NORTH WALES COAST RAILWAY :NOTICE BOARD
Rheilffordd arfordir gogledd Cymru: Hysbysfwrdd
24 February 2025
Forthcoming events
See our Calendar Page for operator details.
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
Thursday 3 April Clwyd Railway Circle 'Landscapes of Steam, Chester and the Welsh Borders' David Jones present archive film by Michael Worrad
Saturday 5 April Saphos Lakelander from Llandudno Junction to Carlisle. Diesel to Lancaster and return, steam from Lancaster, return via Cumbrian Coast line. This is stopping at Llandudno Junction, Bangor and Holyhead for off train options or to visit the relevant towns.
Saturday 5 April UK Railtours - The Snowdonian. No further information available at present.
Saturday 11 April Pathfinder Tours 'Cambrian Coast Express' from Swindon to Pwllheli
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
Thursday 1 May Northern Belle "Conwy Castle & Bodnant Gardens" charter from Coventry It includes other off-train options.
Saturday 3 May Vintage Trains The North Wales Coast Express. Birmingham New Street to Llandudno for the Victorian Extravaganza. Diesel and steam top and tail (steam likely to be 5043 or 7209).
Sunday 5 May Inter-City Yr Wyl Fictoriadd (The Victorian Festival) Bermingham Internation - Llandudno. Traction: two Class 20s
Saturday 9 May Pathfinder Tours 'Cambrian Coast Express' from East Midlands Parkway to Pwllheli
Saturday 10 May UK Railtours Llandudno and Chester. London Euston to Llandudno Junction and Penmaenmawr freight yards.
Saturday 16 May Pathfinder Tours 'Cambrian Coast' Express from Bristol Temple Meads to Pwllheli
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.
Saturday 21 June North West Rail and Transport Collectors Fair Crewe Alexandra Football Club 10:00 - 16:00
Thursday 26 June The Railway Industry's "Three Peaks by Rail" will be down the Coast on the evening of 26 June and heading onwards in the early hours of 27 June.
July 2025
Saturday 5 July Railway Touring Company "North Wales Coast Express" from London Euston to Llandudno. Electric to Crewe, with steam along the Coast.
Sunday 13 July Railway Touring Company charter from Liverpool to Holyhead on with steam throughout.
Tuesday 15 July Midland Pullman Yorkshire Coast Pullman from Ruabon, Wrexham General and Chester.
Saturday 21 July Belmond Britannic Explorer 3-day Tour of Wales
August 2025
4 August Belmond Britannic Explorer 3-day Tour of Wales
11 August Belmond Britannic Explorer Six day tour of Lake District & Wales
25 August Belmond Britannic Explorer 3-day Tour of Wales
22 August Belmond Britannic Six day tour of Cornwall & Wales,
September 2025
Thursday 4 September Clwyd Railway Circle 'The Steelworks Railways at Home and Abroad' Adrian Bodlander
Saturday 5 September Pathfinder Tours 'Cambrian Coast Express' from Cardiff Central to Pwllheli
11 September Belmond Britannic Explorer Six day tour of Lake District & Wales
Saturday 12 September Pathfinder Tours '.Cambrian Coast Express' from Bristol Temple Meads to Pwllheli
15 September Belmond Britannic Explorer Britannic Explorer Six day tour of Cornwall & Wales,
26 September Belmond Britannic Explorer Six day tour of Lake District & Wales
29 September Belmond Britannic Explorer Britannic Explorer 3-day Tour of Wales
Wednesday 17 September Midland Pullman Settle and Carlisle Pullman. From Ruabon, Wrexham General and Chester.
Saturday 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.
