NORTH WALES COAST RAILWAY :NOTICE BOARD
Rheilffordd arfordir gogledd Cymru: Hysbysfwrdd
19 January 2026
Next Update:
2 February
Forthcoming events
See our Calendar Page for operator details.
February 2026
Thursday 5 February Clwyd Railway Circle Annual General Meeting followed by David Jones 'Recollections of CRC Railway Trips 2005 to 2017, Still Images and Video Footage'
Friday 13 February Altrincham Electric Railway Preservation Society Paul Shackcloth "People and Places 8".
March 2026
Thursday 5 March Clwyd Railway Circle Peter Hanahoe 'North Wales Railways in the 1980s'
April 2026
Thursday 2 April Clwyd Railway Circle David Parry 'Swiss Rack Railways'
Thursday 9 April Statesman Rail "Royal Windsor Statesman", Chester, Wrexham General, Ruabon, Chirk to Windsor & Eton Riverside. LSL 47 or 57s.
May 2026
Saturday 2 May 125 Group London Euston to Llandudno, with mini tour around North Wales TBC. 125 Group TBC.
Saturday 2 May Vintage Trains "The North Wales Coast Express", Birmingham New Street to Llandudno. Diesel hauled Chester to Llandudno, steam back from Llandudno to Nuneaton. Vintage Trains pool.
June 2026
Saturday 6 June
Railway Touring Company London Euston to Aberystwyth. WCRC 47/57 to Shrewsbury, two * Network Rail 97s or one 97 and one * WCRC 37 to Aberystwyth.
Saturday 13 June North West Rail and Transport Collectors Fair
July 2026
Saltburn Railtours
3-6 July tour Saltburn to Llandudno, Three days' hotel accommodation with breakfast.
August 2026
Saturday 15 August
Railway Touring Company Oxford to Blaenau Ffestiniog, WCRC diesels TBC
Wednesday 19 August Midland Pullman "Torbay Riviera Pullman", Chester, Wrexham General, Ruabon, Chirk to Torquay and Paignton. LSL Midland Pullman HST.
29-31 August 2026 Bala Lake Railway Steam Gala
September 2026
19-20 September Bala Model Railway Show
Thursday 3 September Clwyd Railway Circle To be announced
Saturday 19 September Northern Belle "Settle & Carlisle Steam Special", Wrexham General and Chester to Carlisle. WCRC steam locomotive over the Settle & Carlisle line. Diesel hauled otherwise.
October 2026
Thursday 1 October Clwyd Railway Circle To be announced
November 2026
Thursday 5 November Clwyd Railway Circle To be announced
December 2026
Thursday 3 December Clwyd Railway Circle Ian Mainprize 'German Railway Development'
Belmond have advertised their 2026 three-day Britannic Explorer trips to the sidings in Barmouth, start dates are: 30 March, 13 April, 4/11/25 May, 1/8/15/22/29 June, 6/20/27 July, 3/17/21/24 August, 14/28 September, 19 October and finally 9 November.
Other useful sites:
For up-to-date North Wales information
join the North Wales Trains News group
North Wales Coast Railway website created and compiled by Charlie Hulme
'The Pathfinder Finale' on 20 December was the final railtour run by Pathfinder Railtours, a run from Salisbury to Manchester Victoria, including a run through the Pennines and Copy Pit. From Gloucester the train was Class 52 D1015 'Western Champion' (with one side temporarily name 'Western Pathfinder'). Picture at Stockport by Richard Snook.
Sorry for any blunders in this issue; I am struggling with Windows 11. - Charlie
Busy time for Penmaenmawr - Report by Gary Thomas
The week beginning 6 January was unusually busy for stone trains from Penmaenmawr, with Colas, DC Rail and GB Railfreight all featuring.
Tuesday, 6 January - GB Railfreight 66 772 Maria (above) empties from Tuebrook Sidings near Edgehill
Tuesday 6 January - GB Railfreight 66 772 loaded to Hunslet, Leeds
Thursday 8 January - GB Railfreight 66 772 empties from Hunslet, Leeds
Thursday 8 January - GB Railfreight 66 772 loaded to Hunslet, Leeds
Friday 9 January - GB Railfreight 66 772 empties from Hunslet, Leeds
Friday 9 January - GB Railfreight 66 772 loaded to Hunslet, Leeds
Saturday 10 January - DC Rail, 60 055 Thomas Barnado empties from Wembley yard
Saturday 10 January - DC Rail, 60 005 loaded to Chaddesden sidings, near Derby.
