08 March 2021
Forthcoming events
(see also our
Calendar page for venues)
Note: we have removed all entries relating to meetings
as the events are cancelled.
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Sunny 4 March 2008, and 57 307 Lady Penelope
drags her Pendolino 390 011 City of Lichfield past
Holywell Junction with the 09:00 London to Holyhead. Picture
by Tim Rogers.
Website News
The website Llandudno Junction 6G Shed' by Geoff
Poole has re-located from 6g.nwrail.org.uk to
another server, and can now be found at 6gshed.co.uk; we are
working with Geoff to take the opportunity re-design the
pages in a more modern readable format.
There are around 150 pages altogether, full of images
and information of all sorts (biographies of staff,
trainspotting records, anecdotes and more), not restricted
to Llandudno Junction or even North Wales. 100 pages
are now converted - we invite you to take a look.
News images
67 015 passing Conwy Castle on a training run, 2 March ...
... and crossing the Cob towards Llandudno Junction (Gary
Thomas). Once, a branch descended to Conwy Quay, seen
to the right of the train. The three sidings on the
quay were brought into use in 1852 to
allow shipment of slate, fish and other goods brought down
the Conway
Valley by boat.
A well-timed visit to the pharmacy at Morrisons, Saltney by
Bob Greenhalgh meant he was able to photograph 37 219 Jonty
Jarvis as it headed for Rockliffe Hall. The loco has
an "attachment" on the rear buffers.
The Jonty Jarvis name has been transferred to this Colas
loco from DRS 37 229 which was scrapped some years ago.
Jonty Jarvis, who died in 2005 aged just 6, was the
son of a Network Rail manager Paul Jarvis.
A clearer view of the device captured by Greg Mape
on 4 March at Ashley on the Mid-Cheshire line. It carries
cameras to record the state of the track.
More from Greg Mape taken on 4 March: 60 039 on
Northwich - Tunstead stone empties ...
.. and 60 002 looking smart in its brand new
GBRf colours on a Biomass service, with new and
interesting nameplates 'Graham Farish' after the company
that pioneered N-scale model trains in the UK. GBRf now has
ten of these, the last main-line diesel locos to be built in
Britain.
Due to engineering work on the Mid-Cheshire line, Liverpool
- Drax biomass trains are diverted on Sundays to run via
Manchester Piccadilly. Greg Mape timed an
exercise walk to be at Deansgate on 7 March to see the
11:25 Liverpool Biomass terminal to Drax service hauled by 66
754 Northampton Saints. Ostensibly travving in
the wrong direction at this point, the train will proceed to
Yorkshire via Guide Bridge, Stalybridge and the Diggle
route.
Shrewbury in the mist - images by Graham Breakwell
Sutton Bridge Junction with the 09:30 Aberystwyth and
Pwllheli to Shrewsbury service passing the lower quadrant
signal coming off the Cambrian line.
Three “namers”, 67 025 Charlotte, 97 302
Rheilfyrdd Ffestiniog ac Eryrl and 97 302 John
Tiley, at Coleham depot.
The 10:09 Birmingham International to Aberystwyth and
Pwllheli, unusually expanded to three 158’s, passing Sutton
Bridge Junction Signal Box and a selection of its many
semaphores. The bridge arches on the left spanned the line
to Bridgnorth and Kidderminster line with its signal long
removed from the gantry, with the land to the left the
site of the vast Shrewsbury sheds, closed in 1967.
Threading its way through a sea of semaphores into
Shrewsbury station, 66 739 with the 12:28 Donnington
RFT to Kineton MOD. The grade 2 listed Severn Bridge
Junction signal box, now the largest operational mechanical
signal box in the World, looming out of the mist.
More on 'The first 31 on the
Coast' - by John Price
With reference to John Wilkinson's photograph and article
entitled 'First 31
at Llandudno (?)' (25 February issue)
I photographed D5824 passing through Prestatyn on an
excursion (1X49) from Sheffield Midland. My records show the
photograph was taken on Saturday, 8 June 1963.
