1960's GCR Freight trains

[Flying Phil]

In the Early 1960's the GCR still carried a lot of freight trains but the line closed to through passenger traffic in 1966. It remaining as a "rump" of a DMU service from Rugby to Nottingham until 1969. But did this also stop all through freight traffic?
There was still the MoD traffic to Ruddington and then the British Gypsum East Leake traffic, plus the track scrapping trains, anything else?
Here was a picture that I took in June 1966

 

[L+Y]

I think oil sidings at Abbey Lane continued to be served by rail after 1966? And the GC through Leicester website has a photo of a class 27 hauled freight at Leicester Central in the 66-69 period too.

 

[Gloster]

Hurst’s Register of Closed Railways lists Calvert Junction-Rugby Central as closed to all traffic on 6 September 1966, the same day as passenger services were withdrawn between Aylesbury and Rugby. Rugby Goods Yard had closed on 14 June 1965 according to .warwickshirerailways.com .

 

[Harvester]

I think oil sidings at Abbey Lane continued to be served by rail after 1966? And the GC through Leicester website has a photo of a class 27 hauled freight at Leicester Central in the 66-69 period too.

This oil tank traffic is mentioned in the May 1967 issue of the Railway Observer. The GC and then Abbey Lane sidings, was reached by a new spur from the Midland Leicester-Burton line at Leicester South Goods.

 

[Irascible]

There was, until sometime in the 2010s, track from Calvert back towards Ashendon Jct - I have a very vague memory of being in the area a long time back & wondering what a train was doing there, a very occasional service to somewhere about halfway to Ashendon? it was turned into a road not all that long ago ( relatively ).

 

[Doctor Fegg]

There was an account on uk.railway many years ago of a freight driver with a few hours to kill taking an unofficial 5mph trip down the “branch” to Akeman Street / Ashendon. Almost certainly the last ever train on that line.

 

[Irascible]

I'm rasonably sure I've seen a little video - probably from late 80s - showing a service going down it, but 10 mins searching Youtube hasn't hit anything.

 

[Gloster]

Akeman Street was a terminal used by trains of fertiliser produced by UKF and Kemira at Ince & Elton, which seem to have continued until the mid-1990s. They were often a portion of the train to Horsham that was detached at Bletchley and tripped, although if there was no traffic for Horsham they could be worked by the train engine. One oddity was that there was no way of running around at Akeman Street: the train had to propel back to Grendon Underwood Junction and then continue to Aylesbury to run around.

 

[Sad Sprinter]

I love GCR threads always seem to come along in batches haha

A poster on another recent thread about GC freight said there was consideration to extend the Woodhead wires all the way down to Woodford Halse for freight. I would of love to know more about that scheme