Rail Freight Flows and News UK

[158756]

It's a quirk of the TOPS system and freight trains vs passenger trains - multiple unit schedules are designed to be used by passenger operators using a different computer system (GENIUS or whatever it's current incarnation is).

This is a picture of a trial train in the parcels platform at Daventry which ran a week or so before the service started up (scroll down the article a bit) - https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-northamptonshire-66069338

You may notice the lack of wires... the 325s are apparently hauled from the reception sidings down the branch by the resident shunter, so arguably it's kind of loco-hauled although not on NR metals. I assume the loco used is this one pictured shunting the DC420 warehouse, perhaps someone can confirm the current shunter(s) in use at Daventry - https://www.flickr.com/photos/steam60163/51493178666/

1S05 pictured passing Warrington on Tuesday - https://www.flickr.com/photos/121541544@N07/53123430900/in/photolist-2oWktdq

This 2022 drone footage starts by looking towards the new Royal Mail facility and gives an idea of the distance from the reception sidings (about 2 miles I believe). It also gives a good view of the Russells terminal (with the overhead gantries) next to the Sainsburys warehouse (neither of these videos or pictures are mine by the way):

YouTube: Daventry Rail Freight Terminal 2022 | Anything Transport

On YouTube there's also a cab view down the branch as far as the Russells terminal (admittedly in the dark but the junctions are lit up). Timestamps: departs from reception sidings 6:45, passes the entrance to the Stobarts / Tesco container terminal 10:55, passes the junction for the DC420 warehouse 15:45, enters Russells / Sainsburys container terminal 21:00 then returns light engine to the Malcolms container terminal next to the reception sidings. If it had continued down the branch past the Sainsburys terminal, it would have crossed the bridge visible in the drone footage and ended up at the Royal Mail facility.

YouTube: Daventry | The Prop

Is there any news on the construction of or any plans to use the other rail facilities on the new site?

 

[Adrian Barr]

Is there any news on the construction of or any plans to use the other rail facilities on the new site?

I found some drone footage of the new container pad at Daventry "DIRFT III" dated from November 2021 - https://www.winvic.co.uk/case-studies/dirft-iii-rail-infrastructure/
It shows a container pad with 5 sidings and a traverser arrangement at the end, with the Royal Mail platform to the left.

Prologis also have a website, they appear to be the current owner of DIRFT as a whole including DIRFT II (Tesco and Sainsburys container terminals) and DIRFT III (Royal Mail platform and new container terminal): https://www.prologis.co.uk/our-parks/prologis-rfi-dirft
If you scroll down they have a "masterplan" showing the route of the branch line from the reception sidings and the warehousing available, which can also be downloaded as a separate PDF - https://prologis.getbynder.com/m/30acfb85971b857b/original/Prologis-RFI-DIRFT-Masterplan.pdf

Meanwhile Malcolms operate the original DIRFT container terminal - https://www.malcolmgroup.co.uk/rail/rail-services/ which is seen to good effect in this drone shot - https://www.flickr.com/photos/robmcrorie/48291300876/
I was also surprised to find this recent shot of the Malcolm's warehouse being used to load curtain-sided swapbodies: https://www.flickr.com/photos/120184076@N06/52762877298
Years back when DRS were running between Daventry and Grangemouth with class 37s, they used some ex-Rover KSA wagons (in addition to regular container flats) which were probably loaded at the same place - https://www.flickr.com/photos/world_railways/6974856454

Given that the rail infrastructure at the new container terminal looks to be complete, I suppose the trains using it will depend on which companies take up the warehousing on offer. The Royal Mail facility was only fitted out and operational recently, and I'm not sure what's happening at the other plots marked as "build to suit" opportunities on the plan.

An update to my previous post - I think the current Daventry shunter is now this one, numbered 460 but (as I understand from comments under other photos), previously a British Steel Teesside shunter numbered 256 (GEC 5425 of 1976 vintage): https://www.flickr.com/photos/harrysavage/52639933067/
Hauling Class 325s will be a bit of a change to its previous duties seen here! - https://www.flickr.com/photos/60539035@N02/17091854700/

 

[WessexEclectic]

Years back when DRS were running between Daventry and Grangemouth with class 37s, they used some ex-Rover KSA wagons (in addition to regular container flats) which were probably loaded at the same place - https://www.flickr.com/photos/world_railways/6974856454

Cor blimey, quadruple headed 37s....

