NORTH WALES COAST RAILWAY:NOTICE BOARD

Rheilffordd arfordir gogledd Cymru: Hysbysfwrdd

14 October 2019















Contributions and comments are encouraged: see the Contributions Page



Forthcoming events

October 2019

Saturday 12 October Steam at Chester. Vintage Trains 'Cheshire Venturer' Dorridge - Chester.

Saturday 12 October UK Railtours The Snowdon Panorama (diesel) London - Llandudno Junction

Monday 21 October RCTS Chester "South Wales Railways since the 1970s " Stuart Warr. Stuart from Cardiff will look back at the changing face of railways across South Wales since 1973, featuring steam and diesels working all manner of services with a few rare views.

 November 2019

Friday 1 November Clwyd Railway Circle  ''Shrewsbury to Holyhead in the 1980s' Geoff Morris

Saturday 2 November Stephenson Locomotive Society. Manchester Centre. Geoff Stocker
‘Rebuilding the Welsh Highland Railway’ An illustrated presentation of the stage-wise re-construction of the WHR (closed 1936) on the abandoned trackbed, from 1995 to completion in 2010 & subsequent developments - including locos and rolling stock.

Tuesday 5 November North Wales Railway Circle Dave Rapson. A digital presentation of all sorts.

Friday 8 November Steam on the Coast Railway Touring Company North Wales Coast Express  London - Holyhead, Flying Scotsman Crewe - Holyhead - Crewe.

Thursday 14 November  Llandudno and Conwy Valley Railway Society Railway Signalling    Gareth Parry

Monday 18 November RCTS Chester "Railway Safety" David Maidment. David Maidment will discuss the change in railway safety management systems and safety culture from his experience in South Wales in the 1960s, as Regional Operating Manager of the LMR in the 1980s.  Also as Head of Safety Policy at the BR Headquarters in the 1990s

 December 2019

Tuesday 3 December  North Wales Railway Circle   Christmas Bash - as usual please bring any items of interest with you.

Wednesday 4 December RCTS Liverpool "Liverpool And Its Railways " John Ryan. A look at the varied railways of Liverpool and its surrounding over many decades by former British Rail civil engineer.

Friday 6 December  Clwyd Railway Circle  ' Member's Selections & Christmas Celebrations'
Members are invited to give a 15-minute presentation of their choice (any format).
Contact David Jones 01244 537440 to book a slot.

 Saturday 7 December Stephenson Locomotive Society. Manchester Centre. At Sale United Reformed Church lounge, Montague Road, Sale M33 3BU Including seasonal refreshments!
Owen Russell ‘Memories of the Woodhead Line’ The Woodhead line linked Lancashire, Yorkshire, Lincolnshire and London. As there were shorter routes to London, express trains often comprised only 5 or 6 coaches. The line was a good place to see a variety of GC and, later, LNER engines, which had to work hard on the notorious gradients. Like many steam routes, Woodhead was a line of contrasts.

Thursday 12 December  Llandudno and Conwy Valley Railway Society A railway pictorial of steam Barry Wynne (Special Christmas meeting with quiz)

Saturday 14 December Steam at Chester UK Railtours 'The Christmas Chester Chuffer' London - Chester. Steam  Bescot - Chester - Crewe.

Monday 16 December RCTS Chester "1960s Southern  Branch Lines" David Miller. A 1960s archive of black and white photographs mainly of Southern branches but also from further north, with some interesting diversions.  Images never seen before.

Thursday 19 December Steam at Chester Railway Touring Company 'The Chester Christmas Express' Stevenage - Chester. Loco 6233.

 January 2020

Tuesday 7 January  North Wales Railway Circle NWRC committee member and Coast Railway website contributor Peter Basterfield.   Home & Away.

