North Wales Coast Railway Notice Board 27 January 2025

NORTH WALES COAST RAILWAY :NOTICE BOARD

Rheilffordd arfordir gogledd Cymru: Hysbysfwrdd


27 January 2025














Forthcoming events

See our Calendar Page for operator details.

February 2025

Wednesday 5 February Merseyside, Cheshire and North Wales Branch Liverpool: Chris Poole   “Czech Railways”

Thursday 6 February Clwyd Railway Circle David Jones and Dave Southern “Annual General Meeting” followed by “Rails to Bala”

Friday 14 February. Altrincham Electric Railway Preservation Society "Macclesfield Area Railways in the 1950s and 60s" by Martin Welch.

March 2025

Saturday 1 March - Railway Touring Company - 'The Mancunian' from Manchester Piccadilly to Llandudno and Holyhead via Altrincham. Steam hauled.

Thursday 6 March Clwyd Railway Circle Jeff Nicholls “A Baptism of Fire and Water-My First Wolsztyn Experience” Part One

Friday 14 March. Altrincham Electric Railway Preservation Society "Navigation Road and All That" by Ted Buckley. Local rail scenes, mainly of steam, from the 1960s in the Altrincham and Dunham Massey areas and elsewhere taken by Ted's father Bill Buckley.

Monday 17 March Merseyside, Cheshire and North Wales Branch: Charles Roberts “On Line Transport Archive (OTA) Images”

April 2025

Wednesday 2 April Merseyside, Cheshire and North Wales Branch Liverpool:  Paul Shackcloth “L & Y Engines at Work, Part 3” Speaker and Subject TBC

Saturday 5 April  Saphos  Lakelander from Llandudno Junction to Carlisle. Diesel to Lancaster and return, steam from Lancaster, return via Cumbrian Coast line.

Saturday 5 April  UK Railtours - The Snowdonian. No further information available at present.

Saturday 11 April Pathfinder Tours 'Cambrian Coast Express' from Swindon to Pwllheli

Friday 11 April. Altrincham Electric Railway Preservation Society "Steam, Diesel and Electric in the Northern Fells" by Ian Pilkington. A joint meeting with the Irish Railway Record Society Manchester Branch.

Saturday 12 April  Midland Pullman  Torbay Riviera Pullman from Chester, Wrexham General and Ruabon to Paignton.

Saturday 19 April   Northern Belle - Settle and Carlisle Steam Special. Wrexham General and Chester to Carlisle via the S&C. Diesel to/from Carnforth, steam for remainder.

May 2025

Thursday 1 May Northern Belle  "Conwy Castle & Bodnant Gardens" charter from Coventry It includes other off-train options.

Saturday 5 May - The Victorian Festival (Intercity). Birmingham International to Llandudno and return with a pair of LSL class 20s.

Saturday 9 May Pathfinder Tours 'Cambrian Coast Express' from East Midlands Parkway to Pwllheli

Saturday 10 May  UK Railtours Llandudno and Chester. London Euston to Llandudno Junction and Penmaenmawr freight yards.

Saturday 16 May Pathfinder Tours 'Cambrian Coast' Express from Bristol Temple Meads to Pwllheli

Saturday 31 May  Northern Belle Conwy Castle & Bodnant Gardens from Cardiff

June 2025

Friday 20 June   Northern Belle  Spirit of Travel Lunch. Circular tour picking up at Chester and Wrexham General. Diesel hauled.

Friday 20 June  Northern Belle  Champagne Afternoon Tea. Circular tour picking up at Chester and Wrexham General. Diesel hauled.

Saturday 21 June North West Rail and Transport Collectors Fair Crewe Alexandra Football Club 10:00 - 16:00

Thursday 26 June The Railway Industry's "Three Peaks by Rail" will be down the Coast on the evening of 26 June and heading onwards in the early hours of 27 June.

July 2025

Saturday 5 July Railway Touring Company "North Wales Coast Express" from London Euston to Llandudno. Electric to Crewe, with steam along the Coast.

