Class15
Established Member
Just the Daventry water and Toton cars left then?
Plus the sporadic flows of rails outbound from Scunthorpe and inbound from AustriaJust the Daventry water and Toton cars left then?
May be a silly question, but what happens to the slab in the event of a power cut mid lift?That's a good picture of the loading process, stepladder included! Seeing it more clearly in that photo reveals there are two magnets suspended from a lifting beam, which probably has the battery pack built into it.
A bit of googling reveals these are known as "electromagnetic spreader beams" and the company providing the one used at Portbury is Magbat Europe. There's a 'case study' on their website with some close-up photos of the spreader beam with the magnets: https://www.magbat-europe.com/achie...ery-powered-electro-permanent-lifting-magnet/
I think this was mentioned already, but the KEAs now sport cut out squares in the sides and various white line markings, plus a yellow marking on the central strengthening rib on the side of the wagon. I think all this must be to help the loader centre the slabs within the wagon - from the GBRF shot it appears the cab of the reach stacker is not high enough to give a clear view down into the wagon.
VTG 3211 in the consist of 6C92 empties to Portbury:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/chrisperkins/54363892060/ (Photo: Chris Perkins)
Dramatic image of 6B92 Portbury - Margam in the Avon Gorge under Clifton Suspension Bridge:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/robmcrorie/54369559499/ (Photo: robmcrorie)
May be a silly question, but what happens to the slab in the event of a power cut mid lift?
- Permanent magnets ensure a secure grip, even in case of power loss
MAGBAT-Electro Permanent Magnets (EPM) offer 95% energy savings
and superior safety compared to traditional electromagnets.
They require power only during MAG and DEMAG phases, operating without power supply.
I've been informed that gbrf have ad contract terminated and dB taking it back over from 2day ...66786 has already taking wagons to tidal cdf for storage this morning I ope this is not true anybody know ?It finally happened! A dramatic view of the gorge, I like it.
After previous discussion of loading methods at Portbury (posts #1646 to #1648), I found this photo of the loading pad: https://www.flickr.com/photos/74165767@N05/53885536660/ (Photo: Driver 59)
In the background (zoom in) are a couple of heavy duty forklifts - too far away to make out attachments, but they must be using magnets to drop the slabs into KEAs; plus you couldn't stack slabs right on top of each other (which they do on a wagon) if you had to pull the fork lift tines out from between them.
Bout 2weeks ago runs thu cdf Central ar bout 0915 mg to Portbury then returning loaded bout 1830All the steel trains in Bristol and Cardiff recently have had DB locos on the front, so when did GBRf take over the contract?

There is a DB train running to Portbury today (6Z55 headed by frequent flyer on the line 66651) so perhaps some truth in this. I wonder what the issue could be?I've been told gbrf av ad contract cancelled and dB will b taking it back over from 2day 66786 has already taken its wagons to tidal for storage this morning is there any truth in this anybody know
Partially true - the wagons are heading to Cardiff Docks to enable urgent repairs/maintenance to take place.I've been told gbrf av ad contract cancelled and dB will b taking it back over from 2day 66786 has already taken its wagons to tidal for storage this morning is there any truth in this anybody know
A couple of my subscribers in the Bristol area said that towards the end of the first week of operation,I wonder what the issue could be?
I checked my video from Tuesday and a couple of wagons might be showing signs of distortion, though not sure. Perhaps notable that there were only 12 in the rake whereas I think 19 were out the first day the service ran.A couple of my subscribers in the Bristol area said that towards the end of the first week of operation, many of the GB wagons could be seen to be visibly 'bent' in the middle, so presumably some sort of strengthening will have to be added while they are at Cardiff?
MARK
That flow has finished I'm afraid, with the wagons being used on the Aberystwyth to Chirk flow.