October 2005
Thursday 2 October Clwyd Railway Circle 'Memories of railway operations at Llangollen from my childhood days growing up in the town during the BR era of the 1950’s and mid 60s.' Gareth Jones
20 October, Belmond Britannic Explorer 3-day Tour of Wales
17 October Belmond Britannic Explorer Six day tour of Cornwall & Wales,
10 November; Belmond Britannic Explorer 3-day Tour of Wales
November 2005
Thursday 4 November Clwyd Railway Circle Jeff Nicholls “A Baptism of Fire and Water-My First Wolsztyn Experience” Part Two
Saturday 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.
December 2005
Thursday 4 December Clwyd Railway Circle 'Railways & Tramways of the Isle of Man'
Geoff Morris.
North Wales Coast Railway website created and compiled by Charlie Hulme
Royalty visits Bangor: 67 029 Royal Diamond with the 'WAG' from Cardiff on 17 February. Picture by Logan Humphreys.
News Pictures
TfW upgraded 1V92 06:29 Holyhead to Cardiff Central to loco hauled on Saturday 22 February to cater for additional passengers travelling to Cardiff for the rugby games in Cardiff.
67 014 is seen making its booked stop at Prestatyn .
There has been a Rail Grinder based in Rhyl Engineering Sidings (picture) since Saturday, It seems to be working at night west of Rhyl between Abergele and Penmaenmawr, the Rail Grinder has five individual segments numbered DR79231, DR79232, DR79235, DR79236, DR79237.
A relatively uncommon appearance on 21 February in the form of 6Z36, the 12:00 from Whatley Quarry to Crewe Basford Hall. 66 557 brings 34 empty JNA hoppers through Shrewsbury station on the Down Main Line. (Graham Breakwell).
Strange move explained
The 'strange move' train mentioned by Bob Greenhalgh in the last issue was a movement by the 'Rail Adventure' company who use two back-to-back HST power cars as one locomotive. The train was 5S04, the 09:45 from Kings Norton OT Plant Depot to Eastriggs, a former MOD depot situated in Dumfries and Galloway about 5 miles west of Gretna Green. It appears that Rail Adventure stable their locos at Kings Norton. The job they have contracted for was to collect 769 002, one of the ex-319 bi-modes delivered to Transport for Wales and take it from storage at Eastriggs to Crewe EMD the next day for use by Northern Rail, one of two which will substitute for Northern's 769s as they are being overhauled.
Here are some images by Graham Breakwell of the very shabby, unbranded HST power cars 43467 and 43423 hauling RA power cars 43080 and 43468, sandwiching two Universal Barrier Vehicles, passing through Shrewsbury station on the Down Mail Line.
Incognito 43467 and 43423 up front.
RA power cars 43468 and 43080.
The barrier vehicles have names!
Logging the Logs
The Aberystwyth to Chirk, takes an interesting route - let's 'follow' the run, headcode C656, on 22 February. Locomotives were 97 303 and 37 405; 37 405 is not equipped with the ETCS in-cab signalling on the Cambrian Lines, so it always has to be second in the pair. Departure is booked for 09:50 - the train departs 10 minutes early, and by reducing the booked stop at Talerddig and Newtown departs Newtown at 11:24, 44 minutes early, arriving at the shunt neck adjacent to Coleham depot at 12:20, 39 minutes early.
It has been the practice to remove the locomotives here and replace them with a single Colas class 56 from the depot. However, this doesn't happen today and 97 303 and 37 405 carry on, and probably after a driver change. The train resumes the timetable times, departing from Shrewsbury at 14:34 and running more or less on time to Chester.
The Cefn Mawr viaduct over the river Dee, 147 feet above the river with 21 arches, is one of the highlights of the Shrewsbury - Chester route, Gary Thomas found some sunshine ...
... to give us these two views of our train on the structure. Chirk is passed at 15:04; passing the destination of the train the Kronospan factory, which has a siding on the opposite line and there is no crossover, so the journey continues.
After running round at Chester station sidings, 37 405 now in the lead for the last leg to Chirk, passing Chester Racecourse ...
... and Curzon Park Cutting (Geoff Morris).
Rossett is passed at 16:18 (Gary Thomas)
Passing Alastair Graham's camera at Wrexham at 16:25 ...
