RMweb Gold Captain Kernow Posted May 20, 2010 RMweb Gold Share Posted May 20, 2010 Some good news on the rail freight front in the West of England - Freightliner Intermodal are working like trojans at Bristol West Depot, to fettle up the former rail container depot to accept new rail-borne container traffic - imported wine from Tilbury (Thames Haven) to Bristol. Other traffic is also hoped for. Currently, Freightliner PW staff are working on site, adjusting the former layout to suit the new traffic, replacing lots of sleepers and re-aligning point work. NR PW are also working on the connection to the yard. The first train is due in only a few weeks! The Captain took the opportunity today to make an official tour of inspection, and ensured that he had his camera with him... (I would point out that all photos were taken with permission and with appropriate health and safety protection measures in place. This location is private and is not open to the public) Looking towards the connection with the Up Main line at South Liberty, Parson Street station is visible in the background to some of these shots: A lot of new sleepers have been installed here: Some of the old track taken out and replaced: This is the Portbury line, taken from Parson Street Junction and looking towards Ashton Gate and Portbury: Some views in the other direction, into the yard area: The Arriva 57s passed by at one point: Further down the yard, the FL PW team could be seen laying individual sleepers as they re-laid part of the run round loop: Evidence of the old regime in the yard, which was last used in the early 1990s: And a sign of the new regime to come, waiting to be put up: Right down at the west end of the yard, the track is still to be re-laid, and possibly the original pointwork re-configured: The shunting spur used to go right down towards the west end of the site: One of the former sidings, that is still awaiting fettling, shows evidence of nature's former occupation: There seems to be a lot of room here to store containers: There used to be a siding right through the middle of the yard, now all that's left is this bit in the tarmac. I don't think that FL will need to restore this particular siding: Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supaned Posted May 20, 2010 Share Posted May 20, 2010 If it's containerised traffic they're bringing in , I presume they will use a reach-stacker for unloading (like at Burton on Trent) , rather than a gantry crane? All the same , good to see freight traffic back on the rails regardless of operator , and also good to see a yard being brought back into use. Perhaps if FL can get their marketing bods to work on it , they could load out of Bristol too... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
barrowroad Posted May 20, 2010 Share Posted May 20, 2010 Thanks for this information - another site to check out. This site was used for a long time by the local car auction to store vehicles. Robin Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Controller Posted May 21, 2010 Share Posted May 21, 2010 If it's containerised traffic they're bringing in , I presume they will use a reach-stacker for unloading (like at Burton on Trent) , rather than a gantry crane? All the same , good to see freight traffic back on the rails regardless of operator , and also good to see a yard being brought back into use. Perhaps if FL can get their marketing bods to work on it , they could load out of Bristol too... In its original incarnation, back in the mid-1970s, a tracked crane was used. Getting this on and off site must have been problematic, as the access towards South Liberty Lane (?) was pretty constricted. These days, they'd use a reach stacker instead- unless you've got a huge throughput, these are quite adequate, though I hope that concrete apron's strong enough. Not sure what they'd load out of Bristol these days- in the 1970s, it was mainly tobacco for Glasgow and paper. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete McCrea Posted May 22, 2010 Share Posted May 22, 2010 I was last there about this time 8 years ago when I was on placement with the Jarvis Rail S&C Renewals team based in Collet House Bristol Temple Meads. Part of the work I was doing was organisation of a series of site visits for renewals projects for various S&C across the western region - Parsons Street being one of them. Happy Days.... It's good to see the yard back in use again - that said when I was there it was simply an access point parking. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glorious NSE Posted May 22, 2010 Share Posted May 22, 2010 Really good to see the work going on here, I was surprised they picked this site over somewhere at Avonmouth with it's easy motorway access though. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Controller Posted May 22, 2010 Share Posted May 22, 2010 Really good to see the work going on here, I was surprised they picked this site over somewhere at Avonmouth with it's easy motorway access though. It is a bit odd, especially as the wine is presumably destined for the huge warehouse at Avonmouth- 'grandfather's rights' on the old site perhaps? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted May 22, 2010 RMweb Gold Share Posted May 22, 2010 It is a bit odd, especially as the wine is presumably destined for the huge warehouse at Avonmouth- 'grandfather's rights' on the old site perhaps? I would think they have probably retained some sort of access rights for the site and in any case it must represent a fairly cheap option for them. The only sites I'm aware of at Avonmouth are all private sidings of one sort or another and that would probably pose all sorts of negotiating (and cost) hurdles taht are going to cost them a lot more than a road haul to get there. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
