AUGUSTTRACKSFREIGHT292022#15 MAKING A DIFFERENCE morereadingholiday DASH FOR CASH DERAILS STORM IN A FIREBOX HOW THE BUILDING OF A FREIGHT LOCO HAS RIPPED THE UK RAILWAY PRESERVATION MOVEMENT APART
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CONTENTS AUGUST292022 #15 If you have any stunning photos of freight trains you might like to see on the cover, send them freighttracksto@gmail.com Publisher & Editor: James Graham editor@ freighttracksDesigner:Editorialfreight-tracks.comsupport:KimSmithAlexBrown @gmail.com Sales Manager: Martin Kingswell Sales Executive: Peter Dolan Webmaster: Natasha Antony Contributors: Neil Madden, Chris Lewis, Stuart Flitton, Johnathan Webb. Will Huskisson All rights reserved, No part of this magazine may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the copyright owner. Multiple copying of the contents of the magazine without prior written consent is forbidden. Material sent to the editor, whether commissioned or freely submitted, is provided at the contributor’s own risk. Freight Tracks cannot be held responsible for loss of damage however cause. The opinions and views expressed by authors and contributors within Freight Tracks are not necessarily those of the editor or Freight Tracks. We are unable to guarantee the bona ideas of any advertisers. Copyright: 1435 Media London 2022 1435 Media London 259 Sydenham Road UnitedCR0Croydon2ETKingdom Press releases: editor@freight-tracks.com STORM IN A FIREBOX DASH FOR CASH DERAILS IN GERMANY WELSH SLATE ON NORTH WALES RAILS TRAIN SIM WORLD 3 LAUNCHES HOLIDAY READING FREIGHT DATES WHAT'S IN A NAME FOR A FREIGHT TRAIN? BOX CAR WILLIE SINGS THE RAILS Keep the Date Railway industry events HEADLINE NEWS 33442 www.freight-tracks.com AUGUST 29 2022 n 3
estroying any steam locomotive, es pecially one that has already been 'saved', goes against the very ethos of the preservation movement. A num ber have already been 'up-cycled', as those in favour of such things euphemistically call it, to create long lost class of locomotives that dis appeared in a shower of sparks in the 1960s. Most of these had been freight or mixed traffic locomotives, so have not generat ed the emotion that the recent news that Swindon-built Great Western Railway (GWR) Thornbury Castle is threatened with destruc tionThehas.pain is particularly acute because the Castle class locomotive was in the midst of being restored when it was sold to the Night Owl group, one of a number of groups under the umbrella of the Great Western Society (GWS) that runs Didcot Railway Centre, near Oxford in southern England. One wonders what local police inspector Morse, an episode having once being filmed there, would make of it all. The feelings of the rank and file mem bers on the ground is certainly no mystery in need of solving! Barry 10 The whole sorry and bitter saga can be traced back to 1990, when the “Barry 10” – a collec tion of unsold scrapyard steam locomotives that were removed from scrap firm Woodham Brothers in Wales when owner Dai Woodham retired and bought by the Vale of Glamorgan Council. While some were later sold to be re stored, others were scrapped to provide parts for various recreation projects, including the Night Owl. Of the Barry locomotives, three were purchased by the GWS so that they could donate parts to Night Owl – namely 2861, 4115 and 5227. 2861 and 5227 were dedicated freight lo comotives, with 4115 being mixed traffic. While these loco motives proved use ful in providing the Night Owl group with parts, such as driving wheels, axle boxes etc, the group was still in need of a boil er – the frames are new, having been cut in 2012.Answering criti cism for the decision to scrap a Castle to make a Night Owl, the group's spokes man, Richard Crouch er said: “The number 8 boiler (from 7027) offers a huge saving for the 4709 project – not least in time and energy. Current estimates suggest that a new 47xx boil er would cost more than £800,000 to fabricate and take up to five years to com plete.”
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Jonathan Webb: From Night Owl to nightmare. Western freight loco has ripped the UK STORM IN
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The scrapping of these locomotives caused ripples, but because neither of them were high-profile, the criticism was relatively lim ited.
A FIREBOX
2861 and 4115 were quickly dis posed of, but the frames of 5227 linger on – its boiler having been taken to Tyse ley near Birmingham for use on recreating a GWR County class locomotive. I asked one member of staff at Didcot Rail way Centre what he thought of the Great Western Society scrapping so many original locomo tives and he replied: “GWS should stand for Great Western Scrappers, as the so ciety certainly isn't about theferanymore.”preservationHewentontoofmoreopinionsonnewbuilds,but the only word that is printable is “off!”
nightmare. How the building of a Great railway preservation movement apart
Hell bent on destruction
Talking to a num ber of volunteers, very few support the whole new-build concept that seems to have gripped the Great Western Society, with most point ing to the GWS's shed full of cosmeti cally restored locomotives – many not having been touched for decades. The general feel ing is that any funds would be better spent at restoring these, rather than “Frankenstein” projects that are the ideas of the “Dream Teams” as the groups are known as among the volunteers on the ground.
