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Caledonia yard, Small Heath new spur.

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172007

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West Mids
The former automotive / BHM upgrade yard os currently being transformed to an aggregate yard. An old road has been ripped up and a new spur is being laid.

The new Spur appears to line up with the current discharge road used for the Small Heath aggregate yard. Does anyone know if it's to be one long spur to facilitate a full rake or two separate spurs allowing two trains to simultaneously discharged but requiring splitting and shunting?

Eddy.
 
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Adrian Barr

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I remember passing this location back when it was used for loading cars, although its not an area I know well. By coincidence I was recently searching for videos of Small Heath to see exactly where the aggregates terminal was. I found this video from 2018 which shows a Freightliner train being shunted in the yard at the 10 min 30 mark:

Video: Locos and units at Small Heath, 07/12/18 (and Polar Express)
Channel: SharposWorld

There are some good photos on flickr showing the changes to the yard over the years:

Car traffic in the yard in 1990: https://www.flickr.com/photos/lickeybanker/33453982958/
Disused in 2014, with one lonely car wagon remaining: https://www.flickr.com/photos/jimthejoker/15169258743/
2015, with "bass" wagons outstabled there, used as a loading point for workings to New Street at night with materials for work at the station: https://www.flickr.com/photos/robmcrorie/17158428812/
Looking quiet again in 2017 but with the aggregates terminal in occasional use: https://www.flickr.com/photos/106910975@N06/32751964720/
Freightliner shunting in the yard in 2019, with more wagons in the aggregates terminal to the left: https://www.flickr.com/photos/89144442@N05/49829751441/

I can't really get a mental picture of what this new work involves, but in terms of train operation I would imagine the preferred option would be to have a layout that allows arrivals to offload without splitting the train. Having two trains offloading at the same time would increase the time in the terminal for both of them. Something that would be more useful would be if one train could arrive in the yard just before another leaves. I assume this doesn't happen at the moment (?) - trains seem to get delayed waiting for another service to leave the yard and run round at Tyseley.

Looking at services into the terminal yesterday, (Thu 26 Aug) there were two arrivals from Hindlow and one from Peak Forest, so its definitely getting busy!

***

Not far away at Washwood Heath, I was interested to see some photos of the new Tarmac Asphalt Plant:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/wulfruna_kid/51170624518/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/terry47401/51330457808/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/terry47401/51000669322/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/37260/51006863206
 

172007

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Joined
2 Jan 2021
Messages
725
Location
West Mids
Trains queue up to access Small Heath Aggregare yard, as the one shunts back to complete the train and go to Tysely to run around the next is in Small Heath Loop awaiting access.
 
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