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From Simon Jowett, October 13th
Others locos on duty were 37 414, 37 422, 37 429 and 37 402: freight
trains glimpsed all day - one.
Later in the day, with
locos still short, 37 429 on the 1353 Holyhead-Crewe
had to run into platform 12 at Crewe to run round, giving it
chance to pose with Channel Tunnel loco 92 018, which was about to be
hauled north with a test train. (picture 3)
19 September
Class 37 haulage happily is still a main feature of table 81, the Monday-Friday service being almost unchanged. Less locomotive- hauled diagrams exist on Saturdays, however, and very few on Sundays. I have transcribed details at the followng links, although I feel there are some errors, especially on Sundays - I will endeavour to obtain the supplement when it appears.
- 18 September.Loco's currently out of service from the North Wales pool are 37408/421/425. Former Wigan loco 37416 has now been released from Doncaster and been reallocated to Cardiff to cover for 427 which is currently under repair.
19 September
Class 37s seen working along the coast during the same day were 402, 414, 417, 418, 420, 422 and 429.
Six images from the afternoon of Thursday 12 September,
taken in Chester: the first two show the point where the
railway passes through the City walls alongside Telford's
staircase canal locks and warehouse.
Sadly the service on the coast line is too-often marred by locomotive
unreliability;
in my view more attention to maintenance is needed. I became involved
in
a typical incident on 31 August, when the 10.23 from Bangor to Crewe,
hauled
by 37 417 Highland Region was rescued by freight loco 37 708 of
Immingham depot, which had arrived in the area with the petroleum coke
train to Holyhead. The picture shows the cavalcade arriving in platform
11 at Crewe, very late and crowded. Thanks to Simon Jowett for help
with
this item.
7 September
Many thanks to RAIL magazine for printing an item about this site, which has brought in dozens of extra users, and some very nice emails: thanks to all who have written, and remember you are welcome to send in any relevant news items.
RJB Mining, the company which bought most of Britain's last few
collieries,
has announced the forthcoming closure of Point of Ayr Colliery, which
sends
out a daily train of power station coal over the eastern part of the
coast
line. More traditional livelihoods lost, unless a proposed workers'
buyout
can succeed.
8 August.
We should mention Traction magazine, which now features a monthtly column called 'Along the Coast.' The August issue explains some of the complexity of the InterCity workings: it seems that on Monday - Thursday nights, train 1D89 20.05 London - Holyhead (22.45 from Chester) is worked by a class 47 loco and coaches, which then return empty. An HST set arrives empty from Manchester to work the night train to London!
8 August.
On Saturdays only, the daily Irish Mancunian, the 09.56 from Stockport via Manchester Piccadilly to Holyhead is locomotive-worked; as I live near Stockport, I decided on 3 August to sample this exotic working over the 10 km from Stockport to Manchester Piccadilly, for which 19 minutes are allowed by the timetable! I was curious to see how such a slow timing could be adhered to, but much slow running and many signal stops ensured an on-time arrival.
The departure displays at Stockport said that it would leave from platform 4, which is very awkward to photograph, unlike platform 3 which is in clear view from southbound platform 2 on the other side of the tracks. I decided not to bother with a photo ... until at 09.52 it was announced as a 'platform alteration' to platform 3! By this time 37 429 and its empty train was arriving (from Chester or Crewe?) so I had to move very fast under the subway, take my picture and get back again, trying to avoid annoying any 'real' passengers.
Anyway, everyone boarded the train, complete with its chocolate and cream first coach, and we departed on time, only to meet a lady who was walking down the train putting reservation labels on the seats and asking some unfortunates to move!
A unique feature of this train, in view of the shortage of diesel-loco hauled trains in Britain as a whole, is that while running on the slow line from Stockport to Manchester, it is joined on the adjacent fast track by the 08.34 Cross Country Trains Class 47-hauled service from Birmingham to Manchester, which leaves Stockport at 10.03, and the two roll simultaneously into Piccadilly at 10.15. An unusual photo-opportunity (Saturdays only, remember) but MIND YOUR HEAD!
Another smart move across the footbridge at Piccadilly got me aboard the 10.17 Manchester - Penzance, hauled by a class 86 electric, for the ride back to Stockport. Overhearing a nearby conversation, I was not the only one making the trip that morning, either ... as I have never been the only passenger to photograph the class 37 after arrival at Crewe.
9 August.
Thanks to those who have created links into the North Wales Coast Railway page, including the folks at Mercurio, the European Rail Server, and in the USA the amazingly comprehsive Classification Yard of Chris Coleman. This link searches the Altavista database for all pages linking into this site.
July 22
The July 1996 issue of Modern Railways magazine carries a letter from Robert Goundry, managing director of North West Regional Railways, referring to an earlier writer's suggestion that there are many Mk 2d and 2e coaches, similar to the ones currently used on the coast line but with air conditioning, currently lying unwanted in storage.
Mr Goundry tantalizingly states: "There are other, better options which we are pursuing vigorously; although there are a number of hurdles to cross, I do not intend to fall back on Mr Sallery's preferred solution (Mk 2ds and 2es) until the better options have proved impossible.
"North West Regional Railways is committed to providing the best possible service in North Wales. We know there is plenty of room for improvement, and are grateful that our customers are showing support for our efforts in increasing numbers."
What can these better options be, we wonder? Mk 3 coaches and Class 158 railcars are the only other air-conditioned coaches in Britain, and these are in short supply, unless some of the disused Mk 3 sleeping cars could be rebuilt as seating coaches...
July 11
The sunny weather on Sunday 21st July took us off to Colwyn Bay, making use of the 11.30 West Coast express from Manchester to London which calls at Crewe (nearly all London trains run via Macclesfield) in time to catch the 12.21 Crewe - Holyhead. We returned to Crewe on the afternoon 'Intercity 125.'
A difference between Sunday operations and the Weekday service: on Weekdays trains use terminal platform 9 at Crewe, a replacement locomotive backing on to the train for the outward working; on Sundays, double-ended platform 12 is used, allowing the loco to run round the train. Also noted: one of the trains, complete with locomotive, spends its spare time during the day in the sidings opposite the platform at Chester, well-located for photographers.
We travelled in Riviera Trains' coach 4963; it seems there is one 'exotic' coach in each train. A very comfortable coach, too, with good old soft seats and real cloth anti-macassars instead of the NWRR paper type!
22 July.
Five Mk 1 second-class coaches are being hired from 'private' owners (i.e. small companies, rather than Eversholt Leasing which owns all the normal stock) this summer for use on the coast line: no. 4912 from West Coast Railways of Carnforth, painted in maroon, and 4963, 5025/9/30 from Riviera Trains of Cranmore, painted in Chocolate Brown and Cream. Reports and photos please!
11 June
Created by Charlie Hulme, May 1996. Comments welcome