Jones-Pratt is attempting to try and pur chase 7027 and restore it, but said: “We don't seem to be able to get any sense from the GCR etcetera, also in terms of our offer, that also hasn't been acknowledged, sadly.”
He continued: “I think the engine will go to Didcot, her future doesn't look great – the main thing with all of this, was to at least try.”
Speaking about the Night Owl group, Jones-Pratt had this to say: “As for the Night Owl group - they just seem hell bent on mak ing it happen. It’s all very political and again the engine is caught up in the middle of it all.”
Original Night Owl is born In the years after the First World War, the www.freight-tracks.com
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7027 Thornbury Castle was sold by Jon athan Jones-Pratt to a member of the Great Central Railway on, Mr Jones-Pratt claims, a clear understanding that it was going to a good home and would be restored. With the acquisition of a boiler no nearer than it was a few years ago, the Night Owl group jumped at the chance of purchasing 7027 when it was offered for sale at the GCR.
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The nickname “Night Owl” came about due to most of these services op erating during the hours of darkness. However, the locomotive's one limiting factor was its heavy axle loading – meaning it was classified as having double red route availability. By the 1950s the class began to make forays into passenger trains, normal ly during busy summer Saturdays. June 1962 saw 4702, the first of the nine strong flee, withdrawn. By May 1964, the last of the class had been taken out of service and sent on a one way journey to the breakers. Although the frames for the recreation are new, the majority of other components are from donor locomotives that have had to be destroyed to provide them.
Great Western Railway – no relation to the modern day passenger service of the same name – found itself in need of a freight locomotive that was powerful enough to haul heavy trains at a reasonable speed. From this, the 2-8-0 class 47xx was born, the first one rolling out of Swindon Works in 1919. The class soon proved to be a great success, hauling freight between London, Newton Abbott, Exeter, Plymouth, Bristol, Birmingham and Wolverhampton.
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Vanity, vanity all is vanity
This latest upset has brought to the surface much ill-feeling towards the various “Frankenstein” projects, that had previously been bubbling beneath the surface, but which the GWS had managed to keep a lid on – preventing a massive public fall out.
Many working members have questioned what is the point of recreating GWS statement regarding 7027
The board, staff and volunteers who are involved Didcot Railway Centre were not party to these discussions the future of 7027 lies solely with its new owners the should be addressed to them or the previous owner
The Great Western Society has many projects and Owl’ is run by an autonomous small group who ministration of the fund. These individuals were ly. Due to the nature of the sale this was dealt with discretely. public knowledge and the full implications and intentions ous owners are yet to be fully assessed.
STORM IN A GWR Castle Class 4-6-0 No. 7027 "Thornbury Castle" A boiler rom this . . . 6 n AUGUST 29 2022 @freighttracks 4
While former owner Jones-Pratt is rather restrained in his criticism, members of the Great Western Society are rather less so. One very angry volunteer said: “Will someone please put the owners of this idea back in the asylum, before any more damage is done to the GWS at Didcot,” with another voicing his dis approval by stating: “You're supposed to be preserving Great Western history, not chopping it up for vanity projects.”
Working members wonder just what attraction a relatively nondescript freight locomotive will have to the general public, who aren't interested, or particularly bothered, whether a steam locomotive is a small shunting engine or a mighty King class. The publicly stated dream of the Night Owl group is to take it on the main line, but when this was mentioned to working members at Didcot, there was almost a puddle on the floor! Once the laughter had fin ished, they said the only path such a slow locomotive would be offered was 02.30 off Paddington!
Well, with reports that the Night Owl group has already paid the first in stallment for 7027, the odds are stacked against it. The history of freight on rail is important – there being many freight locomotives stored or awaiting restoration – but few believe that destroying genuine heritage to achieve, at best, a “nearly there” replica is the correct way to do it. It will be a tragedy if Thornbury Castle, having escaped Barry scrapyard 50 years ago this month, ends up being cut up after all – and a scandal that may well haunt the Night Owl project for many years to come. n
any obscure freight locomotive when Didcot Railway Centre has stated that it is moving towards the family market with its partial rebranding as the home of “George the Engine,” incidentally another engine that has been butchered to create something much removed from the original.
Time for home truths
A FIREBOX GWR Class 4700 2-8-0 4705 . . . to
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It is expected that the looming Great Western Society AGM will be lively and it's been said that managers will be forced to hear a “lot of home truths.” Will it be enough to turn the tide and stop the last remaining single chimney Castle being broken up?
7027 Thornbury Castle and groups under its umbrella; of these 4709 ‘Night who are responsible for the fund raising and the ad were given the opportunity to purchase 7027 private discretely. Some of the facts have only just become intentions of the 4709 controlling group and the previ with the Great Western Society and the running of discussions and therefore would like to point out that the 4709 project; any debate to the engine’s future not the GWS or the staff at Didcot. this
The ambition is that “George,” which is very much hoping to replicate the success of Thomas the Tank Engine will attract a new generation of visitors –primarily the family market.
