Rail Freight Flows and News UK

[AndrewE]

Guess the problem with curtain sides is the potential for loads shifting and going out of gauge (however fractionally). Some metallic arrangement might be possible though.

Loads are supposed to be anchored anyway: any curtainsider seen on the road with stuff pushing against the curtains risks being stopped, inspected and made to reload if the sides are taking any load. There was a successful prosecution of a haulier hwo killed someone by not bothering to restrain the load inside one...

 

[75A]

Guess the problem with curtain sides is the potential for loads shifting and going out of gauge (however fractionally). Some metallic arrangement might be possible though.

I'd of thought the main problem with curtain sides was theft.
Very easy to cut into.

 

[kaysha]

I'd of thought the main problem with curtain sides was theft.
Very easy to cut into.

Also the wind especially if the unit is empty. The curtains act like big sail. Loads of lorries get blown over in high winds hence the closure of the Forth bribge and the like to high sided vehicles when the wind gets up. Enough to topple a train? Probably not but I don't think there would be huge appetite to find out!

 

[Big George]

I noticed there is a new flow stone flow from Machen to Uskmouth, which appears to have started on 12th Feb. It's been running twice a day (Freightliner 66s top & tailing MWA box wagons). Given the short distance and high volumes, I assume it's for some construction project down there, maybe someone knows more.

Monday's timings at Machen (6B45 - 6B46 - 6B54 - 6B44)

These are for construction of a battery storage facility at Uskmouth Power Station. (Uskmouth Sustainable Energy Park)

 

[RetroCrowe]

This could well be nothing more than a false alarm, but there are a few signs that Colas' Longport - Penmaenmawr flow could potentially make a return later today. 4D61 has been manually activated over seven hours ahead of departure, and 6K33 is listed as a one-day STP path. Both usually good signs that a service will run, although I haven't heard any news on this flow for months and I thought it had been scrapped?

Realtime Trains | Departures from Penmaenmawr Quarry Colas all day on 21/02/2024

Train information at Penmaenmawr Quarry Colas all day on 21/02/2024. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

 

[Adrian Barr]

These are for construction of a battery storage facility at Uskmouth Power Station. (Uskmouth Sustainable Energy Park)

Thanks, I wasn't sure what the latest plan was for the location after a previous idea to burn plastic waste pellets was abandoned.

I miss the days of the good old mixed freight , but looking at it logically it is alive and well. Every train out of Felixtowe will be carrying anything from white goods to toys and training shoes

This is true, the containers are the modern equivalent of the traditional "general merchandise" van in a trainload format. I have a soft spot for the "Mitsui OSK lines" containers with the crocodile logo.

Guess the problem with curtain sides is the potential for loads shifting and going out of gauge (however fractionally). Some metallic arrangement might be possible though.

Swapbodies with curtain sides can be railed in the UK, they were common on channel tunnel intermodal flows.
For example this Norfolkline train in 2009, unusually hauled by a 56: https://www.flickr.com/photos/world_railways/10489990793/
These Italian "Ambrogio" swapbodies were once a common sight on the lunchtime departure from Trafford Park: https://www.flickr.com/photos/139284386@N02/52892998444/

Curtain-sided swapbodies are currently used on the "Novelis" aluminium flow, bringing aluminium coils from Germany for use in car bodies (for Jaguar Land Rover), and returning with aluminum ingots (made from recycled cans) for rolling into coils. The swapbodies are lifted off at Daventry for road delivery to the West Midlands, then the empty containers are railed to Ditton for reloading with ingots.
At Ditton the curtain sides allow them to be loaded from the side by a forklift, without the container needing to be unloaded from the wagon.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/dan700/43627459272

4D61 has been manually activated over seven hours ahead of departure

It's on the run with 70802 hauling...

 

[furnessvale]

Also the wind especially if the unit is empty. The curtains act like big sail. Loads of lorries get blown over in high winds hence the closure of the Forth bribge and the like to high sided vehicles when the wind gets up. Enough to topple a train? Probably not but I don't think there would be huge appetite to find out!

Even rigid containers on rail are susceptible to the wind blowing. Some years ago, a few were blown off container wagons on Shap and other locations when new locating pegs were used. I think modifications have solved the problem. At least empty curtain sides can be pulled back.

