28 October 2024





Contributions to the Notice Board are welcome, although they
may not always be used, due to time constraints, especially
if they don't follow the advice and file name convention
given on the Contributions Page.
Forthcoming events
See our Calendar Page for operator
details.
November 2024
Friday 1 November Clwyd Railway Circle Chinese Steam
in 2001 and 2003 - Phil Thomas
Friday 8 November. Altrincham Electric Railway Preservation
Society "The Lynton & Barnstaple Railway Then and Now"
by Bob Barnard.
Wednesday 13 November Welsh Highland Railway North
Wales Group Humph Davies ‘An historical look at the
route of the Lynton andBarnstaple Railway, 1898-1935.’
Monday 18 November Merseyside, Cheshire and North Wales
Branch Bromborough: Ted Buckley “Navigation Road and all
that”
Sunday 30 November : Pathfinder. 40 145 from Dorridge to
Chester via Wrexham General
December 2024
Wednesday 4 December Merseyside, Cheshire and North Wales
Branch Liverpool Brian Roberts “Merseyside Area Connections
in the 1970s”
Tuesday 10 December Midland Pullman from Holyhead to
Edinburgh Waverley - Edinburgh Christmas Pullman
Wednesday 11 December Welsh Highland Railway North
Wales Group Fred Howes - “From Train Spotter to Civil
Engineering Manager”.
Saturday 14 December Intercity Y Cracyr Nadolig” (The
Christmas Cracker) Wolverhampton to Llandudno and Blaenau
Ffestiniog with class 40 and class 45 locos.
14-15 December Manchester Model Railway Society - The
Christmas Model Railway Show. The Sugden Centre, Sidney
Street, Manchester
January 2025
Friday 10 January. Altrincham Electric Railway Preservation
Society "Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway Engine
Sheds" by Noel Coates of the Lancashire & Yorkshire
Railway Society.
Monday 20 January Merseyside, Cheshire and North Wales
Branch Bromborough: AGM followed by: Jon Penn “A Miscellany
of Railways” (Non M,C&NW members and Non-RCTS
members will not be able to take an active part in the AGM)
February 2025
Wednesday 5 February Merseyside, Cheshire and North Wales
Branch Liverpool: Chris Poole “Czech Railways”
Friday 14 February. Altrincham Electric Railway Preservation
Society "Macclesfield Area Railways in the 1950s and 60s" by
Martin Welch.
March 2025
Saturday 1 March - Railway Touring Company - 'The Mancunian'
from Manchester Piccadilly to Llandudno and Holyhead via
Altrincham. Steam hauled.
Friday 14 March. Altrincham Electric Railway Preservation
Society "Navigation Road and All That" by Ted Buckley. Local
rail scenes, mainly of steam, from the 1960s in the
Altrincham and Dunham Massey areas and elsewhere taken by
Ted's father Bill Buckley.
Monday 17 March Merseyside, Cheshire and North Wales Branch:
Charles Roberts “On Line Transport Archive (OTA) Images”
April 2025
Wednesday 2 April Merseyside, Cheshire and North Wales
Branch Liverpool: Paul Shackcloth “L & Y Engines
at Work, Part 3” Speaker and Subject TBC
Saturday 5 April Saphos Lakelander from
Llandudno Junction to Carlisle. Diesel to Lancaster and
return, steam from Lancaster, return via Cumbrian Coast
line.
Saturday 5 April UK Railtours - The Snowdonian. No
further information available at present.
Friday 11 April. Altrincham Electric Railway Preservation
Society "Steam, Diesel and Electric in the Northern Fells"
by Ian Pilkington. A joint meeting with the Irish Railway
Record Society Manchester Branch.
Saturday 12 April Midland Pullman Torbay Riviera
Pullman from Chester, Wrexham General and Ruabon to
Paignton.
Saturday 19 April Northern Belle - Settle and
Carlisle Steam Special. Wrexham General and Chester to
Carlisle via the S&C. Diesel to/from Carnforth, steam
for remainder.
May 2025
Saturday 10 May UK Railtours Llandudno and Chester.
London Euston to Llandudno Junction and Penmaenmawr freight
yards.
Saturday 31 May Northern Belle Conwy Castle &
Bodnant Gardens from Cardiff
June 2025
Friday 20 June Northern Belle Spirit of Travel
Lunch. Circular tour picking up at Chester and Wrexham
General. Diesel hauled.
Friday 20 June Northern Belle Champagne
Afternoon Tea. Circular tour picking up at Chester and
Wrexham General. Diesel hauled.
July 2025
Tuesday 15 July Midland Pullman Yorkshire Coast
Pullman from Ruabon, Wrexham General and Chester.
August 2025
September 2025
Wednesday 17 September Midland Pullman Settle
and Carlisle Pullman. From Ruabon, Wrexham General and
Chester.
20 September Northern Belle Settle and
Carlisle Steam Special. Wrexham General and Chester to
Carlisle via the S&C. Diesel to/from Carnforth, steam
for remainder.
8 November Northern Belle Settle and Carlisle Steam
Special. Wrexham General and Chester to Carlisle via the
S&C. Diesel to/from Carnforth, steam for remainder.
North Wales Coast Railway website created
and compiled by Charlie
Hulme Hulme
|