... and stabled in the loop at Croesnewydd from 16:28 to 16:52 to allow 1V97 14:28 Holyhead to Cardiff Central to pass (Alastair Graham). You might think it would be possible to run the locos round the train here, but there must be some reason - signalling perhaps?
The train reached the Kronospan siding at 17:10. After some swift unloading, the train (departed as 6C37 at 19:04 to Shrewsbury Coton Hill sidings,
More about 'Llandudno Junction 40' - by Alan Roberts
After enjoying reading Stuart Cawthray's 40-year-sold report for Llandudno Junction new signal box, I can provide some more information to the commissioning of the new box on 10 February 1985. I took early retirement in July 2018 after 42 years employed by the railway, mainly as a relief signalman, nowadays called signaller!
The new signal box at Llandudno Junction first appeared in sections in Thursday 7 December 1982. It arrived loaded in three open wagons on the Speedlink service from Arpley Sidings to Llandudno Junction. The box is classified as a 'BR Type 15' modular construction mainly for the Midland Region which covered the former LMS lines. About 150 were constructed from 1959 until 1985, some of the later ones were second hand from closed ones.
The box was constructed using a mixture of second-hand Type 15 boxes off the West Hampstead Resignalling Scheme of the late 1970s with some other additional sections from other sources in storage. The new box measures 60' 4" long and front and rear panels made up of seven 8-foot window sections bolted together. The end panels measure 13' 10" which includes a door at each end; one being the fire escape door. The sliding windows have aluminium frames instead of the original steel ones in which most earlier Type 15 boxes were constructed.
After the top half of the box arrived by train, a start was made soon after to construct the new box on a brick structure which housed the relay room for the old mechanical box installed prior to the first stage of the resignalling back in 1980.
Crossing the line
Network Rail has identified that two foot crossings at Pensarn – Pen Uchaf and Ty Gwyn – need replacing with a bridge or safety reasons before capacity along the route can be increased; it is hoped to add an hourly Llandudno - Liverpool service in 2026 . There have been six near-misses and 14 incidents of mis-use across both crossings in the last two years, as well as two fatalities in 2019. Both are used to access to the beach; it is proposed to replaced them with a single fully-accessible bridge.
There are two foot crossings in Prestatyn which will presunably also have tobe replaced, but the project seems to lapse.
There is a 'drop-in' session at Abergele Town Council office on 26 February 2025 – 16:30 to 19:30, See NR's website for full information.
From Dave Sallery's archive
31 421 leaves Llandudno on a service to Liverpool, 5 June 1993.
31 422 backs out of the bay platform at Bangor to form an up service, 16 August 1995.
31 468 in engineers' Dutch livery arrives at Crewe on a down service to Bangor, 16 August 1995.
31 469, in the Rail Blue era, passes Holywell Junction on an up train to Manchester, 28 August 1989.
Looking back: Steam and Diesels in Scotland 1963 - by David Pool
The West Coast of Scotland was all diesel territory in 1963, and most of the trains were hauled by the second version of the Birmingham/Sulzer diesels (later to become Class 27). The Saturday 17:30 departure from Oban to Glasgow was one of the most popular trains, and on 22 June 1963 it was double headed by D5355 and D5358. The yellow warning panel on the front end was being introduced, but D5355 was still in the original green livery. The T2 on the route indicator panel presumably has some meaning, but single figures seemed to be more common in that part of Scotland.
The terminus of the branch line from Connel Ferry to Ballachulish was an attractive location for photography on 24 June 1963, with the Pap of Glencoe in the distance. D5354 would be leaving with the 10:48 to Oban, while D5356 was in the station yard. The branch was closed three years later.
Later that day at Bridge of Orchy the sunshine had been replaced by drizzle and mist, when
D5360 arrived with the 15:20 Fort William to Glasgow – another well patronised service.
