NORTH WALES COAST RAILWAY :NOTICE BOARD

Rheilffordd arfordir gogledd Cymru: Hysbysfwrdd

10 November 2025

Forthcoming events

See our Calendar Page for operator details.

November 2025

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

Friday 14 November Altrincham Electric Railway Preservation Society Noel Coates "Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway Engine
Sheds".

Saturday 22 November Pathfinder Railtours The Chester Christmas Explorer Oxford Parkway, Golden Valley and Marches line to Chester

December 2025

Monday 1 December Midland Pullman Edinburgh Christmas Pullman from Bangor to Edinburgh

Thursday 4 December Clwyd Railway Circle 'Railways & Tramways of the Isle of Man' Geoff Morris.

January 2026

Altrincham Electric Railway Preservation Society Friday 9 January John Hooley "A Midlands Miscellany".

February 2026

Friday 13 February Altrincham Electric Railway Preservation Society Paul Shackcloth "People and Places 8".

Other useful sites:

For up-to-date North Wales information
join the North Wales Trains News group

North Wales Coast Railway website created and compiled by Charlie Hulme

Busy scene at Crewe on 6 November. Picture by Logan Humphreys.

Class 60 in action

Making its first visit on the coast, DC Rail Cappagh-liveried 60 028 worked from Wembley to Penmaenmawr on Friday 7 November with stone empties, On Saturday 8 November it was captured loading the wagons for the Sunday 09:50 departure (above). (Garry Stroud).

At Llandudno Junction for a refill from a road tanker, The loco driver kindly agreed to display Logan's headboard.

At Llandudno Junction at 8 November on the return from refuelling (Garry Stroud)

On Sunday 9 November, the loaded train passed through a very autumnal Llandudno Junction on the way to Wembley (Logan Humphreys)

60 028 passes Marine Lake, Rhyl. (Ivor Bufton)

And a blast for the past:

Ex-works and fresh out of the box !. 60 028 then named John Flamsteed shows off its new Railfreight petroleum livery and awaits entry into traffic after construction at Brush loco works, Loughborough on 26th August 1990 (Garry Stroud).

Britannic news

Today's Railways magazine reports that Belmond have suspended the service until 2026. Also we have some detail of what happened to the last tour: the train stopped, with more door problems, in the small station of Fenny Stratford on the Bletchley - Bedford line, where they were taken by coach to a hotel.

Seen at Crewe

Most freight trains avoid the station and use the avoiding lines, but not all routes can use them as there is no route. On 7 November, 66 749 Christopher Hopcroft MBE arrive on platform 1 at Crewe on 4H61 GBRf Small Heath to Tunstead (Paul Hajdasz).

Beyond the LNWR premises at the southern end of Crewe station Paul managed to see resident Arriva TrainCare shunter 09 204 .

The 'Royal Scot' featured 71000 Duke of Gloucester ..

... D213 Andania brought the train from London (Logan Humphreys).

On 31 October, 70 002 with 6H27 a load of slate waste from Llandudno Junction to Earles sidings is pathed into platform 6 for a driver change (Richard Snook).

On the same day 37 800 Cassiopeia passed hauling a set of Mark 5 coaches from Manchester Longsight to Eastleigh to be painted in the livery of Chiltern Railways, It is hoped that these trains, with Class 68 traction, will begin service early in 2026 (Richard Snook).

Royal Train?

An odd event occurred on 4 November: a rake of coaches with 67 008 - failed with engine cooling trouble. on the rear was hauled from Holyhead to Crewe, The surprise was haulage was 67 005 King's Messenger. Picture at Bangor by Logan Humphreys.

From Dave Sallery's Archive

37 402 passes under the signalling gantry at Sandycroft on a down service. This gantry is now on the East Lancs Railway at Bury. 13 January 1994.

Railfreight Construction 37s at rest on the since-demolished shed at Buxton, 14 September 1991.

47 733 is in the process of running around a Crewe to Holyhead service at Holyhead in September 2002. The area to the right was formerly the Freightliner terminal

Up and Down HSTs in First Group 'fag packet' livery cross at Reading on 10 July 1999.

Looking Back: Steam and Diesels in East Anglia 1970 - David Pool

The English Electric Type 3 diesels were working trains on the East Anglian main lines in 1970, and on 30 May the 13:25 King’s Lynn to Liverpool Street was departing with 6723, one of the first batch built at Vulcan Works in 1959. This later became 37 023, and has been preserved, now being restored at the Pontypool and Blaenavon Railway.

In 1970 a new platform at Sheringham was the terminus for the line from Cromer which had previously carried on to Melton Constable, the line beyond Sheringham being the base for what is now the North Norfolk Railway. The buffer stop visible in my photograph was eventually removed in 2010 to allow rail traffic to cross a busy road to the NNR site, although these movements are infrequent. The four car set arriving with the 13:52 from Norwich was headed by a Metro Cammell Class 101 E51213. This car has been preserved, and is now in the East Anglian Railway Museum at Chappel and Wakes Colne Station, Essex.

The NNR stock was assembled in what had been the BR station, and included two of the Waggon und Maschinenbau Railbuses E79960 and E79963. These had been based at Cambridge for use on several of the East Anglian lines which had now closed.

I was pleased to find the preserved Class B12 61572, which I had never seen in BR service, and fortunately it was very well placed for a photograph.

Moving on to Cromer, there was a good location for a shot as trains left the station. The train I had seen at Sheringham had left at 1530 and was now returning to Norwich, having reversed at Cromer. I had noted the numbers as E51213, E56383, E51204 and E56201, but although the first three cars were certainly Class 101, E56201 was a Class 108, which made me think I might have made a mistake. Looking at the image, the roof ventilators on the last car were certainly different, and their arrangement was indeed that of a Class 108, so my notes had been correct.

My final shot on that day was at North Walsham, where the 1645 from Norwich would terminate. If I had hoped for something different I would have been disappointed, for the Sheringham units had been split, and the Class 101 pair E56383/E51213 duly arrived.

On the next day 31 May 1970 I was at Oulton Broad, near where the lines to Lowestoft from Norwich and Ipswich converge. Oulton Broad North is on the line from Norwich, while the South station is on the line from Ipswich. The 10:36 Norwich to Lowestoft arriving at the North station was a Class 105/100/100/105 combination, E51276/E56094 and E56317/E50362. The difference between the Gloucester Class 100 and Cravens Class 105 coach underframes is noticeable in the shot.

The 10:06 from Ipswich would be soon arriving at the South station, and this turned out to be another Class 105/100 hybrid, E56437/E50339. The difference between the roof ventilators on the two cars is distinctive. 1 was wondering whether the hybrid formation had any particular problems, but the Classes 100, 101 and 105 share the same type of engine, each power car having two AEC 220 units.

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