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Rail Freight Flows and News UK

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RailUK Forums

F

Festiniog24

Member
Joined
15 Mar 2026
Messages
22
Location
Bawtry
66103 worked 6E60 11.54 Immingham Storage Sidings-Worksop Down Sidings consisting of a rake of tank cars presumably for storage there.
 
Last edited:
rick pike

rick pike

Member
Joined
6 Jan 2013
Messages
158
Location
Grimsby
Festiniog24 said:
66103 worked 6E60 11.54 Immingham Storage Sidings-Worksop Down Sidings consisting of a rake of tank cars presumably for storage there.
Click to expand...
Yes a rake of around 12 EWS liveried TEAs have gone there for storage.

Although I have now heard they are for overhaul for increased workings out of Humber Refinery. Alledgily another working from the south* is due to run tomorrow.
 
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G

geordieblue

Member
Joined
11 Jan 2020
Messages
788
Location
Leeds
Yesterday and today there’ve been moves between Cardiff Tidal and ‘Cardiff EMR DB’, which is I assume the rail-connected scrapyard immediately south of Tidal yard. Any ideas?

Realtime Trains | 8T30 0200 Cardiff Emr Dbc to Cardiff Tidal T.C. | 15/04/2026

Real-time train running information for 8T30 0200 departure from Cardiff Emr Dbc to Cardiff Tidal T.C. on 15/04/2026. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.
www.realtimetrains.co.uk www.realtimetrains.co.uk
 
N

Numbskull100

Member
Joined
29 Jul 2017
Messages
190
Class15 said:
Does anyone know when the Heavy Haul construction traffic to Sizewell is expected to start? There are a lot of new paths in the May timetable.
Click to expand...
Not an answer, but this link shows construction still in progress:

www.facebook.com

Leiston Works Railway

Today the Leiston Works Railway has some photos Britain's newest level crossing which was installed over the weekend, seen here as it crosses Buckleswood Road, en-route to the Sizewell C nuclear...
www.facebook.com www.facebook.com

What I've heard on the rumour mill is late summer.
 
F

furnessvale

Established Member
Joined
14 Jul 2015
Messages
4,910
Not sure where else to put this snippet so here goes.

Dover port has claimed the status of the UKs first net zero port.

Whilst this may have some sort of technical credence in that its on port power supplies are now all certified as net zero, there is one major moral problem with this claim. Virtually all of Dover's freight traffic arrives and departs in self propelled diesel HGVs. It is self loaded onto the ships by those same diesel HGVs.

Compare and contrast to a port like London Gateway, where 25% of containers arrive by rail. Internal container movements are undertaken by electric straddle carriers, and loading to ships is done by electric cranes. I believe the moral high ground is not necessarily the best place to be.

www.multimodal.org.uk

Dover becomes UK’s first net-zero port

The Port of Dover has announced it has achieved its ambitious goal of carbon net zero emissions (Scope 1 and 2) for 2025, at least five years ahead of any other UK port target, and 25 years ahead of the UK Government’s maritime target. Its emissions for Scope 1 and 2 have fallen by a huge 98.3%...
www.multimodal.org.uk www.multimodal.org.uk
 
Adrian Barr

Adrian Barr

Member
Joined
2 Jul 2020
Messages
788
Location
Doncaster
Festiniog24 said:
66103 worked 6E60 11.54 Immingham Storage Sidings-Worksop Down Sidings consisting of a rake of tank cars presumably for storage there.
Click to expand...

rick pike said:
Yes a rake of around 12 EWS liveried TEAs have gone there for storage.

Although I have now heard they are for overhaul for increased workings out of Humber Refinery. Alledgily another working from the south* is due to run tomorrow.
Click to expand...

Interesting. There were 16 TEAs (in the EWS 870xxx number series) on 6E60, most of them previously used on Colas services out of Lindsey but also some which had been moved a while ago from South Wales to Immingham after a period of use at Robeston.

