Sidings clearance Llandudno junction

[wobman]

Visited Llandudno junction recently and I'm glad to see the vegetation is eventually being cleared, this is due to freight is restarting from Llandudno junction run by GBRF.
it's going to be slate waste for the cement industry, it's arriving by road from Bethesda to Llandudno junction siding.
It's nice to see more freight coming back into the N Wales coast at last.

 

[Llandudno]

Visited Llandudno junction recently and I'm glad to see the vegetation is eventually being cleared, this is due to freight is restarting from Llandudno junction run by GBRF.
it's going to be slate waste for the cement industry, it's arriving by road from Bethesda to Llandudno junction siding.
It's nice to see more freight coming back into the N Wales coast at last.

Yes, it is good news, shame that it needs to be transported by road from Bethesda all the way to Llandudno Junction first though!

 

[wobman]

Yes, it is good news, shame that it needs to be transported by road from Bethesda all the way to Llandudno Junction first though!

I know but it's a good start and there's the new ballast work on its way from Pen.
Then there's the sidings being used for TFW unit storage in the future, the Jn is going to be a busy place.

 

[Oxfordblues]

Pulverised slate waste is an ingredient of cement manufacture and the destination will be Hope Cement Works, owned by the Breedon Group which also owns the slate quarries at Penrhyn (Bethesda), Cwt-Y-Bugail (near Blaenau Ffestiniog) and Pen-Yr-Orsedd (Dyffryn Nantlle). Llandudno Junction will be an ideal railhead for loading from all three quarries, but Penrhyn will be the main source as it's the busiest and there is limited scope for tipping waste. Perhaps there might be an opportunity in future to relay the branch to Port Penrhyn where ships are loaded with decorative slate chippings.

 

[PeterC]

Pulverised slate waste is an ingredient of cement manufacture and the destination will be Hope Cement Works, owned by the Breedon Group which also owns the slate quarries at Penrhyn (Bethesda), Cwt-Y-Bugail (near Blaenau Ffestiniog) and Pen-Yr-Orsedd (Duffryn Nantlle). Llandudno Junction will be an ideal railhead for loading from all three quarries, but Penrhyn will be the main source as it's the busiest and there is limited scope for tipping waste. Perhaps there might be an opportunity in future to relay the branch to Port Penrhyn where ships are loaded with decorative slate chippings.

For a minute there I thought you were suggesting relaying the narrow guage line to the quarry.

 

[midland1]

There are a lo of narrow gauge locos in that part of the world

 

[high camera]

Llandudno to Hope, what route is that likely to take ?

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Pulverised slate waste is an ingredient of cement manufacture and the destination will be Hope Cement Works...

Interesting! Does that essentially mean that some of the mountains of slate waste accumulated/dumped over the last century and a half (or so) at various locations in North Wales, might, in the fullness of time, be usefully utilized elsewhere?

 

[zwk500]

Llandudno to Hope, what route is that likely to take ?

Most direct route is Turn left at Chester then right at Mickle Trafford for Northwich and Altrincham then avoid Stockport on the single line.

 

[high camera]

Another freight for Cheshire, Greater Manchester, best be redoubling all the single lines

I often wondered if the mountains of waste would one day be of use, I guess its now financially viable ?

I dont think they can use it all though as Bethesda has just gone on the Unesco list I think ?

 

[wobman]

Another freight for Cheshire, Greater Manchester, best be redoubling all the single lines

I often wondered if the mountains of waste would one day be of use, I guess its now financially viable ?

I dont think they can use it all though as Bethesda has just gone on the Unesco list I think ?

It's the waste from the active quarrys and it's nothing to do with the slate hills, I've read that on the N Wales FB group.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

I dont think they can use it all though as Bethesda has just gone on the Unesco list I think ?

Yes, they don't want to end up like Liverpool and get disqualified.
But local jobs are very important.
This project has been in gestation for quite a number of years.
Has anybody seen an announcement about contracts and volumes of slate being moved?

Mentioning "Hope" as the cement works is somewhat ambiguous as there's another active cement works at Padeswood near Hope in Flintshire, usually called Penyffordd by the railway, as the sidings are close to Penyffordd station.
That one is owned by Hanson, and takes deliveries of coal by GBRf.

 

[LSWR Cavalier]

If this gets big perhaps the sidings at Penmaenmawr could be reinstated.

 

[wobman]

Most direct route is Turn left at Chester then right at Mickle Trafford for Northwich and Altrincham then avoid Stockport on the single line.

It could run the loco around at Chester, depending on the length, or Warrington arpley as an alternative.

 

[unlevel42]

The shale extracted at Hope Cement contain increasing amounts of sulphur.

