21 July 2014
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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This list may be out of date if you are reading an archived page.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
26-27 July Llangollen
Railway 1960s weekend.
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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57 009 leads the return 'Caterpillar Cat' railtour (see
below) past the public footpath crossing at Dodleston (O.S. SJ 372612)
between Saltney Junction and Wrexham on 19 July, pictured by John
Mathers. The 're-doubling' team has yet to arrive at this
location, although the single track shows signs of having been re-laid
recently.
'Irish Mancunian' is Go
The proposed second loco-hauled diagram for Arriva Trains Wales, to be
on the Manchester line, mentioned here in previous issues, has
'gone public' with a press
announcement
from the Department for Transport, from which we quote
(minus the speeches):
Rail passengers in England and Wales will benefit
from thousands more seats on services across the border thanks to a
£1.2 million deal between the Department for Transport and Arriva Train
Wales, Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin announced today (16 July
2014).
Under the plans, which have been supported by the Welsh government, the
train operator will run an additional locomotive and 4 carriages,
boosting services for passengers and local businesses on the popular
routes between Llandudno and Holyhead to Manchester and Birmingham.
The additional services are expected to start in December and will mean
at least 2,450 extra seats across the morning and evening peaks every
week. The deal has been made possible through money paid to the
department by
Deutsche Bahn, following the company’s acquisition of Arriva Plc. Under
the current rail industry framework train companies are required to pay
a change of control fee when changes to the operator are made.
Who knew there was such a thing as a 'change of control fee'? The
diagram for this 67-worked push-pull train, as we have it, will be:
1D51.07:16 Crewe - Chester 1H84 07:40 Chester - Manchester Piccadilly 1D34 09:50 Manchester Piccadilly - Holyhead 1H89 12:59 Holyhead - Manchester Piccadilly 1D31 16:50 Manchester Piccadilly - Llandudno. 2D79 19:13 Llandudno - Llandudno Junction 2D80 19:28 Llandudno Junction - Llandudno 1K96 19:38 Llandudno - Crewe
Quoting 'extra seats per week' seems to be a way to create a nice high
figure, without actually saying how many more seats there will be on a
single peak-time train, which is what people actually want to
know. The reference to Birmingham is interesting; presumably this
refers to the re-deployment of rolling stock displaced by the
loco-hauled train, although on other forums it has been said that the
stock released will be used on the Manchester - Cardiff service and/or
an hourly train to Aberystwyth.
The plan has already become controversial, because the current 07:40
departure from Chester is a train which has started from Llandudno,
making possible a commuter arrival in Manchester before 09:00. If
replaced by a train starting in Chester, this option will be lost to
passengers from west of Chester. There is a currently Virgin train from
Holyhead which will make a connection at Chester for Manchester, but
this does not serve Llandudno, Abergele or Shotton. We await
developments.
The new train certainly be popular with enthusiasts: let's hope they
don't take up all the extra seats intended for commuters!
Locomotive assortment
A Network Rail test train, top and tailed by 37 402 Stephen
Middlemore and and 37 423 Spirit of the Lakes
passes Mobberley on the Mid-Cheshire line, 21 July (Andrew Vinten).
37
402 was a regular performer 20 years ago on the Manchester -
Holyhead 'Irish Mancunian' service.
The evening Cardiff - Holyhead express passes Dorrington just after
19:00 on 15 July with 67 003 in charge. Picture by Stavros Lainas.
35 minutes later, the Baglan Bay to Chirk loaded timber train with
Colas 56 113 (Stavros Lainas).
The timber train on 15 July had a short stopover at Sutton Bridge
Junction which gave Stavros Lainas another opportunity to
photograph it again at 20:15 in soft evening sunshine at Battlefield,
north of Shrewsbury. This is traditionally believed to be the site of
the Battle of Shrewsbury in 1403, which features in Shakespeare's
'Henry IV Part 1': the nearby Battlefield 1403 Farm
Shop and Café has an exhibition about the battle.