travelintrev Posted May 23, 2010 Share Posted May 23, 2010 ALso back in the late 70s', early 80's was a rail mounted selfpropeled container handler. This could IIRC load contianer from flat in front or beside it. This machine was built by an engineering firm in Midsomer Norton. And original trials were carried out in Radstock goods yard. I got involved as the engine (Rolls Royce C6-250?) was one of the first with a form of electronic engine (speed) management. The machine was designed to be included in trains so that containers could be off loaded at almost any point en-route with out the need for a crane. I wonder what happened to it? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
buffalo Posted May 23, 2010 Share Posted May 23, 2010 Was that the 'Linercrane', built by Ralph Blatchford? If so, there's a photo of it at Radstock in 1985 in Mike Vincent's 'Through Countryside and Coalfield', page 181, though there's no information about the trials or what happened to it. Nick Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
travelintrev Posted May 23, 2010 Share Posted May 23, 2010 Yes, thats the animal...........wonder where it ended up, again IIRC there was talk by Blatchfords staff about it being aimed at the third world export market, rather than the UK. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Controller Posted May 23, 2010 Share Posted May 23, 2010 Yes, thats the animal...........wonder where it ended up, again IIRC there was talk by Blatchfords staff about it being aimed at the third world export market, rather than the UK. The technology ended up being used in road-based vehicles instead, I believe- certainly, I have seen trailers with similar handling systems around the place. This system, operated by Containerlift, appears to use very similar technology:- http://www.containerlift.co.uk/videos Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
40044 Posted May 23, 2010 Share Posted May 23, 2010 Was that the 'Linercrane', built by Ralph Blatchford? If so, there's a photo of it at Radstock in 1985 in Mike Vincent's 'Through Countryside and Coalfield', page 181, though there's no information about the trials or what happened to it. Nick This device? http://gallery6801.fotopic.net/p27011785.html It spent some time in store at Woking, but no idea what happened to it after that. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold beast66606 Posted June 2, 2010 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 2, 2010 First train this Friday apparently B) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Captain Kernow Posted June 9, 2010 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted June 9, 2010 First train this Friday apparently B) In the end, it was the Saturday morning (Sat 5th June), and now it's pretty much a daily train at the moment. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold beast66606 Posted June 9, 2010 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 9, 2010 In the end, it was the Saturday morning (Sat 5th June), and now it's pretty much a daily train at the moment. Another succesful project x then Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Captain Kernow Posted June 13, 2010 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted June 13, 2010 Another succesful project x then The plan is for more than one train per day in due course, Dave - even better! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Depot Posted June 13, 2010 Share Posted June 13, 2010 There must be some good wine sales somewhere then! Unless someone is building a wine mountain.... Anyway nice to see somewhere re-opening and new traffic being won on the railway...anymore new flows expected this year? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steadfast Posted June 13, 2010 Share Posted June 13, 2010 Sounds like a good start once it got going, running pretty well daily. Hopefully will get a chance to catch it one day this week The plan is for more than one train per day in due course, Dave - even better! Even better indeed! I presume this will mean more than just wine running into the terminal. cheers jo Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
37114 Posted June 13, 2010 Share Posted June 13, 2010 I worked for one of the Container hauliers in Bristol and mentioned to the owner about what he thought if Freightliner opened back up in Bristol as it would potentially mean more radial business for us. His view was it would be bad news as a number of our customers would use Freightliner for storage and haulage not the company I worked for. It therefore seems plausible for more than one train a day to be loaded out (or in) of there and storage possibilities. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Captain Kernow Posted June 14, 2010 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted June 14, 2010 I presume this will mean more than just wine running into the terminal. Yes, this is my understanding. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold beast66606 Posted June 14, 2010 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 14, 2010 Yes, this is my understanding. Some cheese as well I hope Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium jamie92208 Posted June 15, 2010 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 15, 2010 Some cheese as well I hope And hopefully a few 'boxes' full of glasses so that we've got something to drink it out of. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Controller Posted June 15, 2010 Share Posted June 15, 2010 And hopefully a few 'boxes' full of glasses so that we've got something to drink it out of. Some crackers as well.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steadfast Posted June 15, 2010 Share Posted June 15, 2010 Yes, this is my understanding. Thanks Tim, will my ears open. I couldn't think of anymore wine, cheese and biscuits based gags, so here's a photo instead: 66536 passes Pig Lane, Hullavington, with today's 6L32 to Tilbury from Parson Street. Is there a way of telling where the train is destined for (load, days run?) without knowing the headcode? cheers jo Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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