QUOTE: Originally posted by owlsroost some of the iron ore wagons used in South Wales Llanwern steelworks is now closed - the only remaining iron ore trains are Immingham - S***horpe (the equipment/unloading method is the same). Roger Ford's description (some years ago in 'Modern Railways' mag) of a cab ride on a Port Talbot - Llanwern ore train hauled by a pair of class 37's is one of my favourite reads when I'm feeling nostalgic [:)]. Tony You're correct in that since the shut down of the "Heavy End " @ Llanwern (i.e. the Coke Ovens, Blast Furnaces, and Steel Converter Plant, trains of imported iron ore and coal are no longer run there from Port Talbot. But the "Finishing End" is very much alive and kicking, and is now fed by 2,000 ton trains of Concast Slabs, again from Port Talbot, where new facilities have been laid out specifically for this traffic, and which can amount to as much as 2 or 3 trains per 8 hour shift. Not only does Llanwern retain a share of the Corus's Cold Rolled Steel work, but its production of galvanised coil/sheet jumped up on the closre of Ebbw Vale's "Finishing End." Reply owlsroost Member sinceDecember 2001 From: Cambridge, UK 419 posts Posted by owlsroost on Wednesday, November 9, 2005 9:39 AM Martin, Thanks for the correction - I'd checked on the Corus website, but of course it talks about Newport as a manufacturing location rather than calling it Llanwern.... Tony Reply Tulyar15 Member sinceJuly 2005 From: Bath, England, UK 712 posts Posted by Tulyar15 on Wednesday, November 9, 2005 11:17 AM I must admit I did not realise any of the Llanwern plant was still functioning. When I travelled to Cardiff recently I noticed the tracks all seemed to still be in use - now I know why. Nearby Newport station is a favourite spot of mine for watching trains. I shall be going over to South Wales for the loco hauled specials on Sunday 4th December. Reply Anonymous Member sinceApril 2003 305,205 posts Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, November 9, 2005 11:21 AM The Corus business is a bit of a sore point down in South Wales - let's just say the locals are not huge fans of a company that shut down large chunks of one of the main sources of employment in the area. I heard somewhere that one of two Class 60's repainted into Corus silver had a spot of bother when it ran in the area leading to them being put onto other duties - not sure how true it is though the source is usually reliable! Reply Edit Murphy Siding Member sinceMay 2005 From: S.E. South Dakota 13,569 posts Posted by Murphy Siding on Wednesday, November 9, 2005 12:40 PM QUOTE: Originally posted by Tulyar15 I must admit I did not realise any of the Llanwern plant was still functioning. When I travelled to Cardiff recently I noticed the tracks all seemed to still be in use - now I know why. Nearby Newport station is a favourite spot of mine for watching trains. I shall be going over to South Wales for the loco hauled specials on Sunday 4th December. What would you typically see in day of train watching at some place like Newport Station? Is this a freight and passenger line, or just freight? Thanks Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar. Reply beaulieu Member sinceDecember 2001 From: NW Wisconsin 3,857 posts Posted by beaulieu on Wednesday, November 9, 2005 11:50 PM QUOTE: Originally posted by Murphy Siding [ What would you typically see in day of train watching at some place like Newport Station? Is this a freight and passenger line, or just freight? Thanks Newport Station is one of the premier trainwatching spots in the UK, except for electric powered trains you have an excellent amount of traffic passing through. Both freight and passenger, Also Godfrey Road Stabling point is visible from the platforms and local freight power for EWS is serviced there. If you are interested Murphy I could mail you a copy of Freightmaster, the UK freight timetable. I have a copy from a couple of years ago that I would gladly part with. Discovering that book fired up my interest in UK freight operations. Of course things are in a constant state of flux and some of the services listed are gone, and other new ones started but it would give you an idea of the variety of freight operations in the UK. Reply Tulyar15 Member sinceJuly 2005 From: Bath, England, UK 712 posts Posted by Tulyar15 on Thursday, November 10, 2005 2:01 AM The best time to go to Newport as far as freight goes would be on a weekday, though I have seen freight trains running on Saturdays. If you were to go on a Saturday when there's a major sporting event on at Cardiff Millennium stadium (Cardiff the next station!), such as a 6 Nations Rugby Match. You might get lucky and see some loco hauled passenger trains too. Although Wales and Borders are supposedly finishing with their weekday loco hauled commuter trains