15 January 2018
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Forthcoming events
January 2018
Thursday 25 January Light
Rail Transit Association (Manchester) Tony
Young: The Tramways of Bury
February
2018
Friday 2 February Clwyd
Railway Circle John Sloane 'From Vulcan Foundry to the
Khyber' British built steam at work in Pakistan, It includes
pictures taken on the spectacular line up the Khyber Pass to
the Afghan border.
Tuesday 6 February North
Wales Railway Circle Barry Wynn, assisted by Steve
Morris, presents more of his work. A superb collection
of photographs depicting British Railway practice going back
to steam days.
Wednesday 7 February RCTS
Merseyside Chester & North Wales
LIVERPOOL Doug Birmingham –
“Rail Reflections in Merseyside”
8 February Llandudno
and Conwy Valley Railway Society
Ellis Morey: The Penrhyn Railway
Monday 19 February RCTS
Merseyside Chester & North Wales
CHESTER Ian Pilkington –
“Steam and Diesel in the Northern Fells”
March 2018
Friday 2 March Clwyd
Railway Circle Annual General Meeting followed by
“Film Shows - Railways Past and Present”.
Tuesday 6 March North
Wales Railway Circle North to South. North Wales
Railway Circle member Ken Owen returns with a pictorial
journey north to south over the British Rail network.
Thursday 8 March Llandudno
and Conwy Valley Railway Society John
Cashen RCTS: North West & North Wales
Reminiscences in the 1960s
Monday 19 March RCTS
Merseyside Chester & North Wales
CHESTER Peter Berry – “The Robert
Whitfield Collection, UK Steam 1948 - 1958” Note:
Changed venue for this meeting due to renovations: the
Queen Hotel, opposite Chester station.
April 2018
Tuesday 3 April North
Wales Railway Circle Tony Griffith returns with two
presentations. The Dyserth Branch and an historic
shipping disaster off the North Wales Coast.
Wednesday 4 April RCTS
Merseyside Chester & North Wales
LIVERPOOL Alan Moore – “The
Railways of St. Helens”
Friday 6 April Clwyd
Railway Circle John Cashen 'North West & North
Wales Reminiscences In The 1960s' The presentation will
cover from Liverpool to Liverpool within an area bounded by
Southport, Burscough, Standish, Warrington, Crewe,
Whitchurch, Chester, Holyhead, Barmouth, Aberystwyth,
Shrewsbury, Wrexham, the Wirral, Chester, Northwich and
Speke
Thursday 12 April Llandudno
and Conwy Valley Railway Society Members
Evening
Saturday 14 April Steam on the Coast. Saphos Trains.
Crewe - Holyhead and return. 46100, 34046 or 70000. Special
introductory fares from £45.
Monday 16 April RCTS
Merseyside Chester & North Wales
CHESTER Brian Armand – “Railway
Roundabout”
Thursday 26 April Brian Yates: Light
Rail Transit Association (Manchester) The
Tramways of Berlin, Potsdam, Lyon and Grenoble.
Saturday 28 April Steam on the Coast UK
Railtours Ynys Mon Express. Leicester -
Holyhead 60163 Tornado Derby -
Holyhead - Derby.
May 2018
Tuesday 8 May North
Wales Railway Circle AGM and Annual Photographic
Competition
Thursday 10 May Llandudno
and Conwy Valley Railway Society W. Gordon
Davies: A taste of Japan
June 2018
Saturday 2 June Steam on the Coast. Saphos Trains.
Crewe - Holyhead and return. 46100, 34046 or 70000.
July 2018
August 2018
Saturday 4 August. Steam on the Coast. Saphos
Trains. Bangor (07.00/22.15) Llandudno Jct
(07.25/21.55) Colwyn Bay (07.35/21.45) Rhyl (07.50/21.30)
Prestatyn (08.00/21.20) Flint (08.10/21.10) Chester
(08.30/20.50) Crewe (09.30/20.00) Stafford to Stratford-on
Avon. 46100, 34046 or 70000.
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Tram across the Mersey, between between Barlow Moor Road and
Sale Water Park stops, Airport line. Picture by Greg
Mape, 13 January.
No actual
'North Wales Coast Railway' items on hand this week - hope
you enjoy these exotica. - Charlie
Sunday diversions - pictures by Greg Mape
North Wales - Manchester trains on Sunday 14 January were
(mostly) running between Chester and Manchester only and
diverted via the Mid-Cheshire line. Above, a Class 175
forming the 15:36 Chester - Manchester Piccadilly passes the
decrepit building of Barrow
for Tarvin station on the section between Mickle
Trafford and Moldsworth which was singled in 1969.