Power station ash is be blended 50:50 with local shale becoming but is an increasingly scarce resource.
Hope Cement are allowed to bring in maximum 250 000kt but are planning for 450 000kt annually.
They are planning for 9 trains a week to bring in the slate.
They say 1 train averages 46 lorries.
That would be 800+ lorry movements a week between Penrhyn Quarry and the Junction via Bethesda or Bettws.
All must cross Pont y Twr which is a Grade II listed building, to reach the A5.

There seems to be somethings in the planning which are not being made clear.
Breedon Non technical summary.
Breedon Planning permission documents.

 

[wobman]

If this gets big perhaps the sidings at Penmaenmawr could be reinstated.

They have been cleared for ballast work restarting

 

[Oxfordblues]

Thank you unlevel42 for those interesting documents. I wonder if Breedon will mitigate the suggested 800 lorry journeys per week from Penrhyn by sourcing a proportion instead from Blaenau Ffestiniog and/or Dyffryn Nantlle both of which have large slate tips owned by Breedon?

 

[zwk500]

It could run the loco around at Chester, depending on the length, or Warrington arpley as an alternative.

How does running round at Chester help? Warrington is an alternative, although a long way round. Crewe is another option for running round, as you then have the option of via Middlewhich or via Denton, or even going via Derby should you really want to.

However running round and going very far out of the way are likely to make serious dents in the finances for this operation, so I'd be surprised if they did so unless there was a big restriction on traffic via the direct route.

 

[323235]

Who are the sidings at Llandudno Junction owned by now?

 

[Chris125]

If this gets big perhaps the sidings at Penmaenmawr could be reinstated.

That's well in hand:

Plant at Pen.

The reason for the visit was to check on the progress for the impending ballast trains. The pile of ballast has been moved from under the conveyer and the lack of rust on one line suggested the road/rail machine had been in action.

flic.kr

Back to work!

Monday morning and work re-commences in the quarry siding at Penmaenmawr.

flic.kr

 

[unlevel42]

Yes, they don't want to end up like Liverpool and get disqualified.
But local jobs are very important.
This project has been in gestation for quite a number of years.
Has anybody seen an announcement about contracts and volumes of slate being moved?

Mentioning "Hope" as the cement works is somewhat ambiguous as there's another active cement works at Padeswood near Hope in Flintshire, usually called Penyffordd by the railway, as the sidings are close to Penyffordd station.
That one is owned by Hanson, and takes deliveries of coal by GBRf.

Stretching the 'ambiguity' bit.
The reason it is referred to as 'Hope Cement Works' (and was referred to as such from post #4 by Oxfordblues) is known locally as and oftentimes branded as Hope Cement Work, because it is actually next to a village called Hope, in the Hope Valley with the nearest station called Hope on the mainline Hope Valley route between Sheffield and Manchester therefore seen by hundreds of thousands of travellers and millions on TV(Channel 4) and is very much a landmark in the area for the ramblers.
It is also the largest cement plant in the UK.
It has been there since 1929.
Being in the National Park it has courted controversy.
At one time it could be 'heard' on radios in Sheffield.

My father was raised among the three stations at Pen y ffordd and later moved to Bethesda-
The quarry in Bethesda (which has no problem getting rid of waste) produces more 'fresh' waste than all the other slate quarries put together several times over and I am sure the engineers at Breedon have evaluated that the more modern quality of the slate waste is more suitable.

 

[Penmorfa]

Yes, they don't want to end up like Liverpool and get disqualified.
But local jobs are very important.
This project has been in gestation for quite a number of years.
Has anybody seen an announcement about contracts and volumes of slate being moved?

Mentioning "Hope" as the cement works is somewhat ambiguous as there's another active cement works at Padeswood near Hope in Flintshire, usually called Penyffordd by the railway, as the sidings are close to Penyffordd station.
That one is owned by Hanson, and takes deliveries of coal by GBRf.

No coal is brought to Penyffordd by rail and has'nt been for several years. However cement is now taken out by GBRF, initially to Avonmouth.

 

[furnessvale]

Thank you unlevel42 for those interesting documents. I wonder if Breedon will mitigate the suggested 800 lorry journeys per week from Penrhyn by sourcing a proportion instead from Blaenau Ffestiniog and/or Dyffryn Nantlle both of which have large slate tips owned by Breedon?

That would involve expenditure* at one or two extra sites increasing cost.

*Expenditure such as access, loading equipment etc.

 

[unlevel42]

Not all slate tips are equal.
Some of the largest and oldest tips are composed of large irregular blocks and probably not suitable for transport without processing. These are the result of removing unusable slate
A lot of waste is created during processing and is usually found in different tips and with very little screening could be loaded onto lorries. This applies to all the big quarries.
The quickest way from the Penrhyn would be through Bethesda and down to the coast. Some could via Betws and the Conwy valley although not so reliable with delays by tourists, rocks, snow, ice and water common.
I don't think Bethesda or Betws know yet.