NORTH WALES COAST RAILWAY :NOTICE BOARD
Rheilffordd arfordir gogledd Cymru: Hysbysfwrdd
10 December 2024
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Forthcoming events
See our Calendar Page for operator details.
December 2024
Wednesday 11 December Welsh Highland Railway North Wales Group Fred Howes - “From Train Spotter to Civil Engineering Manager”.
Saturday 14 December Intercity Y Cracyr Nadolig” (The Christmas Cracker) Wolverhampton to Llandudno and Blaenau Ffestiniog with class 40 and class 45 locos.
14-15 December Manchester Model Railway Society - The Christmas Model Railway Show. The Sugden Centre, Sidney Street, Manchester
January 2025
Thursday 9 January Clwyd Railway Circle David Jones “Landscapes of Steam, Chester and the Welsh Borders”. Note: Change of venue and date : Hawarden Institute, 31 Glynne Way, Hawarden, Flintshire, CH5 3NS
Friday 10 January. Altrincham Electric Railway Preservation Society "Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway Engine Sheds" by Noel Coates of the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway Society.
Monday 20 January Merseyside, Cheshire and North Wales Branch Bromborough: AGM followed by: Jon Penn “A Miscellany of Railways” (Non M,C&NW members and Non-RCTS members will not be able to take an active part in the AGM)
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 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 Bellee 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
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
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 Hulme
70 009, a loco currently on hire to Colas, passes Sandy Lane Crossing, Prestatyn on 10 December, with 6K33 13:56 Penmaenmawr to Bradwell Up Sidings stone working, this should have run on 9 December but the inbound working arrived at Penmaenmawr at 18:27, a mere 8hours 16minutes late after being held at Crewe (08:48 - 16:00) due to Chester to Holyhead being closed while the clean-up from storm Darragh could be completed (Ivor Bufton).
A Day Return trip - by Paul Hajdasz
On 4 December I bought an off-peak day return from Stafford to Crewe on Wednesday 4 December, costing £9.75 with my Senior Railcard.
The first leg of my journey was taking 1M29 Cross Country service from Bristol Temple Meads to Manchester Piccadilly. It arrived on time at platform 5 with 220 012.
I alighted at Stoke on Trent, where I waited for EMR 1K59 from Newark Castle to Crewe with 3 car 170 507.
With arrival at Crewe on platform 3, I was met with the Colas monitoring train headed by 43 277 Safety Task Force on platform 2.
Also, in platform 8 DRS pairing 66 422 and 88 006 had just come off working 4Z51 Daventry International Rail Freight Terminal to Crewe Coal Sidings.
The final part of my round trip took me directly back to Stafford on 1A38 Avanti service from Chester to London Euston on the new Evero bi-mode 805 013 which was coupled with 805 011.
Another traveller's tale - by Charlie Hulme
The weekend just gone saw Joanna and I sample the TfW loco-hauled with a trip to Hereford for some Christmas cheer. The southbound trip went well enough, once we had found seats in the First Class coach. Stockport station is not a terminus, so passengers for other trains sometimes wander about the platforms, and there is no information given about whether the TfW loco-hauled train will be engine-first or engine-pushing when it gets to Stockport, yet the station staff could easily discover and announce this by looking at the formation of the train as it passes 25 minutes earlier towards Manchester. (Clue: it's one coach away from away from the driving trailer).
An other oddity, inherited from the earlier companies, is that your 'reservation' does not mean you have a reserved seat. or presuably any seat. The 12:30 Manchester - Cardiff (propelled by 67 010) was fairly busy in First; we got free tea, coffee or fruit juice on joining, and later one could buy a cheese toasty to which would have added a bowl of soup. These were served well in time to the Hereford stop.
The river Wye was at a very high level (above). After a short walk to our B & B and a short rest we set out to look around the town, It became evident that we had chosen a bad time for our trip, as the following day there came another great storm, which cancelled the Christmas Market and our planned to take a bus to Hay-on-Wye (roads flooded).
For the return journey on 9 December the weather appeared OK, but the floods were still making their presence and TfW had cancelled just about every train service over a wide area.