The second working mentioned was a 6E50 20:39 Newport AD Junction to Worksop Down Sidings, arriving on the 16th. 66133 hauled another 21 TEAs in the EWS 870xxx series which had been stored at ADJ after use at Robeston. The wagons can be seen when they were in ADJ yard in the video linked in this post (there are still 8 left at ADJ). I also found a photo of 6E50 at Toton North Yard, where it was booked to recess from 02:22 to 06:47 - https://www.flickr.com/photos/37260/55210833901/ (Photo: 37260)

The entire fleet of EWS 870xxx tanks is currently stored. Apart from the ones now at Worksop they are mainly at Lindsey but also Robeston, plus the 8 wagons at ADJ. These TEAs are about 20 years old, not life-expired but perhaps due overhaul, so it will be interesting to see if the ones at Worksop are put back into traffic as suggested.

The Robeston and Humber flows are currently worked entirely by VTG wagons, mostly TEAs in the VTG 88xxx series (built around 25 years ago) and some newer TEA tanks in the 7077920xxx series built in 2012. There are also some TDA tanks in the VTG 869xx series used at Robeston.

Class15 said:
Does anyone know when the Heavy Haul construction traffic to Sizewell is expected to start? There are a lot of new paths in the May timetable.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure - the first train into the "Ancillary Construction Area" (ACA) was reported in February but it looked like the area surrounding the terminal was still unfinished. If they are preparing haul roads, material storage and offloading areas, or waiting for other things to happen on site, that might account for the delay. The Sizewell C website report at the time seemed to indicate as much:

The first engineering train has arrived into the Sizewell C site, marking a significant milestone in the development of the new nuclear power station on the Suffolk coast. Reaching the project’s Ancillary Construction Area (ACA) on Monday morning, the train travelled via the Sizewell branch line – a route that has been significantly upgraded recently by Balfour Beatty Rail on behalf of Sizewell C. ...The engineering train delivered aggregate needed for the ongoing development of the site’s rail infrastructure, paving the way for more freight movements to support construction in the years ahead. (24/02/26)
https://www.sizewellc.com/news-view...l-c-welcomes-first-engineering-train-to-site/
Click to expand...

I've not been following the project especially closely, but this July 2025 article on construction progress has a link to a related article with a more recent update from 2nd March, which refers to "enabling works for a haul road that will link temporary and main construction zones on the Suffolk coast" which also suggests they have been preparing the overall site for deliveries of material.
https://www.newcivilengineer.com/la...ates-reveal-construction-progress-16-07-2025/

I previously read somewhere that the main purpose of the ACA (on the current branch line) is to enable construction of the new rail link to the TCA (Temporary Construction Area) which will then become the railhead for deliveries to the "Main Construction Area" (MCA) of the power station itself. Gotta love those TLAs (three letter acronyms)! The photo linked in post #2436 showing progress on the new rail link is interesting. The rails appear to be just on the crossing itself, but it does look like some progress is being made on the creation of the trackbed either side.

There have been aggregate deliveries to Ipswich Griffin Wharf recently which might be related to Sizewell - in any case it's a new flow which I mentioned in this post on the Sizewell thread.

geordieblue said:
Yesterday and today there’ve been moves between Cardiff Tidal and ‘Cardiff EMR DB’, which is I assume the rail-connected scrapyard immediately south of Tidal yard. Any ideas?
Click to expand...

Yes, Cardiff EMR is visible on google maps where the siding diverges from the line serving Castle Works (Rod Mill where the VGAs are loaded for Burton) and crosses Clipper Road into the EMR scrapyard / scrap export terminal at Dowlais Wharf. It's a new trial flow from Swindon (or the resurrection of an old flow, depending how you look at it). The Swindon to Cardiff scrap is normally destined for Tremorfa, but the wagons on 6V29 on the 13th and 20th this month have been for EMR.

The moves between Tidal and the EMR site are "turnover shunts" for the JNA wagons off Monday's 6V29 17:41 Swindon Cocklebury - Cardiff Tidal. There were 26 wagons on that train which will be more than the siding can handle at once.

In Adrian Kenny's excellent book Railways of South Wales (2010) there's a nice shot of 08752 passing under Ocean Way at Splott Jn back in 2003 with empty SSA wagons from EMR. This traffic was from Cattewater (Plymouth), a flow which ended in 2009 according to the photo caption. It mentions that in the Feb 2008- Feb 2010 period, there were scrap flows to EMR Cardiff from Cattewater and Swindon.