in the Cardiff area next month, they are going to keep at least one set of passenger cars for such occassions. Reply mhurley87f Member sinceOctober 2004 From: U K 146 posts Posted by mhurley87f on Thursday, November 10, 2005 11:00 AM QUOTE: Originally posted by Railroading_Brit The Corus business is a bit of a sore point down in South Wales - let's just say the locals are not huge fans of a company that shut down large chunks of one of the main sources of employment in the area. I heard somewhere that one of two Class 60's repainted into Corus silver had a spot of bother when it ran in the area leading to them being put onto other duties - not sure how true it is though the source is usually reliable! Matt, The closure of any industry that has offered pay levels significantly better than the local level, and offer good openings for craft apprentices and production grade trainees, can be devastating to a town or area. When our local, and by then, ultra-modern steelworks closed in the early eighties, the drop in retail spending alone was noticable, and it has been a tough twenty years or so to get back to what passes as "prosperity" these days, and I could sympathise with Simon Reed when he recently said his family would be badly affected by Corus' s closure of its Workington plant. That said, the people working in any steelworks, or mine, or docks, or railway, will be fully aware that they don't have jobs for life. The biggest employer in my home town is Corus's Trostre Tinplate plant, which is the sole survivor out of the three UK plants of roughly equal size that were active as late as the late nineteen eighties. Tinplate workers know all too well that new and emerging packaging products have come along (aluminium, glass, tetra-packs,etc) have seriously affected demand, and thankfully there are foodstuffs that by law have to be "canned" in tinplate and no other packaging product . Similarly, the few coal miners left are all too aware of their mines' extractable reserves. When they're worked out, it's up sticks and move on to another mine, or another industry. Ebbw Vale's closure was inevitable in the long run, and we all trust that the town will recover and go on from strength to strength. Let's also put things in perspective - steel workers and coal miners have been well rewarded for their work, and yes, those jobs come with some pretty serious Health & Safety risks, and their severance package is so much better than the average in our country that many will be queuing up to take voluntary redundancy. I haven't heard about any locomotives being vandalised - perhaps an urban myth. All the best. Martin Reply Anonymous Member sinceApril 2003 305,205 posts Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, November 10, 2005 11:32 AM Martin, I agree - was just pointing out the problems in the area. South Wales isn't exactly bursting with employment opportunities after the closure of most of the heavy industries. Not sure about the coal mines being worked out though - many of them still have good coal reserves according to recent Welsh Assembly reports, and I thought it was more a case of being able to import coal more cheaply than it can be mined here (big mistake - the eastern European coal is nothing like as good as proper Welsh steam coal in my experience). I'd not read about the loco anywhere else either - then again, the person I heard this from is usually pretty reliable. Reply Edit Murphy Siding Member sinceMay 2005 From: S.E. South Dakota 13,569 posts Posted by Murphy Siding on Thursday, November 10, 2005 12:32 PM QUOTE: Originally posted by beaulieu QUOTE: Originally posted by Murphy Siding [ What would you typically see in day of train watching at some place like Newport Station? Is this a freight and passenger line, or just freight? Thanks Newport Station is one of the premier trainwatching spots in the UK, except for electric powered trains you have an excellent amount of traffic passing through. Both freight and passenger, Also Godfrey Road Stabling point is visible from the platforms and local freight power for EWS is serviced there. If you are interested Murphy I could mail you a copy of Freightmaster, the UK freight timetable. I have a copy from a couple of years ago that I would gladly part with. Discovering that book fired up my interest in UK freight operations. Of course things are in a constant state of flux and some of the services listed are gone, and other new ones started but it would give you an idea of the variety of freight operations in the UK. Thank you for your offer. I'd hate to make you part with it though. It's quite interesting to read about the differences in Britain than here. In my part of the world, 90% of train cars coming through are hauling rock, or grain, and are pulled by the same pool of GP 38's and GP 39's. Oh to have