NORTH WALES COAST RAILWAY :NOTICE BOARD
Rheilffordd arfordir gogledd Cymru: Hysbysfwrdd
16 June 2025
Forthcoming events
See our Calendar Page for operator details.
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.
Saturday 5 July Pathfinder Tours 'The Ffestiniog Slater' from Swindon to Blaenau Ffestiniog. Various off-train options including the Ffestiniog Railway.
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.
Saturday 21 July Belmond Britannic Explorer 3-day Tour of Wales
August 2025
4 August Belmond Britannic Explorer 3-day Tour of Wales
11 August Belmond Britannic Explorer Six day tour of Lake District & Wales
25 August Belmond Britannic Explorer 3-day Tour of Wales
22 August Belmond Britannic Six day tour of Cornwall & Wales,
September 2025
Thursday 4 September Clwyd Railway Circle 'The Steelworks Railways at Home and Abroad' Adrian Bodlander
Saturday 5 September Pathfinder Tours 'Cambrian Coast Express' from Cardiff Central to Pwllheli
11 September Belmond Britannic Explorer Six day tour of Lake District & Wales
Saturday 12 September Pathfinder Tours '.Cambrian Coast Express' from Bristol Temple Meads to Pwllheli
15 September Belmond Britannic Explorer Britannic Explorer Six day tour of Cornwall & Wales,
26 September Belmond Britannic Explorer Six day tour of Lake District & Wales
29 September Belmond Britannic Explorer Britannic Explorer 3-day Tour of Wales
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 2025
Thursday 2 October Clwyd Railway Circle 'Memories of railway operations at Llangollen from my childhood days growing up in the town during the BR era of the 1950’s and mid 60s.' Gareth Jones
20 October, Belmond Britannic Explorer 3-day Tour of Wales
17 October Belmond Britannic Explorer Six day tour of Cornwall & Wales,
10 November; Belmond Britannic Explorer 3-day Tour of Wales
November 2025
Thursday 4 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.
December 2025
Thursday 4 December Clwyd Railway Circle 'Railways & Tramways of the Isle of Man' Geoff Morris.
North Wales Coast Railway website created and compiled by Charlie Hulme
Seen on 10 June 67 013 on the 'Wag' from Cardiff on Pen-Y-Clip Viaduct, Llanfairfechan. Picture by Gary Thomas, who notes 'Everything, with the exception of the dark coloured carriages came together for this shot!'
News pictures
66 791 heads 6J37 Carlisle - Chirk near Kirkby Stephen on 11 June 2025. The locomotive is on loan from GBRf to Colas (Ian Pilkington)
Hereford on Tuesday 10 June: 66 656 was on 6V75 0931 Dee Marsh to Margam, though on this occasion only going as far as Llanwern, and unusually put into the platform road for its crew change, rather than the Down Through (John Oates).
The Bayer Weedspray train resting in the Rhyl Engineers siding on 10 June just before the rain, 66 749 in the sunlight (Gary Thomas)
Out on the line at Llandudno Junction (Logan Humphreys)
There is an interesting PDF document on-line about this and the other Network Rail weedkiller trains.
On 3 June Geoff Morris captured Loram-liveried 37 418 An Comunn Gaidhealach passing Chester Locks hauling track inspection saloon 975025 (Caroline) on a circuitous route as 2Z25 Derby to Newport. (See also Dave Sallery's archive below for a view of the same loco in the 1990s).
Greg Mape went for a ride on the Coventry Very Light Rail Demonstration Line on 4 June. A prototype Very Light Rail vehicle and a novel design of track is being demonstrated under real-world conditions in Coventry, the latest step in a research project which aims to reduce infrastructure and operating costs to a level which would make trams an affordable option for medium-sized cities.
First Class Upgrades going cheap
TfW say: 'Make it First Class with First Class upgrades starting from just £10 between 14 June - 31 August. Want a weekend treat? Every weekend until 31st August all First Class upgrades will be £10, no matter the journey length. You can upgrade on-board or before your journey with Seatfrog on applicable services. Tickets are subject to availability. Selected routes only. National Rail Terms of Conditions apply.'
What's Seatfrog, you might ask. It's an phone app which let's you to bid in an auction for seats. TfW have joined in the fun with First Class seats. Of course TfW don't do seat reservations, so you there appears to be no certainty that you will get a seat - and what if your train turns out to be a 197?
There's also another app being tried, called JurneyOn [sic] which is a complicated Loyalty scheme in which you collect 'points' for every mile travelled. Useful for some, perhaps, although it's not available for Android at present.
Barmouth in pictures 10 June
10 June seen at Barmouth 08:26 Haverfordwest - Pwllheli empty stock working, as a test run for 'Britannic Explorer' excursions later on in the year...
... The sheep weren't excited. (Kate Jones)
Ken Robinson writes: .'I went to Barmouth on the evening of 10 June as the weather was clear and sunny...
... Approaching Barmouth with 97 302 leading and 37 685 on the rear....
... and 158 836 in the platform at Barmouth, just about to depart south as the 17:42 Pwllheli - Birmingham International.
