opeland Newsletter C Autumn 2017 ail R sers U CRUG mee ngs roup CRUG mee ngs are usually on the second G Saturday of each month at Seascale Methodist Church hall at 1350. Next mee ngs are Saturdays 16 (not 9) September, 11 November and 9 December. However the 14 October mee ng is at the new Ra y museum at 1400. All welcome
Kingmoor open day – a brief encounter The weather for Kingmoor Open Day on 22 July was uncertain. However, I decided to venture forth with my going-out bags, which contained a plas c mac. The 0928 train from Flimby came on me and arrived promptly at Carlisle. There were quite a few railway enthusiasts on pla orm 1 who appeared to be wai ng for a special train. I asked a gentleman from York about it, and he said that the Photos: Ann Walker-Bayliss train was a charter from Bristol. This train did not arrive at the me specified, so some people departed to catch the number 76 St Ann's Hill bus in English Street. The queue was long and when the bus came people were packed inside ghtly, akin to sardines! The bus stopped outside The Redfern and we walked down the E erby Road for nearly
Scots Guardsman at Ravenglass Page 1 Photo - Nigel Day ten minutes. The Kingmoor depot was to the right past the railway bridge. It had been much easier to get there than expected. The entrance fee was £5, which went to chari es. On the site were several stalls. Some were selling model trains and accessories. Others sold fridge magnets etc. Also three stalls were promo ng groups. These were the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway Preserva on Society, the Inter-City Associa on and the Na onal Wagon Preserva on Group. The police and fire service had an outpost for queries. Two vans were supplying snacks and drinks for wayfarers, with tables and chairs nearby. Several Portaloos were available, a most important factor at any public gathering! Further on was the maintenance area, where the 88008 Ariadne was li ed up for inspec on. To the right, three more diesels were stored: 88002 Prometheus, 88004 Pandora and unnamed 66427. A short distance away was Concrete Bob, seen on our line. On the other side of the area were DRS 68029 London on a Mission, 88006 Juno and 88003 Genesis. These were near the washing plant and storage tanks. Other diesels in the area were 37529, 57010 and 57312. There was a queue wai ng to enter the driver's cab of 57302 Chad Varah, named a er the founder of The Samaritans. It was a privilege for me to be able to fulfil this dream. A DRS gentleman guided me through the body of the loco. It was dark and narrow, an experience never to be forgo en. A erwards I returned through the shed and saw outside the following diesels: Daring, a Scotrail diesel; standing beside that were three more, numbers 68012, 68001 and 68026. Then, through a small gap in the fence appeared the Rapid charter train which had been thought to arrive earlier at Carlisle. A li le distance away on its own was 88001 Aurora. On the way back the clouds darkened considerably. I stopped at the Na onal Wagon Preserva on Group stall to buy a keyring showing a wagon and a fridge magnet which portrayed a Class 37 locomo ve. Nearing the entrance the new La'al Ra y engine was seen on a low-loader. Later on it had a slow journey to Ravenglass. It has been named Whillan Beck a er a water course by the railway. The loco was hauled by road for part of the way by the magnificent trac on engine The Providence which was also on show at Kingmoor. Class 37, 558 Avro Vulcan HX558 was the last diesel near the way out. Page 2 I walked back up E erby Road, but at the end of the road the rain came down heavily. Some of the many people awai ng the number 76 bus, including myself, who did not have a desire to stand in the pouring rain and get drenched through decided to have a meal and/or a drink in The Redfern. When the bus came people dashed out to catch it. I had a deligh ul talk with a person from Essex who had stayed in Barrow and caught the train that day to visit the depot. It was s ll raining at the Citadel and I walked quickly in order to catch the loco-hauled at 1435. Some people were travelling from Dalston to Barrow to enjoy the experience. These locomo ves s ll a ract people. I arrived home at about 1530. I had enjoyed my Brief Encounter with diesels! Ann Walker-Bayliss Note The benefits to the area from this open day included people staying l o c a l l y, u s i n g b u s e s a n d refreshment facili es. Adding this to the amount of revenue to train opera ng companies from people coming just for the event means that a substan al amount will have been spent locally. The next open day at Kingmoor is expected to be in 2019.