MARK
There was something similar going on a couple of weeks ago. The route learner came south to Barrow ( I think from Carlisle) sat in the station for a while around 1400 waiting for the Lancaster to Carlisle all stations passing through and then returned north. It was GBRF I recall.Read on Facebook that GBRF are due to start a new flow to Workington - not sure what of. Route learners running today: https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:R59859/2025-03-13/detailed
66786 also ran last Saturday scheduled from Margam-Portbury but went into East Depot then disappeared off Traksy, and the loco was working elsewhere on Monday so don’t know what happened there.
A couple of my subscribers in the Bristol area said that towards the end of the first week of operation,
many of the GB wagons could be seen to be visibly 'bent' in the middle, so presumably some sort of
strengthening will have to be added while they are at Cardiff?
I've been informed that gbrf have ad contract terminated and dB taking it back over from 2day ...66786 has already taking wagons to tidal cdf for storage this morning I ope this is not true anybody know ?
This did run - and brought us a new HTE 66 to the line - 66659. Noted that it was running using the DB paths today (outbound working departing lunchtime) rather than yesterday which seemed to be working more to GBRF’s schedule of a mid-morning arrival and late afternoon departure. The bonus being that I could pop down the hill to see it in my lunch break!I don't know anything about the contract (or the wagon issues for that matter) other than what I've read here, but there are schedules uploaded for DB to run 6Z55 / 6Z53 again tomorrow (Friday 14th):
https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/se...4/0000-2359?stp=WVS&show=all&order=wtt&toc=ZZ

There’s a path in for Cardiff Tidal-Exeter Riverside next week - new scrap metal flow, wagons for storage, or a mislabelled light engine move? https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:R61281/2025-03-25/detailed
Does this mean that GBRf have permanently given up on that flow?It's the 'bent' KEA wagons that were used by GBRf for a week or so recently as part of
their ill fated attempt to take over the Portbury to Margam steel from DBS.
MARK
No, they haven’tDoes this mean that GBRf have permanently given up on that flow?
It is booked again for tomorrow 24/03..out of interest what is in the wagons please.Thanks
== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: ==
Apologies.previous post shows today's arrival at Weaste with the backdrop of the Imperial War Museum quite appropriately 66623 Lest We Forget has brought 16 JGA's up from Tunstead
Cement....seems that there is a problem with the Centenary Bridge over the Ship Canal preventing the usual ships coming in from Ireland...until that is resolved the trains will probably continue to bring the cement in for distribution by road..usual load is 18 JGA's..4 trains have run so far.It is booked again for tomorrow 24/03..out of interest what is in the wagons please.Thanks
Thats great,thank you.Cement....seems that there is a problem with the Centenary Bridge over the Ship Canal preventing the usual ships coming in from Ireland...until that is resolved the trains will probably continue to bring the cement in for distribution by road..usual load is 18 JGA's..4 trains have run so far.
It replaces the GB working from Felixstowe to EM Gateway.GB Railfreight have just begun a daily London Gateway - East Midlands Gateway service. Is this a long term or short term flow?
Thank you Mark.It replaces the GB working from Felixstowe to EM Gateway.
MARK
One of my subscribers visited Rainham (on the LTS) last Friday afternoon and sawEvidently the Maersk switch is starting to make an impact.
Wow - you do sometimes get that kind of traffic at Upper Holloway, but that is generally augmented by Dagenham Ford trains, the oddball 4M88 from Felixstowe and stone trains. Seven intermodals to/from Tilbury/Thames Haven in 70 minutes is incredible!One of my subscribers visited Rainham (on the LTS) last Friday afternoon and saw
seven intermodal workings, most of which were running to/from London Gateway,
plus the West Thurrock cement empties in just under 70 minutes.![]()
Well I agree, but whether it ever gets done is another question!And the line is expected to get even busier next month as yet more trains transfer
from Felixstowe to Gateway - the Thames Haven branch needs electrifying ASAP!
All 25 of the KEAs that were in South Wales have been moved to Exeter Riverside by 66772 todayIt's the 'bent' KEA wagons that were used by GBRf for a week or so recently as part of
their ill fated attempt to take over the Portbury to Margam steel from DBS.
MARK