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2004 Bus Tour weekend:
30
April - 2 May 2004 |
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A fuller range of pictures to those included
in this report appears on Paul Hollinghurst's own website - click
here.
Friday
30 April 2004
An excellent visit to the Merseyrail
Integrated Electronic Control Centre at Sandhills by 16 participants. The visit
was hosted by Dave McLaughlin, Control Centre Manager. The plan was
for a visit lasting about an hour; the enthusiasm of Dave and his
colleagues, and the question-asking by the members of our party, meant that we
overran by 45 minutes. We were shown both sides of the operation -
the train control side (the responsibility of staff working for Merseyrail (a
Serco/NedRailways company) and the network and power supply side (the
responsibility of staff working for Network Rail).
All level crossings on the system are
controlled from Sandhills and we saw the process in action. The
approach of a train triggers a video picture of each crossing to
appear. The barriers come down and, once the crossing is clear, the
signaller (politically correct terminology) sets the signals. The
intellect of pupils from Claremount School in Leasowe was there for all to
see. Barrier down, red lights showing, train approaching - they
still pushed their way under the barriers and ran across.
Six of the party then walked into the city
centre via the Dock Road. Tugs, Stanley Dock, a few odd bits of the
Overhead Railway and the alignment of the line coming out of Riverside Station
were observed en route. A few drinks quickly followed at the Pig and
Whistle.
Trainspotting the easy way - video images
of the entire Merseyrail network at the Sandhills IECC. (Photo: Paul
Hollinghurst) |
Stanley Dock and Tobacco Warehouse pictured
during the walk back into the city centre. (Photo: Paul
Hollinghurst) |
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(Photo: Dave Parker) |
Friday
caption competition
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Drab's brewery of
Grotley launch their recently defurbished Scousely acquisition in time
for City of Culture 2008.*
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Is this the sort of
place where we could recreate the 1960 Allan Clayton Glasgow B&B
incident?
* This requires a working
knowledge of Rupert Periwinkle's column in the Manchester CAMRA newsletter
What's Doing: Drab's = Joseph Holt, Grotley= Salford etc etc) |
Saturday 1 May 2004
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MIDLANDER-2: a chip off the old block
47 people (including three who joined us part
way round) aboard Liverpool
Motor Services' ex-Northumbria Olympian 309 (F309JTY) with David Unwin at the
wheel.
First stop was the Chasewater
Railway in Brownhills. We arrived on site at 10:40 for the train
at 11:00, operated by a Derby 2-car dmu. There was a certain amount
of confusion on arrival. The duty controller was expecting us, but
wasn't expecting the simultaneous arrival of a cattle truck and brake
van. The 11:00 train was delayed a bit, but eventually departed a
bit late for the two mile trap to Chasetown (Church Street) and
back. Back at Brownhills West, some gentle persuasion eventually
allowed us permission to look round some of the other stock in the yard, ranging
from some long-term restoration industrial steam locos to a Parry people
mover. The railway also loaned us an adjustable spanner which The
Bus Doctor was able to apply to the bus's heater system to switch it
off. We also managed to transport some of Chasewater Lake's
collection of flies out of the area for them.
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Second stop was the Midland
Air Museum at Baginton. The decision to have the group
photograph - with tour vehicle and Vulcan bomber in the background - was an
excellent one as we were plagued by rain for the majority of the rest of the
day. The Museum had laid on three excellent tour guides to
show people round the site and take those who wanted inside some of the
exhibits. Tour participants' major complaint was that the hour and a
half we spent there wasn't anywhere near long enough.
We had made several attempts to contact the
adjacent Coventry Railway Centre but our letter and emails went
unanswered. We were not impressed by what we saw on the day, and a
report to that effect was originally posted here. We subsequently
received an email from a member of the Suburban Electric Railway Association,
custodians of many of the items of rolling stock stored on the site - of most
interest to us being the three cars of the Class 503 Wirral and Mersey Electric
set (one car of which is pictured below). The poor condition of this
unit has a long story behind it - please refer to the SERA
website for details.
In the rain to Wythall and The
Transport Museum. About an hour on site viewing their collection
of 90 or so buses and about 20 electric vehicles. The bus tours of
1982 and 1985 also visited Wythall. The place has come on
tremendously since then and must now be one of the best museums of its
type. They'd laid on ex-Midland Red D9 5399 (BHA399C) for a trip
into Birmingham - this took us past the new Bullring (met with a mixed response
from the passengers) and the restored Moor Street station (met with universal
acclaim). The D9 dropped us off at the start of the A34 and we
swapped back onto the tour bus to the bemusement of the locals waiting for a bus
to Perry Barr.