(Left about an hour late)
Monday 12 January - GB Railfreight 66 772 empties from Hunslet, Leeds
Monday 12 January - GB Railfreight 66 772 loaded to Hunslet, Leeds
Tuesday 13 January - Colas 70 817 empties from Bradwell Sidings near Stoke-on-Trent
Tuesday 13 January - Colas 70 817 half loaded to Bradwell Sidings near Stoke-on-Trent
Tuesday 13 January - GB Railfreight 66 772 empties from Hunslet, Leeds
Wednesday 14 January - GB Railfreight 66 772 loaded to Hunslet, Leeds
Thursday 15 January - GB Railfreight 66 772 empties from Hunslet, Leeds
Friday 16 January - GB Railfreight 66 772 loaded to Hunslet, Leeds
Saturday 17 January - DC Rail 60 095 Whernside empties from Wembley Yard
Sunday 18 January - DC Rail 60095 partially loaded (due to conveyor issues)
to Humberstone Road near Leicester
Sadly, the weather hasn't been the great making my desire to take photos quite low and also not helped by much running during the hours of darkness.
37 607 also visited on Wednesday 14 January with the Ultrasonic Test Unit from Derby to Holyhead then back to Bangor, all in the early hours. It then left for Cardiff later the same day.
Having been postponed last week following the non-event that was Storm Goretti, the Aberystwyth to Chirk logs ran on Saturday 17 January, being hauled by 97 303 and 37 424, the latter sporting its BR Large Logo livery. I'm not 100% sure but I don't think 37 424 has visited the Cambrian line before. This was the first run of this train since last July.
Graham Breakwell captured the log train near Shrewsbury,
Exhibition train at Crewe
Stuart Broome writes I went to Crewe on Friday to have a look at the Exhibition train Rail 200. It was a bit disappointing as I was expecting to see a rake of coaches and found only one open. 90 026 was there with to provide electricity.
'But it was interesting to get on to not normally accessible platform 13, and photograph the buildings there on a sunny cold day.'
One thing I noticed when writing up my notes
was that I photographed 390 132 on 9M52 08:53 Edinburgh to
Euston. Why a class 9 not 1? On Avanti it distinguishes
trains going via Birmingham rather than the direct Trent
Valley route. Class 9 was once used for freight trains but
today it is used by various meanings by different
companies.
The 'Together we Roll' livery 'celebrates the ethnicity of employees and communities across the Avanti West Coast network.'
The 'Together we Roll' livery 'celebrates the ethnicity of employees and communities across the Avanti West Coast network.'
Another view of the 'Together' coach by Graham Breakwell taken the previous day. The other three coaches were in another siding behind this one.
805s on the S & C : pictures from 3 January by Greg Mape
Engineering works closed part of the West Coast Main Line for two weeks , January 1 to January 15, and it was decided to make use of the Settle and Carlisle line to run non-stop trains from Preston to Carlisle on a two-hour schedule rather than uses buses. This is possible because the new 'Evero' class 805 trains are able to run with their diesel engines or collect electricity from overhead lines. The S & C doesn't have overhead lines, so this is possible - but another issue is that Avanti drivers were not trained to work that route. However that problem has been planning for some months, and the scheme has go ahead. Above: Gisburn Tunnel.
There are only thirteen 5-car units in the class, and the normal usage on express trains between London and the North Wales route, The Carlisle trains need six sets, running in pairs, but the North Wales line ran more or less as usual. Sadly the Carlisle service suffered for lateness and cancellations in the first week, but things settle down on the second. Passengers get a scenic journey; some travelling just for the ride including several YouTubers. Above: Ribblehead Tunnel: 805 002 and 805 010.
From Dave Sallery's archive
31 144 waits to leave Prestatyn on an up service, 9 August 1990.
31 556 and a failed 37 713 head the empty covhops from Holyhead to Immingham, 13 October 1995.
37 715 with loco fuel oil tanks for Holyhead at Bangor, 16 October 1993.
45 116 with a Manchester - Bangor train near Mostyn, 4 July 1984.
70023, formerly Venus at Rock Ferry in October 1967.
Looking Back : Northern Ireland 1970 - by David Pool
On holiday in Ireland in July 1970 I visited the Transport Museum in Witham Street. There were many interesting items on display, but photography was difficult in the poorly lit and cramped space. One of the narrow gauge locomotives used in Dublin’s Guinness Brewery was of particular interest. No.20 was one of the very capable locomotives designed by the Chief Engineer Samuel Geoghegan and built between 1887 and 1921, which were in service until 1964 when diesels took over. The track gauge was 1ft 10in, and the design of the locomotives was unusual, in that the two horizontal cylinders were above the marine type boiler, the drive being via vertical connecting rods. All the exhibits from Witham Street have since gone to other Museums, mostly to the Ulster Transport Museum at Cultra. (dp2726).