The 'Caterpillar Cat' - report by Richard Putley
The 'Caterpillar Cat' railtour from Eastleigh to Crewe on 19 July,
organised by Pathfinder Tours, was run in connection with the DRS
Gresty Road Depot Open Day. It had been billed as the first passenger
train hauled by one of the new DRS Class 68 Diesel
Locomotives, but when my ticket arrived the accompanying letter said
that they have not been passed for passenger operation as yet. So
instead the tour would be hauled by a class 57 loco.
[The name of the tour refers to the diesel engine in the Class 69
locos, which is made by the Caterpillar
company in the USA. The name might be faimilar to some from
die-cast models of tracked vehicles and bulldozers.]
I joined the tour at Westbury (picture above) where no less than four
new Colas Class 70 diesel locos could be seen. But I was only able to
identify 70 809 the one nearest to me. The tour arrived a few
minutes late behind former Freightliner locos 57 009 and 57
008. Further pick ups were at Trowbridge, Bath and Filton Abbey
Wood, the train used the 'Rhubarb Curve' to avoid Bristol Temple Meads
station.
We headed north via Gloucester, where we passed The Statesman Rail
'Exmoor Coast Statesman' excursion from Sheffield to Minehead, which
was topped and tailed by a maroon (ex-Arriva Blue) West Coast
Railway locos 57 314 and 57 315. We then took the
Worcester line at Abbots Wood Junction, taking the former Oxford,
Worcester and Wolverhampton line ...
... through Worcester Shrub Hill (above) with its array of
lower-quadrant semaphore signals, Kidderminster - where two preserved
class 50s - including newly-restored 50 026 Indomitable
- were noted, and a Deltic.
At Stourbridge Junction, Chiltern Railways 67 014 Thomas
Telford was stabled with a set of their 'Mainline' carriages. We
turned right on to the Stour Valley Line and climbed the steep bank to
Rowley Regis. We had been booked to stop in the Up Loop line here to
allow a scheduled train to overtake us, but as we were running
about 9 minutes late we carried on only to be held at Smethwick
Junction. After a train from Birmingham Snow Hill had passed we then
turned right on to the chord line down to Galton Junction and on to the
Birmingham New Street - Wolverhampton line.
Turning left at Soho West Junction we followed the Soho Loop Line to
Perry Barr where we gained the original Grand Junction line.
This took us to Crewe, passing several locos at Bescot including 60
099 Tata Steel in its silver paint job which looked
commendably clean. After Crewe the tour continued to Chester for those
who wished to visit there instead. I walked down to Gresty Road depot
where examples of most DRS diesel classes could be seen, including
several class 68s. They fired-up the engine of one and it sounded
impressive but it was disappointing not to see any running. Also on
display was the narrow gauge Ffestiniog loco Prince which was
in
steam.
After I'd seen everything at Gresty Bridge I walked over to the Crewe Heritage Centre
(The Railway Age as was.) I got there just in time to see the stock of
our train returning, with 57 009 leading and 57 008 on the back.
Parked awaiting overhaul were several steam locos including GWR 2-6-2T 5553
and 2-8-0T 5224. On 'Thunderbird' duty at Crewe Station was 57
308.
Rumours were flying that a different loco would haul the return leg of
the tour, possibly even a 68; we understand that there was a plan to
use a Class 66/4 for the benefit of the 'rare traction' fans, but it
had a broken windscreen, so in the event it was 57 009 and 008 again. I
rejoined the tour, which then headed on to Chester to pick up people
who had opted to visit the city. We continued via Wrexham, Shrewsbury
(where 97 302 and 97 304 John Tiley were noted in their
depot) , Hereford and the east chord at Maindee Junction on the
outskirts of Newport (Monmouthshire), then through the Severn Tunnel,
re-joining our outward route at Filton Abbey Wood. We arrived back at
Filton Abbey Wood several minutes early, but we were then held on the
'Rhubarb Curve' until it was time for us to proceed. So ended an
enjoyable day out.