Sunday Trains
We are now virtually certain that we will have Sunday trains all the way along the line for the first me in 40 years (apart from the one day trial in 2009). May 2018 is when new metables should come into force. At the me of wri ng Network Rail should be checking that they can be operated successfully. As we said in a Radio Cumbria interview in August, this will benefit residents, businesses, students and tourists (not forge ng that Ravenglass, Bootle and Silecro are in the na onal park, now designated a world heritage site). We have been campaigning for this since CRUG was formed almost 20 years ago and have commented on the dra metables. It will mean people will be able to travel to mee ngs or educa on in me to start on Monday mornings and towns such as Millom will no longer be cut off on Sunday. Exact mings may change slightly from what we have seen, but we expect a full Sunday service with roughly hourly trains running from Carlisle to Barrow though star ng a li le later than on weekdays. This is also a massive improvement for passengers from Whitehaven northwards who have had just four Sunday trains star ng in the a ernoon for the last few years. Page 3 There are also improvements on weekdays. There should be the same service on Saturdays as during the week, obvia ng those awkward moments when we try to remember whether the next train is two minutes earlier or later on Saturdays. More importantly, the gaps in the hourly service will be filled in and there will be earlier and later trains than at present, although between Millom and Whitehaven they will s ll finish by mid evening. We are concerned that Northern are proposing not stopping all trains at smaller sta ons (apart from Nethertown and Braystones). This would mean more me between trains than now for some smaller sta ons at different mes of day. We are likely to lose any through trains from Newcastle and to Preston but get be er connec ons in Barrow. We would want to see improved connec ons both at Carlisle and Lancaster. There will be less sta ons treated as request stops, reflec ng the increase in use at many smaller sta ons. Likely first and last connec ons based on current main line trains are somewhat be er during the week and there for the first me for most sta ons on Sundays:
In general the proposals are an improvement on what was specified for the franchise last year. By December 2019 we should have all refurbished class 156 trains (the main ones used on the line now) with accessible toilets, two wheelchair spaces, wi-fi, recovered seats and new carpets and customer informa on screens. Some of these are already appearing (though without the wi-fi yet). They will all have four coaches. And no more loco-hauled trains or the old Pacer diesels. Added to this are sta on improvements including new shelters, customer informa on screens and cket machines at all but Nethertown and Braystones which will start shortly. So what is next on our wish list? Ge ng rid of single track where possible or at least having more passing places and then improving the service with half-hourly trains from Carlisle to Whitehaven and Millom to Barrow? Page 4 Po s’ Points Rails According to an ar cle in the May issue of In-Cumbria, a business magazine published by CN Group, Network Rail is to invest £400 million in the Cumbrian coastal line. Electrifica on The cancella on of electrifica on schemes in the north is very disappoin ng a er all the Northern Powerhouse promises. As for Mr Grayling saying that passengers don't care whether the train is diesel or electric, those of us with long memories will recall Bri sh Rail's “Sparks effect”, when once electrifica on schemes were completed, the numbers of passengers soared. There's all this fuss about diesel road vehicles pollu ng the air, yet the government is going against this by cancelling electrifica on, “removing the need to construct intrusive wires and masts in the Na onal Park”. As part of a movement to protest about the bias towards the south in railway investment, a pe on by the think tank IPPR North had a racted 31,000 signatures by 31 July (and 86,000 by the end of August). Diesel electric trains I'm told that Class 769 trains, which are being converted from ex-Thameslink Class 319 electrics by having a diesel engine fi ed, are to run between Windermere and Manchester Airport from May 2018. According to the Furness Line Ac on Group (FLAG) newsle er, Northern is to explore the possibility of deploying alterna ve- fuel hybrid trains on the route by 2021. FLAG also say that Class 769 will also be used between Barrow and Manchester Airport from May next. We only know that all we are to get are refurbished Class 156 units. Northern Connect The Tyne Valley Rail Users' Group had its mee ng at Haltwhistle on 8 June. The speaker was Arriva Rail North's Northern Stakeholder Manager NE Peter Myers. As the Newcastle and Carlisle line will be part of the Northern Connect system, much development is expected. Northern Connect in Cumbria will go from Carlisle to Newcastle, and Barrow and Windermere to Manchester Airport, but we are le out. We are, however, promised extra trains and units in future years, and shall wait and see. Loco hauled trains Problems with loco hauled trains are s ll occurring. It is no wonder that the road coaches to and from Sellafield is doing well when railway passengers are let down so o en. Sellafield footbridge Work on the Sellafield footbridge was supposed to have started in July with a temporary bridge.
