Rail Freight Flows and News UK

[JKF]

Looks like crew training runs on the Portbury branch next week, so perhaps some traffic is restarting there shortly. In the last couple of years there’s been a summer of stone traffic (brought down by coastal shipping from Scotland, but now appears to run from Avonmouth) and a few weeks of steel export traffic late last year as a one-off contract. Curious what is coming.

Realtime Trains | Departures from Portbury Dock Stop Board all day on 12/07/2022

Train information at Portbury Dock Stop Board all day on 12/07/2022. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

This was for new intermodal container traffic from London Gateway, the first inbound service ran today with 66593 providing traction.

Realtime Trains | 4V35 0815 London Gateway Frghtliner to Avonmouth West Warf (Fhh) | 23/07/2022

Real-time train running information for 4V35 0815 departure from London Gateway Frghtliner to Avonmouth West Warf (Fhh) on 23/07/2022. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

This returns early on Monday. The loco ran light to Stoke Gifford after dropping off the train so presumably something will have to run down to collect for the return.

Nothing else is booked in at the moment so no idea how frequently it will run.

 

[Freightmaster]

...no idea how frequently it will run.

It normally runs weekly, but was previously unloaded at Avonmouth rather than Portbury:

Realtime Trains | 4V35 0815 London Gateway Frghtliner to Avonmouth West Warf (Fhh) | 16/07/2022

Real-time train running information for 4V35 0815 departure from London Gateway Frghtliner to Avonmouth West Warf (Fhh) on 16/07/2022. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

MARK

 

[5562]

A relative saw Monday evening's (25/7) Ashburys to Dowlow pass through Whaley Bridge. Nothing unusual in that except it wasn't the empty hoppers returning but fully loaded ones. Does anyone know why loaded stone was going to Dowlow on that route, especially when I understood loaded freight workings were banned due to a weight restricted bridge in Whaley Bridge.
Incidentally RTT shows it took 20 mins (booked 12 mins) to travel between Furness Vale and Chapel-en-le-Frith, further confirming the load carried.

 

[Greybeard33]

A relative saw Monday evening's (25/7) Ashburys to Dowlow pass through Whaley Bridge. Nothing unusual in that except it wasn't the empty hoppers returning but fully loaded ones. Does anyone know why loaded stone was going to Dowlow on that route, especially when I understood loaded freight workings were banned due to a weight restricted bridge in Whaley Bridge.
Incidentally RTT shows it took 20 mins (booked 12 mins) to travel between Furness Vale and Chapel-en-le-Frith, further confirming the load carried.

RTT shows that the outbound loaded working (1259 from Dowlow) was delayed between Peak Forest and Chinley North Junction, arriving 68L at Ashburys. This ate into the turnaround time.

Perhaps the best operational solution was to return part loaded, rather than delay the return working?

 

[5562]

RTT shows that the outbound loaded working (1259 from Dowlow) was delayed between Peak Forest and Chinley North Junction, arriving 68L at Ashburys. This ate into the turnaround time.

Perhaps the best operational solution was to return part loaded, rather than delay the return working?

Oh right. That sounds very likely. Thanks.

 

[Adrian Barr]

Reports of 66304 on first Mossend to Blackford Perthshire today with just 4 containers ...presume. trial

Thanks for the info, seems like ages since I first read about proposals for a freight terminal at Blackford!

Some good pictures on flickr, a couple of IKA twins with 45ft containers were brought in as 4L55 and then left in the terminal, with the loco returning to Motherwell as 0Z55.
The wagons (which are still there I think) and containers are being used to train terminal staff on the crane, according to the caption here:
https://flickr.com/photos/141939835@N04/52233404575/
Some more pics here (click left arrow for a sequence of shots) - https://flickr.com/photos/d6841/52229473863/in/photostream/

A very substantial gantry crane there by the looks of it, which is not that common these days when reach stackers seem to be preferred in a lot of smaller terminals.

This video on YouTube shows the train arriving and doing a bit of shunting:
Channel: DRS37425 | Video: First Train in the New Blackford Highland Spring Freight Terminal: 20th of July 2022

*

Also the containers into Portbury is an interesting bit of news.