Photos of the EMR siding itself are rare, but the 9th post in this RmWeb thread has some good shots: https://www.rmweb.co.uk/topic/187641-private-sidings-and-loop-in-1980s/
I think Clipper Road seen in the photos is one of the (normally inaccessible) internal roads within the docks complex, but Ocean Way and the Eastern Bay link road overlook this area. The planned shunt moves are awkwardly timed for photography, but it would be interesting to see a shot of these moves or the wagons in the terminal.

Redundant JXA wagon body in use for scrap storage at the EMR site (2016 photo taken from Clipper Road):
https://www.flickr.com/photos/143144535@N05/49615151178/ (Photo: Felix Thorogood)

Going back a few years, it's hard to distinguish the former Cardiff EMR flows (to the siding at Dowlais Wharf) from the ASW / Celsa / 7Steel flows (to Tremorfa), as trains to both places terminated at Cardiff Tidal. I think the EWS or DB-hauled Cardiff EMR flows were using a small pool of SSA and JXA wagons while the Celsa traffic was using MBAs. Mention of the Cattewater traffic also reminds me of the other South West scrap flows to Cardiff from Exeter and St Blazey. I think the Exeter traffic sent to Cardiff was generally for Celsa, but Blazey may have served both Cardiff EMR and Celsa at different times.

Some photos of Cardiff scrap traffic from Devon and Cornwall "back in the day":

66059 near Saltash with scrap from St Blazey to Cardiff in 2006:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/143144535@N05/49615151178/ (Photo: Kernow Ned)

66135 with 3 SSAs and a funky-looking JXA heading from Newport ADJ to St Blazey in 2007:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/rabbipx/6559241939/ (Photo: Rabbi WP Thinrod)

08495 arrives at Tavistock Jn Yard with the Cattewater trip in 2007. The brake van was required for propelling moves:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/brian_dentons_linesidephotos-europe/52829292193/ (Photo: Brian Denton)

09101 on the Cattewater trip propelling JXAs to Plymouth Friary in 2008 (with brake van leading):
https://www.flickr.com/photos/40862240@N03/31591998348/ (Photo: Matt C)

66140 at Exeter St Davids with a scrap train from Exeter Alphington Road to Cardiff Tidal in 2014:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/shedonesixnine/37098024756/ (Photo: Tom O'Donnell)
 
B

Bahnopa

Member
Joined
7 Oct 2025
Messages
48
Location
York
On RTT there is a freight, 4Z86, running today from Tees Dock to Dollands Moor. A special, I take it. Does anyone have any details?
 
O

Oxfordblues

Member
Joined
22 Dec 2013
Messages
1,127
Class15 said:
Just seen this train at West Brompton. It did not give off the vibe of “normal container train”, particularly with containers marked as having dangerous gases.

Wouldn’t be surprised.
Click to expand...
I am surprised because when the train ferries finished we were told that dangerous goods would not be permitted in the Channel Tunnel. Perhaps the rules have been relaxed?
 
rick pike

rick pike

Member
Joined
6 Jan 2013
Messages
158
Location
Grimsby
Oxfordblues said:
I am surprised because when the train ferries finished we were told that dangerous goods would not be permitted in the Channel Tunnel. Perhaps the rules have been relaxed?
Click to expand...
Not all military traffic will be classed as dangerous goods. ie explosives.
This was definitely not carrying explosives.
 
A

AndrewE

Established Member
Joined
9 Nov 2015
Messages
7,350
Oxfordblues said:
I am surprised because when the train ferries finished we were told that dangerous goods would not be permitted in the Channel Tunnel. Perhaps the rules have been relaxed?
Click to expand...
perhaps as there were no barrier wagons it was not dangerous goods? I can think of lots of stuff the military needs (amounting to trainloads) which is just "stuff!"
 
G

geordieblue

Member
Joined
11 Jan 2020
Messages
788
Location
Leeds
Adrian Barr said:
Interesting. There were 16 TEAs (in the EWS 870xxx number series) on 6E60, most of them previously used on Colas services out of Lindsey but also some which had been moved a while ago from South Wales to Immingham after a period of use at Robeston.

