Wagon Load Freight In Europe

[RichmondCommu]

G'day everyone,

During my Inter rail adventures in the mid 1980's it was rare to pass through stations in France, Germany and also Switzerland and not see rail served freight facilities. I always assumed that these freight facilities were served by their own version of the pick up freight.

Is this still the case in Western Europe (or indeed the whole of Europe) or have all these facilities been swept away? Today's Railways Europe often feature pictures of mixed freight which has made me wonder whether some small freight terminals still exist.

Your thoughts on this and indeed any information on wagon load freight in Europe would be very welcome!

Kind regards,

Richmond Commuter!

 

[ChiefPlanner]

Very much declined - bar Switzerland - and much of the traffic seems to be the lower order stuff like scrap metal , timber. The 40T truck is a mighty opponent.

 

[jopsuk]

impression I've got is that the "mixed freight" still in Europe is mainly either containerised or "piggy back"- as unlike the UK, piggybacking articulated lorry trailers doesn't require special trailers.

 

[RichmondCommu]

impression I've got is that the "mixed freight" still in Europe is mainly either containerised or "piggy back"- as unlike the UK, piggybacking articulated lorry trailers doesn't require special trailers.

My oldest son is half German (long story) and I have seen mixed freight pass through his local station station near Dortmund. However, I would agree that most of what I see (and read about) is Intermodal as you have described above.

As an aside and to demonstrate how things have changed in Europe, during my Inter Rail years we saw stations on the route from Latour de Carol to Paris with cattle docks and that was in the mid 1980's!
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Very much declined - bar Switzerland - and much of the traffic seems to be the lower order stuff like scrap metal , timber. The 40T truck is a mighty opponent.

Thanks for this. I remember seeing private sidings in Interlaken and many other places in Switzerland. Interlaken was the strangest place as the siding crossed a road that was unprotected.

 

[sarahj]

Ahh, yes, you used to see the brown G wagon everywhere. But wagonload is still around, mainly in large Hb wagons. Here is a google view of the Miele factory. Rail connected and the local sidings.

https://maps.google.com/maps?ll=51.913528,8.39761&spn=0.010483,0.018926&t=h&z=16

This web cam (when its not foggy like today), shows some wagonload trains to a few local factories.
http://webcam.deg.net/?a=showcam&w=showliveimage2&o=pla

Some wagons being loaded in Bremen:
https://maps.google.com/maps?ll=53.120743,8.740948&spn=0.000637,0.001183&t=h&z=20

 

[ChiefPlanner]

Not so long ago - I used to attend UIC planning sessions in Paris - and they had good vibes on retaining wagon load traffics in Continental Europe - it may yet come to pass , if environmental and so -on issues arise in future. Germany of course very keen. The French have given up. Much is to do with quality of service and unit handling costs.

 

[gordonthemoron]

There's still hump shunting at Munich goods yard which I presume is for wagonload freight

 

[ChiefPlanner]

There's still hump shunting at Munich goods yard which I presume is for wagonload freight

The most impressive yard ever visited was Hamburg Maschen - still hump shunting with retarders 4 years ago - impressive traffic going through- but DB will not allow any open access operators into the facility. Much of the traffic is from the massive port complex.About 50% wagonload flows when we were there.

 

[47360]

They still have hump shunting in the yard at Sedding just south of Potsdam