Sunday 13 July Railway Touring Company charter from Liverpool to Holyhead on with steam throughout.

Tuesday 15 July   Midland Pullman  Yorkshire Coast Pullman from Ruabon, Wrexham General and Chester.

August 2025

September 2025

Friday 5 September Clwyd Railway Circle To be announced

Saturday  5 September Pathfinder Tours 'Cambrian Coast Express' from Cardiff Central to Pwllheli

Wednesday 10 September - Snowdonia Statesman. Cardiff Central to Blaenau Ffestiniog.

Saturday  12 September Pathfinder Tours '.Cambrian Coast Express' from Bristol Temple Meads to Pwllheli

Wednesday 17 September  Midland Pullman  Settle and Carlisle Pullman. From Ruabon, Wrexham General and Chester.

Saturday 20 September   Northern Belle   Settle and Carlisle Steam Special. Wrexham General and Chester to Carlisle via the S&C. Diesel to/from Carnforth, steam for remainder.

October 2005

Friday 3 October Clwyd Railway Circle To be Announced

Wednesday 8 October - Snowdonia Statesman. Durham to Blaenau Ffestiniog.

November 2005

Friday 7 November Clwyd Railway Circle Jeff Nicholls “A Baptism of Fire and Water-My First Wolsztyn Experience” Part Two

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.






North Wales Coast Railway website created and compiled by Charlie Hulme 



25 January saw the Aberystwyth to Chirk logs operate, seen at Balderton crossing as the train heads for the Chester run-round and reversal. 37 405 has Swietelsky branding on the bodyside. Lead was 97 304. (Bob Greenhalgh).


Concrete Bob



An old friend from the days of Class 37-hauled trains in North Wales, 37 425 Concrete Bob / Sir Robert McAlpine appeared on the Coast in the last week, working for Network Rail on the Ultrasonic Test Unit.  Here are a random selection of images from the occasion, accompanied by a sketchy history of the loco.  Above, passing Rhyl (Ivor Bufton).



Saltney Morrisons (Bob Greenhalgh). 425 was one of 31 Class 37s chosen for a rebuild to work passenger trains, mostly in Scotland.  The work was done at Crewe Works, and its first appearance on the coast on a test run in early 1986, before being despatched north to Eastfield depot.   Soon afterwards it gained its names, Sir Robert Alpine on one side, and on the other his nickname Concrete Bob referring to his liking for concrete in construction, including Glenfinnan Viaduct. The naming ceremony took place on the Viaduct.



Bangor (Logan Humphreys).  When the Scottish Region received some Class 158s, in 1989,  425 was sent down to England and used on various actvities until 1993 when it transferred to Crewe,  for the 'club train' work from Manchester to Southport, and on the North Wales service.



Blaenau Ffestiniog (Ken Robinson). When the use of 37s on the Coast after 2000 it worked in South Wales for a while, then in East Anglia, also Cumbria and when that passenger work ceased, eventually purchased by DRS who in 2013 restored the names, which had been replaced with Pride of the Valleys while in Wales, and the Regional Railways livery.  Most recently it was sold to the Harry Needle company to work for Network Rail.

The DRS plates apparently sold the plates in a charity auction for £3400 each, so the current ones must be replicas. Meanwhile there is a pair in the Glenfinnan station museum, are these the real original?


Goodbye Standard Plus


Having labelled-up the windows of some of the Class 3-car 197 coaches, TfW are now taking the labels off again  - unsurprisingly the 'Standard Plus' concept is being abandoned, although the section of 2+1 seats will remain. (Notice that this TfW document, still online, suggests that the seats would be First Class). The reason given is  'risk' - the risk seems to be the risk of complaints that there is no 'standard plus'  facility for disabled passengers.    Couldn't that have been avoided by putting the 'plus' seats in the centre of the coach next to the wheelchair area? The premium passengers would also have been saved from the rough ride experience over the bogies.   We wonder, will the large area for a refreshment trolley might be the next 're-think'?