Sixties at Llangollen
26-27 July is the 1960s
Weekend at the Llangollen Railway. 'Relive the sights and sounds of
the 60’s. Visitors are encouraged to dress up! BBQ on the platform at
Llangollen Station. Come in a 60s era car and claim one free rover
ticket plus a 1960s style market place ... An extremely popular event
that you will not want to miss out on.'
It seems that 'up to 3' steam locomotives are likely to be in use
(subject to availability). Currently available are standard class 4
tank 80072 and GWR 2-8-0 3802. At least one of these will get
special temporary weathering treatment for the weekend to show visitors
how grimy and uncared for steam locomotives became in the run up to
their replacement with diesel locomotives and railcars in the 60s.
Class 26 diesel number D5310, in 1960's green livery with original
train describer discs will run on both days. This locomotive was the
state of the art in the 60s, having been built in 1958 in Smethwick by
the Birmingham Railway, Carriage and Wagon Co. The superbly restored
Class 109 Wickham DMU is likely to complete the line-up of trains. Free
vintage bus rides will be on offer between Llangollen and Carrog, using
two vehicles from the North West Museum of Transport, calling at Berwyn
and Glyndyfrdwy en route.
A vintage vehicle rally will be staged at Glyndyfrdwy station and live
music with Dr Beeching's real ale bar can be enjoyed on Llangollen
station throughout the weekend, where there is also a 1960s-style
market place.
A timetable for the weekend can be found on the Railway's
Facebook page where we located most of the above information,
supplementing the brief mention on the Railway's website. (Unfortunate
for the few remaining oldies who don't understand that Facebook now
rules many people's lives.)
Mold Junction 1995 - by Roger Smith
I was interested by the changes which have taken place in the vicinity
of the Mold Junction Yard, as depicted in John Cowlishaw's photograph
from this year and Dave Sallery's photograph from 1984 (last issue). The Silver Birch is doing
wonders. I enclose an intermediate photograph of the same location
taken on 6 August 1995, eleven years after Dave Sallery's
photograph. It is of an eight-car InterCity 125 service from
Holyhead to London Euston passing the derelict Mold Junction Yard.
BREL. HST Power Car no. 43 042 is leading; no. 43 041
was trailing. Dave Sallery refers to loudspeakers to the left of the
main line; these are seen in my photograph close to the left of
the frame.
My grandfather Caleb Smith worked his entire life at the Mold Junction
Yard — 50 years' service.
Another change in this scene has occurred in the
background. In 1993 (I believe it was), the American company
Raytheon acquired the ownership of what had been the British Aerospace
125 business jet production at the Hawarden Airport. In the
background in my photograph is a hangar at 2-Site at the airport; just
visible is the then-new 'Raytheon Corporate Jets' logo.
Open Day at Gresty Bridge
A selection of views from our contributors of the selection of motive
power on show on 19 July at the DRS Gresty Bridge depot open day.
Above, pictured by David Hennessey, a line-up of 20 309,
37 606 and electric loco 90 034 - the latter
displaying the 'DRS Crewe on a Mission' headboard as well as the yellow
'Taking You to the Tour' one created for DRS's participation in
transporting spectators to the British stages of the Tour de France.
90 034 shows off its DRS livery (Richard Putley). There is a
complex story here: Virgin Trains has a set of Mk3 coaches, known as
the 'Pretendolino' which it uses for charters and for Thursday and
Friday-evening relief trains (19:03 London Euston - Birmingham and
20:50 return). DRS has been awarded a two-year contract to provide a
locomotive, but does not have any electric locos, so it has hired this
one from DB Schenker and had it re-liveried in a simplified version of
DRS branding. It is based at Wembley depot: as can be seen, Gresty
Bridge depot has no overhead wires.
Star attraction were the new Class 68s. Illustrating 150 years of
traction evolution, 68 002 Intrepid was posed
alongside Ffestiniog Railway no 2 Prince which was in
steam (David Parry). David notes 'A great show with a good
attendance, though unfortunately visited by rain.'
