Railway Activity in Our Area - Freight
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| 59204 at Calvert on the 6M48 10.03 ex Willesden spoil train which was in the course of being unloaded at 14.30 on 22nd.January being joined by 66957 on 6M22 09.21 ex Cricklewood Binliner which was just arriving for unloading.. Bob Ballard |
FREIGHT TRAFFIC - All five freight operating companies now run services through Milton Keynes. With the southern end of the WCML being cleared for 9’ 6” containers most of the traffic from the Anglian East Coast ports travels this way and including other freight movements this can add up to 90 trains in each 24 hour period, but like other routes there are quiet periods when nearly an hour can go by without a freight train being seen. With the WCML being four track throughout the Branch area, the majority of the freight services use the Slow lines, but on occasion one can be seen using the Fast lines. It is not the intention here to give times for all the freight movements in the area as they are simply too numerous to list plus individual timings are often altered at short notice. The best way of keeping up to date is to refer to the FREIGHTMASTER book which is published by Mark Rawlinson and shows Watford Jc or Rugby as timing points.
Turning now to each operator`s services:-
A) FREIGHTLINER
This Companies services comprise about a third of all freight trains passing through the area.
Freightliner services include:-
CONTAINER TRAINS
These are hauled by the entire spectrum of Freightliner main line motive power, electric and diesel - Class 90, 86/5, 86/6 and 66/5. Services link Coatbridge/Garston/Ditton/Trafford Park/Crewe Basford Hall/Lawley Street, Hams Hall/Daventry with Felixstowe/Tilbury/Thamesport (Grain).
Motive Power is normally:-
Electric Class 90 or 2xClass 86/6 on trains between Coatbridge/Garston/Trafford Park/Crewe and Ipswich Yard/Tilbury. In addition 86501 can be seen fairly regularly working singly on the shorter trains.
Class 66/5 work the trains between Lawley Street/Hams Hall/Daventry and Felixstowe/Tilbury.
INFRASTRUCTURE TRAINS
These are the hardest to observe as they are even more liable to cancellation/variation than normal freight services, depending on the volume/location of track renewal work. These trains are normally seen either in the evenings or at weekends prior to engineering work.
Motive power for all Freightliner`s Infrastructure services are either Class 66/5 or /6`s
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Whilst Freightliner services tend to be reasonably reliable runners, there is much more variation with DBS trainload services, however Enterprise trains are much more predictable and run twice a day along the WCML.
ENTERPRISE
The DBS wagonload network uses the WCML as it's “spine” and the major Anglo - Scottish Enterprise services pass through the area. Unfortunately much of the activity is during the night with just 1 or 2 daytime workings between Wembley and Mossend via Bescot Motive power is a mixture of Class 66`s and 92`s. A recent development has been the diversion of 6M65 Didcot-Carlisle to run via Wembley instead of via Banbury and Bescot. With the Peak Forest-Bletchley stone train only running when required the Cemex PCA cement tanks which used to come with the stone train are now having to be worked here via the Enterprise network through Warrington and Wembley Yards with a WO 6A18 Trip working to Bletchley to deliver them to the Goods Yard where they are unloaded at midday.
INTERMODAL
All of DBS`s Intermodal services from the Continent that go north of Wembley pass here. These comprise of services to Daventry/Hams Hall/Trafford Park/Mossend, and the trains are hauled by a mixture of Class 66`s and 92`s.
DBS internal Intermodal services now run between their main yards such as Warrington to Wembley with trip workings serving such places as Purfleet/Tilbury/Ely.
BLOCK TRAINS
The only example to visit the line is the Peak Forest - Bletchley stone train and return empties which conveys roadstone for the RMC Depot and in the current economic climate runs when required. The current routing of this train is out via the WCML and return via the Bedford Branch and the MML.
INFRASTRUCTURE TRAINS
With Forders Sidings at Stewartby now having been closed as a “virtual quarry” the remaining sidings are now only used for stabling trains ahead of engineering work.
AUTOMOTIVE TRAINS
In the late afternoon 6X77 Wembley-Mossend and runs “out of gauge” due to the different types of road vehicles it conveys amongst it`s load. DBS works the Dagenham – Garston car traffic and 6L48 can be seen going South in the early evening usually behind a Class 90, one of the few freight workings by the DBS examples of this class.
(C) DRS
The main sphere of work for this Company along the south end of the WCML has been the movement of nuclear flasks from Sellafield to the power stations at Bradwell and Leiston in East Anglia plus Dungeness in Kent. These trains are normally routed via Basford Hall and pass through the area during the hours of darkness. Their motive power is now more often a pair of Class 37`s but the Class 20`s can still be seen on occasion. One other working is between DIRFT and Purfleet which carries modal tank traffic. The Up working is during the hours of darkness but the return 4M71 comes north in the mid afternoon.
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| Class 66/7 66713 'Forest City' passing Denbigh Hall with the 4M23 (GBRf) 09.48 Felixstowe - Hams Hall. |
(D) GB RAILFREIGHT
This Company has a fleet of Class 66/7 locos which are now regularly used to work the three times daily service between Felixstowe and Hams Hall. The class is also seen from time to time hauling one off special freight or Infrastructure movements.
(E) COLAS
A twice weekly service currently runs between Dollands Moor and Hams Hall on Mondays and Thursdays. The outward working is 12.00 ex DM and can be seen passing our area in the late afternoon. The return working south is in the late evening. The motive power for this working is usually a Class 56 but the sight of one of their newly acquired Class 66/8 locos is not unknown. This Company`s locos can also be seen moving engineering vehicles around from their base at the former Rugby DED.
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| 66708 passing Wolverton Station |
29/11/09