NORTH WALES COAST
RAILWAY :NOTICE BOARD
Rheilffordd arfordir gogledd Cymru: Hysbysfwrdd
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9 November 2026
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November 2026
11 November Welsh Highland Railway North Wales Group. Dave Waldren – ‘My View of Reconstructing the WHR.’
Friday 13 November Altrincham Electric Railway Preservation Society Tom Ingall "The Reunification of the Great Central Railway". The talk describes the plan to reunify the Great Central Railway (North) and the Great Central Railway preserved lines by building a new link in the centre of Loughborough. Tom is a BBC presenter who has been a volunteer at the Great Central Railway since the age of 14.
December 2027
Thursday 3 December Clwyd Railway Circle Ian Mainprize 'German Railway Development'
9 December Welsh Highland Railway North Wales Group – Mike Blackburn – The Chester & Holyhead Railway.
Wednesday 23 December Saphos
Trains "The Pennine Peaks Christmas Explorer"
Bangor to Hellifield circular tour. 2 LSL 47s
to/from Crewe, A4 60007 "Sir Nigel Gresley"
onwards.
January 2027
Friday 8 January Altrincham Electric Railway Preservation Society Jeremy Nicholls "100 Years of Trains to Audlem" and "Nantwich and the Railway". Contact Andrew Macfarlane, (0161) 928 9394)
February 2027
Friday 12 February Altrincham Electric Railway Preservation Society Chris Davies "The AERPS and the Last Years of the 1500 volts dc Altrincham Electrics". Chris is a Vice-President of the Society and he has been involved since the early days in the early 1970s. Contact Andrew Macfarlane, (0161) 928 9394
March 2027
Friday 12 March Altrincham Electric Railway Preservation Society Paul Shackcloth "People and Places 9". More images of the pre-1968 steam railway with at least one person visible. Contact Andrew Macfarlane, (0161) 928 9394 for confirmation)
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North Wales Coast Railway website created and compiled by Charlie Hulme
[The other items usually in this column are temporally out of service for re-construction]
56 113 and Network Rail class 97 (37) 97 304 Rheilffordd Talyllyn Railway returning through Shrewsbury platform 7 still with its lovely old lower quadrant signals at 15:31. According to This had run Shrewsbury-Wrexham-Bidston-Shrewsbury-Crewe-Chester-Holyhead and then return the same route. (John Oakes)
Llandudno Junction around 10am, 4th November 2026
70 812 about to load stone having arrived with 4D61 05:55 empty wagons from Bradwell sidings, running late at 10:04. 56 113 & 56 096 3S71 RHTT. heading to Holyhead, reversed, then return to its base at Coleham, The train started at 21:21 the previous day.
158 832 on 10:36 Llandudno Junction to Birmingham International where it becomes a service to Aberystwyth and Pwllheli (possibly now changing at Shrewsbury since the 197s are live on the Cambrian) .
197 050 10:19 from Llandudno to Blaenau Ffestiniog approaching the junction points
Crewe blockade (from National Rail information)
Engineers will be delivering a wide range of improvements at Crewe station and on the surrounding railway, including:
Renewing sections of track
Upgrading signalling equipment
Renewing overhead line equipment (OLE)
Carrying out structural improvements to the station roof
Preparing for future station canopy improvements
The programme begins during Christmas 2026 and will continue throughout 2027.
Engineering teams will work over Christmas Day and Boxing Day, when trains are not running, allowing improvements to begin without affecting passenger services.
This work will set the foundations for a wider programme of railway upgrades throughout 2027, beginning with a nine-day railway closure from 13 February 2027.
A number of other closures and periods of disruptive access will also be required throughout the programme to allow work to be carried out safely and efficiently.
158 memories
Things are quiet this week, so I have delved into my
picture vault and dug out a few Class 158 pictures, as
their replacement by 197s gets under way. Since 2007 a
fleet of 24 158s (818 - 840) has been based at Machynlleth
depot to work the Cambrian lines and another routes
including the Holyhead - Birmingham service. They are only
units fitted for the use on the Cambrian lines with the
ECTS signalling system.
I'll start with a selection of the various liveries that were to be found on the Cambrian. The train is Llanaber station, the nearest to the hotel where and and I Joanna stayed several times . Flagging down the train is always fun, especially for young passengers! On the return you find the conductor, who notes on a paper the stations to stop, and give a 'ding' to the driver. I have to say that in all the times I did this they never make a mistake.
Starting 2002: 158 844 Central Trains, a creation of the Privatisation scheme.
2009: 158 831. By then The Cambrian had been transferred to 'Wales and Borders' which chose a light grey or 'silver'. The franchise was in the hands of Arriva, who added their logo for a temporary.