Looking back in time, there was an idea  for Class 175 units to have some kind of 'standard plus' in the centre coaches, and they were fitted with an 'entertainment system' at the seats, However, the idea didn't get as far as TfW's before it was dropped.


From Dave Sallery's archive:  doubles



20 154 and  20 186 are backing an empty Merry-go-Round train into Point of Ayr colliery, 9 July 1991.



31 235  and 31 119 with empty ballast hoppers for Penmaenmawr are passing Rhyl on 2 March 1995.



31 308 and 31 252 are leaving the Up loop at Holywell Junction with a loaded ballast train.  In the background 47 471 Norman Tunna GC is passing on a Crewe - Holyhead train, 3 April 1991.



37 429 and 37 415 with a Crewe - Holyhead train at Prestatyn on 17 July 1998.  This train will return as the celebrated Sunday evening double - header.  Such was life before Ryanair.



Addendum: For anyone searching for the 'mystery sticker' in the last issue, attached is the correct photo of 37  131 showing the 'Welcome Aboard' sticker below the lights.

Looking back:   Steam, diesels and electrics 1962 - by David Pool



Electrification of the line from Crewe to Liverpool was completed by the end of 1961, and the Class AM4 electric multiple unit (later to become Class 304) was the BR design for suburban services to be used on lines in the North West. Three batches were built at Wolverton works, and unit 041 from the third batch was photographed at Mossley Hill on 31 March 1962.  The 3K85 headcode and the destination of Allerton suggests it was returning from Lime Street to the Depot.  The orange stripes on the front of M75873 are interesting - could they be the first version of the electrification warning stripes which appeared at roof level on locomotives and rolling stock in later years? 



Even though the electrification wires and masts made photography more difficult, the high lineside fencing was not generally to be found, and it was still possible to get good shots over the fences.  My first roll of Kodachrome II film enabled me to use exposures of 1/300 second at less than full aperture on my Vito B, and the 10:15 Lime Street to Birmingham on that day was headed by Royal Scot 46110 Grenadier Guardsman as it accelerated through Mossley Hill. 



No problem with lineside fencing on 11 May 1962, as Patriot 45525 Colwyn Bay had left Llandudno Junction with the 10:15 from Lime Street to Llandudno.  This had been an 8A (Edge Hill) locomotive, but was now showing a 6G plate (Llandudno Junction), the shed from which it was eventually withdrawn in May 1963. 



I often like to get station names in the shots whenever possible, but some present a challenge!  The 10:45 from Amlwch to Bangor on 12 May 1962 was formed by Class 104 units M56175 plus M50532, and the location needs no explanation.



The Derby Lightweight units had been introduced on the Blaenau Ffestiniog branch in 1956, each car of the two car units being powered, and were often used on shuttle services between Llandudno Junction and Llandudno.  The 17:55 from the Junction on 12 May 1962 was M79184 plus M79189, and is leaving Deganwy station. 



There was sunshine on 13 May 1962 when Standard 5MT 73133 was approaching Deganwy with the 17:10 Llandudno to Manchester.  This was a Patricroft (26F) locomotive, and it appears to be in lined black livery, although some of the 5MT class were in green.



The Royal Scots were certainly in green in 1962, although 46131 The Royal Warwickshire Regiment in the usual BR grime could not confirm this.  The train was the 16:30 Lime Street to Llandudno on 30 May 1962, again photographed near what is now the Deganwy Quay area.  46131 was carrying a 6B (Mold Junction) shedplate, and was withdrawn six months later. 



Bangor (6H) shed had four Ivatt Class 2MT tanks in the early 1960s, although by then diesel units had taken over the passenger services on the Amlwch branch.  The prototype Ivatt tank 41200 was being used on 1 June 1962 to work the 17:52 Llandudno Junction to Bangor, and is leaving Conwy, possibly photographed from the footbridge off Bangor Road, although the scenery here has changed greatly over the years.


