NORTH WALES COAST RAILWAY:NOTICE BOARD
Rheilffordd arfordir gogledd Cymru: Hysbysfwrdd
07 October 2019
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Forthcoming events
October 2019
Saturday 12 October Steam at Chester. Vintage
Trains 'Cheshire Venturer' Dorridge - Chester.
Saturday 12 October UK
Railtours The Snowdon Panorama (diesel) London -
Llandudno Junction
Monday 21 October RCTS
Chester "South Wales Railways since the 1970s "
Stuart Warr. Stuart from Cardiff will look back at the
changing face of railways across South Wales since 1973,
featuring steam and diesels working all manner of
services with a few rare views.
Friday 1 November Clwyd
Railway Circle ''Shrewsbury to
Holyhead in the 1980s' Geoff Morris
Saturday 2 November Stephenson
Locomotive Society. Manchester Centre. Geoff
Stocker
‘Rebuilding the Welsh Highland Railway’ An illustrated
presentation of the stage-wise re-construction of the
WHR (closed 1936) on the abandoned trackbed, from 1995
to completion in 2010 & subsequent developments -
including locos and rolling stock.
Tuesday
5 November North
Wales Railway Circle Dave Rapson. A
digital presentation of all sorts.
Friday 8 November Steam on the Coast Railway
Touring Company North Wales Coast Express
London - Holyhead, Flying Scotsman Crewe - Holyhead -
Crewe.
Thursday 14 November Llandudno and Conwy Valley Railway Society Railway Signalling Gareth Parry
Monday 18 November RCTS
Chester "Railway Safety" David Maidment. David
Maidment will discuss the change in railway safety
management systems and safety culture from his
experience in South Wales in the 1960s, as Regional
Operating Manager of the LMR in the 1980s. Also as
Head of Safety Policy at the BR Headquarters in the
1990s
Tuesday 3 December North Wales Railway Circle Christmas Bash - as usual please bring any items of interest with you.
Wednesday 4 December RCTS
Liverpool "Liverpool And Its Railways " John Ryan.
A look at the varied railways of Liverpool and its
surrounding over many decades by former British Rail
civil engineer.
Friday 6
December Clwyd
Railway Circle ' Member's
Selections & Christmas Celebrations'
Members are invited to give a 15-minute
presentation of their choice (any format).
Contact David Jones 01244 537440 to book a slot.
Owen Russell ‘Memories of the Woodhead Line’ The
Woodhead line linked Lancashire, Yorkshire, Lincolnshire
and London. As there were shorter routes to London,
express trains often comprised only 5 or 6 coaches. The
line was a good place to see a variety of GC and, later,
LNER engines, which had to work hard on the notorious
gradients. Like many steam routes, Woodhead was a line
of contrasts.
Thursday 12 December Llandudno and Conwy Valley Railway Society A railway pictorial of steam Barry Wynne (Special Christmas meeting with quiz)
Saturday 14 December Steam at Chester UK
Railtours 'The Christmas Chester Chuffer' London -
Chester. Steam Bescot - Chester - Crewe.
Monday 16 December RCTS
Chester "1960s Southern Branch Lines" David
Miller. A 1960s archive of black and white photographs
mainly of Southern branches but also from further north,
with some interesting diversions. Images never
seen before.
Thursday 19 December Steam at Chester Railway
Touring Company 'The Chester Christmas Express'
Stevenage - Chester. Loco 6233.
Tuesday 7 January North Wales
Railway Circle NWRC committee member and
Coast Railway website contributor Peter Basterfield.
Home & Away.
Friday 10 January Clwyd Railway
Circle
“Railways Around Holywell Part 1' Ray Bailey
Monday 20 January RCTS
Chester AGM followed by "The Ffestiniog
Railway" Geoff Coward. After 20.15 hrs Geoff will take a
look at the steam loco’s of the Ffestiniog Railway, past
present and future. Then a trip along the line from
Porthmadog to Bleanau Ffestiniog, looking at each
station, maintenance facility and scenery
Tuesday 4 February North Wales Railway Circle Robin Humphrey-Davies ('Humph'). The route of the Welsh Highland Railway, Part 2, Rhyd Ddu to Porthmadog.