Earlier in the day, 175 008 passes well-kept
Northwich station.
Shipping on the Web
Dave Sallery has completed a new collection for his
website with many excellent captioned pictures of ships
around North Wales, the Manchester Ship Canal, and around
the UK. Go to www.penmorfa.com/Ships.
A Northwich reminiscence - by Charlie Hulme
Greg's picture brings to mind my first visit to Northwich
station. My
father died at Christmas 1967, and one day in early
January, a few days after the funeral, I felt able to have a
train trip - my main weekend activity at the time. Vaguely
aware that steam could still be seen at Northwich, where the
shed was alongside the station, I travelled to Manchester
and caught a Chester-bound DMU - via Stretford and
Sale in those days of course. When I got there it was dark,
and very cold. I spent some time at the end of the platform
keeping by the brazier attached to the water column; as far
as I can recall I saw no trains at all until I headed home.
This picture by the late Harold Bowtell from the Manchester Locomotive
Society collection shows the scene in August 1967;
withdrawn steam locos dominate the view of Northwich (8E)
from the platform. The water column can be made out at the
end of the platform, in front of the Cheshire Line
Committee-style semaphore signal. As Greg's picture shows,
although the two goods lines behind the platform remain
today, the shed site itself is occupied by a housing
development known as Pullman Drive. It's pleasant that a
railway connection has been retained, even if the name
chosen has little connection with the place.
Relaying on Snowdon - pictures by Gary Jones
Track relaying work in progress on the Snowdon Mountain
Railway on 11 January, with diesel loco no 9 Ninian
in attendance.
The digger is not a road-rail vehicle, it travels by rail on
a specially adapted wagon.
A completed section, which has been built still has to be
aligned and bedded in. The Abt rack system differs from
others in having two rack rails, set so that the teeth on
one are opposite the trough on the other, giving a smoother
traction.
These Y-shaped steel sleepers have been used on Swiss and
German lines, but the SMR appears to be the first user in
the UK. Unlike the pressed-steel normal sleepers in use on
Network Rail, they have an I-section; various claims are
made for the Y-shape idea, such as need for less ballast,
and less tendency to move sideways on curves.
Ordsall Chord safari - by Charlie Hulme
On 4 January I took a walk to see what views of trains on
the new Ordsall Chord line are available. An obvious one is
from the old-style bowstring bridge carrying New Quay Street
across the river Irwell, but this is a long way away from
the railway bridge, so I walked down Water Street to see
what could be seen. The area is still a work site, with
riverside paths blocked off, but I did find a public
location (above) behind the Marriott Hotel car park. The
Class 150 unit is the 13:38 Manchester Oxford Road - Leeds.
I the made my way to the Museum of Science
and Industry on Liverpool Road to see what can be
achieved there. This view is from Liverpool Road outside the
historic 1830 booking office of Liverpool Road station, with
the long plate girder span carrying the new line across the
road and the ramp which once led up to Liverpool Road
station level. There was a ramp there in 1830, visible in
old print, which was used by passengers arriving from
Liverpool. The one seen now is a later replacement.
Within the museum site, the museum's own line on to the
bridge over Water Street has been truncated, with much
controversy, and barriers deny one an easy shot of the
bridge, but there is a metal staircase and the end of the
Museum buildings from which I was able to photograph the
13:18 from Leeds to Manchester Oxford Road, due to pass at
14:52. The unusual overhead gantries are a feature of this
line.
There is a Model
Railway Exhibition at the Museum on 28 April,
incidentally.
From the Museum I followed the walking route to the lift
(which wasn't working) and staircase leading to the level of
Deansgate-Castlefield Metrolink station. In the foreground
is the re-creation of the Roman fort which stood here in
Castlefield. The Scotland-bound Class 350 is taking the main
line towards Ordsall Lane and beyond, passing the signals
which govern the new Water Street Junction. The overhead of
the new line can be seen curving to the right.
Changing scene at Bristol - report by Richard Neale
Here is my record of what I saw on a brief visit to Bristol
on 4 January - mainly to see the changing scene with the new
units there. Class 166 units, released by Thames Valley
electrification work, are now common, and Class 800 express
units have begun to replace the HSTs. The two prototype
150s, 001 and 002 (above) seem to be a common sight.