Friday 10 January  Clwyd Railway Circle  “Railways Around Holywell Part 1' Ray Bailey

Monday 20 January RCTS Chester  AGM followed by "The Ffestiniog Railway" Geoff Coward. After 20.15 hrs Geoff will take a look at the steam loco’s of the Ffestiniog Railway, past present and future. Then a trip along the line from Porthmadog to Blaenau Ffestiniog, looking at each station, maintenance facility and scenery

 Saturday 25 January Stephenson Locomotive Society. Manchester Centre. Centre AGM (brief) followed by: Christian Wyatt ‘21st Century signalling Control Centre – The Manchester Rail Operations Centre’ Christian Wyatt, a career railwayman with 38 years’ service, started as a signal box lad at Manchester Victoria and is now Project Operations Interface Manager for the London North Western route. One of his key responsibilities is the development of the Manchester Rail Operations Centre. Christian will describe the MROC from its build in 2012 to its present operational status.

February 2020

Tuesday 4 February North Wales Railway Circle Robin Humphrey-Davies ('Humph'). The route of the Welsh Highland Railway, Part 2, Rhyd Ddu to Porthmadog.

Wednesday 5 February RCTS Liverpool "The Black & White Collection Of Bill Ashcroft " John Sloane. Bill Ashcroft was a well-known name in Lancashire steam railway circles and John Sloane from Wigan will present some of his large collection of monochrome pictures from the steam era.

Friday 7 February Clwyd Railway Circle  'Rheilffordd Talyllyn Railway' David Murphy

Thursday 13 February  Llandudno and Conwy Valley Railway Society Llangollen Railway    Dave Southern   

Monday 17 February RCTS Chester "The Unknown Warrior – The Patriot Rebuild" John Hastings-Thomson. The LMS Patriot project are rebuilding a Patriot, ‘The Unknown Warrior’ and this presentation will describe the huge amount of work and money involved to build a new steam locomotive.

 Saturday 22 February Stephenson Locomotive Society. Manchester Centre. Tony Wright
‘Aspects of the Origins & Development of Monorails including Behr, Lartigue and the Manchester to Liverpool Lightning Express Railway’ You may remember Tony’s excellent presentation on Mayfield Station. Don’t miss this intriguing meeting.

Tuesday, 25 February  18:30 Stephenson Locomotive Society. Manchester Centre. Joint meeting with the Newcomen Society, Location to be confirmed. Bob Gwynne, Associate Curator, National Railway Museum ‘Sticking with steam – an examination of why Britain’s railways stuck with steam into the space age’ This talk examines some of the complex history behind moving on from the steam age on Britain’s railways and attempts an answer as to why the UK’s love affair with the steam hasn’t ended.


March 2020

Friday 6 March Clwyd Railway Circle   Annual General Meeting - followed by a Film Show

Thursday 12 March    Llandudno and Conwy Valley Railway Society  plan to have a visit from a representative   from Transport for Wales. More details later

Tuesday 3 March North Wales Railway Circle Barry Wynne and Steve Morris.  Another show from Barry's superb collection.

Monday 16 March RCTS Chester "The Lever Brothers Railways Of Port Sunlight" Mike Lister Telling the story of Levers’ railways.  The soap factory was constructed in 1888 and its railways covered 54 track miles and the talk will describe the railway within the soap factory and other factories at Bromborough.

Saturday 21 March  Stephenson Locomotive Society. Manchester Centre.  Melvyn Roberts
‘Indian Summer of the Somerset & Dorset Railway’ The S & D was (and still is) many enthusiasts’ favourite cross-country railway. We will hear about its unusual history, but the main feature will be a slide show of its operations in the 1950’s and 1960’s.


April 2020

Wednesday 1 April RCTS Liverpool "L&Y Engines At Work" Paul Shackcloth. Paul Shackcloth is the photographic historian for the Manchester Locomotive Society who have a large collection.  This talk will show Lanky locomotives at work over the whole of the ex-L&Y network, including Liverpool Exchange.