Wednesday 5 February RCTS
Liverpool "The Black & White Collection Of
Bill Ashcroft " John Sloane. Bill Ashcroft was a
well-known name in Lancashire steam railway circles and
John Sloane from Wigan will present some of his large
collection of monochrome pictures from the steam era.
Friday 7
February
Clwyd
Railway Circle
'Rheilffordd Talyllyn Railway' David Murphy
Thursday
13 February Llandudno
and Conwy Valley Railway Society
Llangollen Railway Dave
Southern
‘Aspects of the Origins & Development of Monorails
including Behr, Lartigue and the Manchester to Liverpool
Lightning Express Railway’ You may remember Tony’s
excellent presentation on Mayfield Station. Don’t miss
this intriguing meeting.
Tuesday, 25 February 18:30 Stephenson
Locomotive Society. Manchester Centre. Joint
meeting with the Newcomen Society, Location to be
confirmed. Bob Gwynne, Associate Curator, National
Railway Museum ‘Sticking with steam – an examination of
why Britain’s railways stuck with steam into the space
age’ This talk examines some of the complex history
behind moving on from the steam age on Britain’s
railways and attempts an answer as to why the UK’s love
affair with the steam hasn’t ended.
Friday 6 March Clwyd Railway Circle Annual General Meeting - followed by a Film Show
Thursday
12 March Llandudno
and Conwy Valley Railway Society plan
to have a visit from a representative from
Transport for Wales. More details later
Tuesday 3 March North Wales Railway Circle Barry Wynne and Steve Morris. Another show from Barry's superb collection.
Monday 16 March RCTS Chester "The Lever Brothers Railways Of Port Sunlight" Mike Lister Telling the story of Levers’ railways. The soap factory was constructed in 1888 and its railways covered 54 track miles and the talk will describe the railway within the soap factory and other factories at Bromborough.
Saturday 21 March Stephenson
Locomotive Society. Manchester Centre.
Melvyn Roberts
‘Indian Summer of the Somerset & Dorset Railway’ The
S & D was (and still is) many enthusiasts’ favourite
cross-country railway. We will hear about its unusual
history, but the main feature will be a slide show of
its operations in the 1950’s and 1960’s.
Wednesday 1 April RCTS Liverpool "L&Y Engines At Work" Paul Shackcloth. Paul Shackcloth is the photographic historian for the Manchester Locomotive Society who have a large collection. This talk will show Lanky locomotives at work over the whole of the ex-L&Y network, including Liverpool Exchange.
Tuesday 7
April North
Wales Railway Circle
Richard Sant, Secretary of the LMS Patriot
Company. Progress on The Unknown Warrior
Thursday
9 April Llandudno
and Conwy Valley Railway Society
Trams in Llandudno (Including L & CBER and Great
Orme Tramway) John Davies
Saturday 18 April Stephenson
Locomotive Society. Manchester Centre. Tim
Owen ‘The activities of the Furness Railway Trust’ The
Furness Railway Trust has a collection of six steam
locomotives, including Furness Railway No. 20, plus
historic carriages. The illustrated talk will cover the
work of the Trust over the past 30 years..
May 2020
Tuesday 12 May North Wales Railway Circle AGM and Photo Competition.
Thursday 14 May Llandudno and Conwy Valley Railway Society Evening Train Trip to Betws-y-Coed, where we will spend an hour in the Gwydyr. (Times will be confirmed later)
This week's 'dog-box' is ex-Great Western 153 333 which has gained shiny new TfW livery, seen at North Llanrwst on a familiarisation run on Sunday 6 October by Greg Mape. Weekday runs continue between Chester and Llandudno Junction only.