This was for new intermodal container traffic from London Gateway, the first inbound service ran today with 66593 providing traction.

It normally runs weekly, but was previously unloaded at Avonmouth rather than Portbury:

I didn't know there had been any intermodal traffic into Avonmouth (at least since the days of the weekly train of containerised imported car parts to Tyne Dock for Nissan) let alone Portbury.

An unusual view of the London Gateway train wending its way into the terminal at Avonmouth earlier this year: https://flickr.com/photos/33949742@N04/51906693042/

All the photos / videos of this train show it conveying 20ft containers only; apparently it's known as the "wineliner" and I suppose a 40ft container full of bottled wine would be a little on the heavy side.
I seem to remember reading that wine was one of the main traffics handled at the former Bristol Freightliner depot. With a trainload of wine delivered every Saturday, the weekends in Bristol must be rather lively!

4V35 pictured at Dr Days on 23 July on the way into Portbury: https://flickr.com/photos/142573413@N04/52235681776/

*

Is this the first time in a while that 4S57 Hams Hall to Mossend has run? How often will it run per week?

There's a press release here which says this is a service for the shipping line MSC, connecting Scotland to Felixstowe and London Gateway (with the boxes presumably being lifted off the Mossend train and reloaded onto existing services to Felixstowe and London Gateway): https://www.msc.com/ja/newsroom/new...-connecting-scotland-with-global-trade-routes

Supposed to run six days a week it says (whether they will use the wagons in the photo, which appear to belong to a Czech rail operator, is more doubtful).
Looks like 4S57 has been a regular runner over the past week anyway, including a Saturday departure on 30 July.

There used to be a Mossend to Hams Hall service in EWS / early DB days; I think some of the containers from Mossend were then loaded to the former channel tunnel service from Hams Hall to Novara (Italy).
Pictures on flickr appear to show the old Mossend - Hams Hall trains ran with a 92 (to Bescot), something GBRF are unlikely to repeat, although if you see a 92 hauling some Czech container wagons I'll have to eat my words.

Mossend - Hams Hall "back in the day"
https://www.flickr.com/photos/northbritonrailways/6420584109/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/tug33/6077800130/

 

[Rail Ranger]

Today Wednesday 3 August saw a GBRf trial train of the long-promised slate waste traffic from Llandudno Junction sidings. The route was Doncaster Decoy sidings 02:46 via Wakefield Kirkgate, Rochdale, Manchester Victoria, Eccles and Chester to 'Llandudno Junction Traffic Centre ' at 07:51. The return departed the sidings at 13:01 and ran via Chester, Crewe, Nuneaton, Leicester and Corby to Wellingborough arriving 20:53 (RTT timings). The planned flow is to Earles Sidings on the Hope Valley line, but testing that must be for another day.

 

[Peter0124]

There's a press release here which says this is a service for the shipping line MSC, connecting Scotland to Felixstowe and London Gateway (with the boxes presumably being lifted off the Mossend train and reloaded onto existing services to Felixstowe and London Gateway): https://www.msc.com/ja/newsroom/new...-connecting-scotland-with-global-trade-routes

Supposed to run six days a week it says (whether they will use the wagons in the photo, which appear to belong to a Czech rail operator, is more doubtful).
Looks like 4S57 has been a regular runner over the past week anyway, including a Saturday departure on 30 July.

There used to be a Mossend to Hams Hall service in EWS / early DB days; I think some of the containers from Mossend were then loaded to the former channel tunnel service from Hams Hall to Novara (Italy).
Pictures on flickr appear to show the old Mossend - Hams Hall trains ran with a 92 (to Bescot), something GBRF are unlikely to repeat, although if you see a 92 hauling some Czech container wagons I'll have to eat my words.

Mossend - Hams Hall "back in the day"
https://www.flickr.com/photos/northbritonrailways/6420584109/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/tug33/6077800130/

How come those old freight services were axed? There seemed to be more freight 15 years ago from Mossend than nowadays.