some more variety. Simon Reed mailed me 3 British Railroad magazines a while back. Railfanning, and railroad publications seem to be pretty popular. Where abouts, in Wisconsin are you? We go to Duluth and Bayfield every year on vacation. Thanks Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar. Reply Anonymous Member sinceApril 2003 305,205 posts Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, November 10, 2005 3:01 PM Mingin - ahh yes. Can mean a variety of things from awful (hung over) to awful as in well....plain awful. Part of the inspiration for Blade Runner (the film) came from Port Talbot steelworks. Many moons ago when I worked in the CSDC I had a trip round the thorpe; Immingham and Grimsby and a fun jolly it was too. Incidentally the Aluminium Works at Valley has resurfaced on the weekly outages - does anybody know of a new flow out of there, perhaps to the continent? Reply Edit Anonymous Member sinceApril 2003 305,205 posts Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, November 10, 2005 3:36 PM Freight flows can vary - however this is a very quick stab (and feel free to add). As one poster said - check Freightmaster. Oil - Refineries - Immingham, Jarrow, Fawley, Grangemouth, Robeston to various places. Some is moved as locomotive fuel to depots; bitumen (Fawley - Plymouth); Avaiation fuel (Colnbrook) etc. Various depots recieving are Langley, Colnbrook, Westerleigh, Linkswood, Plymouth etc. etc etc. Coal - the amount of deep mine pits in the UK is dwindling with the major fields of South Wales and Yorkshire basically wiped out. However Strip/ Open Cast is doing a healthy trade. However there is enough coal in the UK (reserve) for about 300years so that will get used when the giants have strip mined the rest - thats if we have a planet left. Most of the ocal is imported from the Ports such as Hunterston, Immingham and Hull. There is a little thru the smaller ports as well such as Ellesmere Port and heads for the power stations. These are subject to EU regulation on Greenhouse Gas emissions and the scrubbing equipment required is very expensive so watch for a few closures in yeasr to come. However the country may shut down this winter which leads to the question of WHY? Still the major stations are at Drax, Ferrybridge and Eggborough. Ratcliffe, Cockenzie, Uskmouth (Fifoots) and Aberthaw to name but a few. They source from domestic and the ports. Pits remaining - Tower (S. Wales); Maltby, Rossington, Thoresby, Welbeck etc etc. There are many open cast pits around and this has become a handy source of traffic for the freight operators. Metals - yee haaa. Corus traffic from Scunny, Workington (to cease), Corby, Llanwern, Trostre, Dee Marsh, Rotherham and various other places. Bomb Trains - Nuclear Flask traffic. May increase but famous are amongst others Sellafield, Dungeness (strange and eerie place), Sizewell (Leiston); Bridgwater (cant remember the name of the place). There is also residual traffic to and from military bases. Ministry of Defence Traffic - containerised, or tanks on flats. From Longtown to Bicester, Ludgershall with Didcot the main point. There are irregular flows to various other locations in the UK. Stone - A Vast and Big Cash Earner. The Mendip Quarries (Merehead); The Peaks (Tunstead) and Leicestershire (Mountsorrel) to various places. There is also Imported stuff. Too numerous to mention. Donkeys loads and lots of trains. Best place to Ned? Hmm. Leicester prerhaps. Intermodal/ Swapbodies/ Containers - from the ports to various locations. The biggest port for this is Felixstowe I would reckon and then there is Southampton and there are flows to and from the Chunnel as well. Manchester Trafford Park to Dollandsa Moor is one. Thamesport, Tilbury are used as well. Port capacity is basically reaching a peak in the UK so something must be done to help allieviate the congestion. Ironically the second deepest "deep water" port in the UK is not used at all. The name of that port...Falmouth. There are internal container flows as mentioned above, Daventry being the growth centre for this part of the logistics chain. China Clay - internal in my home county. And this traffic is slowly dying. This is due to the quality of the clay now being 50/50 split with sand. As a result it is cheaper to strip mine the Amazon and sod the Parrots. However there are various grades of clay (used in paper and the pharmaceutical industry) and 90% of the worlds Ball Clay reserve sits in the Bovey Basin. Untouched and a potential source of future traffic. There are other traffics of course - Automotive (Bridgend/ Dagenham/ Garston etc.), Gypsum, Timber (Carlisle - Chirk), Chemicals. That is a very brief overview. Reply Edit Murphy Siding Member sinceMay 2005 From: S.E. South Dakota 13,569 posts Posted by Murphy Siding on Thursday, November 10, 2005 