Clitheroe - Gunnie cement

[furnessvale]

Just read in Commercial Motor that rail has won back the Castle Cement,
Clitheroe to Scotland traffic, after a gap of 14 years.

It will not, however, be going to Gunnie as Castle are to close
Gartsherrie and build a new terminal within the PD Stirling depot at
Mossend.

I just hope that the new management route the train over the drag if
found necessary, rather than adopting the old BR management policy of
forcing it onto the WCML no matter what, which ultimately sabotaged the
traffic.

George

[GMac]

Post by furnessvale
Just read in Commercial Motor that rail has won back the Castle Cement,
Clitheroe to Scotland traffic, after a gap of 14 years.
It will not, however, be going to Gunnie as Castle are to close
Gartsherrie and build a new terminal within the PD Stirling depot at
Mossend.
I just hope that the new management route the train over the drag if
found necessary, rather than adopting the old BR management policy of
forcing it onto the WCML no matter what, which ultimately sabotaged the
traffic.
George

Can't see that being a problem these days given the amount of money N.R
have been recently spending on the S & C to ensure it can carry just
such types of traffic. There might be the odd pathing issue to sort
out, but there should be sufficient capacity and there are no
intermediate signal boxes betwen Hellifield & Horrocksford Jcn
(Clitheroe) that would need staffing for it to run that way. The
connection into the works at Clitheroe is laid out such that it's
easier to send traffic in and out from the north anyway (there's no
direct link from the down main, so anything from the south has to
reverse over the trailing crossover onto the up line before it can head
into the works).

[furnessvale]

Post by GMac
Can't see that being a problem these days given the amount of money N.R
have been recently spending on the S & C to ensure it can carry just
such types of traffic. There might be the odd pathing issue to sort
out, but there should be sufficient capacity and there are no
intermediate signal boxes betwen Hellifield & Horrocksford Jcn
(Clitheroe) that would need staffing for it to run that way. The
connection into the works at Clitheroe is laid out such that it's
easier to send traffic in and out from the north anyway (there's no
direct link from the down main, so anything from the south has to
reverse over the trailing crossover onto the up line before it can head
into the works).

I don't recall it being a problem even then. Management simply refused
to do so in the vain hope they could "prove" they didn't need the drag
and eventually shut it. This was a very common attitude all over the
network prior to privatisation.
George

[Tom Burton]

Post by furnessvale
Just read in Commercial Motor that rail has won back the Castle Cement,
Clitheroe to Scotland traffic, after a gap of 14 years.

Any ideas when it is to start running?

TIA

Tom

[furnessvale]

Post by Tom Burton
Any ideas when it is to start running?
TIA
Tom

I cannot remember exactly as I was having my usual free read in the
bookshop. (I don't buy lorry magazines just read them for the info). I
got the impression it was sooner rather than later.
George

[D MCPHEE]

Post by furnessvale

Post by Tom Burton
Any ideas when it is to start running?
TIA
Tom

I cannot remember exactly as I was having my usual free read in the
bookshop. (I don't buy lorry magazines just read them for the info). I
got the impression it was sooner rather than later.
George

It is my understanding that although the new distribution centre will be
adjacent to Mossend Yard, the cement will be brought north by road for a
couple of years before any consideration will be given to using rail.

Regards

Donald

[furnessvale]

Post by D MCPHEE
It is my understanding that although the new distribution centre will be
adjacent to Mossend Yard, the cement will be brought north by road for a
couple of years before any consideration will be given to using rail.
Regards
Donald

The press release on Castle Cement's website does indeed say that
initially the cement will be brought by road. However several things
indicate that rail is rather higher up the agenda than your
understanding.

1. The new depot is on PD Stirling land. It seems unlikely that such a
prolific user of rail would sacrifice rail served land to a purely road
operation.

2. The new operation will be in ISO-veyor intermodal tanks.

3. EWS have bought ISO-veyor tanks and are putting a lot of marketing
effort into them.

4. The Commercial Motor article was very specific, and post dated the
Castle Cement press release. It even gave the number of lorry drivers
to be made redundant.

George

[w***@netscape.net]

Hellfire !!!
Is it going to be pairs of filthy ML 37s like it used to be ?

That train used to be solid EE thrash !!!

Phil

[o***@hotmail.com]

Good news. Do Castle still use rail at Padeswood Hall works on the
Wrexham-Bidston?

[furnessvale]

Post by o***@hotmail.com
Good news. Do Castle still use rail at Padeswood Hall works on the
Wrexham-Bidston?

I don't think they use rail at Padeswood at the moment.

One very important quote from the article that I forgot to mention was
that Castle have said that within 18-24 months they expect ALL their
core traffics to be on rail!

George

[e***@aol.com]

Post by furnessvale

Post by o***@hotmail.com
Good news. Do Castle still use rail at Padeswood Hall works on the
Wrexham-Bidston?

I don't think they use rail at Padeswood at the moment.

Both Clitheroe and Padeswood works still use rail for the delivery of
coal.

[furnessvale]

Post by e***@aol.com
Both Clitheroe and Padeswood works still use rail for the delivery of
coal.

Yes, I was forgetting the possibility of coal inbound at Padeswood.
Excellent news, it makes the use of the sidings for cement out so much
more a realistic option.
George