A similar Guinness locomotive was displayed in the Talyllyn Railway Museum, my photograph of No.13 appearing on the Notice Board 16 November 2020.
The arrival point for ships arriving in Belfast from Scotland, the Isle of Man and England was Donegall Quay. The old spelling Donegall is used in Belfast, rather than the usual Donegal. Built by Harland and Wolff in 1956, Duke of Argyll was moored at the Quay on 29 August 1970, being used on the service from Heysham until it was finally sold to owners in Greece in 1975.
Another Harland and Wolff vessel Ulster Prince was also at Donegall Quay, together with Lion, built by Cammell Laird, both vessels being built in 1967. The Ulster Prince was used by the Belfast Steamship Co. on the sailings to Liverpool, the Lion being on the Bairns and Laird service to Ardrossan.
The Northern Ireland Railways in 1970 had an assortment of diesel multiple units, the Multi Engined Diesel units often converted from passenger coaches and the Multi Purpose Diesel units for the longer routes with the conveyance of freight vans. A typical working for the latter was the 1230 from Londonderry Waterside to Belfast on 3 September 1970 with cars 60 and 39, photographed at Downhill on the Antrim coast.
The first of the next generation of NIR diesel units was the Class 70, a diesel electric multiple unit not unlike the “Hampshire” units on British Railways. Power cars 78 and 77 plus a trailer were arriving at Coleraine on 4 September with the 1500 from Londonderry to Belfast.
Later that day in Portrush, one of the Multi Engined Units originally powered by two Leyland diesel engines was nicely lit by the afternoon sun. The power cars 23 and 12 with the trailer car 527 illustrate the complexity of the NIR rebuilds.
I was due to return home on the Larne to Stranraer ferry. On 8 September 1970 the Stena Nordica was passing the Chaine Tower near Larne on this service. The Tower had been built in 1888 in memory of James Chaine, who had developed Larne Harbour. It was realised that it would be helpful to shipping if it showed a warning light, so in 1899 a light was fitted by the Commissioners of Irish Lights, who then designated it as a lighthouse. It is familiarly known today as The Pencil.
The other vessel on the Stranraer route in 1970 was the Antrim Princess, built in 1967 by Hawthorn. Leslie in Hebburn for the Caledonian Steam Packet Co., which became part of the British Transport Group in 1969. This was the first BTG ship to be fitted with bow doors.
The Antrim Princess operated with Sealink until 1985, when it was chartered to the Isle of Man Steam Packet Co, and renamed Tynwald. I photographed it at Heysham on 27 May 1987, but it was involved with several manning level disputes and later did not meet the Department of Transport’s safety criteria, being sold in 1990.
When photographing trains for the last 13 years I have usually been accompanied by a dog who also liked trains. I’m sorry to report that Jack died peacefully in the New Year, aged 16. This shot of Jack at Winwick shows him typically taking an interest in a GBRf Class 66 heading for Drax. He’ll be missed by his many friends.
Those were the days my friend ...
Charlie writes - Before the advent of the digital camera and the website I took a small collection of prints on many visits to North Wales, including a number of the Class 37/4s. They are not brilliant pictures and I didn't take notes, but I propose to let you see them anyway. I'll include a few in each issue.
Colwyn Bay when it had a signalbox; 37 408 approaching. The signalbox was built in 1968 to replace two others, only to be putout of use in 1991. The box itself remained for a while; their was an idea to include it in the attractions which were being created behind the wall and along the rear of the platform. This never happened and it was demolished in 2000. The attractions included a bar called Platform Three, a miniature railway, a full-sized coach and an locomotive. It was popular for a while, but by 2000 it was all dismantled and forgotten.
37 408, seen at Crewe early in the arrival of the 37/4s in 1993. It kept a version of the 'BR Large Loco' livery much longer than the other 37/4s, and became to a favourite for many enthusiasts. The name Loch Rannoch was chosen by a Stockport reader of Rail magazine. The 'scottie dog' was applied to the locos when they worked in the Highlands until displaced by class 156 and 158 units. The coach behind the train is one of those that came from the Network SouthEast sector; before full repainting, the red line was painted out; this one had yet to have the treatment.
This archive picture shows the style of numbers, with a straight seven, that should have accompanied the 'Large Loco' livery. This seems to have been ignored even before the advent of the 'Heritage era' as can be seen above.
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