The photograph (since cropped) was taken from the gated
crossing near Sandy Lane, to the west of the station; a
favourite location for photographing trains for John Hobbs,
Dennis Kerrison and myself. It was the first time that I
recall seeing a Brush Type 2 working along the North Wales
coast. As John mentions, at the time, D5824 was based at
Sheffield Darnall Motive Power Depot (41A) and post TOPS,
D5824 became a Class 31/4 No. 31 415.
It is noted that John's photograph of D5824 (repeated
abobe) was taken at Llandudno onSunday, 23 June 1963.
Hopefully, my records are correct for the date of my
photograph being Saturday 8 June, but I stand to be
corrected. One
noticeable difference between our photographs of D5824 is in
the positioning
of the headcode characters with the X49 being displaced in
my photograph.
Does this confirm the different dates for the photographs or
did D5824 have
the same headcode displayed at both ends of the locomotive?
I believe<
excursion trains may have used a different headcode for the
outbound and
inbound journeys. My understanding is that X was used for
inter-regional
excursions and Z for regional excursions.
During summer 1963, there had been a Saturdays only service
from Sheffield
Midland to Llandudno and vice versa, 1M64 or 1M65 from
Sheffield, depending
on the date, and 1E21 from Llandudno. Interestingly, 1E20
ran from Colwyn
Bay to Sheffield with the empty stock having arrived from
Llandudno as 3D66.
It is understood that the locomotive working from Sheffield
to Llandudno
remained at Llandudno Junction MPD (6G) for the week before
returning to
Sheffield the following Saturday.
[Any comments? - C.H.]
From Dave Sallery's archive
310 107 near Crewe on a Liverpool - Birmingham service, 2
August 1997. These units were introduced in 1965 to
work services out of Euston on the newly electrified WCML.
Later reduced to 3 cars for West Midlands services, this
unit is working a Liverpool - Birmingham New Street
train. They could also be seen occassionally in the
Manchester area earlier in thir career.
37 420 The Scottish Hosteller on the
Mid-Cheshire line near Delamere, 23 April 1996.
The unusual consist including two parcels vans and the
very clean loco are explained by the fact that the emerged
that day from an intermediate overhaul at Doncaster Works,
this may be a test run of some sort, or maybe the coaches
have also been overhauled.
37 421 in the snow at Chester during the last days of the
37's on passenger trains on the coast, 28 December
2000. By this time 421 had lost its Regional Railways
livery (and name The Kingsman) in favour
of the second version of EWS, with no ampersand and the
lettering in Gill Sans Bold. As mentioned in recent updates,
it is very much still alive today with Colas.
101 685 on the Conwy Valley line on 18 July 1994,
just after repainting intoa version of original BR
green livery in conjunction with a publicity campaign for
the Conwy Valley line. (Those were the days!)
Inevitably it gained the nickname 'Daisy' after a DMU
character in a certain series of books. Later, reduced from
three cars to two, it was allocated to the Manchester area
and lasted to take part in a Farewell Special at the end of
2003. (The full story can be found on the superb website railcar.co.uk.
Since then it was lived at various preservation sites, and
currently, resored to a 3-car set, it is at the North
York Moors line.
The Dee bridge on the Llangollen Railway - report by
George Jones
Amidst the gloom of last week's announcement about the PLC
becoming insolvent, there was a ray of sunshine when a team
of ten volunteers came together to rerail the bridge at
Pentrefelin.
With the new timbers on site following their successful
purchase from donations back in December, the 18 lengths
were brought onto the three bridge spans and sprayed for
their preservation.
All the rail has now been replaced on the timbers. Rails at
the west and east ends have been fixed in place with the
chairs drilled and screwed down with rail keys added. The
rest of the fixing is subject to adjustment - level and
gauging and completing the tie rods. A couple of joints will
receive rail welds to help smooth trip over the
bridge.
By Friday 5 March the Road Rail Vehicle was able to cross
and head down the line to its base at Corwen. The
check rails are still to be installed and the rail joints
need welding but this work is suspended pending
authorisation from the Administrator and Office of Rail and
Road.
With all operations on the railway now suspended, further
work to complete the bridge in readiness for resumption of
trains must await the Administrator's permission.
North Wales
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