THE 'ACCIDENTAL TRACTION FESTIVAL'

[Restored from our archive]

MAY 1999 - PART 1

Supplement to the North Wales Coast Railway website

Compiled by Charlie Hulme.

The chain of events related here begins on Wednesday 19 May 1999, when we received a report from Nick Gurney that "something had fallen off" a Class 37/4 locomotive while hauling a First North Western train to Holyhead across the Britannia Bridge over the Menai Strait. (Later reports suggested that the locomotive concerned was 37 421 and that it was part of the suspension of one of the bogies which fell off.)

As a result, several of  Crewe depot's fleet of eight locos normally used on the North Wales services were immediately 'grounded' and replacements drafted in from other depots, Toton (Nottinghamshire) at first and later Motherwell in Scotland.

The same evening we received our first pictures taken in Holyhead on Wednesday evening by John Lewis: the heading picture shows 37 216 (formerly Great Eastern) in the Aircraft Blue livery of the former Mainline Freight company, a colour which was to feature strongly in subsequent events.

Also pictured in Holyhead on Wednesday by Dave Jackson was 37 077, one of the older Class 37s with split headcode boxes. It is shown running round its train after arriving with the 10.07 train from Birmingham. None of these Class 37/0 locomotives have facilities for heating a train, but in May this is perhaps not too serious.

Thursday 20 May dawned bright and sunny, and Alan Crawshaw was able to visit Bangor station in the morning, to capture 37 216 again, by now working the 08.10 Birmingham - Holyhead ....

... and 37 402 Bont Y Bermo, once a stalwart of the coast line fleet and still carrying faded British Rail freight sector colours, calling with the 10.48 Holyhead to Birmingham. Alan records that about 25 enthusiasts alighted from the westbound train at Bangor and returned immediately on the eastbound one - all good revenue for First North Western, one might think.

Later in the day Bont Y Bermo  worked the 14.23 Birmingham - Holyhead, pictured here at Chester by Tony Kirkham.


The situation continued on Friday 21 May; in an attempt to supply more heating-fitted 37/4 locos, 37 413 The Scottish Railway Preservation Society  had been fetched by EWS from Motherwell Depot: John Lewis' picture shows it at Holyhead awaiting the 16.50 departure. It had arrived in Holyhead at 15.10 on train 1D71, the 11.58 from Birmingham, as shown in the  listing from the TOPS computer database which was obtained for us during the afternoon.  The offending 37 421 is shown as having fault no. 614, which is a 'frame, centre casting or safety bracket' problem, and date expected back in service of 25 May.

Of the rest of the normal fleet of 8 locos, shown in italics, 401 was suffering from 'Loss of Power', 408, 415 and 420 were being 'examined', 422 was reported as 'Engine shut down.' 418 and 426 were working trains 1D75 (14.23 Birmingham  - Holyhead) and 1K71 (14.39 Holyhead - Crewe) respectively.

401     CD A/LOP ok 0600 22/5 (40) 
402     1G11 (38)
403     6E16 (20)
405     1B01 (30)
406     CF N/612 ok 30/5 (28)
407     EH N/680 ok 1400 (41)
408     CDAX ok 0900 21/5 (18)
409     1M89 (35)
410     7D97/MLAX (8)
411     CD N/LOP ok 0/0 (54) 
412     CF assd CFBX 26/5 (55)
413     1D71 (38)
414     CF (42)
415     CDBX ok 30/5 (49)
416     FW 7D60 with 023 (38)
417     6L31 (17)
418     1D75 assd CDBX 0600 22/5 (31)
419     Mossend assd MLBX 20/5 (27)
420     CDBX ok 2200 24/5 (59)
421     CD B/614 ok 2200 25/5 (9) 
422     CD N/ESD ok 2200 25/5 assd CDBX 0600 29/5 (21) 
423     7L90 (13)
424     Mossend (21)
425     ML (8)
426     1K71 assd CDBX 2200 25/5 (48)
427     Mossend (19)
428     Carstairs (34)
429     CD N/LOP ok 0/0 (54) [loss of power]
430     ML (34)
077     Warrington (23)
178     CD assd BSBX 2200 21/5 (60)
203     CD N/523 ok 1800 (36) [reverser fault]
216     CDBX ok 2200 24/5 (14)
 

Here again is 37 402 Bont Y Bermo, still on duty on Friday morning in this picture by Nick Gurney of 1D62, 08.10 Birmingham - Holyhead. As shown in the listing, this loco returned with 1G11, 13.54 Holyhead to Birmingham. Note that by now a train headboard has appeared, reading "English Electric Veterans" - to complete the festival atmosphere.


