North Wales Coast
February 2001 Part 3
47818 "Strathclyde"
waiting in platform 12 with the 15.00 Brighton train. 28/2/2001
GNER livery (almost) on 90224
at Crewe. On shed were 66003, 66016, 37799, 67005, 47805 and "William
& Henry" 28/2/2001
47635 was stood at Crewe with
a rake of 3 Merseyrail class 508 stock and Porterbrook match coaches
at each end. 27/2/2001
Bringing up the rear was 47792
"Saint Cuthbert", both locomotives were ticking
over. 27/2/2001
43088 headed the 13.43 Holyhead-London
with 43006 at the rear. 27/2/2001
The Liverpool-Cardiff football
special arrived at Crewe behind 37029 and 37038 and entered platform
11 to a formal reception committee. Indeed at one point there
were more police officers waiting than fans but there was not
a hint of trouble. These two locomotives were used for part of
the second farewell special to Southport, Barrow and Blackpool
on May 21st 2000. 25/2/2001
The train was running about 40
minutes late 25/2/2001
Mr.Riley's engine sits obediently
behind 37029. 25/2/2001
The train headed South into the
brilliant February sunshine and a sprinkling of snow. 25/2/2001
43071 "Forward Birmingham"
entered platform 11 with a Bournemouth train, 43161 was trailing.
25/2/2001
56055 passed through with a returning
spoil train and was one of four within a short space of time.
The trains were coming off the WCML and, at one point, were queuing
up to pass through the station. Other locomotives involved were
66172. 60083 "Mountsorrel" and 66039. 25/2/2001
I was just about to leave when
D172 "Ixion" appeared from Liverpool and conveniently
sat on the middle road amongst the snow and sunshine. 25/2/2001
Not the coast I know but... Sandbach
station and again I try to catch that confounded Middlewich-Arpley
Enterprise train but to no avail! The only thing that turned up
was class 57 number 57001 "Freightliner Pioneer"
heading towards Manchester. These trains are rarely seen at Crewe
because they go down under on the avoiding lines. 23/2/2001
The train is seen passing under
the A533 road bridge with Sandbach signal box on the right. The
Middlewich branch veers off to the left in the distance and is
expected to reopen to passenger traffic in the not-too-distant
future. 23/2/2001
I'm going to have to see the doctor
about these nightmares - it's ever since the 37/4's finished on
the coast 
Crewe 10.45am and, while 90012
"British Transport Police" runs out onto the
Chester line to await the Holyhead-London, there is no sign of
the 8.38 London-Holyhead HST. Platform 12 is blocked with a London-Liverpool
train terminated due to a loco failure at Hartford on the WCML.
22/2/2001
175010 arrives with the 11.15
for Holyhead while 47776 "Respected" waits for
a green to enter the Diesel Depot. 22/2/2001
The 9.19 from Holyhead arrived
ahead of time behind 47847. No attempt was made to unhook the
locomotive from the train and, while I went to the rear to photograph
the class 90 attaching, the train left. I assume it left behind
the 47 but does anyone know why and where it came off? 22/2/2001
While the 47 was waiting to depart,
the 8.38 London-Holyhead HST arrived 50 minutes down with 43157
leading and 43094 trailing. Unbuffered sets are in common use
on the coast at the moment. 22/2/2001
While waiting for the Middlewich-Warrington
Enterprise (which failed to arrive), Fragonset 31459 "Cerberus"
appeared light engine off the Manchester line and ran South through
the station. In the background is prototype class 90 number 90001
"BBC Midlands Today" which had pushed its train
into platform 5. 22/2/2001
The class 90 was detached from
the rear of the train and reattached to the front. Was this a
problem with the DVT controls? 22/2/2001
47812 arrived and departed with
a Poole-Liverpool train. 22/2/2001
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