At Temple Meads station:
150 002 on 11.04 Taunton-Cardiff
150 127 on 12.47 Westbury-Gloucester (at 13.49) (travelled
on this service to Bristol Parkway)
150 233 on 1041 Gloucester-Weymouth (at11.49)
150 266 into Temple Meads at about12.00 then shunted across
to siding next to platform 1
166 203 arrived in platform 1 with 11.54 from Severn Beach
166 208 on 11.00 Cardiff-Taunton (at 11.52)
166 210 on 12.03 to Avonmouth (from platform 5)
158 950 on 09.23 Portsmouth Harbour-Cardiff (at 1154)
158 956 on 11.30 Cardiff-Portsmouth Harbour (at 12.21)
159 008 at 12.04 arrival from Waterloo then departing back
at12.49 (still in old livery)
220 032 on 12.00 Bristol-Manchester
221 131 on 08.28 Penzance-Glasgow (at 12.30)
221 141 on 06.45 Newcastle-Plymouth (11.00 off Cheltenham)
221 144 on 09.07 Manchester-Bristol
43 004+43 047 on 12.00 to Paddington
43 009+43 140 on 12.00 Paddington-Bristol TM (at 13.50)
43 035+43 137 on 12.30 to Paddington
43 023+43 187 on 10.30 Paddington-Weston -super-Mare (at
12.13)
08516 parked outside at back of Arriva Train Care depot
Noted at Bristol Parkway were:
150 131 on 13.44 Westbury-Great Malvern
Unidentified 158? On 12.41 Great Malvern-Weymouth (at 14.31)
166 202 on 14.10 Weston-super-Mare-Bristol Parkway and
awaited return at 15.12
166 206 on 14.12 for Weston-super-Mare
220 007 on 12.25 Plymouth-Glasgow (at 14.42)
220 028 on 14.00 Bristol-Manchester (at 14.10)
220 030 on 07.00 Glasgow-Plymouth (at 14.33)
221 125 on 11.07 Manchester-Bristol and 15.00 return (took
this train at 15.10 from Parkway)
221 137 on12.07 Manchester-Exeter St D (at 14.57)
43 017+43 180 on 12.45 Paddington-Swansea (at 14.12)
430 25+43 193 on 13.29 Swansea-Paddington (at 15.03)
43 098+43 150 on 12.29 Swansea-Paddington (at 14.03)
800 008+800 009 on 13.56 Cardiff-Paddington (at 14.31)
800 012 +800 018 on 13.15 Paddington-Cardiff (at 14.45)
66 419 on 4O57 Wentloog - Southampton (saw this passing
through when on footbridge – info from A. Turton)
66 511 / 545 / 556 in siding adjacent to platform 4.
800 012 + 800 018 on 13.15 Paddington-Cardiff
at Bristol Parkway.
(Richard, now based in Cheltenham but for many years a
stalwart of the RCTS in the North West area, adds: 'It was
sad news to hear of Edgar Richards' passing recently, with
his funeral being on 10 January in Birkenhead on what would
have been his 95th birthday. Edgar had over the years
presented many fascinating railway evenings to groups on
Merseyside and along the North Wales coast.')
Transpennine Deltic Lament - by Barrie Hughes
[Our New Year's Day issue included a report on the
'Transpennine Reprise' railtour which commemorated the
'Trans-Pennine Deltic Lament' - actually a service
train, the last to be hauled by a Deltic to Liverpool, not a
charter - which ran from York to Liverpool in December
1981. Barrie Hughes was at Liverpool to witness the event.
We hope readers will forgive the use of camera flash on this
old scene. Please don't do it today.]
Above is 55 009 Alycidon on the buffers at
Liverpool Lime Street plastered with snow. The headboard
appears to have been organised by depot staff at York along
with the other adornments. The loco had taken over the
Edinburgh - Liverpool working at York. Enthusiasts thronged
around the loco taking pictures and touching the loco.
Enthusiasts were later surprised when the sound of a second
Deltic reverberated through Edge Hill cutting. 55 015
Tulyar arrived on another Trans-Pennine passenger
working, again plastered in snow; it was rare to have two
Deltics in Liverpool Lime Street at the same time. Deltics
had been relegated to second class and even parcels duties
after being usurped form headline East Coast Main Line
duties by HSTs. The final Deltic railtour in BR ownership
was on 2 January 1982 between Kings Cross and Edinburgh.
55 009 ran round and was surrounded by enthusiasts at the
country end of the platform. The driver is seen placing the
special disc York - Liverpool - York. There was much
sounding of its distinctive horn as the train left.
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