North Wales Coast
February 2001 Part 2
90008 "The Birmingham
Royal Ballet" at Stafford en route for London Euston.
I was on the train to attend a meeting of the Class 37/4 Project
team who have established a constitution to lift the scheme off
the ground. If you have ever "bashed" the North Wales
Coast and want to help stop the loss of all the 37/4's, please
support the project. If you need reminding of what can happen,
just think of the rapid demise of 37429!!! This team means business.
17/2/2001
47843 "Vulcan"
arrived at Crewe, at the head of the 9.19 Holyhead-London, where
it detached to allow 90009 "The Economist" to
propel the train to London. 16/2/2001
The 8.38 London-Holyhead HST arrived
with 43162 at the head and 43065 trailing (photo). the train left
running 70 minutes down. 16/2/2001
A Poole-Liverpool train arrived
in platform 6 where it was terminated. No reason was given and
the locomotive 47831 "Bolton Wanderer" was still
running and nobody looked concerned. Crewe is certainly the place
for class 47's these days.16/2/2001
A warning notice was in place
on platform 12 advising that all reservations for seats between
Crewe and Glasgow/Edinburgh were taken and not to travel unless
necessary. The Birmingham-Edinburgh train arrived behind 862121
"Preston Guild" to a packed platform. The train
comprised 5 coaches including a buffet and guard's van so standing
was the order of the day. Scottish rugby was the cause of the
problem. 16/2/2001 
A Coastline performer from the
past, 47784 "Condover Hall" with four mail vans
held on the centre road at Crewe. 14/2/2001
Hippos are all over Crewe like
a rash. Here 175005(L) and 175009 wait for business. 14/2/2001
The highlight(!) of the afternoon
was the arrival of the 13.43 Holyhead-London Euston HST comprising
power cars 43101 seen here.....
...with 43184 trailing. They sound
OK but they are not 37's. 14/2/2001
I went to Crewe in hope of bidding
farewell to 37429 which was reported to be making its way North
to Motherwell for stripping! - how can they do that? Sadly I never
saw it. 57004 "Freightliner Quality" was at the
head of a Serco test train. 13/2/2001
The train included a part MPV
the body of which was loaded with iron weights! Any ideas anyone?
13/2/2001
175105 arrived from Birmingham
and left with the 11.15 for Holyhead. 13/2/2001
47747 "Graham Farish"
arrived 35 minutes late with the 09.19 Holyhead-London Euston.
87014 "Knight of the Thistle" had already left
its parking spot and gone onto the Chester line siding then to
attach to the rear of the train to propel it South. 13/2/2001
The class 47 detached and ran
round the train to reverse into bay platform 10 to await a new
driver before heading North up the West Coast Main Line. This
has become a daily ritual. 87014 is on the right. The sun was
very low and strong making digital photography very difficult
due to the heavy contrasts. 13/2/2001
While all this was going on, the
08.38 London Euston-Holyhead HST arrived in platform 12 with 43162
at the head. Thus both coastal trains were in the station together
as a result of the up train being late. The only thing missing
now was a 37/4, life can be so cruel sometimes! 13/2/2001
142060 arrived from Chester. 13/2/2001
The HST left with 43065 bringing
up the rear. 13/2/2001
Parked up at Crewe IEMD were three
class 86 locomotives. Nearest is 86101 "Sir William A
Stanier FRS" then 86102 "Robert A Riddles"
and 86210 "CIT 75th Anniversary" in RES livery.
I understood that the first two were to be overhauled and reintroduced
to traffic - what happened? 12/02/2001
Tonight's "Pathfinder"
tour arrived in Crewe behind 6024 "King Edward 1"
which was running about 60 minutes down. Once again the digital
camera found it difficult to cope with the darkness hence the
grainy shots. 10/02/2001
I had the camera set for fluorescent
lighting which produced the blue effect. The train comprised circa
15 carriages and appeared to be quite full. The locomotive looked
magnificent, not too dirty not too clean, just right. The King
came off at Crewe and returned to the Heritage Centre where I
had seen it brewing up on Thursday. 10/02/2001
A front end shot while the cylinder
cocks were opened up, no priming here! It was impossible to get
the correct angle on the loco due to the detrained crowd. However,
it was well worth the wait. 10/02/2001
A "RES" liveried class
47 had left the diesel depot some 30 minutes before the train
arrived and, as the GWR loco reversed onto the Chester line, 47783
"Saint Peter" backed onto the train. As the crowd
boarded the train it was possible to gain the correct angles again.
10/02/2001
|
|
|
|
|