Mk4s to Manchester
A press release from the Welsh Government issued on 3 October explains why late deliveries of new stock have led to a request to keep non-disabled-friendly stock to be kept in service after the 31 December 2019 deadline, but also has some good news about the December timetable, when it is hoped to introduce second hand Class 170 units on some services and also, in a surprise development, ex-East Coast Main Line Mk4 carriages (displaced by new 'Azumas') on the Manchester loco-hauled diagram.
It has been announced in the past that these will be used on Cardiff - Holyhead services, but the Manchester idea is new. The advantage of the Mk4s over the current Mk3s is that they have powered doors, which will be very welcome, especially to the platform staff at Manchester Piccadilly where a minute's delay can wreck the service. The image from 1997, from the Manchester Locomotive Society collection, shows them in their original 'Intercity' livery.
RHTT season starts
The first high-pressure water-jetting train (Rail Head Treatment Train) of this year's leaf-fall season set out from Coleham depot (Shrewsbury) at 21:18 on 1 October, visiting Machynlleth, then back to Shrewsbury for a trip to Craven Arms and back, then via Wrexham to Bidston and back, then via Crewe to Chester and Holyhead, then back to Chester, Crewe and finally Coleham, due to arrive at 16:12, giving five hours for servicing before starting again.
Approaching Llandudno Junction (Jack Bowley). The Cambrian line to Machynlleth requires both locos to be Class 97s to work the ERTMS signalling, so a loco swap must have been made at some stage.
Heading towards the station (Jack Bowley).
In action approaching ...
... and passing through the station (Ryan Lloyd). The jets are turned off through stations to avoid damaging the platform structure.
56 078 viewed from Valley station's 'Harrington Hump' ...
... and 97 304 on the rear, returning from Holyhead (Wyn Jones).
Garry Stroud captured the return from Holyhead at Llandudno Junction with 56 078 leading ...
... and 97 304 on the rear passing the Conwy Valley junction.
Bagillt (Tim Rogers). The FEA wagons are 642027, 642045 and 642016.
Departing Chester at 09:33, Saturday 5 October with 97 302 Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland Railways leading and 97 304 John Tiley on the rear....
... and the view in the other direction towards Saltney Junction (Bob Greenhalgh). The train proceeded on to the North Wales Coast, even though the 'feather' on CR117 signal in the distance appears to be indicating a left turn on to the Wrexham line. Presumably a call to the signaller was made.
Among the mobile homes on the approach to Abergele ...
... and spraying towards Abergele station (Greg Mape).
Note: We can't promise to include every RHTT image received...
Close call at Bagillt
The report (downloadable at this link) by the Rail Accident Investigation Branch on the events at Bagillt crossing on 17 August 2018 make interesting, if disturbing, reading. The user-worked crossing with telephone, on a track with leads to the work area of the Bagillt Car Spares company, is only used by vehicles too tall to use the alternative route using an underpass.
A long and heavy HGV in the form of a 'baler' used to crush scrap cars including a crane attached to the rear, with a member of the Bagillt Car Spares staff to act as crossing assistant, arrived at the crossing and used the phone provided to talk to the signaller, who since recent changes is now working at a terminal in Cardiff. Asked about the vehicle, the assistant described it simply as a 'wagon' which would take '2 minutes at most' to cross, which led the signaller to decide not to set the signals against approaching trains, which he surely would have, had he realised the actual size of the 'wagon' weighing over 60 tonnes, which is illustrated in the report.
The vehicle crossed safely, but the assistant saw a train - the loco-hauled 09:53 Manchester to Holyhead - approaching him while walking back to close the gates, which are 24.5 metres apart because of the configuration of the track near to the former Bagillt station.