 

[Brooke]

All the photos / videos of this train show it conveying 20ft containers only; apparently it's known as the "wineliner" and I suppose a 40ft container full of bottled wine would be a little on the heavy side.
I seem to remember reading that wine was one of the main traffics handled at the former Bristol Freightliner depot. With a trainload of wine delivered every Saturday, the weekends in Bristol must be rather lively!

It will all be going into Accolade Wines on St Andrews Road, one of the main wine processing facilities in the UK.

 

[furnessvale]

Trials of carrying round timber from Aberystwyth to Chirk have resulted in a permanent contract.

Welsh timber working between Aberystwyth and Chirk made permanent

Welsh timber is back on Welsh railways, and this time its here permanently. Following a successful trial in April, Colas Rail has agreed a permanent contract to move raw timber logs from the coastal town of Aberystwyth to the Kronospan processing plant at Chirk, just south of Wrexham in the...

www.railfreight.com

 

[Pinus contorta]

The economics must be quite tight, if they double handling the timber , then double heading the train over the Cambrian , then ( I assume) swapping over the locomotive again sonewhere before it arrives at the mill.

 

[furnessvale]

The economics must be quite tight, if they double handling the timber , then double heading the train over the Cambrian , then ( I assume) swapping over the locomotive again sonewhere before it arrives at the mill.

Don't know why they would neccessarily change locos, but the economics must be there otherwise they would continue to use HGVs.

 

[Pinus contorta]

Don't know why they would neccessarily change locos, but the economics must be there otherwise they would continue to use HGVs.

I guess if they don't need to take the Network Rail locos off then it's saving time and money.

 

[Adrian Barr]

It will all be going into Accolade Wines on St Andrews Road, one of the main wine processing facilities in the UK.

That would explain it. That place looks massive, according to the Accolade website it's "Europe’s largest wine warehouse and distribution centre".

How come those old freight services were axed? There seemed to be more freight 15 years ago from Mossend than nowadays.

Hard to say without knowing what sort of contract it was and the kinds of traffic on it. I seem to remember the publicity saying some of the containers had toys in them, but can't remember much else about it.
I think that old Mossend - Hams Hall flow must also have been intended mainly as a connecting service for containers to be reloaded onto other trains, I think it would be unusual to load products into a shipping container just to move them from Glasgow to Birmingham, with a road leg to and from a rail terminal at each end. Admittedly the Anglo-Scottish traffic from Daventry works a bit like that, but at the Daventry end most of the containers would be to and from warehouses on site.

Another old EWS container flow from Scotland was the Grangemouth - Trafford Park service. If you search "Trafford Park Grangemouth" on flickr there are some interesting photos - most of the traffic was chemicals and it used a class 92 between Mossend and Trafford (with a run round at Crewe). This ran from the Grangemouth TDG container terminal, which was a separate terminal next to the Malcolm's facility. The TDG terminal closed, but looking on google maps, the Malcolm's facility appears to have expanded to take over what was the TDG terminal (the four sidings near the container stacks if you look on google maps). There's a cab ride DVD from Daventry to Grangemouth filmed a few years ago (Videoscene) which I seem to remember has unloading footage from Grangemouth showing the Malcolm's site had fairly restricted space at the time.
Edit - In fact, I think the expanded Grangemouth container terminal is actually a DB site ("Grangemouth Logistics Centre") with the trains being operated for WH Malcolm - https://www.malcolmgroup.co.uk/rail/rail-services/

I think there are more containers moving from Mossend now compared to 10 or 20 years ago, with 4 trains per day from Mossend to Daventry alone. In addition to the Euroterminal on the Up side (now run by Maritime), there's a container pad operated by PD Stirling in the Down Yard. This one deals with the Seaforth - Mossend train but I'm not sure what else: https://www.flickr.com/photos/36034969@N08/48182637877

Today Wednesday 3 August saw a GBRf trial train of the long-promised slate waste traffic from Llandudno Junction sidings. The route was Doncaster Decoy sidings 02:46 via Wakefield Kirkgate, Rochdale, Manchester Victoria, Eccles and Chester to 'Llandudno Junction Traffic Centre ' at 07:51. The return departed the sidings at 13:01 and ran via Chester, Crewe, Nuneaton, Leicester and Corby to Wellingborough arriving 20:53 (RTT timings). The planned flow is to Earles Sidings on the Hope Valley line, but testing that must be for another day.

