07 July 2014
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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This list may be out of date if you are reading an archived page.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 2014
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 Note change of route Crewe, Wilmslow,
Stockport, Manchester
Piccadilly, Warrington Bank Quay 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 Note change of route Crewe,
Wilmslow, Stockport, Manchester
Piccadilly, Warrington Bank Quay 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. Note change of route Crewe,
Wilmslow, Stockport, Manchester
Piccadilly, Warrington Bank Quay 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.
November 2014
Saturday - Sunday 1/2 November Wirral 2014 Model
Railway Exhibition at Mosslands School, Mosslands Drive, Wallasey,
Wirral CH45 8PJ . 18 layouts, 13 traders, demonstrators and Society
stands, refreshments, free vintage bus rides.
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37 425 Concrete Bob and and 37 405 cross
Chirk viaduct on the
morning of 1 July with the Crewe - Crewe via Shrewsbury, Bidston and
Wrexham test train, heading south for
Shrewsbury on the first leg of its itinerary. Picture by Mark Riley.
Several extra
issues have appeared recently: see the list in the left column.
Chester and North Wales Explorer, 5 July
Saturday 5 July's excursion visitor to North Wales was a Compass Tours
'Chester and North Wales Explorer', train 1Z65, which had started
at 07:42 from Bishop Auckland, a station in north-east England normally
served only by Northern Rail branch line trains. Above, Rhyl's
signaller keeps an eye on the Westbound train as it passes, headed by
47 804 ...
... with 47 786 Roy Castle OBE trailing. Note West
Coast Railway Company's ex-Manchester Pullman Mk 2 kitchen car: a
'genuine' Pullman, unlike the many Mk2 First-Class coaches which now
run in Pullman-style livery. Pictures by Roly High.
Crossing the Causeway between Llandudno Junction and Conwy. The train,
which reached Chester via Stockport and the Mid-Cheshire line,
unusually ran non-stop from Chester to Holyhead where coach tours were
provided for passengers (Garry Stroud).
Halton Curve gets a boost
On 3 July, Chancellor the Exchequer Mr Osborne announced a package of
transport improvements for the Liverpool area, which included £10.4
million to upgrade the 'Halton Curve' line which, we assume, will
provide signalling and track alterations to allow trains to run in both
directions over the short link between Frodsham Junction and Halton
Junction (Runcorn) which in recent times has only been usable in the
Runcorn-bound direction and has has a vestigial passenger service of
one train on summer Saturdays only.
UK Secretary of State for Wales, David Jones MP told the press:
'Today’s announcement of a £10.4m upgrade to the Halton Curve rail line
is great news for North Wales. It will enable an estimated 500,000 more
people to access employment, educational and recreational
opportunities. It will improve links to Liverpool John Lennon Airport
and help stimulate further investment.'
This infrastructure improvement is surely a good idea, but the £10.4
million clearly does not include the provision of any actual train
services. There are suggestions in various documents of Liverpool -
Liverpool South Parkway (for the John Lennon Airport) - Chester -
Llandudno trains, but who will fund them, which franchise company -
Northern or Wales - will operate them, and where will the rolling stock
come from? The Welsh Government has shown little interest in improving
services between North Wales and North-west England in the past.
37 and Caroline
On Wednesday 2 July a Network Rail 'Inspection Train' toured the North
Wales
lines, formed of inspection saloon 'Caroline' with 37 409 Lord
Hinton for power. Starting from Shrewsbury, the train left
Shrewsbury at 08:05 and travelled via Wrexham - Chester (reverse) -
Llandudno (reverse) - Blaenau Ffestiniog (reverse) - Llandudno Junction
- Holyhead (reverse) - Chester (reverse) - and back to Shrewsbury,
arriving at 19:07. 'Caroline' has driving controls, so it can lead the
train when reversals are needed. Stavros Lainas photographed
the
train
in this way (above) at Leaton, north of Shrewsbury, in the
morning.
On the Llandudno branch, approaching the terminus (Garry Stroud).
The
locomotive
is leading at this point, after a reversal at Chester.
In recently-improved Llandudno station - the improvement process
involved some demolition in the area behind the locomotive (Gerry
Stroud).