6:16 PM Thanks cogload. That was cool, to say the least![:)] Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar. Reply beaulieu Member sinceDecember 2001 From: NW Wisconsin 3,857 posts Posted by beaulieu on Thursday, November 10, 2005 6:34 PM QUOTE: Originally posted by cogload Mingin - ahh yes. Can mean a variety of things from awful (hung over) to awful as in well....plain awful. Part of the inspiration for Blade Runner (the film) came from Port Talbot steelworks. Many moons ago when I worked in the CSDC I had a trip round the thorpe; Immingham and Grimsby and a fun jolly it was too. Incidentally the Aluminium Works at Valley has resurfaced on the weekly outages - does anybody know of a new flow out of there, perhaps to the continent? Yes it is a weekly movement of Aluminum Billet for Austria, normally leaves the UK in IWA vans on 4431 to Köln-Gremberg. Reply beaulieu Member sinceDecember 2001 From: NW Wisconsin 3,857 posts Posted by beaulieu on Thursday, November 10, 2005 6:55 PM QUOTE: Originally posted by Murphy Siding [ Thank you for your offer. I'd hate to make you part with it though. It's quite interesting to read about the differences in Britain than here. In my part of the world, 90% of train cars coming through are hauling rock, or grain, and are pulled by the same pool of GP 38's and GP 39's. Oh to have some more variety. Simon Reed mailed me 3 British Railroad magazines a while back. Railfanning, and railroad publications seem to be pretty popular. Where abouts, in Wisconsin are you? We go to Duluth and Bayfield every year on vacation. Thanks No problem parting with it as I have the other three issues for the year. I have been planning a cull of the older issues, I now buy only one issue per year just to keep up with the changes. Send me an e-mail with your snail mail address. I am in Grantsburg, halfway between the Twin Ports and the Twin Cities. Depending on which route you take you may pass close by me. Reply Tulyar15 Member sinceJuly 2005 From: Bath, England, UK 712 posts Posted by Tulyar15 on Friday, November 11, 2005 2:24 AM Rolling Stock does seem to get vandalised a lot, especially in London. So I don't think it;s anything to do with unemployment. I gather the Amman Valley line from Pantyffynon (the line that branches off to the right as you head up the Central Wales line) is to re-open due to one of the pits in the valley re-opening. There's also talk that the Burry Port & Gwendreath Valley line may also re-open again due to a possible mine re-opening. Ironically high oil prices are helping to make these mines viable again. The group who want to preseve the BP &GV line have abandonded their plans to convert it to narrow gauge and instead have set about acquiring suitable standard gauge stock with which to operate. They've bought one of the cut down 03's and I believe the cut down 08's still exist. Dont know what they can do about passenger stock - perhaps use old tube cars like the North Downs railway used to when they were based in Chatham Docks. Reply mhurley87f Member sinceOctober 2004 From: U K 146 posts Posted by mhurley87f on Friday, November 11, 2005 7:48 AM QUOTE: Originally posted by Tulyar15 Rolling Stock does seem to get vandalised a lot, especially in London. So I don't think it;s anything to do with unemployment. I gather the Amman Valley line from Pantyffynon (the line that branches off to the right as you head up the Central Wales line) is to re-open due to one of the pits in the valley re-opening. There's also talk that the Burry Port & Gwendreath Valley line may also re-open again due to a possible mine re-opening. Ironically high oil prices are helping to make these mines viable again. The group who want to preseve the BP &GV line have abandonded their plans to convert it to narrow gauge and instead have set about acquiring suitable standard gauge stock with which to operate. They've bought one of the cut down 03's and I believe the cut down 08's still exist. Dont know what they can do about passenger stock - perhaps use old tube cars like the North Downs railway used to when they were based in Chatham Docks. We're very fortunate that Network Rail's policy on track abandondment is very different to that of British Rail back in the nineteen seventies, so the track was allowed to remain in situ pending upturns in the demand for anthracite , and now these two branches can be re-activitated at very little cost. The Pantyffynnon to Tai'rgwaith (Gwaun Cae Gurwen) branch re-activation is due to the granting of planning consent to further, and extended, open cast mining operations in the Cwmllynfell area (that area formerly served by the Midland Railway's Gurnos - Brynaman branch) and I understand that the availablity of rail service was a major factor in getting that consent. Open cast mining down here is not popular with the