 

[willgreen]

Further to the discussion above about covered vans I was trying to put together a list of what flows still use these -

- Metals traffic (both within South Wales and from South Wales to Tilbury, Burton, and Middlesbrough)
- Bottled water (Dollands Moor to Daventry)
- Aluminium ingots (Ditton to Dollands Moor)
- Bagged cement (Oxwellmains to various Scottish cement terminals)
- MoD traffic - both as barrier vehicles and for general usage (network wide)
- barrier vehicles for delivery of new stock (network wide)

Have I missed any?

 

[EastWest]

Further to the discussion above about covered vans I was trying to put together a list of what flows still use these -

- Metals traffic (both within South Wales and from South Wales to Tilbury, Burton, and Middlesbrough)
- Bottled water (Dollands Moor to Daventry)
- Aluminium ingots (Ditton to Dollands Moor)
- Bagged cement (Oxwellmains to various Scottish cement terminals)
- MoD traffic - both as barrier vehicles and for general usage (network wide)
- barrier vehicles for delivery of new stock (network wide)

Have I missed any?

There is also a Metals flow to Swindon, from both Llanwern and Boston Docks, though in recent weeks I have only noticed one run of the Llanwern train in RTT so I’m not sure what is happening with this. And there is Metals traffic from Hull Docks to Rotherham and from Boston Docks to Wolverhampton.

 

[littledude]

There is also a Metals flow to Swindon, from both Llanwern and Boston Docks, though in recent weeks I have only noticed one run of the Llanwern train in RTT so I’m not sure what is happening with this. And there is Metals traffic from Hull Docks to Rotherham and from Boston Docks to Wolverhampton.

The flows to Boston, Hull, Wolverhampton etc use covered steel wagons, not vans as was being listed

 

[EastWest]

The flows to Boston, Hull, Wolverhampton etc use covered steel wagons, not vans as was being listed

Good point! Of course they do. Out of interest what is conveyed by the Middlesbrough service, as I wasn’t aware of this one.

 

[willgreen]

Good point! Of course they do. Out of interest what is conveyed by the Middlesbrough service, as I wasn’t aware of this one.

I’m not entirely sure, but it runs from Trostre so possibly tinplate. It’s been running for a few months now, there are some pictures on Flickr if you search Middlesbrough Trostre.

 

[androdas]

I’m not entirely sure, but it runs from Trostre so possibly tinplate. It’s been running for a few months now, there are some pictures on Flickr if you search Middlesbrough Trostre.

Is it not steel for Nissan going through the AV Dawson Warehouse in Middlesbrough. I know a few years ago there was something on the local news about them opening a new warehouse facility to supply Nissan but cant seem to find a link.

 

[willgreen]

Is it not steel for Nissan going through the AV Dawson Warehouse in Middlesbrough. I know a few years ago there was something on the local news about them opening a new warehouse facility to supply Nissan but cant seem to find a link.

IIRC those steel trains run from Margam - so the flow from Trostre is additional, although it may also be a beneficiary of the new warehouse at Dawsons.

 

[marty56110]

Is it not steel for Nissan going through the AV Dawson Warehouse in Middlesbrough. I know a few years ago there was something on the local news about them opening a new warehouse facility to supply Nissan but cant seem to find a link.

The steel for AV Dawson’s is for Nissan and it comes from Margam, generally runs into Middlesbrough on a Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. This week it’s ran today and it’s running tomorrow

Realtime Trains | 6E47 1551 Margam T.C. to Middlesbro' Dawson Ayrton | 07/03/2024

Real-time train running information for 6E47 1551 departure from Margam T.C. to Middlesbro' Dawson Ayrton on 07/03/2024. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

The Trostre traffic is coil on pallets which gets unloaded by fork-lift at Dawson’s. Unsure who the end user is.

 

[littledude]

The steel for AV Dawson’s is for Nissan and it comes from Margam, generally runs into Middlesbrough on a Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. This week it’s ran today and it’s running tomorrow

Realtime Trains | 6E47 1551 Margam T.C. to Middlesbro' Dawson Ayrton | 07/03/2024

Real-time train running information for 6E47 1551 departure from Margam T.C. to Middlesbro' Dawson Ayrton on 07/03/2024. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

The Trostre traffic is coil on pallets which gets unloaded by fork-lift at Dawson’s. Unsure who the end user is.

The (albeit sporadic) flow of tinplate to Middlesbrough is ultimately destined for Crown Packaging in North Shields

 

[Sun Chariot]

The Marchwood (erstwhile Fawley branch) traffic has been quiet, in the past couple of months.
During the second half of 2023 and early January 2024, class 701 storage moves and MOD trips were 1-2 times per week. Since mid-Jan, I've seen no active paths.
Does any reader know reason(s) for the lull? Many thanks.