68 004 Rapid (David Parry). Three
other class 68s were in the shed. DRS is giving the new
locos names mostly familiar to Western Region enthusiasts as carried by
members of the diesel-hydraulic 'Warship' classes. Why these particular
warship names have been chosen we cannot say: is there a reason?
According to a recent article in the railway press, the only component
of these locos (except the nameplates perhaps?) that is made in Britain
is the TPWS cab-signalling gear which is a system unique to the UK.
Crewe station views, 19 July - by David Hennessey
First Great Western have been sending Mk3 coaches from their HST sets
to Wabtec at Kilmarnock for refurbishment and modification. One such
train passed through Crewe station on 19 July, hauled by 57
316.
West Coast Railways / Stratford 47 Group 47 580 County of
Essex trailed the Kilmarnock-bound move out of Crewe station.
Two of the coaches - first class opens, apparently.
57 308 County of Staffordshire on standby, back to
normal duties after its Tour de France exploits. Its smart appearance
contrasts with that of 57 316.
DRS 57 009 and 57 008 blast their way out of Crewe
bound for Chester, with the Eastleigh-bound return leg of Pathfinder's
'Caterpillar Cat' tour.
Privately-preserved 86 259 Les Ross gets going from
Crewe, doing is usual work of hauling the London to Preston /
Carlisle leg of Railway Touring Company's 'Cumbrian Mountain Express'.
The steam leg was due to be hauled by LNER A4 60009 Union of South
Africa, subject to the present firefighter's strike permitting this ...
and in fact the steam loco did work the train, but only south from
Carlisle over the Settle and Carlisle line. We understand that as a
precaution the diesel loco on the rear assisted over the steeper
sections to reduce the risk of sparked being thrown out of the chimney
under heavy load.
Blaenau Adopters' Event - report by Larry Davies, Community
Rail Officer
On Thursday 17 July 2014 the Conwy Valley Line Partnership held a
ceremony at Blaenau Ffestiniog to acknowledge the culmination of a rail
safety project undertaken with the pupils and staff of Ysgol
Maenofferen which is alongside the stations.
The sun shone and there were plenty of smiles when the children from
Ysgol Maenofferen visited Blaenau Ffestiniog station. The children from
year 3 have been working hard and having lots of fun working with
Arriva Trains Wales' School Liaison Officer, Phil Caldwell, on the rail
safety
awareness project. The class have made trips on both the Conwy Valley
line and the Ffestiniog Railway and have also done some wonderful
artwork which has been erected on the Ffestiniog Railway's station
building to welcome Conwy Valley trains to the town. The murals are
certainly 'bang up-to-date, even featuring people enjoying the newly
opened Zip World at nearby
Llechwedd Slate Caverns.
The murals were unveiled by Lord Dafydd Ellis Thomas (Assembly Member
for Dwyfor Meirionnydd) at an early morning ceremony but something was
missing - Trains! So the whole school came back in time to welcome the
lunchtime arrivals from Porthmadog and Llandudno. Dr Dai Roberts, a
Trustee of the Ffestiniog/Welsh Highland Railways addressed and advised
the gathering of all the good work and achievements of the
Project. Passengers were rewarded with some enthusiastic singing,
flag waving and music from the school band. Newly appointed Mayor,
Rhian Williams, and Chair of the Chamber of Commerce, Clare Britton
joined in the festivities.
Ysgol Maenofferen join the Blaenau Ffestiniog Station Adoption group to
look after 'their' station. The station adoption group were formed last
year under the Arriva Trains Wales very successful scheme and their
achievements are clear to see - cheerful flowers and a litter free
station. A plaque recognising their work was also presented by Lord
Ellis Thomas. At the conclusion of the ceremonies, a joint
simultaneous departure of both FR (hauled by David Lloyd George)
and
Arriva (150 260) trains was achieved at 11:46 to much
whistling and horn blowing.