locals. Our valleys are rather broader than those of SE Wales, and the valley slopes much less steep, so the outcropping seams are consequently easier to exploit by removing the overburden to get at the coal. Why then is it unpopular? Well, as time goes on, the cost of moving earth and rock gets ever cheaper thanks to technological advances, with the result that communities suffer through the very same tracts of land being worked and re-worked every twenty to thirty years or so, with each excavation being deeper than before to get at virgin coal !! Some villages have been surrounded by these "mines" ever since World War 2. So Powder River Basin it ain't. There are no coal "pits" within the Anthracite coalfield in Wales (Tower's claim to being an anthracite producer is by virtue of working what was in the past the Glyncorrwg Pits' territory), merely a few private licences drift mines, and the open cast mines. Re-activation of the Burry Port & Gwendraeth Valley branch might prove more difficult as the Coedbach Washery that processed the valley's coal (also from other sources, depending on demand / production) has been totally dismantled and the site is in the process of being remediated. That said, during the nineteen eighties, the National Coal Board was busily acquiring a vast holding of land to the east of the Washery (i.e. N of the Main BR Line and the A484) as the seams underlying that area had been barely nibbled at. The big bonus was that the Local Planning Authority at that time was keen to see the coal extracted and the land subsequently being allowed to flood, to create a new landscape that would eventually be amenable to leisure pursuits, not unlike the former gravel pits in the Thames Valley. If I hear anything locally, beans will be spilt ! Have a good weekend. Martin Reply Murphy Siding Member sinceMay 2005 From: S.E. South Dakota 13,569 posts Posted by Murphy Siding on Friday, November 11, 2005 9:31 PM QUOTE: Originally posted by beaulieu QUOTE: Originally posted by Murphy Siding [ Thank you for your offer. I'd hate to make you part with it though. It's quite interesting to read about the differences in Britain than here. In my part of the world, 90% of train cars coming through are hauling rock, or grain, and are pulled by the same pool of GP 38's and GP 39's. Oh to have some more variety. Simon Reed mailed me 3 British Railroad magazines a while back. Railfanning, and railroad publications seem to be pretty popular. Where abouts, in Wisconsin are you? We go to Duluth and Bayfield every year on vacation. Thanks No problem parting with it as I have the other three issues for the year. I have been planning a cull of the older issues, I now buy only one issue per year just to keep up with the changes. Send me an e-mail with your snail mail address. My e-mail is beaulieu@grantsburgtelcom.net I am in Grantsburg, halfway between the Twin Ports and the Twin Cities. Depending on which route you take you may pass close by me. E-mail sent. Thank You! Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar. Reply Murphy Siding Member sinceMay 2005 From: S.E. South Dakota 13,569 posts Posted by Murphy Siding on Sunday, November 13, 2005 10:52 PM In looking at our forums, I see that we derail a train over here about once a week. Certainly, there would be a lot of factors involved in these derailments. If Britain runs so many passenger and freight trains on tight schedules, and at pretty good speeds, is the track built and maintained to a higher standard than we have on our lines? Thanks Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar. Reply mhurley87f Member sinceOctober 2004 From: U K 146 posts Posted by mhurley87f on Monday, November 14, 2005 7:18 AM QUOTE: Originally posted by Tulyar15 I must admit I did not realise any of the Llanwern plant was still functioning. When I travelled to Cardiff recently I noticed the tracks all seemed to still be in use - now I know why. Nearby Newport station is a favourite spot of mine for watching trains. I shall be going over to South Wales for the loco hauled specials on Sunday 4th December. Where route(s) will they be taking, which locomotives are lined up for the trips, and any idea of the likely timings? Any information would be gratefully received. Martin Reply mhurley87f Member sinceOctober 2004 From: U K 146 posts Posted by mhurley87f on Monday, November 14, 2005 7:21 AM Apologies for the gibberish - it's the mention of steam that causes this over-excitement ! Martin Reply owlsroost Member sinceDecember 2001 From: Cambridge, UK 419 posts Posted by owlsroost on Monday, November 14, 2005 5:35 PM QUOTE: is the track built and maintained to a higher standard than we have on our lines? Not necessarily - heavy duty freight and fast passenger trains both need high track standards, although the important parameters may be