The Hoo (Junction)

[Jack]

Took our lad for a walk past Hoo Junction yesterday.  Fab day out and perfect weather for it.  The footpaths which go half way round the junction are beautifully clear, giving some nice views of the yard.

 

And if you were the driver of the pair of 66s who gave my son a big wave and toot then thank you, he really appreciated that!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Pandora]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thames_and_Medway_Canal

 

You may also take in the former canal which shared the tunnel to Strood with the railway,  if you walk along  Canal road there is a monument to view for the canal

 

From Canal Raod which leads to the end of the down yard there is an obelisk for teh canal:

 

http://www.railalbum.co.uk/nonrail/canal-thames-medway.htm

Edited April 8, 2018 by Pandora

[Oldddudders]

Is the tunnel still perpetually threatening to fall in? When I worked at Strood in the ‘70s tunnel walkers spent their paid hours patrolling in the dark.

[SED Freightman]

Nice to see some photos of Hoo Jn, but a bit sad to see they are virtually devoid of revenue earning traffic (yes I know NR pay to have their wagons moved about) so no surprise that there has been talk of the yard becoming an EMU depot.

[Jack]

Nice to see some photos of Hoo Jn, but a bit sad to see they are virtually devoid of revenue earning traffic (yes I know NR pay to have their wagons moved about) so no surprise that there has been talk of the yard becoming an EMU depot.

I think Kent is pretty much devoid of freight rail traffic these days isn’t?

[SED Freightman]

I think Kent is pretty much devoid of freight rail traffic these days isn’t?

 

Sadly you are correct, I can only think of five active terminals for commercial freight (Allington, Cliffe, East Peckham (?), Grain & Hothfield) with stabling / recessing at Dollands Moor and Tonbridge West Yard. The de-industrialisation of North Kent and the Medway Valley along with the lack of Channel Tunnel freight have created a largely passenger only railway in Kent whilst the road network crumbles under a huge number of foreign registered HGV's.

[Fat Controller]

Sadly you are correct, I can only think of five active terminals for commercial freight (Allington, Cliffe, East Peckham (?), Grain & Hothfield) with stabling / recessing at Dollands Moor and Tonbridge West Yard. The de-industrialisation of North Kent and the Medway Valley along with the lack of Channel Tunnel freight have created a largely passenger only railway in Kent whilst the road network crumbles under a huge number of foreign registered HGV's.

I know Mountfield is in East Sussex, but the loaded trains of gypsum pass through Kent to get there..

There are still some freights running through the Channel Tunnel, though most are at night, and pass unnoticed.

There's an odd one running to Sevington at present; the HOBC works back to there everyday, after its forays on the Brighton line. Though this is what we might have once called a 'Departmental' working, the spent ballast is graded and sold as hardcore and sub-base for the many building and road projects around the area.

[Pandora]

Is the tunnel still perpetually threatening to fall in? When I worked at Strood in the ‘70s tunnel walkers spent their paid hours patrolling in the dark.

The two tunnels were closed for a year and relined,  the work was around 10 years ago, Higham station became a terminus for the duration.

Edited April 9, 2018 by Pandora

[Southernman46]

Back in 2000, when the tunnel chalk falls in the unlined sections had got really serious (caused couple of derailments), we also had an incident where one of the capped off tunnel construction shafts collapsed leaving a 30' wide , 70 foot deep crater in an orchard right down to the tunnel lining - examination of the rest revealed worrying depressions in pavements & people's back gardens resulting in VERY some hurried rectification works ................. people have no idea what's underneath them sometimes ...............

[Jack]

Sadly you are correct, I can only think of five active terminals for commercial freight (Allington, Cliffe, East Peckham (?), Grain & Hothfield) with stabling / recessing at Dollands Moor and Tonbridge West Yard. The de-industrialisation of North Kent and the Medway Valley along with the lack of Channel Tunnel freight have created a largely passenger only railway in Kent whilst the road network crumbles under a huge number of foreign registered HGV's.

What happens at Hothfield?

[Oldddudders]

What happens at Hothfield?

 

Aggregates, I think. 

[eastwestdivide]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thames_and_Medway_Canal

 

You may also take in the former canal which shared the tunnel to Strood with the railway,  if you walk along  Canal road there is a monument to view for the canal

 

From Canal Raod which leads to the end of the down yard there is an obelisk for teh canal:

 

http://www.railalbum.co.uk/nonrail/canal-thames-medway.htm

For the sake of clarity, the obelisk in Canal Road Higham, not Canal Road Strood!

[SED Freightman]

What happens at Hothfield?

Tarmac Ltd terminal receiving aggregate from Whatley Quarry and Morton on Lugg (and possibly elsewhere), usually about a train per day.