Our tickets were for a late-morning departure, but we went early to the station to see what was going on; we heard tell of a replacement coach to Shrewsbury, calling at all stations, which would be departing at 11:30. And indeed, there arrived a big-six-wheeler coach with compulsory seat-belts and a toilet that didn't work. Joanna and I boarded, followed by one other passenger for the 51-minute ride to Shrewsbury in lovely sunshine. At Leominster the one passenger left and four joined, and after almost two hours - nobody joined at Ludlow, Craven Arms or Church Stretton - we turned into Shrewsbury station front which was full of other such buses.
After an other cheese toasty, this time in Starbucks, we boarded a train from Manchester which was teminating at Shrewsbury and returning to Manchester. Indeed it was the same train as on our tickets. Away we went in 197 116 (all the locos had been sent to bed). Again, there were few passengers.
This train too was virtually empty all the way to Stockport and the welcoming arms of Wetherspoons.
From Dave Sallery's archive
37 051 and 37 138 crest the grade into Buckley station with steel coils from South Wales. These are being carried 'eye to the sky', later they were carried in cradles on these wagons but nowadays all movement is in closed wagons, 16 June 1992.
47 590 Thomas Telford near Prestatyn with empty hoppers for Penmaenmawr. This loco became 47 825 and is now 57 601 with West Coast Railways. 8 February 1988.
The old, old order at Rock Ferry with a class 503 M29132 leading. arriving from Liverpool Central, 3 August 1984.
47 847 near Gronant with a Virgin London express which it would work as far as Crewe, 2 May 2002. [This loco became something of a celebrity at the time, with its rendition of the 'large logo' livery, although with a poor attempt at the symbol and the number in an incorrect typeface.]
Looking back: Bournemouth 1960 and 1961 - with David Pool
In the 1960s I often had a week’s holiday in Bournemouth at Easter time. Travelling from Merseyside I could have gone via London, but a direct train was more enjoyable. The options were a London Midland train from Manchester via Bath and the Somerset and Dorset line, or a Western Region train from Birkenhead Woodside via Oxford. The latter took eight hours from Woodside to Bournemouth, but many locomotives would be seen - in 1957 I logged over 160 on the same journey – so my choice was clear! The coaching stock was either Western or Southern Region, so the sight of green coaches in Woodside was a regular occurrence.
Bournemouth Central was perfect for railway photography. The long Down platform provided a clear view of 71B shed and the yard, and the sun was behind me for most of the time. Electrification had not reached Bournemouth then, and many classes of the older Southern locomotives were still around. The station pilot on 31 March 1960 was 30112, one of the M7 Class frequently seen on branch line trains.
A rarer sighting on 4 April 1960 was an older B4 Class 30102, also allocated to 71B but generally found on dock lines or sidings with weight restrictions. Happily this particular locomotive has now been preserved at Bressingham Steam Museum.
Another locomotive in the yard was Standard 5MT 73041, carrying a 71G (Weymouth) shedplate. Looking up the history of this locomotive, I was surprised to see that it was first delivered to Chester (6A) shed in the mid 50s.
Most of the workings through Bournemouth were handled by Bulleid Pacifics or BR Standard classes. On the same day I was pleased to see a “Lord Nelson” from Eastleigh, 30859 Lord Hood, but I never saw one hauling a train. 30859 was withdrawn eighteen months later.
Arriving at Bournemouth Central from Weymouth on 11 April 1961 with a train to Waterloo was one of the Horwich built Standard 4MTs, 76025. The coach set 300 comprised six Bulleid coaches, typical for these services.
On 13 April 1961 my main interest at Bournemouth was at the West station, where the Somerset and Dorset trains terminated. At first sight 40564 looks like any other ex LMS Class 2P, this being the second of its class and built at Derby in 1928. The 82G shedplate shows it was a Templecombe locomotive – it was actually on the 17:50 from Bournemouth West to Templecombe – and the unusual feature was the Whitaker tablet catching apparatus on the side of the cab. 40564 was scrapped a year later, being one of the last survivors of the class.
A final shot of Bournemouth shed on 4 April 1960 features a 71B “West Country” 34046 Braunton.
With the impending demise of steam on the Southern Region, if I had been told that I would photograph 34046 sixty four years later on the West Coast Main Line I would not have believed it, but my shot of 1Z46 07:05 Leeds to Carlisle at Lowgill on 8 June 2024 shows that miracles do occasionally happen!
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