different. I suspect it's more that because most lines in the UK have to be fit to carry passenger trains, the lowest level of acceptable track quality is probably higher than it is in the US - 25mph passenger trains aren't very attractive to passengers [:)] Tony Reply Anonymous Member sinceApril 2003 305,205 posts Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, November 15, 2005 5:13 AM There is something known as the Light Railway Order - most preserved lines run under this as do a few sections of main line (the southern section of the Heart of Wales line for one) - basically this means a speed limit of 25MPH. I assume that there's not as much requirement for inspection and certification when running under this but I'm not sure? I also get the impression it only applies to passenger services as I've read some interesting stories about preserved lines after the crowds have gone home! Reply Edit Tulyar15 Member sinceJuly 2005 From: Bath, England, UK 712 posts Posted by Tulyar15 on Tuesday, November 15, 2005 6:32 AM A Light Railway Order doesn't necessarily restrict you to 25mph - I think you'll find the linespeed on the Central Wales line is higher than that. What it does do is that in return for imposing a 25mph speed limit, preserved lines can get away with a lower standard of track maintenance than main line railways. For instance they can use track that is life expired as far as main line use is concerned. The fact that the Central Wales line is maintained to lower standards means it cannot nornally be used by freight trains - in the old days it was quite an important freight route. Reply Anonymous Member sinceApril 2003 305,205 posts Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, November 15, 2005 1:47 PM Ah, fair enough - for some reason I always thought it was 25mph! We have seen the occasional freight through here - most recent was steel coil wagons and 37's a few years ago. I think they only had two coils per wagon rather than three, presumably to bring the axle load within limits? Reply Edit Simon Reed Member sinceMarch 2005 From: Sulzerland, UK 337 posts Posted by Simon Reed on Tuesday, November 15, 2005 2:39 PM There seems to be a certain element of "have faith, brothers" in North American roadbed standards. I've seen dropped joints and mud seepage on 60MPH sections - the sort of stuff you'd not find on industrial spurs in Europe. Commiserations, by the way, on the ousting of Gunn. I'm thinking of how I can raise money quickly to get over there and ride the few Amtrak services I've not done - especially the Downeaster as Maine is one of the three states I've never travelled through - before US passenger rail is dead and buried. Reply Murphy Siding Member sinceMay 2005 From: S.E. South Dakota 13,569 posts Posted by Murphy Siding on Tuesday, November 15, 2005 10:46 PM Simon: I know you've traveled a lot by rail. How would you compare the physical condition of the rail system in the US compared to Britain? Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar. Reply Simon Reed Member sinceMarch 2005 From: Sulzerland, UK 337 posts Posted by Simon Reed on Wednesday, November 16, 2005 11:18 AM A brief answer - partly because it's a big can of worms and partly because it's pub night for me - is that away from the main traffic corridors the condition of North American infrastructure is poor by British standards, therefore very poor by the standards of many European countries. As has been mentioned a bit earlier in this post most of the freight flows in Britain are timed to a 60 or 75MPH maxima and other than some very secondary routes speeds of this nature are generally attainable. It always amazes me to think of North American secondary and short lines being restricted to as little as 10MPH throughout solely because of the infrastucture condition, but with three men in the cab. Why not redeploy the two who are superfluous onto M-of-W duties, to improve the road and increase the road speed. Hey presto! You can offer a more attractive and expedient service to shippers and reduced your operational costs because your crews and locomotives can do things three times as quickly. OK, so that's a bit simplistic, but the evil Doctor Guinness has his spell on me... Reply « First«15161718192021»Last » Join our Community! Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account. 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some of the iron ore wagons used in South Wales
QUOTE: Originally posted by Tulyar15 I must admit I did not realise any of the Llanwern plant was still functioning. When I travelled to Cardiff recently I noticed the tracks all seemed to still be in use - now I know why. Nearby Newport station is a favourite spot of mine for watching trains. I shall be going over to South Wales for the loco hauled specials on Sunday 4th December.
Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar.
QUOTE: Originally posted by Murphy Siding [ What would you typically see in day of train watching at some place like Newport Station? Is this a freight and passenger line, or just freight? Thanks
QUOTE: Originally posted by Railroading_Brit The Corus business is a bit of a sore point down in South Wales - let's just say the locals are not huge fans of a company that shut down large chunks of one of the main sources of employment in the area. I heard somewhere that one of two Class 60's repainted into Corus silver had a spot of bother when it ran in the area leading to them being put onto other duties - not sure how true it is though the source is usually reliable!
QUOTE: Originally posted by beaulieu QUOTE: Originally posted by Murphy Siding [ What would you typically see in day of train watching at some place like Newport Station? Is this a freight and passenger line, or just freight? Thanks Newport Station is one of the premier trainwatching spots in the UK, except for electric powered trains you have an excellent amount of traffic passing through. Both freight and passenger, Also Godfrey Road Stabling point is visible from the platforms and local freight power for EWS is serviced there. If you are interested Murphy I could mail you a copy of Freightmaster, the UK freight timetable. I have a copy from a couple of years ago that I would gladly part with. Discovering that book fired up my interest in UK freight operations. Of course things are in a constant state of flux and some of the services listed are gone, and other new ones started but it would give you an idea of the variety of freight operations in the UK.
QUOTE: Originally posted by cogload Mingin - ahh yes. Can mean a variety of things from awful (hung over) to awful as in well....plain awful. Part of the inspiration for Blade Runner (the film) came from Port Talbot steelworks. Many moons ago when I worked in the CSDC I had a trip round the thorpe; Immingham and Grimsby and a fun jolly it was too. Incidentally the Aluminium Works at Valley has resurfaced on the weekly outages - does anybody know of a new flow out of there, perhaps to the continent?
QUOTE: Originally posted by Murphy Siding [ Thank you for your offer. I'd hate to make you part with it though. It's quite interesting to read about the differences in Britain than here. In my part of the world, 90% of train cars coming through are hauling rock, or grain, and are pulled by the same pool of GP 38's and GP 39's. Oh to have some more variety. Simon Reed mailed me 3 British Railroad magazines a while back. Railfanning, and railroad publications seem to be pretty popular. Where abouts, in Wisconsin are you? We go to Duluth and Bayfield every year on vacation. Thanks
QUOTE: Originally posted by Tulyar15 Rolling Stock does seem to get vandalised a lot, especially in London. So I don't think it;s anything to do with unemployment. I gather the Amman Valley line from Pantyffynon (the line that branches off to the right as you head up the Central Wales line) is to re-open due to one of the pits in the valley re-opening. There's also talk that the Burry Port & Gwendreath Valley line may also re-open again due to a possible mine re-opening. Ironically high oil prices are helping to make these mines viable again. The group who want to preseve the BP &GV line have abandonded their plans to convert it to narrow gauge and instead have set about acquiring suitable standard gauge stock with which to operate. They've bought one of the cut down 03's and I believe the cut down 08's still exist. Dont know what they can do about passenger stock - perhaps use old tube cars like the North Downs railway used to when they were based in Chatham Docks.
QUOTE: Originally posted by beaulieu QUOTE: Originally posted by Murphy Siding [ Thank you for your offer. I'd hate to make you part with it though. It's quite interesting to read about the differences in Britain than here. In my part of the world, 90% of train cars coming through are hauling rock, or grain, and are pulled by the same pool of GP 38's and GP 39's. Oh to have some more variety. Simon Reed mailed me 3 British Railroad magazines a while back. Railfanning, and railroad publications seem to be pretty popular. Where abouts, in Wisconsin are you? We go to Duluth and Bayfield every year on vacation. Thanks No problem parting with it as I have the other three issues for the year. I have been planning a cull of the older issues, I now buy only one issue per year just to keep up with the changes. Send me an e-mail with your snail mail address. My e-mail is beaulieu@grantsburgtelcom.net I am in Grantsburg, halfway between the Twin Ports and the Twin Cities. Depending on which route you take you may pass close by me.
QUOTE: is the track built and maintained to a higher standard than we have on our lines?
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