SHREWSBURY GROWLINGS
3rd April 2002

 In the days of the North Wales Coastal 37/4's, you muttered a silent prayer for the driver to stop the locomotive short of the overbridge and out of the shadows at Crewe - today the prayer was answered. Having seen that 415, an old NWC regular, was on the Wales & Borders Cardiff-Crewe service, I decided to ride the rails again. This time it was to Shrewsbury and 2 x 158's in order to pick up 1Z43, the 15.20 from Cardiff Central. The photos tell the story and there is a lot to see so please give the page time to load........

 Two types of architecture, a part of Shrewsbury's heritage.

 Great Western Railway finials extant!

 60043 passed through the station with a steel train.

 The distant growl and 37415 picked its way carefully through the tangle of pointwork to reach platform 4.

 Over the points, over the points......

 What can one say?

 The train was running about ten minutes down so it loaded quickly and was soon away passing yet more semaphore signals.

 156415 "Wendy"!

 Scrap class 47 diesel locomotives lined up by the "Mornflake" factory just South West of Crewe station. The factory loading bay canopy, adjacent to the line, is the site of the GWR sub-shed in the steam days.

 Entering Crewe station and platform 12.

 I once photographed 37419 in exactly the same spot with the late Winter sun streaming onto the EWS red and gold - beautiful.

 Classic 37 nose end.

 415 has acquired black headcode boxes since its Coastal days.

 The locomotive was detached and ran out along platform 12 onto the Chester/North Wales line where it stopped.

 A few minutes wait while a Liverpool train left and the growler ran back through the centre loop and round its train.

 Out to the South end of the station where, again, it paused before returning to 12 and reattachment to the stock.

 And Finally.....off to the LNWR carriage sheds. If only these runs were a permanent feature of the W&B timetable. Ah well, we can dream can't we. Thanks to Wales & Borders for the runs that we did get.

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