We left home soon after eight when most people were still in bed, allowing us a peaceful ride to the station free from the usual din and fumes of motor traffic. Soon after arrival the time of the 9:05 departure was put back to 9:37 because of the late arrival in Holyhead of the train from Birmingham which forms this service. This smashed our photographic plan for Prestatyn and meant we'd be squeezed for time. So there was nothing else to do but sit in the warm early morning sunshine watching the passengers on the platform grow into a large gathering before being swallowed by the 09:20 London train. Virgin charge £3 per cycle and insist on prior reservation so we waited for 37 422 Robert Fairlie to arrive.
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Right on time, the
Virgin Holyhead to Euston service pulls into the platform.
To the right of the picture, above the poster and barely discernible in the shadow, is the crest of the Chester and Holyhead railway. There are four of these on the eastbound platform and another five on the disused side which now faces the car park. They are unique to Bangor. Lets take a closer look at the disused side while we await our train. |
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Just above my head
is one of the crests, composed of a C and and H intertwined, while on the
stonework above the green door is scrawled "Caernarvon Parcels Office",
still visible almost 30 years after the line was closed. This is the anglicised
spelling which was in general usage at the time.
Following right behind the Virgin service I'd expected our train to be quiet all the way but we picked up a number of passengers, notably at Abergele where the London train doesn't stop. These loco-hauled trains with their mixture of Mark 1 and early Mark II coaches are always a pleasure to ride in - spacious with opening windows and having the ambience of a real train rather than the plastic air-conditioned sterility of the units that are replacing them. Best of all for the cyclist is the capacious brake van with stacks of space for bikes. |
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37
422 Robert F Fairlie continues its journey to Birmingham as we
prepare to leave Prestatyn by bike. Built in March 1965 by English Electric
at Newton-Le-Willows, this is one of two locomotives in the First North
Western pool to retain the pre-privatisation Regional Railways livery,
which matches the coaches.
After cycling a short way along the A548 we turned left and through a vast holiday caravan complex before continuing on a track through the sand dunes then back towards the A548, passing along an overbridge above the abandoned platforms of Talacre station. |
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The 10:18 Crewe to
Holyhead service, consisting of a 2-car class 150 unit, heads west past
the abandoned platforms of Talacre station, opened on 1st May 1903 and closed
on 14th Februray 1966. Nothing else remains apart from the totally
overgrown steps down to the westbound platform from the overbridge.
This section was once 4-track but removal of the additional westbound line has marooned the platform whereas the disused eastbound equivalent remains. |
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We
continued to the main road then headed back to the line along a adjoining
road leading to a BP works, part of which is visible at the left of the
picture.
The branch curving off to the left served the Point of Ayr Colliery, which closed in 1996. The train is the 08:40 Virgin service from London to Holyhead with another 1960s diesel, 47 822 Pride of Shrewsbury providing the power. |
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Shortly afterwards
the 10:48 Holyhead to Birmingham New Street passes beneath us. Just beyond
the bridge in the background you can see the eastbound platform of Talacre
station.
The disused freight line seen in the previous photo can be seen below Talacre signal box, constructed in 1903 by the London and North Western Railway, this company having absorbed the Chester and Holyhead railway. |
This was a fine location to linger over an early lunch, sitting in the warm sunshine listening to the traditional railway sounds of bells and levers wafting up from the signal box, spoiled only by the fork-lift truck working beyond. But time was passing and we had to move on ....next stop Mostyn