THE NORTH WALES COAST RAILWAY: ROUTE GUIDE

CREWE TO HOLYHEAD

The traditional advice is to sit on the right-hand side of the train leaving Crewe, to get the best views of the sea once the Coast is reached. Leaving Crewe, and branching immediately away from the West Coast main line past the now-preserved Crewe North Junction signal box, the train runs for a mile or so on a deviation line opened in 1868 to allow for expansion of the London and North Western Railway (LNWR) locomotive works which eventually grew to occupy a large area. The original route was to the right of the present line and was incorporated in to the Works site, the first part of which has now become the  'Railway Age' which is both a museum open to visitors and a small maintenance and overhaul works specialising in heritage trains. Preserved diesel and electric locomotives are often seen here, and it also acts a base for steam locomotives when special trains are operated on the Coast line. Crewe North steam locomotive depot, one of the most famous in the country, lay to the left of the line here but has been eradicated in favour of a car park: some way from the line is Crewe Signalling Centre, a long, low industrial building opened in 1985: most unlike a traditional signal box, but painted red with a white stripe to resemble a huge semaphore signal arm.

Soon afterwards on the right, a high brick wall marks the boundary of the currently operating part of the Locomotive Works. Today it is operated by Bombardier as an overhaul facility: little is visible from the train, although you might catch a glimpse of the works shunting loco through a gap in the wall. On the left here is Crewe electric locomotive depot, which includes in its allocation all the Class 92 locos built for Channel Tunnel duty, although the view from the train is not good. The northern exit tracks of the depot on to our line are controlled from a small signalbox called Crewe Steel Works, built the the LMSR in 1935: this was the site of a Bessemer steel plant built by the LNWR. A short distance further on, the overhead electric wires end and we are on a traditional country railway. The maximum speed permitted over the line to Holyhead is 90miles/hour with many sections restricterd to lower speeds.

The city of Chester is one of the most beautiful and historic in Britain, with its almost-complete city walls, ancient cathedral and the abundance of timber-framed buildings in the shopping centre, laid out on two levels known as 'The Rows' and crowned by the world-famous clock. The city centre is about one mile from the station; buses  run frequently to the city centre, and there is also an open-topped city bus tour.

Leaving Chester, North Wales trains swing left at Chester West Junction away from the Liverpool line, beyond which can be seen the Traction Maintenance Depot complex. The Diesel Multiple Unit shed of 1957 and the old steam locomotive shed of the Great Western Railway were demolished in 1998 to be replaced by a a new depot for the Class 175 railcars. This depot os owned and operated by Alstom. Chester Wagon Repair Depot (closed 1998) was on the left here, and on the right at Chester South Junction a single line joins to form a triangular junction which is used by some freight trains avoiding the station and occasionally to turn complete trains by traversing all three sides of the triangle.

There are four running lines through the rock cuttings and tunnels for the next mile, a reminder of the fact that most of the route to Llandudno Junction once needed four tracks to handle the traffic. The second of the two tunnels here. Northgate Street Tunnel, carries the line below the site of the Cheshire Lines Committee's Chester Northgate station, now a leisure centre.   The line cuts through a corner of the old city walls and crosses the Shropshire Union Canal alongside a staircase of locks designed by Thomas Telford, then passes the Roodee racecourse (dates of race meetings) before crossing the river Dee into Wales. The original river bridge here, designed by Robert Stephenson, collapsed under a train not long after it was built, killing people and damaging Stephenson's reputation. The four-track line crossed the river on two parallel bridges built by the LNWR, and referred to as the Roodee Viaduct: only one is still in use.

A mile further on, At Saltney Junction (controlled from Chester) the single line towards Shrewsbury curves away to the left. This was once part of Birkenhead - London route of the old Great Western Railway, with expresses to London Paddington in fierce competition with the LNWR service to London Euston. Next, an area of waste land with a few sidings and a long row of railway-built houses marks Mold Junction, now just a signalbox but once the junction for a branch inland to Mold and Denbigh and a busy steam locomotive shed (closed 1966) and marshalling yard.

The next landmark, to the left of the line, is Hawarden Airport, also known as Chester Airport, whose main runway is at right angles to the line and the landing path takes aircraft across the line. Should any aircraft land short of the runway, the control tower staff can switch signals to red and stop the trains; even so, to be aboard a train as a landing takes place is a somewhat unnerving experience. There are no scheduled flights here, however, only private ones, and this is also the location of the British Aerospace factory which manufactures wings for the Airbus range of airliners including the giant A380.

There are several closed stations on this section: Sandycroft and Queensferry,which precede the first working station on the coast line at Shotton. This is located at the point where the line from Wrexham to Bidston passes above and has platforms, and forms a useful interchange for passengers from the Wirral area. Despite this, the coast line part of the station was closed in 1966, but reopened again in 1972. There were once four tracks on nthe main line here here, but by 1972 the outer two had been removed, so new platforms had to be built. This area of the Dee estuary is highly industrialised. In the right distance can be seen the huge buildings of Shotton steelworks, which  is a major customer of the railway, being reached by sidings from the Bidston - Wrexham route. Incidentally, the Wrexham line was once a Welsh outpost of the London and North Eastern Railway.

