Taking timber off the roads and on to rail

[whole diary]

[grahame]

From the John O-Groats Journal and Caithness Chronicle, looking at a new timber loading railhead at Altnabraec

Highland Council approves plan to take 9000 tonnes of timber off Caithness roads and on to rail network

"The loading of timber will take place while the train occupies the rail line and loading times will be timed to suit other rail services and determined by the specialist train provider. At this time, it is anticipated that up to three trains a week will operate within a 24 hour /7 day window."

Unusual to have freight loaded on a passenger running line ... does it happen anywhere else?

[bradshaw]

They had carried out trials some time previously on the line.
This from last year
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-54117185

https://timbertransportforum.org.uk/work/toolkit/rail

[Marlburian]

Freight Train carrying timber on Heathfield line Newton Abbot

Dunno where the trains went after Newton Abbot? I've a feeling that these trains ceased to run a few years ago.

[johnneyw]

Freight Train carrying timber on Heathfield line Newton Abbot

Dunno where the trains went after Newton Abbot? I've a feeling that these trains ceased to run a few years ago.

Correct, the line is mothballed apart from a very short stretch at Newton Abbot railway station which is occasionally used, essentially as a siding to accommodate not in service rolling stock.
The group Heath Rail Link are in negotiations with NR^» (Network Rail - home page) to use the line for passengers between in the future.

[Bmblbzzz]

Freight Train carrying timber on Heathfield line Newton Abbot

Dunno where the trains went after Newton Abbot? I've a feeling that these trains ceased to run a few years ago.

Why is the first waggon after the loco empty? Presumably something to do with weight distribution?

[Bmblbzzz]

And I recall being told a certain siding somewhere in the Salisbury Plain area was to serve a sawmill there. Can't remember exactly where but I think it could have been near Warminster. If I was told correctly, presumably it's not the only one at the other end of the timber lifecycle.

[ellendune]

And I recall being told a certain siding somewhere in the Salisbury Plain area was to serve a sawmill there. Can't remember exactly where but I think it could have been near Warminster. If I was told correctly, presumably it's not the only one at the other end of the timber lifecycle.

[pedant_mode=on]
A sawmill is not at either the end of the timber life cycle.
[/pedant_mode=off]

[Marlburian]

I've a bit more time than when I first posted, so Googled. The trains ran to Chirk.

RM Web

Rail

[Bmblbzzz]

And I recall being told a certain siding somewhere in the Salisbury Plain area was to serve a sawmill there. Can't remember exactly where but I think it could have been near Warminster. If I was told correctly, presumably it's not the only one at the other end of the timber lifecycle.

[pedant_mode=on]
A sawmill is not at either the end of the timber life cycle.
[/pedant_mode=off]

Fair point. The other end of the bulk transport chain, maybe.

For uber-pedant points, you could have pointed out that a cycle has no ends. 

[grahame]

Unusual to have freight loaded on a passenger running line ... does it happen anywhere else?

So why can't maintenance supplies be brought in that way?  From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page)

One of Britain's remotest railway stations has been temporarily closed to passengers due to problems accessing it by road.

Altnabreac is in the Flow Country, a vast area of peatlands, about 115 miles (185km) north of Inverness and 30 miles (48km) west of Wick.

Fewer than 300 people used the station in the last year, according to ScotRail.

The company said services were suspended because it, along with Network Rail Scotland, had not been granted access to the only road to the site so they could carry out essential maintenance.

[Electric train]

Unusual to have freight loaded on a passenger running line ... does it happen anywhere else?

So why can't maintenance supplies be brought in that way?  From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page)

One of Britain's remotest railway stations has been temporarily closed to passengers due to problems accessing it by road.

Altnabreac is in the Flow Country, a vast area of peatlands, about 115 miles (185km) north of Inverness and 30 miles (48km) west of Wick.

Fewer than 300 people used the station in the last year, according to ScotRail.

The company said services were suspended because it, along with Network Rail Scotland, had not been granted access to the only road to the site so they could carry out essential maintenance.

The road access may not be for the materials to be delivered. 

There is a lot of other logistics required, the team to carry out the work, welfare, small plant (bulldozers, excavators etc); yes it is posible to deliver these by rail, it would mean a longer shutdown, the construction of an area and platform / ramp to off and onload plant or the crane pads for rail crane outriggers to off / onload items.

[grahame]

The road access may not be for the materials to be delivered. 

There is a lot of other logistics required, the team to carry out the work, welfare, small plant (bulldozers, excavators etc); yes it is posible to deliver these by rail, it would mean a longer shutdown, the construction of an area and platform / ramp to off and onload plant or the crane pads for rail crane outriggers to off / onload items.

Indeed - from the John O'Groats Journal and Caithness Courier



Astonishing picture ... story continues behind a paywall ...

[ChrisB]

No paywall for me.

It is understood that two people were involved in blocking the route to the railway on the tracks which lead from the road-end at Loch More to the station. One vehicle is said to have been used to block an access route, while another person apparently "chained themselves" to a gate.

The queue of traffic backed up totalled at least 27 vehicles, and included Network Rail and police vehicles, according to a witness.

A spokesperson for Network Rail said: “Following conversations with a local resident and the British Transport Police, our engineers left the site while we decide on the best way to carry out the required work.”

British Transport Police confirmed: "Officers on patrol at Altnabreac railway station liaised with two parties after being notified of a civil dispute at just after noon on March 22."

March 22? and they have only just closed the station?

[Mark A]

*Digs out back story*

*shudders*

Mark

[ChrisB]

That was Graham, not the paper....

Published: 20:19, 22 March 2023  | Updated: 10:37, 23 March 2023