I was looking at this thread ages ago and never got around to replying.
Out of interest I've been putting together scattered bits of information to get a picture of traffic at Ellesmere Port over the past few years:
There's a good video from 2012 (it was mentioned on an old thread) - not exactly a cab ride, more of a trolley ride I think - showing the complete route from the buffer stops at the end of the run round loop on Manisty Wharf, down to the position light signal at the exit from the branch:
Video Title: Manisty Wharf to Ellesmere Port coal line
You can see the ship canal to the left, the overhead conveyor which took coal to the loading point, and the raised concrete wall of the loading pad. Further along the branch there is a short cripple siding and then the connection joins from the former Cawoods siding just as the line runs beneath the A5032 and M53 (various photos and videos are taken from that bridge).
Some of the info / pics / video linked below are from "beast66606" who deserves credit for documenting the traffic so well. I've linked a couple of excellent and very relevant RMWeb threads which I hope is OK.
Stored Wagons:
Already mentioned in post #8 is a working that brought 23 IVA Cargowaggon 2-axle vans from Bridgend to Ellesmere Port after the end of the component traffic from Bridgend to Dagenham.
The vans ran as a 6Z66 06:35 Bridgend - Ellesmere Port on 04/07/19 with 66846, got as far as Hooton, and eventually reached Ellesmere Port on 08/07/19.
Some info with pics here -
http://www.nwrail.org.uk/nw1907c.htm
There are various Pictures on flickr if you search "6Z66 Ellesmere Port" -
https://www.flickr.com/search/?text=6z66 ellesmere port
By co-incidence these wagons are visible on the satellite imagery on Google Maps (2D version) - search for Manisty Wharf. They are shown stabled by the former coal loading point.
2 of these IVAs were picked up by the Class 20 movement mentioned in post #9, on 18/10/19.
20118 & 20132 ran in as 0Z20 07:45 from Longport and left as 6Z21 12:19 Ellesmere Port - Garston.
These 2 wagons then went on something of a grand tour at the end of 2020, being taken to Dollands Moor (on the train from Ditton) and then to Daventry and on to France (with the water train).
They then returned to the UK and ended up at Doncaster Belmont.
These IVA wagons are similar to the IZA twin-vans used on the water trains, so presumably this was some sort of trial to assess their suitability on that flow.
Just as intriguing is a report that at least some of the IVAs at Ellesmere Port were being taken by road to Seaforth, with a suggestion that some have been sold for use as billet carriers for Celsa:
There have been some TDA bogie tankers stored at Seaforth Docks, Liverpool for some time now. Firstly, does anyone know what they were used for and where before storage? One arrived on a low loader last week and was placed with the others. It looks as though it has had a refurb as the under frame...
www.rmweb.co.uk
Coal trains:
I think the coal trains from Manisty Wharf to Fiddlers must have started around 2006 - they appear in the Autumn 2006 Freightmaster but not the Spring 2005 one.
Typical daytime headcodes were:
4F02 07:25 Garston - Ellesmere Port
6F02 12:07 Ellesmere Port - Fiddlers
4F03 15:15 Fiddlers Ferry - Ellesmere Port
6F03 18:55 Ellesmere Port - Fiddlers Ferry
Interestingly, this Jan 2009 Youtube video is taken at the point where the Cawoods siding diverges from the Manisty Wharf line, but there is no track into the Cawoods siding - it must have been relaid later
Channel: beast66606
Video: 66601 on 4F02, 07:25, Garston - Ellesmere Port Manisty Wharf
Compare that video to this photo of 4F02 coal empties arriving, while a biomass train waits in the Cawoods siding in 2013:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/stuarts-phots/9669632633/
The last coal train was apparently 6F05 00:23 Ellesmere Port - Fiddlers Ferry on 22/06/15 - see
https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/i...e-port-reported-to-be-closing-30th-june-2015/
Biomass trains:
I can only find photos of these running during Summer 2013 (June-September) to Ironbridge. I think by 2014 they were running from Liverpool Bulk Terminal instead.
Daytime Headcodes:
4F65 21:37 Ironbridge - Ellesmere Port
6G71 13:57 Ellesmere Port - Ironbridge
4F70 13:00 Ironbridge - Ellesmere Port
They were evidently loaded on the Cawoods siding, with a somewhat makeshift arrangement of a tractor tipping biomass from a trailer which was then loaded by grab:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/yogzfots/51034837008/in/photostream/
Channel: jimmydolittle
Video: GBRf 66723 bio fuel at Ellesmere Port
The trains would have to run round at Manisty Wharf first and then return to propel into the Cawoods siding, as it appears to be a simple dead-end siding with no run-round loop.
Sand trains:
These also ran to the Cawoods siding, unloaded by grab in the same place as the later biomass traffic.
