Railways around Coventry

Greg, hi, change of topic.The Gibbs may have lived the other side of the track to us when I was very small. It would be interesting to know when the trains stopped running to the Collieries, behind our gardens the meadow had taken over the tracks as far back as I can remember, and even as a baby I would have been aware of heavy trains rumbling by.I believe the last 'Pit' closed in 1926, my dad worked at 'Craven for a short time, can't remember what years, if I ever knew.It was a single track, and the nearest line would have been less than 6ft from my bedroom wall.About Quarter mile up the line and twenty yards from it stood 'Main Pit Farm' between the farm and the canal they placed a Bofor gun? There was a nice rookery, but the rooks couldn't compete with the chatter of the gun so they left.There was a little pipe that ran from the canal, (about a foot deep, half-mile long) to the horse trough in the farm yard, the soldiers managed to break that in the first day, took three days to repair.but they did help repair some of the fences, and were always on good terms with us.

After a last minute tip off on Thursday lunchtime, I managed to get to Canley in time to photograph the Royal Train returning empty to Wolverton Works (where the rolling stock is based) from Sheffield, where the Queen was handing out the specially minted coins on Maundy Thursday in Sheffield Cathedral. Three 67 locomotives are in the 'pool' for working the Royal Train, but when not required to do so, work other trains around the country as required. One - 67026 seen here at the head of the train - is named 'Silver Jubilee' and carries a special livery applied to celebrate the Queens Silver Jubilee back in 2012. 67005 and 67006 are the only main line certified locos to carry the official Royal Household livery called 'Royal Claret'. 67005, seen here on the rear of the train, is named 'Queens Messenger'. The third loco - 67006 - is named 'Royal Sovereign'. The Royal Train itself can pass through Coventry at fairly frequent intervals either with members of the Royal Family on board, or as is more often the case, running to or from its base at Wolverton. Clearly for security reasons its schedule is never made available to the public, except of course arrival times at stations when an official engagement. Indeed to railway operating personnel, it is still referred to as the 'Special Train'.

Thanks, Ron, for the excellent photos - as usual - and also the extra information Here is a close-up of the plates carried by 67005 "Queen's Messenger"

An update (?) regarding the new 'Coventry Arena' station at the Ricoh (as us locals will almost always refer to it as...). As was well published both when the work was started, and on the large signs erected at the site, it looks almost certain (my words) that the station will not be opening in May. Unless I've missed it, I have seen no official press release confirming this. However, I made another of my fairly frequent visits on Thursday to photograph the progress made since my previous visit. I was told back in January that progress was somewhat slow due to 'design issues', a cover-all statement in this day and age. For a project that in reality is running two years later than was initially planned (in this phase anyway), I found that a little surprising. On at least three visits, there was absolutely nothing going on whatsoever, other than staff walking around the site offices. Thursday was totally different, with tons of people dressed as Haliborange tablets working on both platforms. An issue from the outset is the signal that now finds itself in the middle of what is now the Up platform (Coventry bound). This should initially have been resited last November, but has been continually delayed due - I understand - to a shortage of signalling engineers. The replacement signal is now in position at the Coventry end of the platform. The old signal cannot be removed until the new one has been commissioned, which I was told on Thursday, was not going to be done for another 'two to three weeks'. If you look at the amount of work required, I cannot see the station being ready for the timetable change in May, as was originally expected. Indeed, although both Coventry Arena and Bermuda Park stations now appear in the national timetable, their train timings have now been removed and do not appear until Sunday 21st June. Clearly this is all subject to change and official confirmations etc etc

You of course meant 'Diamond Jubilee', the Queen's Silver Jubilee having been celebrated in 1977 (Although the colour is still officially described as 'Jubilee Silver'!)

Ooops, so I did. That'll teach me for not double checking what I had written. I can always remember the official names for the livery applied to locos and that clearly guided what I was typing. It's an age thing. It happens to us all in time. Some, including me, earlier than others!

For fans of Class 55 "Deltic" locomotives, D9009 "Alycidon" and 55019 "Royal Highland Fusilier" are due to pass through Leamington Spa tomorrow at 14.53 en route from The Bluebell Railway to The Severn Valley Railway

Greg, hi Midland Red's photo of Bedlam Lane station cottage clearly shows how close to the line it was, and that is how close to the disused line we lived by in Aldermans Green Road. Midland Red, you sure captured the old days clearly there.

"Alycidon" raced through Leamington Spa at a rate of knots, with 55019 in tow - lots of diesel fumes (not as good as coal smoke and steam!) Earlier, the engineers train passed through - only one Colas class 70 yesterday!

After some nine months since construction first began (including some periods when nothing was happening), the Coventry Arena railway station is now heading towards its completion phase. Originally planned to open in 'May 2015', both the Ricoh and Bermuda Park stations were delayed during construction due to 'design issues'. An official opening date for both stations has still to be confirmed but I was told earlier this week that the project was running about one month behind. Train times have reappeared in the working timetable but no doubt they will be removed within the next day or so until there's a clearer indication of when the stations will be completed and signed off for public use.

I wonder what the official name of the station will be? 'Ricoh' being a sponsor might not be used and the obvious 'Coventry' may cause problems when booking tickets [people could end up here rather than the main station or the other-way-around.. unlikely I know]. I suspect the word 'Arena' will be used; maybe "Arena Park (Coventry)" ?

The official name will be 'Coventry Arena'. Sponsor names cannot be used for projects such as this, not only to avoid advertising issues but name changes in the future should/as sponsors change.

Super piccies Ron. Am I missing something here, how do you get from one platform to the other as I can't see a footbridge anywhere in your shots? Is there an underpass?

Hi all Yes, an underpass is already in operation, giving access from the bus stops to the arena.