 

[Gaz67]

Can anyone tell me when the Wembley Irvine last ran, also which direction is the Aberdeen Whitehaven flow loaded and who is the supplier/customer?

Can anyone tell me when the Wembley Irvine last ran, also which direction is the Aberdeen Whitehaven flow loaded and who is the supplier/customer?

Oops, meant workington docks.

 

[DarloRich]

I have noticed that a Grain > Sinfin GBRF service of, i assume, oil has started running. It is routed via the Marston Vale line in both directions whihc is different!

Is this going to be a regular service? It ran northbound this morning and Q coded paths seem to exist for a southbound working

 

[Freightmaster]

I have noticed that a Grain > Sinfin GBRF service of, i assume, oil has started running....
Is this going to be a regular service?

It's been running for a couple of years now, replacing the previous working from Grangemouth.

It is routed via the Marston Vale line in both directions which is different!

It normally runs via the MML:

Realtime Trains | 6M49 0300 Grain Oil Terminal Gbrf to Sinfin Sdgs Gbrf | 25/08/2023

Real-time train running information for 6M49 0300 departure from Grain Oil Terminal Gbrf to Sinfin Sdgs Gbrf on 25/08/2023. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

MARK

 

[DarloRich]

It's been running for a couple of years now, replacing the previous working from Grangemouth.

thanks - I thought the fuel for Sinfin (Rolls Royce?) came from Grangemouth.

So the newness is the route, not the flow?

 

[RetroCrowe]

Realtime Trains | 6V38 1246 Carlisle Yard Colas Rail to Chirk Kronospan Colas Rail | 21/10/2023

Real-time train running information for 6V38 1246 departure from Carlisle Yard Colas Rail to Chirk Kronospan Colas Rail on 21/10/2023. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

Just spotted another Colas log train that is pathed via Delamere. Presumably an automically generated VAR path that won't actually run since, as far as I can tell, 6V38 hasn't ran since December 2021?

 

[Greybeard33]

Realtime Trains | 6V38 1246 Carlisle Yard Colas Rail to Chirk Kronospan Colas Rail | 21/10/2023

Real-time train running information for 6V38 1246 departure from Carlisle Yard Colas Rail to Chirk Kronospan Colas Rail on 21/10/2023. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

Just spotted another Colas log train that is pathed via Delamere. Presumably an automically generated VAR path that won't actually run since, as far as I can tell, 6V38 hasn't ran since December 2021?

A loaded freight up the bank to Sough tunnel? Pathed to take only 25 minutes from Blackburn to Bromley Cross?!

 

[NI 271]

A loaded freight up the bank to Sough tunnel? Pathed to take only 25 minutes from Blackburn to Bromley Cross?!

What is the gradient, out of interest?

 

[RetroCrowe]

What is the gradient, out of interest?

I believe it's somewhere around 1 in 70

 

[Adrian Barr]

Can anyone tell me when the Wembley Irvine last ran, also which direction is the Aberdeen Workington flow loaded and who is the supplier/customer?

The most recent photos I can find of the 6S94 Wembley - Irvine are from 21st December 2022, running via the S&C - https://www.flickr.com/photos/mick_page/52576725847/
There was a brief thread about the demise of this working here - https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/wembley-to-irvine-clay-via-s-c.248932/
Despite the loss of the traffic through the tunnel, the Caledonian Paper mill at Irvine still receives trains from Aberdeen Waterloo - https://www.flickr.com/photos/scottdarg/52253069617/

The Aberdeen Waterloo to Workington train (6Z84 is on the run as I type) is loaded from Aberdeen with imported calcium carbonate slurry, which comes from Norway apparently - https://www.railfreight.com/railfreight/2020/07/03/aberdeen-origin-of-long-distance-tanker-traffic/
This a good shot of the terminal at Aberdeen Waterloo - https://www.flickr.com/photos/justinfoulger/52918250489/

I believe the customer is Omya - https://filler-board.omya.com/
Final destination for the traffic is an Iggesund paperboard mill at Workington - https://www.iggesund.com/about/global-presence/the-workington-mill/
I think Workington Docks functions as a convenient place near to the mill where the product can be transferred to road tankers.
There's a photo of this process in action in this post on a blog (click the photo to enlarge) - https://solwayshorewalker.co.uk/2014/09/12/trains-and-boats-and-cranes-the-port-of-workington/