Diesel multiple units were a rarity on the West Coast, but a few Swindon built Cross-Country Class 120 sets of the type more familiar on Scotland’s East Coast were based at Corkerhill (Glasgow). The set comprising Sc51788, Sc59679 and Sc51781 was rostered for the 17:15 Oban to Glasgow on 25 June 1963, and photographed at Glencruitten, heading for Connel Ferry.
The Connel Ferry bridge was unusual in that both road and rail traffic were permitted, subject to traffic light and signal controls. On 25 June 1963 the 16:10 Ballachulish to Oban was headed by D5358, the train not surprisingly having priority over any road traffic. The road carriageway looks rather narrow in comparison with what we expect today.
The Gresley A4 Pacifics were enjoying their last years of service in Scotland in 1963, and their duties were well known to Scottish rail enthusiasts. I had crossed to the East of Scotland for the final part of a holiday, and had heard that an A4 worked out of Aberdeen on a Sunday afternoon. I found a suitable location on the climb out of Aberdeen, where the 2pm departure would be working hard. I think it was a Mail and Parcels rather than a passenger service. 60011 Empire of India duly appeared, and apart from the obtrusive telegraph pole I was pleased with the shot. 60011 was withdrawn a year later.
The next train due to arrive in Aberdeen on 30 June 1963 was the 10:05 from Edinburgh, so I moved a little further down the line to get another shot. No steam on this working, which had English Electric D336 (later to become 40 136) as the motive power. This locomotive, built at Vulcan Foundry, was less than two years old, and being in the final batch had the distinctive combination of a small yellow panel and a four character indicator box. There were a number of freight wagons nearby, but being a Sunday all was relatively quiet.
Two days later I was returning home, and wanted to photograph on the Waverley route, which was threatened with closure. The weather was rather dull and wet, and I settled for a shot near Heriot, where B1 61099 was heading towards Edinburgh with the 08:02 from Hawick. With a shutter speed of 1/125 and almost full aperture on my Vito B I was pleased with the result from 25ASA Kodachrome!
Feedback: The Hemyock coach - by Robert Darlaston
The carriage shown in David Pool’s photo of the Hemyock branch train (10 February issue, repeated above) is not, as stated, the LNER Thompson vehicle used in the line’s last months until closure on 9 September 1963, but one of the two ex-Barry Railway carriages (W263W and W268W) used from 1951 until late in 1962. The ex-LNER vehicle had only four compartments and a very large luggage/guard’s section which is evident in the last of my photos attached. I travelled on the line on four occasions in 1961-63 and attach five photos including two with details on the ex-Barry carriage which might be of interest.
0-4-2T 1451 sets off from Tiverton Junction with the 1.40 pm to Hemyock comprising an ex-Barry Railway carriage on 7 September 1961.
0-4-2T 1470 with ex-Barry Railway carriage W268W alongside the River Culm at Hemyock after arrival with the 1.42 from Tiverton Junction on 4 September 1962.
The axle-box on ex-Barry Railway carriage W268W, showing the original company initials.
Photographed at Hemyock on 4 September 1962. (I had lightly chalked over the BR Co initials to ensure they showed up!)
The gas light fitting in the ceiling of ex-Barry Railway carriage W268W, photographed at Hemyock on 4 September 1962. The fitting was not original and was installed when the carriage moved to the line as operating speeds were insufficient to charge a dynamo for
electric lighting. The line’s speed limit was 15 mph and the 1400 class were then the only locos
permitted on the line. Passenger trains were allowed about 40 minutes for the 7½ mile journey but mixed trains were allowed up to 58 minutes. Grain and milk were conveyed by the mixed trains.
The view from the 2.45 pm mixed train from Hemyock to Tiverton Junction, conveying milk from Hemyock dairy, and headed by 0-4-2T 1466. The tank wagons were later picked up by the 12.45 St Erth to Kensington milk train. The photograph was taken from the ex-LNER
brake-second carriage used on the line in 1963.
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