[Pandora]

I am told there is a 30 year contract to haul aviation fuel from the Port at the end of the Grain branch to Gatwick Airport, and that GB Railfreight intend to construct a depot for the class 66 locos at the Port

 

Another quirk of the branchline,  malairia-carrying mosquitos have bred in the waters, and the authorities have to take control measures, believed to be the only area of England where such action is required

Edited April 11, 2018 by Pandora

[Fat Controller]

I am told there is a 30 year contract to haul aviation fuel from the Port at the end of the Grain branch to Gatwick Airport, and that GB Railfreight intend to construct a depot for the class 66 locos at the Port

 

Another quirk of the branchline,  malairia-carrying mosquitos breed in the waters, and the authorities have to take control measures, believed to be the only area of England where such action is required

Is this as well as the contract to supply Heathrow via an enlarged facility at Colnbrook?

[KDG]

3 extra trains per night when fully up and running. Empty wagons in to Grain during the day, full ones out at night. Every day.

[Mike Storey]

Every now and again, rumours re-emerge of the re-opening of the steelworks at Sheerness, but I have lost hope of that ever happening.

 

But I still can't understand why so much new car traffic still comes into Sheerness port, yet none of it now goes by rail, after several decades of doing so.

[KDG]

The blast furnaces at Sheerness Steel collapsed internally when they were shut down and are now beyond use.

[Jack]

I am told there is a 30 year contract to haul aviation fuel from the Port at the end of the Grain branch to Gatwick Airport, and that GB Railfreight intend to construct a depot for the class 66 locos at the Port

 

Another quirk of the branchline,  malairia-carrying mosquitos have bred in the waters, and the authorities have to take control measures, believed to be the only area of England where such action is required

Did I hear correctly that Sheerness also now has a resident population of scorpions thanks to escapees from cargo vessels??

[Mike Storey]

The blast furnaces at Sheerness Steel collapsed internally when they were shut down and are now beyond use.

 

There were no blast furnaces after Thamesteel took over. There was one huge electric arc furnace installed in 2004/5, which was still intact in 2015 (after closure in 2012) and two, smaller ladle furnaces for finishing work (maybe it was these you mean?). The works were almost entirely intact in 2015 (photographic evidence exists) but when I was last there in early 2017, it looked like much had been removed, so it's probably gone forever.

[Southernman46]

Hoo Junction yard was a regular walk-around on Sunday mornings' recording & photographing wagons particularly in the mass VB wagon scrapping period as it was used as a holding yard for COND wagons destined for Queenborough & Sheerness - some real unusual stuff particularly coil's passing through - my particular favourites being the B9490xx JNV / JYV coils, inspiring the scratch-build below on a Ratio GWR bolster chassis.

There were also rumours of a Puma (or something like it) that roamed the area - scary if you were down in the depths of "B" section on your own - not helped by the eerie wail of that buoy out in the river - it is still doing it ??

[62613]

I am told there is a 30 year contract to haul aviation fuel from the Port at the end of the Grain branch to Gatwick Airport, and that GB Railfreight intend to construct a depot for the class 66 locos at the Port

 

Another quirk of the branchline,  malairia-carrying mosquitos have bred in the waters, and the authorities have to take control measures, believed to be the only area of England where such action is required

As an ex-employee of the BP Tanker Company, the first bit is, well............

[Jack]

Hoo Junction yard was a regular walk-around on Sunday mornings' recording & photographing wagons particularly in the mass VB wagon scrapping period as it was used as a holding yard for COND wagons destined for Queenborough & Sheerness - some real unusual stuff particularly coil's passing through - my particular favourites being the B9490xx JNV / JYV coils, inspiring the scratch-build below on a Ratio GWR bolster chassis.There were also rumours of a Puma (or something like it) that roamed the area - scary if you were down in the depths of "B" section on your own - not helped by the eerie wail of that buoy out in the river - it is still doing it ??JYV.jpg

No sign of big cats, little cats or wailing bouys on our visit. Some quite impressive shire horses grazing on the estuary wall at Shornmead though.

[Fat Controller]

Did I hear correctly that Sheerness also now has a resident population of scorpions thanks to escapees from cargo vessels??

Correct; I believe they may even be protected.

[Fat Controller]

There were no blast furnaces after Thamesteel took over. There was one huge electric arc furnace installed in 2004/5, which was still intact in 2015 (after closure in 2012) and two, smaller ladle furnaces for finishing work (maybe it was these you mean?). The works were almost entirely intact in 2015 (photographic evidence exists) but when I was last there in early 2017, it looked like much had been removed, so it's probably gone forever.

I don't think there was ever a classic 'blast furnace', as these are only used for converting iron ore into iron. The arc furnaces would have had brick linings, however, which wouldn't have taken kindly to being allowed to go cold.