The Rail Head Treatment Train seen from above Llandulas on
23 October. PIcture by Greg Mape.
Talerddig accident
For the record, we should take note of the collision on the
Cambrian main line at Talerddig crossing loop on the evening
of Monday 21 October. The trains were the 18:31 service from
Shrewsbury to Aberystwyth, worked by 158 841, and 158 824 on
the 19:09 Machynlleth to Shrewsbury; a head-on collision at
about 15 mph ensured when one of the trains over-ran the
points at the far end of the loop. One passenger, Mr
Tudor Evans died in the collision, reportedly of a heart
attack, and several others were injured, including the
driver and conductor of one of the trains.
The reason for the failure to stop is being investigated; it
would seem that leaves on the track played a part.
Both damaged units were hauled away by other 158s to clear
the line; Real Time Trains recorded 158 831 working
5Z58 departing from Shrewsbury at 06:24 for Talerddig on 24
October and 158 836 departing from Machynlleth at 09:44 as
5T58 as far as Talerddig. The Rail Head Treatment Train
operated over the line on 24, 25, 26 and 27 October and
Passenger service between Machynlleth re-started on 28
October.
Activity at Shrewsbury on 27 October - by Graham
Breakwell

Abobe, 67 027 leading 3S31 past Belle Vue, the
Swindon Transfer to Worcester Shrub Hill, which reverses in
Shrewsbury station.

97 302 drawing the RHTT out of Coleham Depot with 97
304 on the rear, which was then detached and reversed
into the Network Rail depot siding.

56 113 drawing another RHTT set off the depot with 56
302 on the rear.....

... then reversing back into the depot, ready for the
overnight service to Craven Arms and the usual circuit of
the Wirral and North Wales.

3S31 heading back to Worcester Shrub Hill passing 97 303
waiting to shunt the tankers into the depot siding vacated
by the second RHTT for the tanks to be replenished.

In fading light, 97 304 then moves into the
headshunt to rest there overnight – 97 302 worked the RHTT
to Machynlleth solo.
News pictures

56 090 with 56 113 rear, pass Penmaenmawr, with the
3S71 Coleham to Holyhead RHTT service. 28 October Luckily
nobody was waiting on the Up platform! (Garry Stroud)

70 811 enters Penmaemawr yard, after arriving with
the 4D61 06:16 from Bradwell Up sidings (Garry Stroud)...

.. later, 70 811 powers away from a signal check at
Rhyl with the loaded working 6K33 13:56 Penmaenmawr -
Bradwell Up Sidings (Ivor Bufton).

HSTs 43 301 and 43 303 on Network Rail duty
seen at Bangor working from Holyhead to Cardiff Canton on 23
October, as opposed to Bangor Carriage Sidings to Cardiff
Canton, said to result of a suspected 'Signal Passed at
Danger' incident in Holyhead the night before (Logan
Humphreys).

A Loram Rail Grinder stables in Rhyl Engineers Sidings, 27
October. These beasts grind the surface of the rails
to give a smoother ride, as well as preventing small cracks
to spread. Picture by Roland High.
TfW Standard Plus - report by Mark Hambly
Travelling (in Standard) on a TfW Class 197 unit in North
Wales on Wednesday 16 October I asked a member of the
on-train staff what the position was regarding 'Standard
Plus'. I was advised that, once introduced, a supplement of
between £5 and £15 according to the length of the journey
will be payable to travel in the 2+1 seating area, but until
then the area may be used without restriction.
The reason I was given for it not having yet been introduced
was that there is not a wheelchair space in the Standard
Plus area, and so to offer a service which was known not to
be accessible to all customers would be discriminatory, and
thus illegal. If this is indeed the case (I have not yet had
the opportunity to verify this) then it would be seem to be
a fairly significant faux pas by whoever signed-off the
design for the interior fit-out of the trains.
T and A signs - answered

A high number of readers wrote to explain the meaning of the
'A' below the 'T' as seen on Ivor Bufton's picture repeated
here. The 'T' is a long-standing indication of the end
of a temporary speed restriction. The normal procedure in
these situations is that the driver does not increase speed
until the last vehicle of the train has passed the sign.
The "A" board (A for accelerate) is a new thing, introduced
with issue 1.1 of Group Standard RIS-0735-CCS (Signing of
Temporary and Emergency Speed Restrictions), which was
brought in in September this year. It is defined as
"Termination indicator for temporary speed restriction
applicable to the front of the train." The Sandy Lane
crossing situation is an example: the speed restriction
relates to sighting of trains by users of the crossing
rather than any fault with the track.
We are now educated as where to look for this kind of
information: the website 'Railsigns.uk'.
Many thanks, all.
Flood at Gobowen - report by Chris Scott
Following severe flooding at Gobowen earlier this week as a
result of which all trains were cancelled and roads closed,
suspicion fell on a culvert south of Gobowen Station that
went under the track which was blocked.