Both stations are looking much brighter with fresh paintwork on the
Arriva platform and some new benches on the Ffestiniog platform to
match those in the town car park. The money for these benches on the
Ffestiniog Platform has been raised in memory of former booking office
stalwart, Roy Woods, who passed away last year. Roy was a staunch
supporter of the town and frequently complained about the lack of
facilities, especially benches. Now we can say with certainty we have a
station he could be proud of.
A visit to the Wirral Tramway - with George Jones
Saturday 19 July was scheduled as the public launch of the Liverpool
Corporation 'Baby Grand' tramcar No.245 after its restoration by the
Merseyside Tramway Preservation Society at the Wirral Transport Museum.
Unfortunately, a problem with the braking system caused the MTPS to
postpone the launch until a later date. Nevertheless, I went along to
see how things had progressed with a well remembered vehicle from my
schooldays which has survived the various moves in preservation since
set aside in 1957.
On arrival at Woodside Ferry the second disappointment was the
suspension of the tram service as a consequence of an electrical fire
in the overhead supply. Offering a tram replacement bus service was
Crosville DFG 38, 1961 Bristol Lodekka FS6G with ECW
H33/27RD body, which took passengers on a tour of Birkenhead
docks before calling in at the Museum in Taylor Street. It is
seen above at Woodside awaiting patronage - once a location for many
Crosville buses offering routes in Wirral, Cheshire and North Wales.
All cars in the tram fleet were crowded into the shed where 245 had
pride of place over the pit and an opportunity to board for inspection
was granted. The streamlined styling still looks modern in 2014 - many
people's
opinion better than modern cars none of which are double deckers.
The interior layout on the lower deck, in the Liverpool Corporation
green and cream styling with leather seats ...
... and top decks certainly rolled back the years and rekindled
memories of journeys on this type of car in the era when the Liverpool
Tramways system was being run down in favour of bus services. The width
of the seats seems unlikely to cope with the average size of two of
today's adults.
Following the end of tram services in September 1957, No.245 was put
away in the municipal Edge Lane works where I saw it on occasions in
1968/69 as it awaited public display in the Liverpool Museum where the
Transport gallery wasn't big enough to accommodate it. It eventually
moved onto the Steamport depot at Southport where conditions caused
deterioration, but it re-emerged on display in Liverpool as part of the
Large Object Collection in Princess Dock. When this popular venue
closed the tram went into storage at Bootle before agreement was
reached to its restoration by the Merseyside
Tramway Preservation Society.
The restoration of the car over the past 8 years is to a very high
standard to meet the requirements of the National Museums Liverpool (a
new title), aided by a Heritage Lottery grant. It now seems that
a resolution of the braking problem will allow for an appearance at the
Wirral Bus & Tram show on 5 October.
Also showing signs of visible progress in the shed was No.2, the
sole surviving Warrington car, with work now centred on the top
deck. Completion of this long-term restoration project will result in
another popular pre-war car for operation on the tramway. This for a
car that was withdrawn in the 1930s and the lower saloon survived as a
bowling green club house until 1977.
Meanwhile, out on the Mersey, the cruise liner Celebrity Infinity
was moored at the Liverpool Cruise Liner terminal, taking fuel from the
tanker Mersey Spirit
and made for a day of some variety.
Metrolink events - pictures by Greg Mape
This interesting vehicle - a Mercedes-Benz Unimog - belongs to
pantograph manufacturers Brecknell Willis, and was spotted on 15 July
making tests on the Manchester Metrolink line
to Manchester Airport, which opens to passengers later this year.
A look at the substantial building work around Manchester Victoria on 4
July. There is a single temporary tram track running to the right of
the previous alignment (with no platform, trains are not calling there
until November 2014), as the track enters the station. A new modern
roof is being grafted onto the existing station.
This work will provide a third track through the station, to allow
flexibility once the 'second city crossing' between St Peters Square
and Victoria is built. The single-track section is worked with a
token system, usually with 'flights' of two trams each way.
2015 will see extension work begin at St Peter's Square, involving a
long period of closure of that very busy station.
North
Wales Coast
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