Nice photo of the tanks at Workington Docks when this working was operated by DB Cargo: https://www.flickr.com/photos/36034969@N08/48082165182

 

[Gaz67]

The most recent photos I can find of the 6S94 Wembley - Irvine are from 21st December 2022, running via the S&C - https://www.flickr.com/photos/mick_page/52576725847/
There was a brief thread about the demise of this working here - https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/wembley-to-irvine-clay-via-s-c.248932/
Despite the loss of the traffic through the tunnel, the Caledonian Paper mill at Irvine still receives trains from Aberdeen Waterloo - https://www.flickr.com/photos/scottdarg/52253069617/

The Aberdeen Waterloo to Workington train (6Z84 is on the run as I type) is loaded from Aberdeen with imported calcium carbonate slurry, which comes from Norway apparently - https://www.railfreight.com/railfreight/2020/07/03/aberdeen-origin-of-long-distance-tanker-traffic/
This a good shot of the terminal at Aberdeen Waterloo - https://www.flickr.com/photos/justinfoulger/52918250489/

I believe the customer is Omya - https://filler-board.omya.com/
Final destination for the traffic is an Iggesund paperboard mill at Workington - https://www.iggesund.com/about/global-presence/the-workington-mill/
I think Workington Docks functions as a convenient place near to the mill where the product can be transferred to road tankers.
There's a photo of this process in action in this post on a blog (click the photo to enlarge) - https://solwayshorewalker.co.uk/2014/09/12/trains-and-boats-and-cranes-the-port-of-workington/

Nice photo of the tanks at Workington Docks when this working was operated by DB Cargo: https://www.flickr.com/photos/36034969@N08/48082165182

Thanks, thought it left Workington by sea. Thats a long gap for the Irvine, enjoyed seeing it transit the S and C so hope it resumes, would prefer seeing it hauled by a a 92 along the WCML though. Pity these boardmills cant send some of their finished product by rail.

 

[Sad Sprinter]

Does anyone know the frequency of Class 92s running on third rail?

 

[NI 271]

I believe it's somewhere around 1 in 70

Thanks. I doubt it'd be a problem then, around 11ish miles at 30mph, 25 minutes would seem ample.

 

[Class15]

Does anyone know the frequency of Class 92s running on third rail?

Plenty of times in the past between Dollands moor and Wembley. Not so much now but still occasionally.

 

[Greybeard33]

Thanks. I doubt it'd be a problem then, around 11ish miles at 30mph, 25 minutes would seem ample.

What trailing load are you assuming in that calculation? The timing load is for 1600t.

I believe there is a sustained gradient of around 1 in 70 for nearly 4 miles up to and through Sough tunnel, with a maximum of 1 in 64.

In comparison, 15x DMUs are timed at 21 minutes from Blackburn to Bromley Cross, with a stop at Darwen. Versus 23.5 minutes for this freight.

 

[Freightmaster]

Does anyone know the frequency of Class 92s running on third rail?

I was going to say 50 Hz, but I realised third rail is DC so frequency would be zero, I suppose?




MARK

 

[AndrewE]

I was going to say 50 Hz, but I realised third rail is DC so frequency would be zero, I suppose?
MARK

I was going to say a better question might be "Are there any? If so, which trains?"

 

[BRX]

There are hardly any at the moment.

Occasionally a GBRf 92 moves between Wembley and Dollands Moor light engine.

There were some GBRf training runs hauling wagons a little while and I was hopeful that might mean we'd see them returning to hauling some "real" trains on 3rd rail but so far nothing.

All of the DB ones have had their 3rd rail capability disabled and they are dragged dead between Dollands Moor and Wembley when they need to be moved.

 

[NI 271]

What trailing load are you assuming in that calculation? The timing load is for 1600t.

I believe there is a sustained gradient of around 1 in 70 for nearly 4 miles up to and through Sough tunnel, with a maximum of 1 in 64.

In comparison, 15x DMUs are timed at 21 minutes from Blackburn to Bromley Cross, with a stop at Darwen. Versus 23.5 minutes for this freight.

The train (with the usual 20 wagons on) is around 1400t. But no calculation is required; I’m told the bank from Whalley to Daisyfield is 1 in 52, that’s also four miles and it goes up there at 30mph without issue.

 

[Greybeard33]

The train (with the usual 20 wagons on) is around 1400t. But no calculation is required; I’m told the bank from Whalley to Daisyfield is 1 in 52, that’s also four miles and it goes up there at 30mph without issue.

