NORTH WALES COAST RAILWAY:NOTICE BOARD
Rheilffordd arfordir gogledd Cymru: Hysbysfwrdd
24 January 2022
175 110 from Llandudno arrives at Manchester Airport complete with a Brussels Airlines A320, 11 Januart (Greg Mape).
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Forthcoming events
Charter trains, and meetings, may be subject to cancellation or postponement.
Thursday 27 January Shropshire Railway Society A Celtic journey, North Wales coast to Ireland - Rob Smout
February 2022
Thursday 10 February Shropshire Railway Society Stevens' wanderings with a camera 1954 - 2004 Berwyn Stevens
Monday 21 February RCTS Chester Martyn Hilbert “Network North West”
Thursday 24 February Shropshire Railway Society My early years photographs - Ken Hayward
March 2022
Wednesday 2 March RCTS Liverpool Paul Shackcloth “L & Y Engines At Work, Part 1”
Monday 21 March RCTS online Zoom Geoff Plumb “The Wrexham & Shropshire Railway”
April 2022
Monday 25 April RCTS Chester David Powell “Merseyrail Fleet Replacement”
North Wales Coast Railway website created and compiled by Charlie Hulme
67 017 propelling 1V96 11: 33 Holyhead - Cardiff Central down Hencote bank on the approach to Shrewsbury, 24 January. Picture by Graham Breakwell.
News pictures
Light Engine, Craven Arms to Wrexham 66 515 passing through Ruabon on 18 January (Martin Evans). Dutch technology company Fugro has started inspecting the railway network in Wales and the border counties of England. 'The contractor will survey around 1,368 km of tracks and will provide a holistic view of the network using the RILA system'. More information here.
On the same day 158 822 arrives at Ruabon with the 10:54 Birmingham International to Holyhead (Martin Evans)..
150 245 on 16 January restarting from Bucknell with 2M45 the 11:10 Swansea to Shrewsbury, one of just four services over the Heart Of Wales line on Sundays. The crossing here is operated by the train crew (Graham Breakwell).
158 834 leading 158 833 over Leaton crossing, north of Shrewsbury, 24 January (Graham Breakwell).
Go by bus
Transport for Wales are currently operating the 'emergency timetable' introduced before Christmas due to Covid-related staff shortage. Their new website tells us that approximately 20% of services have been removed, but this 'marginal' change has resulted in replacement of by buses of all services on the Conwy Valley and Chester - Liverpool (via Helsby) lines.
Some of the Covid restrictions are being further relaxed from 28 January, but in Wales, unlike in England, the requirement for face coverings on public transport is being retained. How this affects the many services that cross the border one of more times is unclear.
Busy Cheshire Lines Freight - by Greg Mape.
A busy few minutes at Northenden Junction mid-morning 12 January. 66 707 on a Hindlow to Small Heath Lafarge stone train, held on the Hazel Grove - Northenden single line whilst 70 016 comes past on the line from Stockport with a Bredbury to Runcorn waste train. On the right, Northenden refuse terminal.
Then in turn 66 707 clears the single line ...
... and then 60 044 on an Arpley to Tunstead train, held while the Northenden - Hazel Grove single line cleared, started off with a lot of smoke.
Looking back: Diesels 2000 Part 3 - by David Pool
The green Class 101 685 was often seen in the North West, and on 4 July 2000 it was working the 1437 Bidston to Wrexham service and approaching Heswall station.
This was one of those shots at Hargrave which could not have been planned. On 7 July 2000 I was intending to photograph 37 412 Driver John Elliott on the 10:07 Birmingham to Holyhead when I heard 158 753 on the Chester to Crewe shuttle coming up behind me. I decided to shoot early and get the DMU in the picture, together with the cows which were more interested in their food than in the Class 37. John Elliott was a driver who sadly died in an accident at St Blazey shed in Cornwall in 1993.
Compared with today, Mold Junction was far less overgrown on 15 July 2000 when. Rail Express Systems liveried 47 789 was heading the 07:53 Euston to Holyhead.
I decided to look up the history of 47 789, and was surprised to find it had five different numbers in its lifetime. It was built in 1966 as D1925, and I first photographed it on 21 March 1967, when it had been allocated to Basingstoke. It was working the 1635 Waterloo to Weymouth, the “Royal Wessex”, and racing through Shawford, near Winchester.
In BR blue days, it became 47 248, and the next time I saw it was at Torquay on 14 May 1975, when it was working the 1430 Paddington to Paignton.
In 1984 it was renumbered again, becoming 47 616. On 30 September 1990 it was in large logo blue, and visiting Chester on a diverted 10:00 Euston to Glasgow, presumably due to the line being blocked between Crewe and Warrington. With the North Wales Coast platforms 3 and 4 being occupied by other trains, it was using platform 7 on this occasion. By 1991 it had become 47 671 Y Ddraig Goch/The Red Dragon, but I never managed to see it with this number.
The view of Bangor station from the footpath off High Street provided a nice shot on 18 July 2000, but it was not possible to identify the two Class 20s on the 7C40 Valley flasks at the time. Fortunately I caught up with the train at Shotton, having used the A55, and confirmed the locomotives as 20 306 and 20 311.
At first this shot of Railfreight 92 009 Marco Polo with a rake of what appeared to be Merry-go-round wagons at Winwick on 26 July 2000 does not look particularly interesting, but how often would you see an electrified locomotive with these wagons, now that the Woodhead electrics were no more? After some searching, I discovered that there had been a freight working 6S60 from Coed Bach Washery to Mossend at this time, conveying Anthracite dust in HDA hoppers to a plant near Motherwell which made briquettes. Coed Bach was on the famous Burry Port and Gwendraeth Valley Railway, but had a connection to the main line at Kidwelly.yard. I don’t know if Class 92s were regular performers on this working, but it certainly was out of the ordinary to see a 92 with a headcode class 6 freight.
From Dave Sallery's archive
Loadhaul livery 56 084 is heading back to Crewe works after its test run, 56 084 was one of three turned out in this livery by Crewe. Behind it is scruffy 47 467. There weren't many large logo 47s left by this time. 47 467 was withdrawn and cut up at Wigan in April 2000. 3 April 1995.
47 206 is engaged in a spot of shunting at Llandudno Junction on 29 October 1990. It's probably the loco for the Octel train to Ellesmere Port, seen in the background and due to later in the day. 47 206 is now 57 605 Totnes Castle with Great Western.
Tram in the Mist
A Metrolink Tram crossing the River Mersey in misty conditions between Sale and Chorlton, 13 January (Greg Mape).
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