On 22 October I went to Gobowen to catch a Chester train and
noted that the ex coal yard that is now occupied by the
Cambrian Railway Society had been opened up to
allow access to a road/rail unit and associated flat bed
trucks.

From conversation with the workers it transpired that they
had been brought in to carry out repairs to said culvert
which entailed replacing the overbridge and the grills which
had become blocked.

The new overbridge which will span the culvert.
Keeping the Customer Informed - comment by Mark Hambly
Wednesday 16 October was undoubtedly a challenging day for
railway personnel in the Marches, with line blockages due to
flooding and consequential service cancellations and
displacement of both trains and crews. However, none of that
excuses a failure by TfW, as the operator of Chester
station, to communicate with affected travellers.
I happened to be there in the early afternoon while en-route
between the North Wales Coast and the West Midlands, and in
the entire 40 minutes I was on the station (before resorting
to a "Plan B" via Runcorn) there were no announcements over
the PA system, nor any in-person input from platform staff,
despite Platform 3A becoming increasingly crowded as anyone
hoping to travel south accumulated to await the 14:32 Avanti
service to Crewe, Stafford and London Euston, the Holyhead -
Chester leg of which had already been cancelled.
Incidentally, Real Time Trains advises that this eventually
departed at 15:21, lost further time to Crewe and was
eventually terminated at Stafford.
From Dave Sallery's archive

101 669 forms the connection to Chester off 508
116 from Liverpool, Hooton, 25 September 1993.

37 073 brings a heavy loaded up ballast through Rhyl,
13 February 1997.
37 408 Loch Rannoch with a Birmingham to
Holyhead train nears Penmaenmawr, 27 June 1994.

Birkenhead shed, 8H in 1966 with an 8F taking water.
The locos on the left are all stored and few, if any, will
ever run again.
Looking back: Isle of Man Part 5 - by David Pool

IOMR No.4 Loch is slowing for the crossing at Mount
Gawne Road, between Colby and Port St. Mary. The train
is the 1000 from Douglas to Port Erin on 2 July 1973.

No.4 was also on the afternoon train, 14:10 from Douglas,
and was photographed at Port Soderick station, which had
changed very little over many years. The station house
looks to have survived well, but the track has probably
suffered from the lack of funds in the years of IOMR
ownership.

I spent later that afternoon enjoying the Horse Trams in
Douglas. Getting a Driver’s eye view photograph was
tricky, as I needed to get a good depth of focus as well as
a fast shutter speed. I was on an Open Toastrack car
No.40, with a similar car No.41 approaching. I regret
that I forgot to ask for the names of the horses.

Two Manx Electric Railway Crossbench cars were approaching
the Derby Castle terminus. No.25 had been built by
Milnes in 1898, and trailer No.55 entered service in
1904.

Each horse would have three or four return trips along the
Promenade each day, apart from one day off each week.
There was a water trough in the stables, but some additional
refreshment was appreciated in hot weather. The car
was No.35.

Douglas Promenade was as clean as any other seaside resort,
but anyone familiar with horse drawn transport systems will
know that it is necessary to deal with any unwanted
deposits. A Bedford street cleaner might not have
attracted much attention, but it was providing a very useful
service. Apparently in 2009 there were trials with
Poop Scoops, but attempting to attach them in the right
place proved to be too difficult, and I assume the street
cleaners have continued. Perhaps not surprisingly
there seem to be little information about them on transport
websites.

Another overlooked feature of Douglas was the Falcon Cliff
Lift. The Falcon Cliff Hotel had been one of the best
hotels in the Island, and a Funicular railway had been built
in 1887 when the hotel opened. After less than ten
years in use the Funicular was moved to Port Soderick, and
it was not until 1927 that a new Lift was provided.
This was on a single five foot gauge track, with one car and
a counterbalance weight, and not the two car Funicular
type. On 3 July 1973 it was still in use, but the Lift
closed in 1990 and the Hotel is now private offices.

The Isle of Man Steam Packet Company always had a few
vessels for coastal cargo duties. The MV Ramsey
was built by Ailsa Shipbuilding Company (Troon) in
1964. At the time it was suitable for the cargo
handled, but the advent of containers was unfortunate for
the Ramsey, whose hold had not been designed for
such items, and it was eventually sold at the end of
1973. My shot off Douglas Head on 3 July 1973 was not
planned, but I am glad I had some film left in the
camera! The Ramsey moved to the South of England, then
later went to the Cape Verde Islands, where it was used as a
fuel tanker, after several name changes. It may still
be there, as I could find no record of it having been
scrapped.
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