Page 5 The coming of the railways to Whitehaven Peter Rooke from the West Cumberland Railway Museum spoke at the Beacon in Whitehaven on 19 August. Although Peter covered the rise of conven onal railways in the town he started off looking at why they came at all including the influence of the Lowther family and the needs of the coal industry. A er the harbour developed to export local coal brought by horse-drawn carts over to Ireland the technology started taking off. It began with wagon ways simply made of wood to give a be er surface for horses and carts, the first from Saltom Pit to the harbour which had the first turntable in the country and development through using cast iron instead of wood, first in the pits and then on wagon ways, flanged wheels and first wooden and then iron rails. Who knew that a locomo ve was tried out on the Saltom wagon way in 1817, eight years before the Stockton and Darlington railway, but that it proved too heavy for the track? What a difference it might have made to West Cumbria… All this was before conven onal railways appeared in West Cumbria, first with the Maryport and Carlisle line in 1838 which proved so popular in bringing coal from the north east via the exis ng Newcastle and Carlisle route that Maryport easily overtook Whitehaven in exports. So the Lowther family entreated George Stephenson who had designed it to extend to Whitehaven which was done two years later and became double track in 1861 (would that we had that double track now!). In 1847 the Furness railway reached Whitehaven at Preston Street with a tramway for goods through the Market Place to the docks. It was five years later before the lines from north and south joined because of the refusal of the Lowthers to have a route that they could see from Whitehaven Castle and so the Whitehaven tunnel was built – surely one of the lowest lying tunnels in the country – and Corkickle sta on opened three years later. The Corkickle brake opened in 1881 to bring coal to the main line from Cro Pit as the exis ng route through the Howgill incline to the harbour was overused. It lasted un l 1931 but got a new lease of life when the Marchon plant opened at Kells and ran again from 1955-1986. And finally did you know that the earliest diesel trains were pioneered in Cumbria in 1955? There is lots to see at the museum on Main Street in St Bees – usually open one week a month – and Peter is a fount of wisdom. Page 6 Strike ac on More RMT strikes were arranged for 1 and 4 September with services similar to previous occasions, ie a reasonable service between Barrow and Workington including the commuter trains to Sellafield but finishing early and buses from Workington to Carlisle. However Northern's briefing about discussions with RMT said 'We want to agree to a second person on many trains, just not all, as we want to explore staffing op ons with RMT, where there may not be a need for a second person on-board.' We said in the summer newsle er that the franchise agreement specifies that driver controlled services should have another member of staff rostered for the purposes of customer service and/or revenue control. 'The franchisee shall use all reasonable endeavours to operate such passenger service in accordance with the train crew diagram.' This seemed to mean that there should be a second member of staff but that some trains could run with just a driver. However it looks as if Northern are now saying that some trains don't need a second member of staff. Whilst we have been told that staffing on the coast line is not likely to be affected, Northern are talking of not having two staff regularly on all trains, though there always has been some uncertainly about the odd occasion when a second member of staff was not available. It sounds as if the RMT are now less concerned about drivers opening and closing doors. They have been assured that all current staff will retain jobs and their current rate of pay even if they become on-board supervisors instead of conductors. We have been most concerned about the posi on of passengers with disabili es who need assistance ge ng on and off the train. This applies par cularly to lines like ours with low pla orms even where there are Harrington humps. Does it mean that every me a wheelchair user wants to catch a train they would need to book assisted travel rather than just turn up at the sta on and get the conductor to get the ramp out? The class 156 trains used on our line are being refurbished with wheelchair spaces in each carriage and accessible toilets but that is not much use if travellers can't get on trains. Is there a legal issue here about equality of access? We have seen a number of services locally going past empty because there is not a conductor available. It seems to be a par cular problem on Saturdays and Northern need to have sufficient staff to operate their metable. Clearly if trains ran with only a driver there might be less cancella ons. (This is as well as trains which are missing out stops to try to get back on metable which is a separate bone of conten on, made more difficult by trying to keep to me with our single track sec ons and when there are breakdowns.) In any case passengers are ge ng sick of more strikes even if Northern do their best to provide a service (o en without charging fares as the staff they use may not be able