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2011: Llanaber. 158 821 refurbished and in full Arriva colours. The track had been replaced.
2026: Fairbourne: Transport for Wales.
Some random views
Machynlleth: 158 838
2004: Manchester Oxford Road, 158 830
2004: Aberystwyth. 158 844
2006: Morfa Mawddach. 158 843
2008: Penhelig.
2008. Chester. 158 830
Altrincham Query Answered
A picture by David Pool on the last issue is repeated above, with a note:
'On the way home I photographed a train of empty ICI hopper wagons returning to Tunstead behind 7570 (later 25 220). My notes indicated it was near Altrincham, but the background in the image was not familiar to me. Eventually I decided it must have been on the Skelton loop line, heading up to Skelton Junction, but no doubt someone will correct me if I am mistaken! '
And they did! Many thanks to the ten people who sent detailed notes on the picture. It shows what was the shed and workshops of the 1500-volt electric units which worked between Manchester and Altrincham units on this line, until they were replaced in 1971 by Class 304 25kv units. The old Bowden station (the original terminus of the MSJ & A line) was at the far end of the sidings. The buildings were demolished, and the space used for car parking and today there is no sign of them.
The train is about to go under the Moss Lane bridge towards Altrincham and pass through Altrincham station. Roger Dempsey sent us the modern picture taken from Moss Lane bridge adjacent to Altrincham station looking towards Hale. The large block of flats on the right now marks the site.
Many thanks to all the 10 people who sent detailed notes on the picture.
Looking back: 1972 part 8 - David Pool
A Trans Pennine Class 124 with E51962 leading was arriving at Dewsbury Wellington Road on 25 August 1972 with the 15:15 York to Manchester. The other station in Dewsbury, Dewsbury Central, had been closed in 1964.
I was in Scarborough the following day, where the two Station Pilots 2075 and 2113 were conveniently parked for a photograph. These became 03 075 and 03 113, and although 03 075 was scrapped, 03 113 was sold to Gulf Oil at Milford Haven, and eventually acquired by the Heritage Shunters Trust at Darley Dale on the Peak Railway.
The other locomotive in my shot was a Class 40 349, which had arrived with 1L91, the 08:35 from Wakefield. This train would have reversed at Scarborough to go to Bridlington and eventually Bradford, the locomotive being changed at Scarborough. 349 then waited for 1H60, the 11:15 (Saturdays only) from Newcastle to Butlins Holiday Camp at Filey, which also needed to reverse at Scarborough. Meanwhile I moved on to Filey, where I photographed 349 on its way to the Holiday Camp Station.
Returning to Scarborough, I thought I should visit the 20 inch gauge Miniature Railway in Peasholm Park, although diesel locomotives pretending to be Gresley Pacifics were not of much interest to me at the time, and just didn’t sound right! I can now appreciate the historical significance of Neptune, which was built by Hudswell Clarke in 1931. The Dorman diesel engine and torque converter for the hydraulic drive was a world first. Today Neptune has a different diesel engine, but is recognised Worldwide as the oldest diesel hydraulic locomotive still in use.
The North Yorkshire Moors Railway at Grosmont was busy on the next day, Sunday 27 August 1972. The LNER Raven Class Q6 3395 was in the station, but not in steam.
The afternoon train was worked by LNER Class J27 2392. The LNER renumbering scheme changed this to 5894, and in BR days it became 65894. This useful locomotive has since visited many of the Preserved Railways, such as Llangollen in 1992. The diesel shunter in the shot was 21, Fowler 4210094 (1954) from British Steel Hartlepool, and currently at the Northampton and Lamport Railway.
The locomotive in steam in the distance was 29, built by Kitson 4263(1904) for the Lambton Collieries, where it worked until 1969. It has been on the NYMR since 1970, apart from a brief visit to Peak Rail in 2019 and Didcot in 2021.
Built by AC Cars in 1978, their 4 wheel Railbuses mostly worked on the Western Region, then later in Scotland. Two were saved after withdrawal, 79978 going to the NYMR, where it was very useful in the early days of passenger working. After further use on the Kent and East Sussex and Colne Valley Railways it has been restored at the Swindon and Cricklade Railway, where it currently resides. 79976 was less fortunate, and after storage at several sites is now at Nemesis Rail awaiting major work. 79978 was arriving at Grosmont at the time of my visit in 1972.
On my last day in North Yorkshire on 28 August 1972 I was at Driffield, where a Birmingham Class 104 E50548 was working the 09:00 Hull to Scarborough.
Moving on to Beverley, another Class 104 E50561 was on the 1000 Hull to Bridlington. Beverley Minster, one of the largest parish churches in England, is just visible on the right of my shot. The ornate North Eastern Railway footbridges were distinctive features on this line.
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