool - report by Glyn Jones
At Welshpool (Raven Square) station on the Welshpool and Llanfair Railway,
loco 823 Countess, having arrived with the
13.48 from Llanfair Caereinion, is serviced. The driver keeps a
wary eye on the malfunctioning water column as he oils around!
Problem solved, and ‘823’ has soot and char removed from her smokebox.
823 departs with the 14.10 for Llanfair Caereinion, about to tackle the
steep Golfa Bank.
Re-filling the bunker at Llanfair Caereinion, as seen from the station
picnic area.
Romanian ‘Resita’ 764.423 is seen in the yard at Llanfair
Caereinion. Her tanks, bunker and cab have been removed for
scrap. The boiler has been sold for stationary use for water treatment
developments and awaits removal. The chassis is being kept for
spare parts for ‘Resita’ 764.425 which was overhauled in Romania and
entered service on the W&L but has proved very unreliable.
At the Cambrian main line station on the other side of town, a very
clean Colas Rail Tamper, DR 73805,
un-attended,
stands
in
the
siding
.
An Arriva Trains Wales 4-car train, with 158 835 nearest the camera, awaits
departure with the 15:02 for Birmingham New Street.
Past times with Dennis Kerrison - Britannia Parade
Captions by John Hobbs
Britannia Class 4-6-2 70016 Ariel leaves the main "Down"
platform at Rhyl on 6 June 1963 with the 12 noon Crewe to
Llandudno; the top lamp bracket has been relocated lower down the
smokebox door and it has oblong holes in the smoke deflectors; as
fitted by the Western Region following the serious derailment
at
Milton
in
1955 which was said to be partly due to the handrails
obscuring the driver's view of signals. It would shortly move away to
Aston Shed in Birmingham. The engine went new to Leeds Holbeck
then to Stratford and Laira, then Cardiff and then on to the London
Midland Region.
70017 Arrow leaves Prestatyn on 22 May
1961, allocated to Willesden at the time and with revised hand-holds in
the smoke deflectors as fitted by Regions other than the Western: see
how they contrast with those on 70016. The old cycling-lion crest is
still displayed on the tender; the train is unknown but is conveying
some interesting ex-LNER vehicles at the front. This engine went new to
the Western Region moving to Trafford Park for the Midland Main Line in
1958.
70031 Byron leaves Prestatyn on 21 April
1963, still retaining a smokebox top lamp bracket, and with the
original style of handrail fitted to the smoke deflectors; it has
just been transferred to Aston but still visits North Wales with the
10.40 Sundays-only Manchester (Exchange) to Llandudno. Notice that the
signals on all lines are 'off' - it is a Sunday and Prestatyn Box
is switched out - and that a trainload of Mancunians can have a
nice afternoon in Llandudno. This engine went new to Holyhead and then
moved on to Longsight.
70042 Lord Roberts on 24 July 1965,
allocated to Holyhead at the time, heads train 1D12. the 09.05
Saturdays Only, Crewe to Bangor. This locomotive originally operated on
the Great Eastern main line, then moved on to the Midland main line
this engine too has the original smoke deflector hand rails.
Bizarre livery corner
GB Railfreight management are not averse to some wild extravagance in
loco colour schemes. 66 721 Harry Beck, seen above at Crewe on
29 April, commemorates its use on trains of materials for the London
Underground, being named for the inventor of the Underground map.
Picture by Richard Fleckney.
66 720, seen above on 30
April with the Trafford Park to Felixstowe intermodal at Deansgate,
carries a livery 'inspired by Emily Goodman, aged six, comprising of a
technicolor mix including pink, purple, primrose yellow, orange, sky
blue, royal blue, green and red.' The other side of the loco has a
different design.
Picture news
Peter Lloyd writes:
'here’s our new addition to Llandudno Junction’s platform 4, to
celebrate our colleague, station operator Rodney Fitzgibbon, now in his
50th year working on the railway. Well done Rodney.'
And from all at the website - thanks to Rodney and all the others who
work to keep the railway running.
Colas tamper DR 73935 stabled between night shifts in the tamper siding
at Llandudno Junction, 30 April (Peter
Lloyd).
A busy early-morning (06:48) scene at Altrincham on 2 May. A West Coast
47 departs with the Hooton to Ayr excursion run by Compass tours /
MCRUA, while a Northern Class 142 pacer heads for Chester with the
06:18 from Manchester and pair of Metrolink trams led by 3017 arrives (Greg Mape). News from Metrolink is
that the last two of the 'old' trams to remain in traffic, 2001 and
2003 from the 'T68a' batch built in 2000 for the Salford Quays line,
were withdrawn at the end of 30 April. The last of the 1000 series cars
from the early 1990s 'went' some weeks ago.
Real Time Hint
The Real
Time Trains website's 'Advanced Search' feature is a marvellous
tool for enthusiasts, particularly those keen to see and photograph
freight trains. Howver, its entries are only as good as the information
on the railway industry's own database from which it gets is data. The
database format includes a field called 'Activated' with associated
time which, on first sight, seems to be a a good guide to whether a
train will actually run. However, Train Companies can arrange for their
services to be automatically 'activated' by the software a fixed time
before scehduled departure, to avoid having to input the information.
This applies to many passenger trains, and also to some freights,
particularly those operated by Freightliner.
The extract above, for example, refers to a train of unloaded Greater
Manchester waste containers from the incinerator plant at Runcorn. Note
that the 'Activated' time 08:56 is exactly
two
hours before the scheduled departure time of 10:56, and it
was most likely an automatic activation, and there is a chance that the
train's entry will later be changed to 'Cancelled' as indeed happened
in this case. The only true evidence of the train running is 'bold'
typeface in the 'Realtime' column.
Our thanks to Paul Shannon for
elucidating this.
North
Wales Coast
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