Presumably the sand traffic was the reason for the siding being reinstated - a temporary solution before the terminal at Ince & Elton could be commissioned.
The first train ran on 08/04/11 and is amply documented by beast66606 -
Last Friday (08 April) a new working to Ellesmere Port commenced, sand, for Quinn glass. The empties run from Basford Hall to Middleton Towers, the loaded runs to Ellesmere Port and then the empties return to Basford Hall. The train comprises 26 MJA wagons, and each takes 15 minutes to unload, ti...
www.rmweb.co.uk
This was a Freightliner working at first, with the traffic later being taken over by DB and running 2/3 times a week.
FLHH:
6Z88 Middleton Towers - Ellesmere Port
6Z89 07:42 Ellesmere Port - Crewe Basford Hall
DB:
6M88 Middleton Towers - Ellesmere Port
6F92 06:05 Ellesmere Port - Warrington Arpley
The traffic switched to the new terminal at Ince & Elton in May 2016, with some sort of trial a month earlier. This also meant the traffic switched from box wagons to hoppers.
Nice drone shot of the new siding at Ince & Elton -
https://www.flickr.com/photos/robmcrorie/47159352352
Car trains:
I believe the original car traffic ceased around 2000. There's a nice shot of 37219 hauling cars from Ellesmere Port to Garston for export on this page, which also has a photo of 37894 on a Cawoods containerised coal working in 1992 (both at Frodsham - scroll down or search for "Ellesmere" within the page) -
http://www.nwrail.org.uk/nw2006b.htm
As an aside, a photo in the excellent "The Changing Face of Railfreight" bookazine from David Ratcliffe (Mortons Media 2019) shows a Freightliner train departing the Cawoods terminal when it was being used briefly for normal container traffic around 1990. Apparently the original Cawoods siding opened in 1986 - I remember the yellow Cawoods containers appearing at Warrington Bank Quay with a class 56 after coming over the Pennines from the North East (Lynemouth I believe) with export coal for Ireland.
There have been 3 car trials at Ellesmere Port in recent years.
The first ran with 67008 and a single WIA wagon on 20/01/11.
4F98 12:00 Arpley - Ellesmere Port
4F99 17:00 Ellesmere Port - Arpley
Channel: beast66606
Video: 67008 on 4F98, 12:00, Warrington Arpley - Ellesmere Port Manisty Wharf
The second ran on 16/06/11 with 66250 and a single WIA wagon; it is well documented by beast66606 again, with photos taken on the Cawoods siding at Ellemere Port (scroll down a bit on this RMWeb thread) :
https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/29348-ellesmere-port-vauxhall-car-trial/
4F98 12:00 Arpley - Ellesmere Port
4F99 16:10 Ellesmere Port - Arpley
Looks like both of these WIA trials ran empty to and from Ellesmere Port and were assessing the general feasibility of loading cars there.
The third trial was a 6L50 Ellesmere Port - Ripple Lane on 15/01/16. The train can be seen passing Barking with loaded cars on a video from the Barking webcam
Channel: Barking & Bedford Cams
Video: First HS1 exports 6L50 @Barking
Video Description: "A little bit of history being made as 66101 hauls the first batch of Opel badged Vauxhall Astras for Export via HS1 and the Channel Tunnel ,passes the Barking Cams Friday 15th January 2016 on 6L50 Ellesmere Port to Ripple Lane West."
At this time there were plans for Barking Eurohub (the location of the first "China Train" event, later used for spoil loading) to become an automotive hub for the import and export of cars.
I believe the cars were actually unloaded at Barking and reloaded onto German wagons for onward movement via HS1.
This might seem a bit strange as the wagons they arrived on are French-registered and suitable for tunnel use, but it would fit in with the idea of trialling car loading and unloading at Barking.
Also linked to Barking and Ellesmere Port, I found an intriguing snippet with a photo in an article from 2012 -
https://www.railtechnologymagazine.com/Comment/freight-trains-freight-gains-from-high-speed-2
"A short trial train of continental wagons carrying Ewals Cargo Care road semi-trailers (see photos) was operated from Antwerp to Barking via High Speed 1. But the goods were actually destined for Vauxhall at Ellesmere Port, and had to complete its journey on the M25, M1 and M6 motorways, because the wagons and their lorry trailers won’t fit into the West Coast loading gauge."
Appears to be a photo of a pocket wagon conveying a semi-trailer, which would be an unusual sight in the UK!
And finally:
Scroll down (or search for Ellesmere) and this nwrail thread from July 2013 has a nice snippet with photos: Due to cable problems, the sand train, coal train and biomass were all in the vicinity of Ellesmere Port at the same time...
http://www.nwrail.org.uk/nw1307b.htm
