Freight on a single line terminus…
Whilst the single line terminus can be a space saving muse, a place to enjoy a Sprinter or DMU, is there a way to enjoy operating something loco hauled, other than the cliché inspection saloon?
This idea first took hold last year whilst scratching around with thoughts on a Humber estuary inspired line and the Barton upon Humber branchline. Photos of a Sprinter substitute Class 31 hauled passenger train hinted at a run around loop ‘off stage’! That developed into an idea where the run around loop was in the works, and so a train would back in, shunt, then run around and reverse out, back into the station before leaving… in that plan I initially considered a chemical works or fertiliser plant - but equally thought a nuclear siding could be imagined in the same way.
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| Illustration James Hilton 2025 |
This idea of introducing a freight train to single line terminus operation is even simpler in my ‘what if’ imagination for Wrecsam Canolog - imagining the brewery didn’t close, and that during the 80s a spur was laid to distribute by rail… a Chester based 08 perhaps, or even a dedicated Wrexham shunter if the steel sidings remained open at Watery Road. VDAs and VGAs tripped down to the station at Central before reversing to shunt the brewery. Once done, they’d propel back to the junction… A similar thought about a Traeth Hafren, where you could even introduce a chemical works shunter and a ‘limit of shunt’ sign just outside the station?
In reality we still witness this sort of thing - imagine standing at Chirk and watching the Kronospan train arriving, then reversing its train into the works…
Adding this slight bending of reality gives the SLT a fresh verve, perhaps you have a subject in mind, and now just the reason to buy that ‘out of period’ DMU/Sprinter! Build something that tells your stories. Until next time, more soon…
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Always interesting thoughts. When I think of freight traffic I think of that exchange of load for empty, empty for load as a key part of it. A live coal loader would be a neat idea.
ReplyDeleteI'm purely thinking about British freight here, and specifically that likely to be seen in the late 1970s onwards - when single line terminus, rationalised from more extensive stations, became more prevalent... Apart from my notes on Chirk, all the other examples here could be quite short trains, one or two wagons up to 4 or 5...
DeleteJames, great minds think alike. Since Traeth Hafren immigrated to the US it has been operated in this manner. In both periods it "operates" in; BR days with a 122, 47s, 37s, 08 and 03 and modern with a 153, 66s, 37s and 08 there is an off scene industry (usually cement). A passenger service arrives and departs then a freight arrives and propells into the "reception siding" and shunts the plant or into the plant itself depending on how large my immagination has the industry for that that particular session. Really is amazing what can be done with a single piece of track and ones imagination. Can get lost in these little worlds for aslong as is needed.
ReplyDeleteWonderful! I think, given a bit more thought, it may be possible to build a 'cassette' based fiddle stick for this sort of thing - alternatively, if just a freight/passenger option, a two track sector would work - sort of like Paxton Road in reverse!
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