to operate the cket machines). Surely it is me for arbitra on so that we can depend on our service. Page 7 Are trains expensive? ‘I can never find cheap fares to go to Edinburgh and if there is a reasonable one from Carlisle I'm not going to pay £12 to park there for the day when I can park at Maryport for nothing. But then I've got to pay to get from Maryport to Carlisle – it's just not worth it and easier to drive.' So said a friend. People o en complain about train fares and with a 3.6% increase in regulated fares announced from next January it is easy to see why. Certainly if you need to be in London by around 1100 on a weekday you won't get the cheapest fares. (Even then if you book ahead there are advance fares in two months' me of £36.45 each way (all fares quoted are with railcard) and even for next day travel at £39.75.) And if you commute to Sellafield there's not much choice, although an annual season cket is the equivalent of 38 weeks' journeys at five days a week. But for leisure travel, if you are not too bothered exactly what me or even day you want to go there are real bargains. Midweek and middle of the day are o en be er. Booking as soon as ckets are available (usually 12 weeks but 24 weeks on Virgin) increases your chances. Quite apart from spli ng ckets, normal advance fares (on a specified train) can be astonishingly cheap as they are filling otherwise empty seats. It's some mes almost as cheap as just a journey to Carlisle or Barrow. Here are some single fares I've had in the last year using a railcard:
It's not true that you only get cheap fares on main lines – fares from sta ons on the coast line are o en the same as from Carlisle or Barrow and equally as with the Page 8 Inverkeithing fares above sta ons close to main sta ons o en cost the same as, in this case, Edinburgh. By comparison a single from Whitehaven to Carlisle is £6.45 off peak or £6.95 any me with day returns £6.55 and £7.75 – 8.3p to 17.6p a mile. Of course the disadvantage of advance fares is that you are limited to a par cular train (though there is flexibility about connec on mes) and they are to be used completely, not star ng a er the des na on sta on or finishing before the arrival one and no break of journey. But for most of us unless it is for work that is not a problem. We said in the last issue that Northern were increasing their range of advance ckets and selling some online up to 15 minutes before a train's departure. So far in Cumbria these are only some ckets on the Lakes line but it is likely to be extended to the other advance fares available locally – Barrow to Manchester and Carlisle to Newcastle, Leeds and Bradford. There are more pointers to ge ng the best cket at www.crug.org.uk/fares. Late train I was wai ng at Millom sta on for the 1052 to Barrow, though I was only going as far as Foxfield. I had arrived at the sta on around 1040, and no ced that the informa on screen warned of the southbound train (a four coach loco-hauled service) being delayed, and expected around 1110. There were subsequently several updates giving slightly revised arrival mes, plus announcements that the train was delayed, more or less duplica ng the informa on on the mini screen. So when the service arrived more or less as predicted, I was relieved that my rela vely short wait was over. However on boarding the train, on-board announcements indicted that the service was running non-stop to Barrow. I was obviously somewhat taken aback by this informa on, since nothing had indicted that the service was anything other than simply delayed. I believe I was the only person affected by the revised running pa ern, and Northern staff on the train made it quite clear that the next stop was Barrow. However I feel that the handling of the situa on prior to the train's arrival, by the sta on announcements and the informa on screen, was quite inadequate. Fortunately I did not have to wait than much longer for the scheduled 1136, though that was running three minutes late anyway. I don't know what informa on was imparted to passengers wai ng at the intermediate sta ons. And what about those actually on the train, that wanted to alight at intermediate sta ons? Had they been asked to get off? I have no idea at what stage the train became limited stop. I was aware that there had been signalling problems around St Bees early in the morning, but that Network Rail expected the situa on to be sorted by 0900. As it happens I could not make alterna ve travel plans, but I feel that the disrup on should have been handled be er, with prior warning that the train was limited stop to Barrow. Nigel Gilligan This train le Millom 14 minutes late and arrived in Barrow just three minutes late, so missing stops can help to get trains back on schedule. We hope Nigel claimed Delay repay for his wait of over 30 minutes! Page 9 Millom Mee ng Trudy Harrison is the new MP for Copeland and came to our July mee ng in Millom. There was a good turnout of 27 people, mostly from the Millom area. Trudy spoke briefly about the urgent need for improved rail services, par cularly on Sundays and for other transport improvements such as to the A595. She is hoping to involve all the Cumbrian MPs in a discussion about transport needs. As far as rail is concerned she said that signalling improvements and dualling the rest of the track were needed