Little remains of Connah's Quay station, closed in 1966. The scenery in this area has been transformed in the last few years: to the right among the electricity pylons stands a new road bridge over the Dee, built on the cable-stayed principle, completed in 1997 and known as the Flintshire Bridge. The tower is 118 metres high, and the assymetric main span is 294 metres. Rockcliffe Hall signalbox had to be demolished when the road was bridged over the railway, and its replacement, a basic prefabricated structure, can be seen on the right by the bridge. Next on the right the Connah's Quay electricity station comes in to view, built in 1996 and notable for its row of huge concrete 'plant pots.' Operated by Powergen, it is a combined cycle gas turbine plant, based on a design first used in 1992 at Killingholme on Humberside, and fed by gas which comes ashore by pipeline from the Liverpool Bay gas field. This site once housed a traditional coal-fired (and rail-served) power station known as Rockcliffe Hall.

Beyond Flint we encounter on the right-hand side the incongruous sight of a sea-going ship, now beached high and dry above the water.  Duke of Lancaster was a British Railways ferry which was launched in 1955 from Harland and Wolff, Belfast, with accommodation for 600 First and 1200 Second-class passengers. She was in BR/Sealink service between Heysham and Ireland from 1956, but was sold in 1979 to Empire Trading of Liverpool, replaced on the Irish Sea services by roll-on roll-off vessels. In 1980 she was towed across Liverpool Bay to Llanerch-Y-Mor, Deeside, beached at high tide and was concreted in afterwards, allegedly before there was time for anyone to object.

The ship has been used at times as a nightclub and a supermarket, but at the present time it lies more or less derelict awaiting its fate; an appreciation society has recently been formed, whose website gives much information about the history of the ship,

Mostyn Dock follows shortly on the seaward side: rail freight traffic survived here until 2008 in the form of steel which from eastern England which exported by sea to Ireland.  After Mostyn the train travels along a stretch of exposed sea wall with the Wirral peninsula and the Hilbre Island bird reserve visible across the Dee estuary.  A long curve to the west signals our train's arrival on the North Wales coast, at first past sandhills and caravans, then golf links before arriving in Prestatyn, 47.5 miles from Crewe and the first stop after Chester for many trains.  The estuary ends here and the line turns left on to the holiday coast. Out in the sea on clear days the turbines of a newly-built wind-powered power station can be seen.  Prestatyn is a quiet little resort, and marks one end of the Offa's Dyke path, which runs along the ancient border between England and Wales.

This is classic holiday country for the people of the north-western textile cities, and bears all the hallmarks, such as caravans, holiday camps and 'amusements.' The sea and the beaches are wonderful, but a real jarring note is sounded by a  road called the 'North Wales Expressway' which has been blasted alongside the line, in places shoving it aside on to a new alignment. Rhyl (51 miles) is the biggest and brashest holiday town, with its funfairs and indoor 'sun centre'. After leaving Rhyl station the train passes Rhyl Marine Lake on the right: this is circled by the Rhyl Miniature Railway,  one of the oldest fifteen-inch gauge railways anywhere in the world. Its origins go back to 1911, and on peak days in 2004 you can ride on the same train that a visitor in 1920 would have found.  The River Clwyd is crossed immediately afterwards on a girder bridge which wad doubled in late Victorian times, like much of the route, to carry four tracks, but is now reduced to two.

More caravan parks are passed on the journey onwards to Abergele and Pensarn station, with the North Wales Cycleway keeping the line company on the seaward side.  There now follows a more rural stretch as the train heads up to Llandulas with the folly-like Gwrych Castle on the left,  built in 1819 at the bequest of Lloyd Hesketh Bamford-Hesketh and now in bad condition: a society, formed in 1997, led by a teenager called Mark Baker, kept the place in the public eye, and eventually it was bought in 2006 for £850,000 by Yorkshire-based Clayton Hotels who planned to spend millions turn it into a five-star hotel; the last we heard (December 2008) some tidying up of the site had occurred and an architect had been appointed to prepare an application for planning permission.

At Llandulas is a jetty used to load stone into ships from the adjacent quarry. After passing through Penmaen tunnel the wide sweep of Colwyn Bay opens out as the train passes first Old Colwyn, which once had a station of its own,  and then arrives at the station of Colwyn Bay - Bae Colwyn. The Victoria Pier,  seen down below,  was built in 1900 and has survived fires and threats of demolition: in 1994 it was purchased by Mr & Mrs Paxman who worked hard to restore it and make it a going concern,  despite shortage of funds. In 2003 they sold it on to a gentleman who also intended to restore it to some of its former glory, but in 2009 it closed again, the owner being mired in a legal battle with Conwy Council over updaid debts - see the pier's website for the gory details as well as the full story of the pier.

(Trains bound for Llandudno diverge to the right here, passing an antiques centre which was once a rail-served banana warehouse, for the short but scenic journey of just over three miles along the shore of the Conwy estuary through the small resort of Deganwy to the terminus at Llandudno.)

After Bangor, the train turns right to cross the Menai Strait on to Ynys Mon, the island of Anglesey. The bridge here was the second and largest of Stephenson's tubular bridges, of four spans. The railway had to be over 100 feet above the water to allow the tallest warships to pass. Opened in 1850, the tubes were damaged beyond repair in a fire in 1970, caused by trespassers. The piers were retained for the new steel arched bridge, opened in 1972, which carries just a single rail track, plus an upper road desk which was added in 1980.

On the island, the line serves a series of villages, beginning with the one which is world famous for its long name, Llanfairpwll... which was mostly contrived by Victorian railway publicists, and has since been beaten for length by a halt on the narrow-gauge Fairbourne and Barmouth Railway! At Valley, a siding serves the nuclear power station, a train once or twice weekly carries nuclear waste to Sellafield in heavy steel flasks for reprocessing. The final stretch of line is over a causeway onto the small 'Holy Island' and into the terminus at Holyhead (105.5 miles from Crewe) where the trains meet the ships and catamarans on the busy Irish service.