This is mentioned in the "North Wales Freight Services" thread, where there is also a YouTube video of it at Llandudno Junction - https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/new-north-wales-freight-services.227240/
The train recessed at Wellingborough but continued to Luton Crescent Road the next day for discharge, as a 6C12 08:07 Wellingborough - Luton Crescent Road (Thu 04 August).
It used a set of JNA boxes which had been working between Tunstead and Wellingborough.

 

[endofthetunnel]

All the photos / videos of this train show it conveying 20ft containers only; apparently it's known as the "wineliner" and I suppose a 40ft container full of bottled wine would be a little on the heavy side.

I realise it’s completely OT but nowadays a lot of wine is transported in huge vacuum bags, which fill the 20ft containers, and is then bottled in the destination country. No point shipping the weight of all the glass and wasting the space of the air between them.

 

[stantheman]

Why are the Aberystwyth 37s yellow and what are they normally used for ?
And ex 37 fleet numbers ?

 

[ABB125]

Why are the Aberystwyth 37s yellow and what are they normally used for ?
And ex 37 fleet numbers ?

They're yellow because they're owned by Network Rail. The four class 97s (converted from class 37s) are the only locomotives which can operate on the Cambrian lines as they've got ERTMS signalling equipment fitted. Normal uses include RHTT trains, charters and presumably some maintenance trains.
I don't know the original class 37 numbers off the top of my head unfortunately.

 

[ExRes]

Why are the Aberystwyth 37s yellow and what are they normally used for ?
And ex 37 fleet numbers ?

As far as I'm aware

97301 - 37100
97302 - 37170
97303 - 37178
97304 - 37217

 

[BRX]

I didn't know there had been any intermodal traffic into Avonmouth (at least since the days of the weekly train of containerised imported car parts to Tyne Dock for Nissan) let alone Portbury.

An unusual view of the London Gateway train wending its way into the terminal at Avonmouth earlier this year: https://flickr.com/photos/33949742@N04/51906693042/

All the photos / videos of this train show it conveying 20ft containers only; apparently it's known as the "wineliner" and I suppose a 40ft container full of bottled wine would be a little on the heavy side.
I seem to remember reading that wine was one of the main traffics handled at the former Bristol Freightliner depot. With a trainload of wine delivered every Saturday, the weekends in Bristol must be rather lively!

4V35 pictured at Dr Days on 23 July on the way into Portbury: https://flickr.com/photos/142573413@N04/52235681776/

*

The "wine liner" used to run from Thamesport (isle of grain on the north kent coast) I think - before Thamesport lost all of its rail borne container traffic to London Gateway a few years ago.

 

[NI 271]

Don't know why they would neccessarily change locos, but the economics must be there otherwise they would continue to use HGVs.

The 97s don't belong to Colas, they belong to Network Rail. However, they have to be used on the Cambrian as there aren't any other locos fitted with ERTMS. For obvious reasons, Network Rail aren't simply going to gift Colas the use of those locos once the train is off the Cambrian, hence the 97s coming off at Sutton Bridge and a 56 taking over.

As an aside, I'm quite puzzled at the claim in the article linked in post 820 that this train (which I think was formed of ten wagons) carried 800 tonnes of timber. 6J37 from Carlisle doesn't carry 800 tonnes of timber, and it's [usually] 20 wagons, 1400 or so tonnes loaded, and around 650 tonnes empty on the 6C37 return. Realistically I'd imagine the actual load was around 350-360 tonnes, the entire train would only weigh over 800 tonnes because there were two locos pulling it, it would be below that once the 56 took over.

 

[markymark2000]

Can anyone find any paths for the Aberystwyth Timber train? I'm looking through RealTimeTrains and can't see anything.