Two Days at Rhyl and around - report by Paul Hajdasz
On Wednesday 11 June I travelled by train to Rhyl for a short break. I took 1J11 TfW 10:58 service from Birmingham International to Aberystwyth, boarding at Telford Central with 4 car 158 840 & 158 820. Going in the other direction was The Holyhead- Birmingham International service with 158 834, but this terminated at Wolverhampton due to a problem with the traction equipment
I alighted on platform 5 at Shrewsbury, where I transferred to the TfW Cardiff - Holyhead service to Rhyl with a five-car 197 unit. Reaching Chester I saw Mersey-rail EMU 777 002 about to leave for the regular circular journey to Liverpool and back .
On arrival at Rhyl, stabled in the engineering sidings was the Bayer Weedspray on 3Q98 with top & tail 66 766 & 66 749.
I also took a photo of disused, but listed, Rhyl No.2 signalbox at the southern end of platform 2.
On Friday morning of 13th June, before heading home I decided to have a ride on the Rhyl Miniature Railway around the mile-long circuit of Marine lake, which first opened in 1911. The engine in use on that day was diesel Clara built in 1961 originally for service at Dudley Zoo.
There was also a static display in their museum with ‘Billy’, one of six similar engines built in the 1920’s by Albert Barnes & Co. of Rhyl.
From Dave Sallery's archive
37 408 Loch Rannoch passes 31 439 and 31 455 on ballast empties to Penmaenmawr, 27 June 1995.
47 841 The Institute of Mechanical Engineers leaves Holyhead with the Afternoon boat train to Euston, 3 March 1991. The loco shed had just been demolished.
37 417 Highland Region passes Prestatyn with ballast empties, 17 May 1994.
37 418 Pectinidae leaves Prestatyn on an up service, 31 July 1993, verysoon after the introduction of regular class 37 haulage on the Coast The well painted hut was a victim of the footbridge's reconstruction. The coach is one of a number transferred from London and South East sector, with the red stripe of the LSE livery painted out. Later, loco and coaches were reprinted in full Regional Railways colours.
Looking Back: West Country Diesels part 2 - by David Pool
In 1967 many of the mainline trains in the West Country were being worked by the “Western” Diesel Hydraulic locomotives. Although the first 30 locomotives (D1000 to D1029) were built at Swindon, the remaining D1030 to D1073 were built at Crewe. At Dawlish on 10 June 1967 the Crewe built D1040 Western Queen, still in maroon livery, was on the 08:25 Kingswear to Paddington. The coaches on this train were all in the corporate BR blue/grey.
Later that morning the 11:50 Plymouth to Manchester had the locomotive D1069 Western Vanguard in BR blue with the coaches still in maroon.
I walked along the sea wall towards Dawlish Warren, and climbed Red Rock at Langstone Point, which provides one of the best rail photo locations in Devon. D1059 Western Empire was on the 10:15 Newquay to Paddington, one of the Saturdays only trains from West Country resorts.
Travelling in the other direction, D1056 Western Sultan had passed through Dawlish Warren with the 10:30 Paddington to Penzance, still recognised at the “Cornish Riviera Express”. Note the camping coaches in the sidings at Dawlish Warren. There appear to be 15 coaches in the train, which would be a challenge for a single locomotive on the gradients from Newton Abbot. The “Westerns” may have been more powerful than the “D800 Warships”, but the combination of diesel engine and hydraulic transmission was not always a good match, and when the more conventional Class 50 Diesel Electrics became available from the West Coast Main Line the days of the “Westerns” were numbered.
The “D800 Warships” might require assistance on severe gradients, but were otherwise suitable for services on most of the Western Region main lines. I returned to Dawlish to photograph the 08:20 Manchester to Paignton, on which the locomotive was D806 Cambrian. The original “Warships” D600 to D604 were all withdrawn at the end of 1967, the Western Region favouring their Swindon designed “D800 Warships” (designated Class 42 in the TOPS system) rather than the British Transport Commission’s preference for the heavier D600 class, which was based on a diesel electric chassis construction and diesel hydraulic components which required development.
Another Swindon built locomotive D866 Zebra, was departing from Kingswear on 12 June 1967 with “The Devonian”, 09:35 Kingswear to Bradford. Note the slipway in the distance above the locomotive, which is the location of the Dartmouth Higher Ferry and Kingswear Crossing Halt described later.
D1007 Western Talisman with the Torbay Express (10:50 from Paddington to Paignton) was photographed at Hollicombe on 13 June 1967. I think the industrial shunter on the left of the image was in the siding for the Torquay Gasworks, which were demolished in 1972, but I have been unable to identify it. D1007 derailed in the accident at Ealing in 1973, in which ten passengers were killed, and was subsequently withdrawn. The cause of the accident was a battery box cover on D1007 which had not been properly secured and which damaged lineside equipment, causing a set of points to move.
“D800 Warship” locomotives D833 to D865 were built by the North British Locomotive Company, and had Voith Hydraulic Transmissions, unlike the Swindon built locomotives which had the more suitable Mekydro Transmissions. The NBL locomotives were designated Class 43 under TOPS, but were soon withdrawn, the Class 43 designation then being used for HSTs. D848 Sultan was one such NBL locomotive, and was photographed with the 0800 Newton Abbot to Kingswear approaching the exceedingly short platform at Kingswear Crossing. The Halt was originally built to provide access via the Higher Ferry to the Britannia Royal Naval College on the opposite bank of the river. It became known as Britannia Halt and was closed in 1988 due to safety considerations and it being used by very few passengers.
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