Really? According to

The Railway Data Centre | Line File DJH

The Railway Data Centre is an independant provider British railway industry data in unique and different formats.

www.railwaydata.co.uk

which is derived from Network Rail data, the climb from Whalley consists of 3.1 miles at 1 in 82, easing to 0.6 miles at 1 in 88, then just 0.2 miles at 1 in 68 before easing again to 1 in 86 for the remaining 0.6 miles to the summit.

Significantly less challenging than the climb through Darwen and Sough tunnel.

 

[NI 271]

Really? According to

The Railway Data Centre | Line File DJH

The Railway Data Centre is an independant provider British railway industry data in unique and different formats.

www.railwaydata.co.uk

which is derived from Network Rail data, the climb from Whalley consists of 3.1 miles at 1 in 82, easing to 0.6 miles at 1 in 88, then just 0.2 miles at 1 in 68 before easing again to 1 in 86 for the remaining 0.6 miles to the summit.

Significantly less challenging than the climb through Darwen and Sough tunnel.

Fair enough, I’ve obviously been given some bum info on that gradient. If it had a 70 on it it’d still climb from Darwen at 30mph though, unless (based on the October 21st date shown on that schedule) railhead is sub-optimal. At 30mph, a 70 will just keep feeding enough tractive effort to maintain that speed, it sits at around 190-200 kN to hold that speed from Whalley, there’s an awful lot still in reserve (the effort gauge reads up to 900kN, although I doubt I’ll ever see it reach even half that). It’s not a particularly heavy train.

I suspect this is all moot, however, as 6V38 scarcely ever runs these days, as has been noted upthread.

 

[Gaz67]

Thanks, thought it left Workington by sea. Thats a long gap for the Irvine, enjoyed seeing it transit the S and C so hope it resumes, would prefer seeing it hauled by a a 92 along the WCML though. Pity these boardmills cant send some of their finished product by rail.

Dont know if this has been discussed upthread but is there any reason the clay slurry for Irvine cant be sourced from cornwall? Some great pics on those links by the way.

 

[desiro350]

Dont know if this has been discussed upthread but is there any reason the clay slurry for Irvine cant be sourced from cornwall? Some great pics on those links by the way.

In the latter days of BR and possibly beyond it did come from Cornwall using the then new silver bullets; I believe the run from St Blazey to Irvine was the longest distance freight working in the country. I'm sure someone could shed some light on why it was switched to coming all the way from Italy and through the tunnel instead.

 

[BRX]

Antwerp, not Italy.

 

[AndrewE]

Antwerp, not Italy.

but there are no China Clay mines in Antwerp either. My guess is that's where shipsfull arrive from Brazil, or somewhere else where it can be cheaply extracted.

 

[Gaz67]

but there are no China Clay mines in Antwerp either. My guess is that's where shipsfull arrive from Brazil, or somewhere else where it can be cheaply extracted.

So then we have the Finnish owned paper mill getting clay from Brazil which is transported occasionally on our rail network by GBRF who are owned by some European financial group who are in turn owned by another European financial group, cant help thinking our country has lost its way these last 20 or 30 years.

Getting back on topic I noticed the wagons on the Workington to Aberdeen train I saw at Carlisle still had the ECC logo at one end, covered in grime but still there after 24 years.

 

[Greybeard33]

Fair enough, I’ve obviously been given some bum info on that gradient. If it had a 70 on it it’d still climb from Darwen at 30mph though, unless (based on the October 21st date shown on that schedule) railhead is sub-optimal. At 30mph, a 70 will just keep feeding enough tractive effort to maintain that speed, it sits at around 190-200 kN to hold that speed from Whalley, there’s an awful lot still in reserve (the effort gauge reads up to 900kN, although I doubt I’ll ever see it reach even half that). It’s not a particularly heavy train.

I suspect this is all moot, however, as 6V38 scarcely ever runs these days, as has been noted upthread.

Ah, I did not know that Class 70s are used on this flow. I think I read somewhere that they have a maximum continuous tractive effort about 60% more than a 66, i.e. over 400kN. As you say, that should be enough to get 1400t up the Darwen bank at a reasonable speed, railhead conditions permitting.

 

[BRX]

but there are no China Clay mines in Antwerp either. My guess is that's where shipsfull arrive from Brazil, or somewhere else where it can be cheaply extracted.

The train came from Antwerp. The contents didn't.