Tuesday 7 April North Wales Railway Circle   Richard Sant, Secretary of the LMS Patriot Company.  Progress on The Unknown Warrior

Thursday 9 April  Llandudno and Conwy Valley Railway Society Trams in Llandudno (Including L & CBER and Great Orme Tramway) John Davies
       

Saturday 18 April Stephenson Locomotive Society. Manchester Centre.  Tim Owen ‘The activities of the Furness Railway Trust’ The Furness Railway Trust has a collection of six steam locomotives, including Furness Railway No. 20, plus historic carriages. The illustrated talk will cover the work of the Trust over the past 30 years..

 Monday 20  April RCTS Chester "Another Colourail Journey" Paul Chancellor

A Ninth Colour-Rail Journey will again trawl this vast collection of images for both views from across the country and through time, so expect both steam and modern traction to appear with may be the odd bit of infrastructure thrown in for good measure.

May 2020

Tuesday 12 May North Wales Railway Circle AGM and Photo Competition.

Thursday 14 May  Llandudno and Conwy Valley Railway Society Evening Train Trip to Betws-y-Coed, where we will spend an hour in the Gwydyr. (Times will be confirmed later)

 


 


7822 Foxcote Manor working hard up Berwyn Bank with the suburban set as the 13:30 from Llangollen, 12 October. Picture by Ken Robinson.


Diesel (and electric) doings



UK Railtours 'Snowdon Panorama' tour from Euston to Llandudno Junction on 12 October passes Beeches Farm with 68 005 Defiant leading and 68 033 on the rear (Bob Greenhalgh)



Arrival at Llandudno Junction (Garry Stroud).



The train continued empty to Holyhead for servicing (Garry Stroud).



The Rail Head Treatment Train on Saturday 12 October was worked by  56 090, seen above at Llandudno Junction,  and 56 096 on the rear (Gwion Clark). It had served the Cambrian lines overnight, so the Class 97/3 locos must have been removed part-way round; perhaps they were needed for other work.



DRS  88 006 Juno powers through a wet Stafford at 13:55 on 8 October with the Daventry to Mossend intermodal service (Martin Evans).

 

Freightliner 66 413 Lest We Forget passes Stafford at 14:15 on 8 October with a Felixstowe to Trafford Park Freightliner service (Martin Evans)



Stalybridge on 14 October: 68 027 Splendid passes Stalybridge with the 09:41 Scarborough - Liverpool; a Railhead Treatment  'MPV' (Multi Purpose Vehicle)waits in Platform 2.


Driver's Eye view

There is a very professional cab-ride video from Chester to Holyhead, one of a series by the same creator, Don Coffey,  on this Youtube link.

'Foxcote' returns



7822 Foxcote Manor has returned to Llangollen for the first time in two years and was the star of the Gala on Saturday 12 October, seen above at Berwyn heading back to Llangollen. Picture by Jim Ikin.



Arriving at ...



... and leaving Glyndyfrdwy  (Jim Ikin).



Also in action, Pannier tank 6430, seen arriving at Carrog (Jim Ikin).



Running round at Carrog (Jim Ikin).



D7535 on a ballast train was also worth seeing, and hearing. Above, 1. In lovely sunshine, D7535 approaches Carrog with the 10:25 from Llangollen Goods Junction on 12 October (Ken Robinson).



The return working enters Glyndyfrdwy station as the 12:15 from Carrog, taken from the signal box, with permission (Ken Robinson).



7822 and  2-6-2T 5199 captured between Deeside Halt and Glyndyfrdwy (Lee Davies).



D7535 at Ty Newydd (Lee Davies).



7822 arriving at Llangollen, with 5199 behind (Martin Evans).



5199 at Carrog (Martin Evans).



6430 arrives at Llangollen (Martin Evans).


The Chester Venturer



On 12 October BR 'Castle' class  7029 Clun Castle worked a Vintage Trains tour 'The Chester Venturer' from Dorridge  to Chester and returned via Wrexham to Dorridge. Above, 7029 approaches Chester (Bob Greenhalgh).



Green Lane Crossing  on the return (Bob Greenhalgh).



Ruabon at 15:40 (Martin Evans).



Most unusually, on the rear was English Electric 'Type 1' 20 189 (Martin Evans).



Chirk Viaduct (Lee Davies).


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