for businesses and to provide a more reliable service. Interes ngly when Jeremy Corbyn was in Cleator Moor in August he spoke in similar terms about the need for significant improvements to the coast line. At the mee ng there was discussion about Sellafield services, disabled access, cancella ons and specific Millom ques ons and a general feeling that the north of England has been ignored for too long and major improvements planned generally don't directly benefit the west coast. It was a useful mee ng, we gained one or two new members (including Trudy) and raises the ques on of whether we should have more mee ngs at different places along the line such as our October mee ng in Ravenglass. Bits and pieces West Coast Mining The planning applica on has now been submi ed to the county council and representa ons were made. There is some useful informa on but the cri cal part is that a er 2022 there are not enough train paths north for the six trains a day each way envisaged without spli ng the Maryport-Wigton signalling sec on into three. Cases of trains not stopping or/and the conductor not being visible to sell ckets and ask for the train to stop have been reported to Northern. Please let us have details if this happens again. Parking charges at Whitehaven have now increased from £2 to £3 a day (£14 a week, £45 a month and £365 a year). They also increased at Barrow, Carnforth and Grange to £5 and Ulverston to £4 a day. The new Ra y museum is now open at Ravenglass – our October mee ng is there. The Whitehaven cket machine now only takes cards, not cash. Nethertown now has a Harrington hump. Virgin, TransPennine Express and Caledonian Sleeper now sell advance ckets up to an hour before the train's departure. Northern are doing the same up to 15 minutes before departure on the Lakes line only so far. They have to be booked online. The All the sta ons guys Geoff Marshall and Vicki Pipe travelled up the coast line on 28 July – see them on YouTube (episode 46, day 83 – Lancaster to Newcastle) www.youtube.com/watch?v=im4P1XLXAIM. Geoff proclaimed Nethertown his new favourite sta on (it must be the Harrington hump that did it – or more likely the surroundings). Page 10 Walks
Walk 2 Maryport circular walk We included our first walk from the website in the last issue. Here's the next – a circular walk around Maryport. 3 miles (5km) 2 hours Sta on: Maryport Terrain: roads and paths with short sec on of grass and op onal steps Refreshments: Senhouse Street and harbour area Toilets: High Street and harbour Cross the road from the sta on onto Sta on Street. At the main road turn right onto Curzon Street and first le along Senhouse Street. A er High Street are interpreta on panels on the le about the Maryport and Carlisle Railway and the town. On the le before the bridge is the Mari me Museum with links to the Ismay Line and the Titanic. (Cross the bridge from here to divert to the harbour area with the aquarium (tourist informa on), Wave Centre and climbing wall and marina. To avoid steps turn right at the top of the hill onto High Street and at Fleming Square le to rejoin the route above the harbour.) Opposite the museum follow King Street. At Wallace Lane on your le turn right on Brow Street. Ahead are the 108 Back Brow steps. (Stop and admire the view on the way! There are also plenty of seats on the walk.) At the top turn le on a grass path and then right to see the Georgian buildings of Fleming Square. Return to the sea brows keeping the sea on your le along Solway Terrace to Senhouse Roman Museum with the best collec on on Roman altars in Britain. This is the con nua on of Hadrian's Wall and part of the UNESCO Roman Empire World Heritage Site with explanatory panels. There is a signpost labelled Rome 1147, Ravenglass 29, Bowness on Solway 26, Wallsend 110. Con nue on the path to the le of the museum and a er a while there is a fork. Le goes directly down to the promenade. (Right gives an extra ½ mile walk, again joining the promenade where op onally you can turn right to Bank End Farm and along the England Coast Path to Allonby up the coast.) Turn le on the promenade and admire the views across to Criffel in Scotland as you walk back towards the town. When the promenade is almost level with the harbour wall bear le (there is a coast path sign) onto Strand Street and the Mari me Museum ahead. Now return to the sta on.
Page 11 Ra y museum
Photo: Alan Johnstone Thank you to everyone who has contributed to this edi on.
Chairman: Tony Potts The Group welcomes contributions 5, Highfield Court, Hillcrest, Whitehaven CA28 6TR to the Newsletter. Tel: 01946 694065 Send articles/photos for next issue Secretary: David Andrews 12, Lonsdale Place, Whitehaven CA28 6DX to Tel: 01956 695373 Nigel Gilligan Email: [email protected] [email protected] Membership Secretary: Nigel Gilligan by 15th NOVEMBER, 2017. 5 Foxfield Road, Broughton-in-Furness LA20 6EZ Thank you. Tel: 01229 716914 Email: [email protected] Printed by Graham Lee Newsletter Editor: Position Vacant Hillingdon Greenprint Ltd. We still need a permanent newsletter editor 58 Beech Avenue, Ruislip, HA4 8UQ Could you consider editing an issue or being the permanent Telephone 020 8868 7852. Mobile 07956 261902. Email: editor? [email protected] This issue edited by David Andrews and typeset by Alan Johnstone www.hillingdongreenprint.co.uk Page 12