Cornwall China Clay

[YorkshireBear]

Search forum and wider internet but to no avail. Is it true these have now stopped with all transport by road? If so why did this happen?

 

[221129]

No. However the Moorswater Cements have.

 

[RichmondCommu]

Trains still run into Fowey for export however DBS no longer have a class 08 shunter in Cornwall. I'm assuming that St Blazey is still open for business?

 

[221129]

Yep St Blazey is still open and sees fairly regular trains.

 

[tsr]

No. However the Moorswater Cements have.

Moorswater services are reported to have been reinstated. RealTimeTrains shows that there are paths available.

 

[87015]

Looks like a fairly solid two trips to/from Goonbarrow each day, last week at least. 66086 doing the honors today.

 

[83G/84D]

Moorswater services are reported to have been reinstated. RealTimeTrains shows that there are paths available.

After Freightliner stopped running there was a short period of time with no trains before D B Schenker had a short (4 week?) contract to serve Moorswater. AFAIK this ended and there have been no freight trains to Moorswater since. Booked paths are still shown but not used similar to the Burngullow sand traffic which stopped running some time ago.

Tonnage of China Clay to Fowey by rail is reduced by nearly a half in ten years with a combination of road traffic competition and less demand to blame. A good number of CDA wagons are now in storage at St Blazey and around six St Blazey based DBS drivers transferred elsewhere or moved to other companies.

It also appears like the much hoped for supermarket trains to Truro are not happening after all.

 

[YorkshireBear]

It also appears like the much hoped for supermarket trains to Truro are not happening after all.

Cornwall seems an ideal place to get supermarket freight to. The roads into Cornwall are horrendous.

 

[83G/84D]

Looks like a fairly solid two trips to/from Goonbarrow each day, last week at least. 66086 doing the honors today.

It really depends on shipping requirements and demand however there is usually at least one train each way serving Goonbarrow although some days an afternoon trip goes to Parkandillack instead.

The evening trip to/from Goonbarrow rarely runs with the last working, on most days,from Goonbarrow to Fowey booked to depart at 1629hrs.
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Cornwall seems an ideal place to get supermarket freight to. The roads into Cornwall are horrendous.

Sadly costs seem too high for the Supermarkets to proceed with running the train. A good amount of work had already been carried out in the sidings at Truro to prepare for the trains!

 

[jimm]

Cornwall seems an ideal place to get supermarket freight to. The roads into Cornwall are horrendous.

The A30 is a dual carriageway from Exeter all the way to Bodmin Moor, and the last couple of miles of single-carriageway there will be dualled in 2014-15, making it dual-carriageway all the way west to the A39 turn for Truro. It is also dualled further west past Redruth and Camborne.

Summer Saturday and bank holiday traffic may be horrendous, but that would be the case no matter how many lanes there were. Most of the rest of the year, the A30 is more than adequate, indeed use it on some winter Saturdays and you might wonder why a dual carriageway was needed.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Sadly costs seem too high for the Supermarkets to proceed with running the train. A good amount of work had already been carried out in the sidings at Truro to prepare for the trains!

Is there no European finance available to help to facilitate rail freight transportation and its associated costs to the peripheral areas of the EC ?

 

[YorkshireBear]

Moot point got my roads mixed up.

 

[jimm]

My opinion visiting families in cornwall 6 times a year is that the roads are fairly poor....

I'm not sure which roads you mean. Above, you said "the roads into Cornwall are horrendous" and when it comes to roads into Cornwall the A30 is the key one and it's fine - so much so that outside the holiday season a car will easily beat a train between Exeter and the likes of Bodmin and Truro. If you mean some of the side roads you get on to away from the A30, I'd agree.

 

[YorkshireBear]

I'm not sure which roads you mean. Above, you said "the roads into Cornwall are horrendous" and when it comes to roads into Cornwall the A30 is the key one and it's fine - so much so that outside the holiday season a car will easily beat a train between Exeter and the likes of Bodmin and Truro. If you mean some of the side roads you get on to away from the A30, I'd agree.

My mistake, i have got the A38 and the A30 mixed up However i still think its something that should be done. Central distribution from somewhere like truro.

 

[RichmondCommu]

After Freightliner stopped running there was a short period of time with no trains before D B Schenker had a short (4 week?) contract to serve Moorswater. AFAIK this ended and there have been no freight trains to Moorswater since.

This is an obvious concern as it suggests that the railways are no longer competitive in handling traffic from Moorswater. Are you able to shed any light on why the contract was ended?

Booked paths are still shown but not used similar to the Burngullow sand traffic which stopped running some time ago.

Just of interest why did the sand traffic end?
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Sadly costs seem too high for the Supermarkets to proceed with running the train. A good amount of work had already been carried out in the sidings at Truro to prepare for the trains!

I'm guessing that there are not enough supermarkets in Cornwall to justify running trains frequent / long enough to allow the FOC to make a profit.

Hopefully the sidings at Truro will now be maintained in their current state so the railways are ready for future opportunities.

 

[221129]

I believe with Moorswater Lafarge moved their main operations into Plymouth with traffic going by road.

 

[jimm]

This is an obvious concern as it suggests that the railways are no longer competitive in handling traffic from Moorswater. Are you able to shed any light on why the contract was ended?

The cement traffic was inbound, not outbound. There are very big changes going on in the cement industry, with plants sold to new owners and changes to distribution patterns as a result. The Moorswater traffic is a victim of that process.

 

[RichmondCommu]

The cement traffic was inbound, not outbound. There are very big changes going on in the cement industry, with plants sold to new owners and changes to distribution patterns as a result. The Moorswater traffic is a victim of that process.

Thanks for this, very much appreciated.