Radlett Redland Rd stone siding

[Dava]

Just north of Radlett station on the Midland mainline, on the east side there is a south-facing connection to what looks like a quarry, possibly closed. Its quite attractive but you can't see too much as the train goes by.

 

Looking on Google satellite view the site is actually a stone delivery depot with drops for Redland stone hopper wagon trains from Lafarge at Mountsorrel.

 

Interestingly the layout is a tightly curved continuous loop with just a short trailing siding before the drops, probably for crippled wagons.

 

There is scope for a layout here, either using an industrial loco (Sentinel?) or mainline, I wonder how 66s did on the curves? I've not seen any photos and possibly its out of use,there are planning applications for a stone terminal nearby and over a year ago I noticed a Redland train being unloaded by conveyor in Luton goods yard.

 

I'm sure some folks have local knowledge or photos of this operation, other than power station MGR I've not seen a continuous run prototype like this.

 

Dava

[Fat Controller]

Looking at Quail, it's a rather odd set up; unlike a normal MGR layout, the loco must at some point run around its train before heading back northwards. I'm not sure whether the terminal is in use at present, but there have been proposals for a 'rail-served' international freight terminal on the site, taking advantage of the proximity of the M25; from what I have seen in the national press, there has been quite a lot of local opposition to the proposal.

Wasn't the site originally an airfield, possibly housing the Handley-Page factory?

[petethemole]

There were two airfields along that stretch of the MML but both were on the west side. One was Handley Page; I remember seeing Victors there. I don't remember what the other was.

 

Pete