Many thanks

 

[BRX]

As an aside, I'm quite puzzled at the claim in the article linked in post 820 that this train (which I think was formed of ten wagons) carried 800 tonnes of timber. 6J37 from Carlisle doesn't carry 800 tonnes of timber, and it's [usually] 20 wagons, 1400 or so tonnes loaded, and around 650 tonnes empty on the 6C37 return. Realistically I'd imagine the actual load was around 350-360 tonnes, the entire train would only weigh over 800 tonnes because there were two locos pulling it, it would be below that once the 56 took over.

What it actually says is:

A series of trials – hauled by Network Rail locomotives old enough to have been around back then – took 800 tonnes of round logs – the industry term for freshly felled timber – on the 100-mile (160km) trip to Chirk.

 

[Freightmaster]

Can anyone find any paths for the Aberystwyth Timber train? I'm looking through RealTimeTrains and can't see anything.

Many thanks

It runs as an STP, so the paths are only uploaded a few days in advance.





MARK

 

[Penmorfa]

4D62, Wembley Reception to Holyhead Aluminium and return

Realtime Trains | 4D62 0313 Wembley Receptions 1-7 to Holyhead Anglesey Alumin | 12/08/2022

Real-time train running information for 4D62 0313 departure from Wembley Receptions 1-7 to Holyhead Anglesey Alumin on 12/08/2022. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

Not run as yet but i'm curious as to what it could be. It's in the timetable until at least December so new stock for storage seems unlikely. Any ideas folks? I'm aware a company have taken over the old aluminium sidings as a rail freight depot but apart from storage of ssome Trans Pennine units nothing else has been in. Swop bodies for Ireland would be nice

 

[Western 52]

4D62, Wembley Reception to Holyhead Aluminium and return

Realtime Trains | 4D62 0313 Wembley Receptions 1-7 to Holyhead Anglesey Alumin | 12/08/2022

Real-time train running information for 4D62 0313 departure from Wembley Receptions 1-7 to Holyhead Anglesey Alumin on 12/08/2022. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

Not run as yet but i'm curious as to what it could be. It's in the timetable until at least December so new stock for storage seems unlikely. Any ideas folks? I'm aware a company have taken over the old aluminium sidings as a rail freight depot but apart from storage of ssome Trans Pennine units nothing else has been in. Swop bodies for Ireland would be nice

I was in Holyhead on Wednesday and those sidings looked to have seen some recent use. Interesting that RTT working is shown as run round in P2 as that platform has no run round loop.

 

[Peter0124]

Just wondering but do the containers on the 4S38 Seaforth to Mossend train get shipped in from Dublin Port? Thanks!

 

[BRX]

4D62, Wembley Reception to Holyhead Aluminium and return

Realtime Trains | 4D62 0313 Wembley Receptions 1-7 to Holyhead Anglesey Alumin | 12/08/2022

Real-time train running information for 4D62 0313 departure from Wembley Receptions 1-7 to Holyhead Anglesey Alumin on 12/08/2022. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

Not run as yet but i'm curious as to what it could be. It's in the timetable until at least December so new stock for storage seems unlikely. Any ideas folks? I'm aware a company have taken over the old aluminium sidings as a rail freight depot but apart from storage of ssome Trans Pennine units nothing else has been in. Swop bodies for Ireland would be nice

Can we hope it might be connected to something coming through the channel tunnel to Wembley?

 

[markymark2000]

Can we hope it might be connected to something coming through the channel tunnel to Wembley?

Not sure how reliable it is but RealTimeTrains lists these as "RfD Channel Tunnel (Mixed Business)"

 

[Penmorfa]

Not sure how reliable it is but RealTimeTrains lists these as "RfD Channel Tunnel (Mixed Business)"

That's why I thought of swop bodies. I can't see NR giving them a path over the WCML is there's nothing concrete behing it.

 

[BRX]

If it's swap bodies for Ireland through the channel tunnel and all the way to Holyhead by rail for transfer onto the ferry then that seems like a very sensible use of rail freight, almost too sensible to be true!