PenrithBeacon Posted April 5, 2016 Share Posted April 5, 2016 The Drax to Hunterston waste train are currently being routed on the N&C line because the S&C is closed as a through route, see http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/R10966/2016/04/05/advanced . I gather that the train conveys gypsum used to clean the exhaust at Drax from the nasty polluting acids. So far so good. But why Hunterston, is it used in the nuclear power station or does Hunterston have a convenient land fill site? Regards Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjamin Brady Posted April 5, 2016 Share Posted April 5, 2016 I was lead to believe this was just a standard coal set. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Controller Posted April 5, 2016 Share Posted April 5, 2016 The link you've posted is to a loaded train from Hunterston to Drax. The gypsum is produced is a by-product of the desulphurisation of the flue gas; the waste gas is passed through crushed limestone. A lot goes for plaster and plasterboard manufacture; one flow for such traffic (normally containerised) is to the British Gypsum plant at Kirby Thore, at the northern end of the S&C. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PenrithBeacon Posted April 5, 2016 Author Share Posted April 5, 2016 The link you've posted is to a loaded train from Hunterston to Drax. The gypsum is produced is a by-product of the desulphurisation of the flue gas; the waste gas is passed through crushed limestone. A lot goes for plaster and plasterboard manufacture; one flow for such traffic (normally containerised) is to the British Gypsum plant at Kirby Thore, at the northern end of the S&C. Thanks for the prompt reply. Yes I know the link is for a Hunterston to Drax train, I thought it would be empties returning to Drax. Also I know that the gypsum is for the de-suphurisation of the exhaust gas at the Drax coal fired power station. The question is why is gypsum being transported to Hunterston? Is it for export perhaps? If the link is for a loaded train, then what is being sent to Drax from Hunterston? Is coal being landed at Hunterston port for Drax? Seems to be a long way away when Immingham is very close to Drax. Regards Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PenrithBeacon Posted April 6, 2016 Author Share Posted April 6, 2016 Answering my own question after a fair amount of digging on the web. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunterston_Terminal https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drax_power_station In short the gypsum doesn't go to/from Hunterston but to a factory at Kirkby Thore on the S&C. As this is to the south of the current landslip I would imagine that this is still running although I cannot find a train scheduled for today. Drax is still receiving coal from Hunterston there is another train going to arrive late tonight. The other waste product from Drax is fly ash. I cannot find a reference to this being carried by rail at the present time. Regards Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Controller Posted April 6, 2016 Share Posted April 6, 2016 Answering my own question after a fair amount of digging on the web. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunterston_Terminal https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drax_power_station In short the gypsum doesn't go to/from Hunterston but to a factory at Kirkby Thore on the S&C. As this is to the south of the current landslip I would imagine that this is still running although I cannot find a train scheduled for today. Drax is still receiving coal from Hunterston there is another train going to arrive late tonight. The other waste product from Drax is fly ash. I cannot find a reference to this being carried by rail at the present time. Regards The way to distinguish between empty and loaded coal trains on these flows is that loaded ones run as Class 6 (60 mph max), whilst empties run as Class 4 (75 mph max). Fly ash is generally processed on site, or close-to, to produce concrete blocks; some of these do travel by rail, from Heck to Biggleswade and Bow. Thee have been flows of fly-ash in recent years for use as aggregate and for ground stabilisation. Destinations have included Colnbrook (for Heathrow Terminal 5), Appleford (near Didcot) and Northwich. The first two flows were in tank containers, and the last in MBA opens. Not sure which power stations provided the raw material. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnb Posted April 6, 2016 Share Posted April 6, 2016 Thanks for the prompt reply. Yes I know the link is for a Hunterston to Drax train, I thought it would be empties returning to Drax. Also I know that the gypsum is for the de-suphurisation of the exhaust gas at the Drax coal fired power station. The question is why is gypsum being transported to Hunterston? Is it for export perhaps? If the link is for a loaded train, then what is being sent to Drax from Hunterston? Is coal being landed at Hunterston port for Drax? Seems to be a long way away when Immingham is very close to Drax. Regards I ought to clear up a point. The gypsum is the result of the desulphurisation of the flue gas, not the material used for the cleaning. That is limestone, the flue gas is passed through crushed limestone to remove the sulphur. That process produces gypsum, which then has to be disposed of. The gypsum is sold on to plasterboard manufacturers.and others. Hence the loaded gypsum trains from Drax. The incoming trains would be coal and limestone, outbound gypsum and flyash. Hope that helps John Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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