North Wales Coast
July 2001-2
A visit to the coast on 29th July
and the first target was 1D87 for Holyhead which should have passed
Colwyn Bay at 13.50 but was 30 minutes down. I missed a shot but
did see that the loco was "Royal" 47799. The next was
1A61 for London which passed at 14.40 dead on time in the form
of an HST which was too fast and close to identify. 29/7/2001
En route for home a stop at Bunbury
locks near Nantwich for a cuppa and a stroll along the towpath
which just happens to be crossed by the Chester-Crewe line! An
unidentified 175/1 crosses the canal in a blur. 29/7/2001
The locks form a staircase and one can only marvel at the engineering. The cuppa?...well, we entered the cafe to hear the serving lady moaning that she had had a busy day. The list on the door shows closing time as 5 o'clock and it was barely 4 o'clock so no problem!
(Mrs B) "Could we have
two teas please?" Dear lady looks at watch, "Well,
yes alright"..finishes writing in book and walks slowly
across to tea counter. (Me with blood rising) "Forget
it it's too near 5 o'clock" exit building in disgust.
Barking Britain again and the dying tourist industry blames infected
sheep! - give me Germany any time. 29/7/2001
Due to the tea failure it was
a Mac and then Crewe station to see 66244 arrive on a ballast
with 66249 on the rear. 87004 "Britannia" waits
to relieve "Henry" before heading South for London.
29/7/2001
While waiting for the "Royal"
another strange paint job arrived from South Wales, believed to
be 153312 depicting a Dylan Thomas quotation. 29/7/2001
The purple Deltic has moved at
last and 9016 "Gordon Highlander" could
just be seen behind those confounded LNWR screens. 29/7/2001
47799 "Prince Henry"
finally appeared, dead on time, where it was swapped for "Britannia"
- very smart. 29/7/2001
66163 performing a runround through
platform 12 at Crewe in order to head a ballast train South. 15/7/2001
Presumably waiting for the 13.45
Holyhead - London, 87013, "John O' Gaunt"
was parked up while the shed performed. 15/7/2001
My first Voyager as 220 018 entered
platform 12, they look very good. 12/7/2001
Determining which set is which
will not be easy while on the move and the positioning of the
numbers invites people to go to the platform edge to see. Please
think again Virgin! 12/7/2001
The 13.43 Holyhead - London is
booked for an HST but today 47737 "Resurgent"
appeared at the head. 87028 "Lord President"
propelled it South. 12/7/2001
It was 15.50 and the Middlewich-Arpley
Enterprise ran through between platforms 5 and 6 which was surprise
enough but to see 37411 "The Scottish Railway Preservation
Society" at the head made my day. The train reversed
and came back past platform 12 and stopped at the North end. I
got half way along the platform and, yes, off it went. This locomotive
was previously named "Ty Hafan" 12/7/2001
66135 had been shunting scrap
class 47's in readiness for their final journey to Wigan recyc
(for 2000AD fans).....
....the cortege reversed out onto
the main line before running through the platform 12 loop and
away up the West Coast Main Line to oblivion. 12/7/2001
Meanwhile out in the yard, D6700
had been parked up against 37420 "The Scottish Hosteller"
which still retains its nameplates. 12/7/2001
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