15th March: the irony: the MoD Kineton working ran today...

Realtime Trains | 6M47 1218 Marchwood Mod Gbrf to Kineton Mod Gbrf | 15/03/2024

Real-time train running information for 6M47 1218 departure from Marchwood Mod Gbrf to Kineton Mod Gbrf on 15/03/2024. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

 

[JD2168]

Freightliner Class 66 pulling a number of containers & empty flat bed wagons north bound through Doncaster at around 5:10pm this evening.

 

[Freightmaster]

Freightliner Class 66 pulling a number of containers & empty flat bed wagons north bound through Doncaster at around 5:10pm this evening.

That doesn't seem particularly newsworthy unless I'm missing something??



MARK

 

[EastWest]

The Marchwood (erstwhile Fawley branch) traffic has been quiet, in the past couple of months.
During the second half of 2023 and early January 2024, class 701 storage moves and MOD trips were 1-2 times per week. Since mid-Jan, I've seen no active paths.
Does any reader know reason(s) for the lull? Many thanks.

The MOD trains do seem to use Southampton Western Docks and London Gateway more at the moment, presumably because they mostly convey containers these days (I recently saw a newspaper photo of a large number of army vehicles awaiting shipment from Marchwood for exercises abroad, but wasn’t aware of them being transported there by rail). Having said this, there has actually been a movement in and out today, presumably empty flat wagons in from Eastleigh Yard then a loaded train out to Kineton.

 

[Sun Chariot]

there has actually been a movement in and out today, presumably empty flat wagons in from Eastleigh Yard then a loaded train out to Kineton.

Indeed - I updated my 14th March post at the same time you posted yours With typical South coast weather (chucking it down), a photo was out of the question...

 

[ExRes]

GBRf have ordered 50 JNA-X box wagons from Porterbrook to be produced by Greenbrier, they are due to arrive in the UK during Q3 of this year

 

[Gaz67]

While perusing RTT with all the shenanigans currently going on I noticed a Fort William Corpach freight . I didnt even think Corpach was still connected . I know workings can linger on RTT but is this something for the future or nothing to see here.

 

[BRX]

While perusing RTT with all the shenanigans currently going on I noticed a Fort William Corpach freight . I didnt even think Corpach was still connected . I know workings can linger on RTT but is this something for the future or nothing to see here.

See here

 

[JKF]

It’s gone very quiet on the Portbury branch, last plonkliner I think ran on 2nd December last year. A couple of months ago they added some weekday paths onto the system but none have run. This service started with a Saturday inbound and at some point a FO was added though only ran a couple of times I think, although one time there was a consecutive Fri and Sat service). Also still paths for stone traffic but that’s not run for several years, possibly rerouted to Avonmouth.

 

[DBS92042]

It’s gone very quiet on the Portbury branch, last plonkliner I think ran on 2nd December last year. A couple of months ago they added some weekday paths onto the system but none have run. This service started with a Saturday inbound and at some point a FO was added though only ran a couple of times I think, although one time there was a consecutive Fri and Sat service). Also still paths for stone traffic but that’s not run for several years, possibly rerouted to Avonmouth.

The monthly test train hasn't even been along the Portbury branch for a few months now. Most often than not, it's showing "LB" (presumably line block?) for the branch on the live maps

 

[Penmorfa]

I understand that the terminal at Llandudno Jct was primarily opened to handle slate chippings for Hope cement works. This had been delayed due to awainting planning permission at Hope for the terminal. It was mentioned some months ago that permission had been given and that construction of the terminal would begin. Are there any indications of when this traffic is likely to start?

 

[ExRes]

Anyone have any news on the current situation with Quainton Railhead? I believe trains were stopped for infrastructure work to be carried out at the very beginning of March, a period of five weeks was mentioned at that time

 

[Freightmaster]

I understand that the terminal at Llandudno Jct was primarily opened to handle slate chippings for Hope cement works. This had been delayed due to awaiting planning permission at Hope for the terminal. It was mentioned some months ago that permission had been given and that construction of the terminal would begin. Are there any indications of when this traffic is likely to start?

No news on the Hope traffic I'm afraid, but there is a train to Ashburys today:

Realtime Trains | 6A59 0200 Llandudno Jn Tc Gbrf to Ashburys S.S. | 20/04/2024

Real-time train running information for 6A59 0200 departure from Llandudno Jn Tc Gbrf to Ashburys S.S. on 20/04/2024. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

MARK