The second working mentioned was a 6E50 20:39 Newport AD Junction to Worksop Down Sidings, arriving on the 16th. 66133 hauled another 21 TEAs in the EWS 870xxx series which had been stored at ADJ after use at Robeston. The wagons can be seen when they were in ADJ yard in the video linked in this post (there are still 8 left at ADJ). I also found a photo of 6E50 at Toton North Yard, where it was booked to recess from 02:22 to 06:47 - https://www.flickr.com/photos/37260/55210833901/ (Photo: 37260)

The entire fleet of EWS 870xxx tanks is currently stored. Apart from the ones now at Worksop they are mainly at Lindsey but also Robeston, plus the 8 wagons at ADJ. These TEAs are about 20 years old, not life-expired but perhaps due overhaul, so it will be interesting to see if the ones at Worksop are put back into traffic as suggested.

The Robeston and Humber flows are currently worked entirely by VTG wagons, mostly TEAs in the VTG 88xxx series (built around 25 years ago) and some newer TEA tanks in the 7077920xxx series built in 2012. There are also some TDA tanks in the VTG 869xx series used at Robeston.



I'm not sure - the first train into the "Ancillary Construction Area" (ACA) was reported in February but it looked like the area surrounding the terminal was still unfinished. If they are preparing haul roads, material storage and offloading areas, or waiting for other things to happen on site, that might account for the delay. The Sizewell C website report at the time seemed to indicate as much:



I've not been following the project especially closely, but this July 2025 article on construction progress has a link to a related article with a more recent update from 2nd March, which refers to "enabling works for a haul road that will link temporary and main construction zones on the Suffolk coast" which also suggests they have been preparing the overall site for deliveries of material.
https://www.newcivilengineer.com/la...ates-reveal-construction-progress-16-07-2025/

I previously read somewhere that the main purpose of the ACA (on the current branch line) is to enable construction of the new rail link to the TCA (Temporary Construction Area) which will then become the railhead for deliveries to the "Main Construction Area" (MCA) of the power station itself. Gotta love those TLAs (three letter acronyms)! The photo linked in post #2436 showing progress on the new rail link is interesting. The rails appear to be just on the crossing itself, but it does look like some progress is being made on the creation of the trackbed either side.

There have been aggregate deliveries to Ipswich Griffin Wharf recently which might be related to Sizewell - in any case it's a new flow which I mentioned in this post on the Sizewell thread.



Yes, Cardiff EMR is visible on google maps where the siding diverges from the line serving Castle Works (Rod Mill where the VGAs are loaded for Burton) and crosses Clipper Road into the EMR scrapyard / scrap export terminal at Dowlais Wharf. It's a new trial flow from Swindon (or the resurrection of an old flow, depending how you look at it). The Swindon to Cardiff scrap is normally destined for Tremorfa, but the wagons on 6V29 on the 13th and 20th this month have been for EMR.

The moves between Tidal and the EMR site are "turnover shunts" for the JNA wagons off Monday's 6V29 17:41 Swindon Cocklebury - Cardiff Tidal. There were 26 wagons on that train which will be more than the siding can handle at once.

In Adrian Kenny's excellent book Railways of South Wales (2010) there's a nice shot of 08752 passing under Ocean Way at Splott Jn back in 2003 with empty SSA wagons from EMR. This traffic was from Cattewater (Plymouth), a flow which ended in 2009 according to the photo caption. It mentions that in the Feb 2008- Feb 2010 period, there were scrap flows to EMR Cardiff from Cattewater and Swindon.

Photos of the EMR siding itself are rare, but the 9th post in this RmWeb thread has some good shots: https://www.rmweb.co.uk/topic/187641-private-sidings-and-loop-in-1980s/
I think Clipper Road seen in the photos is one of the (normally inaccessible) internal roads within the docks complex, but Ocean Way and the Eastern Bay link road overlook this area. The planned shunt moves are awkwardly timed for photography, but it would be interesting to see a shot of these moves or the wagons in the terminal.