Part 2


The next morning, John Lewis reached Bangor station in time to see freight-liveried 37/0 37 178 standing in Platform 2. The loco has run round after arriving at 09.57 with the 08.19 from Crewe, and will set back into the tunnel beyond the station before running into Platform 1 to form the 10.22 back to Crewe, with John aboard.

 

Meanwhile, Alan Crawshaw had set out with his camera seeking some more unusual locations,  and  captured this action shot of the 10.22 Bangor - Crewe at Talybont, east of Bangor.

37 413 The Scottish Railway Preservation Society appeared again on 1G79, 11.16 Bangor - Birmingham, pictured by Alan in Bangor station.

Arriving at Chester at 11.32, John discovered 37 429 Eisteddfod Genedlaethol and 37 411 Ty Hafan stabled in the sidings opposite platform 7. The railfan's apartments are coming along nicely!

By 11.40, John was in position to photograph the 10.07 Birmingham - Holyhead departing from Chester, with Mainline blue 37 203 in charge.

The same train pictured by Alan Crawshaw hurrying through the first station on Anglesey, Llanfair PG....

... and John Lewis' last picture of the day showing 37 402 Bont Y Bermo after arrival at Holyhead with the 12.07 from Birmingham. No headboard in evidence today!


A Sunday afternoon panorama of Holyhead station by John Lewis: 47 818 stands in platform 1 with the Virgin Trains service to London, while 37 203 and a Class 156 unit wait in the adjacent sidings for the call to duty.

For what happened next, I can do no better than reproduce the following report from Alan and Rowan Crawshaw:


"We jumped aboard the 15:43 Crewe-Holyhead from Bangor for an early  evening thrash, a double-header for 4 coaches with 37 411 Ty Hafan leading 37 429. (Eisteddfod Genedlaethol). At Holyhead  411 was detached and ran round, then 429 was detached  and stood alongside. 411 was attached to the front and the large  throng of very well-behaved bashers stood around wondering what would  happen. After a while 37 203, which had been loitering in the station,  made a move to the east but didn't return. At 18:27, the time of the  train's departure, 203 suddenly reappeared and was coupled to the front of 411. There followed a lot of hissing of air and rail staff  jumping in and out of cabs of both locomotives before we finally departed 20 minutes late.

[John Lewis was on hand as the duo climbed the bank out of Holyhead]

"429 was still alongside next to the  156 which would presumably form the 19:30 to Crewe. The picture below shows the duo departing from Bangor after I sprinted over  the bridge and along the full length of platform 2. So we left 429 and 4 coaches at Holyhead. It seems they take 8 coaches back east if the ferry from Ireland is on time but  if the ferry is late the 18:27 returns with the 4 coaches."

So that's the status up to Sunday evening. Accidental as all this might be, it's a fine way to celebrate the last days before 31 May when the Summer timetable comes into force with a considerable reduction in the number of locomotives planned for use on the Coast. We hope FNW are pleased with all the extra money, and maybe take the cue to stage a few more similar events in the coming summer!



Created Sunday 23 May 1999, revised Tuesday 22 May.  Contributors: John Dawson, Nick Gurney, Dave Jackson, Alan and Rowan Crawshaw, John Lewis, Tony Kirkham, and "D5233." Thanks also to the remaining rail-lovers on the uk.railway newsgroup and the recently-revived Rail-Gen mailing list.


[Part 3 will appear in the next issue]
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