Heading back from Llandudno and approaching Deganwy station, past
the 'fixed distant' board which serves to warn drivers heading for
Llandudno that they may have to stop at the signals on the approach to
Llandudno station.
Looking the other way from the same footbridge, showing the train
passing signal DY6, the Up Home signal operated by Deganwy signalbox.
On the white plate is a telephone number on the railway internal
network - a driver stopped at the signal can call the signaller, rather
than having to get out and use a fixed phone as has been the general
rule for
many years.
Arrival at Blaenau Ffestiniog (Jack Bowley).
Ready to return to Llandudno Junction (Jack Bowley).
Heading for Holyhead at Llanfair PG (Richard Fleckney)
37 409 now on the rear again, returning though Bangor (Rowan Crawshaw).
Ahead
is
the 890-yard Bangor Tunnel, its west portal, designed by
Chester and Holyhead Railway architect Francis Thompson, perhaps
inspired by a
gate of the Temple
of
Isis at Philae in Egypt, a destination popular
with wealthy Victorian tourists. (The temple was moved in the 1960s,
following the construction of the Aswan dam, and now stands in a
different location)
Denis Bates writes: 'An interesting parallel is the
Egyptian Arch Bridge on the Belfast to Dublin main line near Newry,
built in 1851, not long after the line through Bangor opened in 1848.
This arch was designed by Sir John MacNeill: here is a link to
a picture.'
No Mid-Cheshire Steam
The Railway Touring Company
'North Wales Coast Express' steam trains were initially notified as
running from Manchester to Chester via the Mid-Cheshire line and
calling at Altrincham on 3 and 10 August and 7 September. However,
these trains will in fact run from Manchester Piccadilly to Chester
via, and calling at, Warrington Bank Quay.
In the Conwy Valley
Larry Davies writes: 'In my capacity as Community Rail
Officer for the Conwy Valley line, I was at Tal-y-Cafn
station (above) on the evening of 3 July, an excellent example of
the dedication and hard work of the volunteer station adopters who are
members of the Llandudno & Conwy Valley Railway Society.
'The last southbound train of the day, 150 250 on the 19:03 ex
Llandudno, heading for the mountains – a lovely peaceful evening where
the rural railway comes into its own.'
37s and Flasks
37 602 and 37 605 worked a flask train to and from
Valley on 2 July. Nick Gurney photographed them waiting at the
Valley transfer point.
Heading east through Bangor (Rowan Crawshaw). It seems there
almost as many 37s to be seen in North Wales these days as were around
in the 1990s when our site was founded to celebrate the 37-hauled
passenger trains of that era.
Shotton (Tim Rogers).
Picture assortment
The early morning Holyhead to Cardiff express on 2 July (above) passed Stavros
Lainas at Leaton, north of Shrewsbury, a little later than booked
at 08:02 on July with 67 003 leading.
Meole Brace, south of Shrewsbury, with the late running Dee Marsh -
Margam steel empties at 11:52, also on 2 July (Stavros Lainas).
47 784 leads an Alnmouth - Shrewsbury charter south
through a soggy Saltney on 28 June (Mark Riley).
As previously reported, 28 June also saw an excursion from Ayr to
Holyhead. Bernard Allan photographed the train on arrival at
Holyhead with 48 786 Roy Castle OBE on the east end ...
View from the road bridge as an enthusiast takes a 'detail shot.' The
Cardiff express stock is stabled in the background (Bernard Allan).
The purpose of Palmerston
Thanks are due to Phil Brown, who writes: 'I can give you a bit
of background as to why Palmerston was at Porthmadog when John
Roobottom visited (see 2
July
issue). It had been hired by the BBC as part of the series to
do with Wales during the war (presented by Eddie Butler). With
Boston Lodge being used as a 'munitions factory' they were focussing
their attention on there, along with a relative of one of the original
workshop employees.
'If you look carefully at the top of Palmerston's Cab Roof
[another look at John's picture, above] you can see the Go-Pro camera
that is attached to film the journey to Boston Lodge. How do I know all
this? I was the fireman at the time.'