Redundant JXA wagon body in use for scrap storage at the EMR site (2016 photo taken from Clipper Road):
https://www.flickr.com/photos/143144535@N05/49615151178/ (Photo: Felix Thorogood)

Going back a few years, it's hard to distinguish the former Cardiff EMR flows (to the siding at Dowlais Wharf) from the ASW / Celsa / 7Steel flows (to Tremorfa), as trains to both places terminated at Cardiff Tidal. I think the EWS or DB-hauled Cardiff EMR flows were using a small pool of SSA and JXA wagons while the Celsa traffic was using MBAs. Mention of the Cattewater traffic also reminds me of the other South West scrap flows to Cardiff from Exeter and St Blazey. I think the Exeter traffic sent to Cardiff was generally for Celsa, but Blazey may have served both Cardiff EMR and Celsa at different times.

Some photos of Cardiff scrap traffic from Devon and Cornwall "back in the day":

66059 near Saltash with scrap from St Blazey to Cardiff in 2006:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/143144535@N05/49615151178/ (Photo: Kernow Ned)

66135 with 3 SSAs and a funky-looking JXA heading from Newport ADJ to St Blazey in 2007:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/rabbipx/6559241939/ (Photo: Rabbi WP Thinrod)

08495 arrives at Tavistock Jn Yard with the Cattewater trip in 2007. The brake van was required for propelling moves:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/brian_dentons_linesidephotos-europe/52829292193/ (Photo: Brian Denton)

09101 on the Cattewater trip propelling JXAs to Plymouth Friary in 2008 (with brake van leading):
https://www.flickr.com/photos/40862240@N03/31591998348/ (Photo: Matt C)

66140 at Exeter St Davids with a scrap train from Exeter Alphington Road to Cardiff Tidal in 2014:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/shedonesixnine/37098024756/ (Photo: Tom O'Donnell)
Click to expand...
As ever - thanks for such a useful post
 
RailwayRookie

RailwayRookie

Member
Joined
28 Jul 2023
Messages
283
Location
Norfolk
Tobytrain10 said:
Has Gbrf Middleton Towers paths stopped now? Ive noticed there isnt anything that ran today or yesturday
Click to expand...
I can't vouch for today but yesterday was the end of a weekend long possession for the Fen Line.

The Devon and Cornwall and FHH both went out before 6am instead of their normal paths so even if they wanted to there wasnt the capacity to run a GBRF train to the towers.

Having said that, a post on the forum about 56 conversations mentioned a few of the 69s now being used as shunters elsewhere.
 
Tobytrain10

Tobytrain10

Member
Joined
2 Feb 2026
Messages
383
Location
Lincoln
RailwayRookie said:
I can't vouch for today but yesterday was the end of a weekend long possession for the Fen Line.

The Devon and Cornwall and FHH both went out before 6am instead of their normal paths so even if they wanted to there wasnt the capacity to run a GBRF train to the towers.

Having said that, a post on the forum about 56 conversations mentioned a few of the 69s now being used as shunters elsewhere.
Click to expand...
The 69s have been being used a shunters for a while, but about half of them are still in service such as 69009 that has been running the middleton towers paths, usually on tuesday 6E86 to Monk Bretton runs but it wasnt activated, and i heard via rumour all gbrf paths at middleton towers were stopping in april and we are at the end of april now, i dont really know if they are stopping but i dont want them to stop because i will have no variety in freight via Lincoln
 
Freightmaster

Freightmaster

Verified Rep
Joined
7 Jul 2009
Messages
4,475
Tobytrain10 said:
9009 that has been running the middleton towers paths, usually on tuesday 6E86 to Monk Bretton runs but it wasnt activated, and i heard via rumour all gbrf paths at middleton towers were stopping in april and we are at the end of april now, i dont really know if they are stopping
Click to expand...

Fear not - 6E86 (Middleton Towers to Monk Bretton) is running today, hauled by 69009.



MARK
 
B

Boston Poacher

Member
Joined
23 Dec 2025
Messages
27
Location
Boston, Lincolnshire
These 2 by DB have just been scheduled in under network rail engineering from Toton to Sibsey Signal box and back. Any clue what it could be? My guess would be sleepers, but not aware of any immediate plans to dual the line from Sibsey to Boston yet. Note that it trails 1200tonnes there and 600 back so something must be getting dropped off.
 

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