The signaller had previously worked mechanical boxes in Norfolk, re-locating to Cardiff in early 2018. Before the re-signalling, the crossing telephone connected to Holywell Junction signalbox, where the signaller would perhaps have had much more knowledge of the area and the crossing users, but the crux of the matter is that the crossing assistant did not clearly make clear to the signaller the nature of the vehicle as 'large or slow-moving' as required by the sign. Furthermore it appears that there is no official definition of 'large or slow-moving'. It would seem wise that in future the signals should be set to danger in response to all calls from that crossing.
From Dave Sallery's archive
Two memories from the 1990s when Class 37/4s were the star attraction that led to the creation of this site. Above, 37 407 Loch Long heads west past Penmaenbach on 5 June 1993. The full Class 37 schedule had begun with the May timetable that year; the first coach is one of those inherited from Network South East, with just the red stripe of the NSE livery repainted in blue. The loco has been transferred to Crewe depot on 2 May 1993. it was renamed Blackpool Tower in 1995, but never received the Regional Railways livery. The name was lost after it was moved to other duties, but in May 2019 under the auspices of DRS, it regained the name at a ceremony at Blackpool North station. In recent times it has been working passenger trains from Norwich, but as new units take over there its passenger days may be over.
29 June 1998, and the Regional Railways image is well established. Dave photographed 37 414 Cathays C & W Works near Prestatyn with a typical four-coach train of Mk2a vehicles with one Mk1 in third place.
On the freight side, Trawsfynydd nuclear power station was still in operation in May 1994 when 31 224 and 31 134 arrived at Llandudno Junction with two flask wagons. At that period, safety rules required the brake vans each end of the train as well as old bogie-bolster wagons to keep any leaks of radiation away from the train crew.
Nicht Hinauslehnen? Thoughts on safety - by Charlie Hulme
Soon after uploading the last issue featuring George Jones's Llangollen Railway views, we read in Railway Magazine suggestions by the safety authorities that leaning out of train windows should be banned, even on 25 mph heritage railways should not be allowed. One reader commented that he would no longer visit preserved lines if this were enforced.
Clearly, the two fatal accidents on the main line in recent years (one involving an enthusiast who was a railway employee) have brought this to the public eye; and indeed it is no longer safe to lean out because tree branches, and even railway signals, can now be found closer to trains than was once the case. An accident report from 2016 states:
Data from RSSB’s safety management information system (SMIS) going back to the year 2000 revealed 26 other [i.e. 28] injury accidents involving passengers being struck while leaning from a moving train. Five of these involved infrastructure (one of which was a major injury and occurred on London Underground), 12 involved vegetation (one major injury), three involved other trains (one major), while the remainder (including one major injury) were grit or other objects.We don't know of any of these were on heritage railways. For some time we have avoided including 'out-of-the-window shots' on main lines (although I have leaned out of many a train window in the past) but should we avoid using them on heritage lines? Should railways like the Llangollen and East Lancs have to put bars on their Mk1 coach windows, or have staff at every door as on railtours and the current South Wales Class 37 operation? Or can we assume that heritage railways keep their lines clear of such dangerous obstructions?
The image above, well-known to travellers beyond the Channel, is curious in that the French and German versions say 'do not lean out' while the Italian says it is dangerous.
Marine news
MV Eems Traveller docks at Raynes Jetty on 5 October to load limsetone for Shoreham in Sussex. (Greg Mape).
Logs in the north
70 015, on hire to Colas from Freightliner, passes Ribblehead with train 6J37 Carlisle - Chirk logs on Wednesday 2 October (Ian Pilkington).
At Charnock Richard near Chorley, Lancashire (Peter Laithwaite).
The following day, 3 October passing Euxton Balshaw Lane Station (Peter Laithwaite).
153 at Llandudno Junction - pictures by Jack Bowley
153 367 from the TfW existing fleet on training duty near Llandudno Junction, 2 October.
175 109 departs from Platform 1.
The destination 'Cardiff Bay' recalls the short shuttle service between that station and Cardiff Queen Street, where a 153 is normally to be found.
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