Test Train 37s
We've already shown some pictures of the 1 July Network Rail train
(radio survey?) featuring 37 425, but here are some more which
are well worth a look. Above, the train at Penyffordd on the Bidston
line (Tim Rogers).
Just before 13:00, 37 425 approaches Wrexham Central after its
visit to Bidston (Mark Riley).
Soon after, the train was running onto the loop at Croes Newydd. and 20
minutes later was
heading north to Chester, ahead of its planned departure time (Mark
Riley).
Pen yr Orsedd gala at Llanberis
On 5-6 July the Llanberis
Lake
Railway held a Steam Gala which featured locomotives that had
worked at the Pen yr Orsedd quarry in the Nantlle valley. The resident
locos were joined by Una from the National Slate Museum and former Pen
yr Orsedd stable-mate Britomart which is normally based on the
Ffestiniog Railway. Alan Crawshaw's picture from 5 July shows
(left to right) Dolbadarn, Una and the little vertical
boilered loco Leary.
Resident locos Elidir and Dolbadarn. This locomotive
design, built by the Hunslet firm in Leeds, were favourites of the
North Wales slate quarries, and quite a
number of them still exist in preservation (Alan Crawshaw).
Elidir runs along the lakeside with a demonstration train of slate
wagons (Alan Crawshaw).
A high level view shows the line's lovely situation alongside Llyn
Padarn (Alan Crawshaw).
On Sunday 6 July, the balanced inclined plane in use at Gilfach Ddu
replicating the historic operation of these machines throughout the
slate industry; labour on this occasion was provided by Ffestiniog
Railway staff. Picture by John Hobbs.
The hard labour evident in loading and unloading the platforms was
evident and the contrast with modern materials handling by fork lift
truck was stark; it took about 20 minutes to unload and load the
platforms (John Hobbs).
Hard work was also required moving coal about (above, left) and the
very warm day
did not help; a spectacular display by the staff which sadly was not
rewarded with may passengers, at least on the Sunday of the event.
Above right: a busy scene at Gilfach Ddu as two trains pass with the
four Quarry Hunslets on display. Elidir and Britomart
are passed by Dolbadarn and Una on the 1.55 Llanberis
to Penllyn (John Hobbs).
The newly-restored Padarn Railway brake van trails behind Elidir
while leaving Cei Llydan with a demonstration freight at about 4.20 pm
on 6 July (John Hobbs).
Britomart leads Una away from Llanberis station
with the final working of the weekend, an empty stock train to Gilfach
Ddu at about 17:30 on 6 July (John Hobbs).
John Hobbs writes: 'I think I could claim to be the only
person there on Sunday who had actually worked in the Pen-yr-Orsedd
Quarry! I spent a few days each year in the period 1975-79 examining
the lifting equipment, and one job was to examine the aerial ropeway
"Blondin" cranes. By the time I worked there Una, Sybil
and Britomart had departed and manpower was used to move the
slate about the quarry; at least so it was within reach of Fork
Lift Trucks and the like; it was a period of transition. The picture
above aerial ropeway cranes at Pen-yr-Orsedd around 1975 (picture: John
Hobbs Collection).'
Taking you to the Tour
To help handle the crowds of spectators travelling to the Yorkshire
stages of the Tour de France, Northern Rail hired in locomotives and
coaches including a train provides by DRS, whose staff had provided
unusual locomotive adornments, as seen above on 57 308 County
of
Staffordshire seen at Leeds on 5 July; we were there! (Charlie
Hulme)
Apparently it has been intended to have 57 309 on the other end
of the train, and that also received the bike-wheel buffers, only to be
called out to rescue a stricken Pendolino the night before, so 47
810 Peter Bath MBE (in the new version of DRS livery)
stood-in, as seen at Harrogate.
Riding this train brought back memories, as it included some of the
coaches formerly used by Arriva on the Cardiff - Holyhead express,
including brake-standard coach 9521, still with its internal bilingual
notices, etc.
Also in use over the weekend were the Virgin Mk3 'Pretendolino' coach
set, worked by two Class 67s, and a pair of Class 20s. Northern Rail
really did rise to the occasion. well done to the company and
espcecially the members of the 'backroom' staff who volunteered to don
yellow shirts and assist travellers.
North
Wales Coast
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