Then up to Cannock. Chips were the
problem in 1982 - a participant complained "There's no flipping chips in
Cannock" (words changed slightly for the sensitive ones) in an incident
which has gone down in LUPTS folklore, and which was re-enacted for
posterity. Chips were a bit of a problem this time round as well -
their late running meant that we were about 25 minutes behind schedule by this
stage, although no one seemed too fussed.
A clear run northwards (with a DIY refuelling
stop Keele) had us back into Liverpool at about 21:00 and the traditional
post-bus tour drink in the Pig and Whistle's upstairs room. No vase
smashing this year, as far as can be ascertained.
The delights of Chasetown (Church Road)
station on the Chasewater Railway. (Photo: Paul
Hollinghurst)
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101 uses for a Parry People Mover, no 1:
support for spider's web catching a very small proportion of the
Chasewater Railway's flies. (It's more successful at that than it is
at carrying people apparently.) (Photo: Paul
Hollinghurst) |
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101 uses for a Parry People
Mover, no 2: moving the Parry people. In spite of the LUPTS
headboard, there was no sign of the vehicle moving anybody that
day. (Photo: Online
Transport Archive) |
The obligatory group photograph - the first
time we've had a Vulcan bomber lurking in the background of the
shot. (Photo: David Richards. Yes, I know he's in
the photograph - he's got a time delay on his camera and he can run fast.)
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One of the cars of the class 503 emu at the
Coventry Railway Centre. (Photo: Paul
Hollinghurst)
Log onto the Suburban
Electric Railway Society's website for more details.
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Some transport relics at Wythall, and
Jonathan. (That one was a bit too obvious for the caption
competition.) (Photo: Clare and/or Katy Marsh)
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One for the milkfloat spotters at Wythall.
(Photo: Paul
Hollinghurst)
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Confusing the locals in Birmingham (not
difficult) by turning up at their bus stop in a D9. (Photo: Online
Transport Archive)
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The new Selfridge's at the Bullring. Like it or
not, the one thing you can say is it's better than the old
Bullring. (Photo: David Richards)
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The webmaster delves into his wallet to put
enough fuel in the bus to get us home, and has the receipt to prove
it. (Photo: Paul
Hollinghurst)
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(Photo: Paul
Hollinghurst) |
Saturday
caption competition
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#Love
and Marriage, Love and Marriage, Goes together like a 108 Carriage.#
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"Follow this,
and you're dead meat."
The entry from TPK of Preston
has been disallowed. As a medical man, he can probably attest
to the fact that his suggestion is physically possible, but uncomfortable
at least.
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| POSTSCRIPT: JC had been concerned he might get a parking
ticket for leaving his car in Oxford Street. He didn't, but two
participants got snotty notes from the management committee at the webmaster's
residence. It's here for the record. The webmaster will
point out the inexcatitude in punctuation at the appropriate moment. |
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Sunday 2 May 2004
Sunday lunch at Briars
Hall Hotel in Lathom. An hour or so at the West Lancs Railway to
finish off an excellent weekend.
Good food and good chat at Briars
Hall. (Photo: Dave Parker) |
The third round trip on the West
Lancs. Laura Parry looks forward to her fourth, fifth
... (Photo: Paul
Hollinghurst) |
(Photo: Dave Parker) |
Sunday
caption competition
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Our esteemed
organiser - and webmaster - caught moonlighting as a conductor guard
for First North Western. The photograph also shows the first prototype
of new rolling stock for the 'less than mainline standard' community
railway - as proposed in the recent Strategic Rail Authority document
- Community Rail development - a consultation paper.
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Rover unveil their
long awaited replacement for the Babe Magnet Metro.*
* This entry has been referred
to the Plagiarism Investigation Panel - see
here.
A selection of very late
entries was received from AC of Mossley Hill:
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The "Roberts
for President 2004" campaign gets off to a slow start
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PC Roberts on point
duty?
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Charles indicates to the auto-windscreen
fitter where the glass used to be
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Now students, this
what we call a branch line
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Charles regales
everyone with his hilarious award winning entry for the City of
Culture's 'Piss Poor Mime - in an Urban / Rural Setting'
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A team of volunteers seems to have stepped
forward for 2005's event which might eliminate some of the arm twisting which
characterises most years. [Update February 2005: The 'team of
volunteers' dissolved into the ether at some stage; we're stuck with JC again.]
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Last updated: 18 February 2005
©
Charles Roberts/LUPTS 2004/2005