Stratford L.I.F.T (London International Freight Terminal)

[SXHALL]

Hi All,

 

For several years I used to go in to Stratford LIFT during the mid 80's to the early 90's. As I was very young (single digits in years) I had no camera nor was I allowed out of the cab to look around, early H&S there! For years though I have always had some questions that I cannot find an answer to through any search engines etc so over to the font of forum knowledge........

1. What form of propulsion was used for moving stock in and out of the sheds there? - 08's assumed as they were available for the Freightliner.
2. What stock operated in and out of the rail served sheds? - I suspect ferryvans
3. What type of freight/cargo went through the old sheds there?
4. Are there any images/maps/plans anywhere of the old facility before being dozed down?

Confirmation or clarification on any of the above would be appreciated. Along with the Stratford works and the Freightliner this was also a huge part of Stratford's rail history but am surprised at how little (read nothing) I can find out about it now. Type Stratford LIFT in to Go-ogle and all I get is one image of a shunter for the trailers!

 

Thanks & Regards

 

Steven

[BernardTPM]

LIFT, the forgotten freight terminal - so many now erroneously think LIFT was the Freightliner terminal! There was a good plan and article in the Railway Modeller for September 1967 (I assume you'd also find it in 'Railway Gazette' and 'Modern Railways' around the same time too) and there's a couple of pages in 'Focus on Freight - Eastern Region Freight since 1960' by Shaun Pearce (Ian Allen 1995). I do remember seeing 4-wheel continental ferry vans there in the 1970s/80s.

All part of the Olympic/Stratford City site now. If you ask Newham Council they'd probably just say it was 'wasteland' before.

[trisonic]

There was also a thread here on "Stratford" which had a lot of interesting photos - confusingly I've got an idea that Stratford was not part of the topic's title!

 

Best, Pete.

[Les Bird]

All sort of different traffics passed through L.I.F.T. so virtually any type of UK gauge ferry wagon could be seen from the relatively elderly Belgian SBA wagons with the apex roof right up to the more modern VTG and Cargowaggons. There were ten sheds most of which were operated by forwarding agents who used their sheds for both rail and road traffic. No. 10 Shed was operated by BR. For most of L.I.F.T.'s existence of course the international traffic passed to and from the UK on train ferry services via Harwich and Dover although latterly only Dover after the Harwich services ceased. Continental railway owned wagons to the UK loading gauge were operated by a number of railway administrations including the DB (Germany), SNCB (Belgium), SNCF (France), FS (Italy) and the JZ (Yugoslavia) plus, of course, the Transfesa wagons with interchangeable axles and Interfrigo wagons.

[SXHALL]

LIFT, the forgotten freight terminal - so many now erroneously think LIFT was the Freightliner terminal! There was a good plan and article in the Railway Modeller for September 1967 (I assume you'd also find it in 'Railway Gazette' and 'Modern Railways' around the same time too) and there's a couple of pages in 'Focus on Freight - Eastern Region Freight since 1960' by Shaun Pearce (Ian Allen 1995). I do remember seeing 4-wheel continental ferry vans there in the 1970s/80s.

All part of the Olympic/Stratford City site now. If you ask Newham Council they'd probably just say it was 'wasteland' before.

 

 

Thanks Bernard. Most people do only remember the Freightliner terminal being there. It does all look a tad different there now, bet most people would not believe what was there before. Certain there won't be anything at all in the Olympic site referencing to the history of the area.

 

There was also a thread here on "Stratford" which had a lot of interesting photos - confusingly I've got an idea that Stratford was not part of the topic's title!

 

Best, Pete.

 

 

Will have to hunt this thread out, thanks Pete

 

All sort of different traffics passed through L.I.F.T. so virtually any type of UK gauge ferry wagon could be seen from the relatively elderly Belgian SBA wagons with the apex roof right up to the more modern VTG and Cargowaggons. There were ten sheds most of which were operated by forwarding agents who used their sheds for both rail and road traffic. No. 10 Shed was operated by BR. For most of L.I.F.T.'s existence of course the international traffic passed to and from the UK on train ferry services via Harwich and Dover although latterly only Dover after the Harwich services ceased. Continental railway owned wagons to the UK loading gauge were operated by a number of railway administrations including the DB (Germany), SNCB (Belgium), SNCF (France), FS (Italy) and the JZ (Yugoslavia) plus, of course, the Transfesa wagons with interchangeable axles and Interfrigo wagons.

 

 

Sounds like I could use 'modellers licence' then to run whatever I want if I was to model a small cameo of one of the sheds then, now theres an idea! I remember seeing Cargowagons and various other vans as well when visiting there, it was always the state of the vans that got me, you could barely see the logos etc under the grime. Thanks for the run down of stock and the routes they were shipped via too, never had any idea where they went form Stratford.

 

 

[Fat Controller]

The site also appears in the background of a number of official photos of air-braked wagons, meaning that there was an even broader range of vehicles than one might expect.

A lot of the traffic was 'groupage' traffic (aggregations of small loads to or from a number of sources for trunk journeys), especially to/from Italy; when the Channel Tunnel opened, much of this went over to swap-bodies from Willesden instead. There was one firm (whose name escapes me at present- was it Ambrogio?) whose bright yellow containers constituted a train load in each direction almost every day.

There were similar, though smaller, depots in Birmingham, Manchester and Glasgow- to an extent, their original purpose disappeared when rules about customs clearance between EU countries changed in the early 1990s, as it was no longer necessary to have customs officers check every consignement.

[SXHALL]

The site also appears in the background of a number of official photos of air-braked wagons, meaning that there was an even broader range of vehicles than one might expect..

 

 

Thanks FC, even more scope for the future now .

[Oldddudders]

A lot of the traffic was 'groupage' traffic (aggregations of small loads to or from a number of sources for trunk journeys), especially to/from Italy; when the Channel Tunnel opened, much of this went over to swap-bodies from Willesden instead. There was one firm (whose name escapes me at present- was it Ambrogio?) whose bright yellow containers constituted a train load in each direction almost every day.

Merzario?

[Fat Controller]

Merzario?

That's it- thanks, Ian