Do you sell to rail freight companies? Do you want to boost your sales to the sector? Do you want cost-effective advert packages? TICK ALL THE BOXES WITH FREIGHT TRACKS Do you want your sales message in front of key decision makers? n a n a n a n a Since our launch in February 2022, we have carved a presence in the rail freight media to reach some of the most important and influential people and companies in the sector. Why not join us in getting to these people? We guarantee that your message will only get to freight people. Contact: editor@freight-tracks.com for great advertising offers
The war in Ukraine has thrown Europe’s biggest economy into an energy crisis, due to the precar ious position over imported gas from Russia, and is seeking to increase power generation from coal and oil in order to lessen its dependance on gas. The re cent heat wave has added to Germany's transport difficul ties, lowering water levels on its inland waterways – causing heavy restrictions on shipping traffic. Earlier this month, the German government published a draft emergency law that will enable train operators to dis card current contracts and allow them to give priority to oil and coal services – ensuring that the country has a secure energy supply. It is hoped that this will be enough to prevent the energy crisis from spiralling out of control this winter.
Germany's long-term plan is to import liquified gas from a number of sources, but the country currently doesn't have sufficient storage space to make this a reality.
German Economy Minister Robert Habeck said: “We want to free ourselves from the grip of Russian energy im ports as quickly as possible. This requires very sophisticat ed logistics, which makes it necessary to prioritise energy transports by rail.”
RAIL PICKS UP THE PIECES AS DASH FOR CASH DERAILS IN GERMANY
The significant drop in river levels, such as the Rhine, has resulted in hundreds of freight carrying ships, many car rying bulk cargo such as fuel, being unable to operate at full capacity. At such a shallow depth, even flat bottomed ships have found it impossible to navigate unless they carry a sig nificantly reduced load. At the end of August, some shipping companies reported that they were loading about a quarter of their usual amount onto vessels – anymore and there is a risk of the ships running aground in the shallow waters. In the past, such situations have proved a boom for rail freight – rail being able to hugely increase its share of the market. However, this time it's different – not only is there a surge in fuel transportation, there is the potential for a deficit in diesel and electricity supplies to power trains.
Grip of Russian energy Germany was Russia's biggest customer of natural gas prior to war breaking out with Ukraine – the war seeing a dra matic shift in Germany's energy policy, with the Govern ment vowing to stop purchasing Russian gas by the middle of 2024.This declaration resulted in Russia restricting gas sup plies to Germany, along with numerous other countries.
The last few surviving nuclear plants are expected to have their life extended by a couple of years, but much more coal will have to be consumed in order to generate the required amount of electricity – most trains in Germany relying on electricity to operate.
Train operators who suffer cancellations will receive compensation on a fixed basis term.
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Following Japan's Fukushima nuclear power station acci dent in 2011, Germany decided to start phasing out nuclear power stations and also embarked on a gradual phasing out of coal fired power stations.
The news has made some within the rail industry ner vous, with the German government trying to calm nerves by stating that the new powers will only be activated in “ex ceptional circumstances” such as, for example, where an oil refinery runs low of unrefined oil or where a coal-fired power station finds itself in the position of having to use its emergency stockpile.
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Andy Roberts, General Manag
“We’ve worked closely with our partners at Breedon and in Welsh Government to get Llandudno Junc tion open for business, ensuring that we can carry slate aggregates by rail and therefore reducing the number of lorries on the road and cutting carbon emissions.“Therecent slate loading rep resents the second revenue-earn ing freight flow to commence on the North Wales coast-line in recent months - showing how we can work together to have a positive impact on the environment and the economy.”
elsh slate aggregate is being transported to Luton via rail freight for the first time ever, thanks to a joint initiative between Network Rail, construction materi als company Breedon, and the Welsh Government.TheLlandudno Junction freight yard, which hadn’t been used for sev eral years, was brought back to life following extensive work at the site. Vegetation removal, track repairs and refurbishment of the points had en abled trains to enter and leave the yard.The first freight train to leave Llan dudno Junction freight yard departed in July, carrying 22 wagons filled with slate aggregate from local quarries for the journey to Luton in south-east England. Each freight train removes approximately 76 lorries from the roads, reducing carbon emissions and congestions while making the air we breathe cleaner. The Welsh Government has provid ed match funding to Breedon Group for the enhancements at Llandudno Junction freight sidings via the Freight Facilities Grant scheme. The scheme is available to encourage modal shift where there are environmental ben efits from removing HGVs from roads across Wales – up to 250,000 tonnes of slate waste aggregates is expected to be moved by rail each year from the site Jess Lippett, senior regional freight manager at Network Rail said: “Rail freight is a vital part of our infrastruc ture, providing a fast, green, safe and efficient way of transporting goods.
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“This new service will demonstrate the commercial, environmental and safety benefits of transporting goods by rail freight.”
John Smith, Chief Executive Officer at GB Railfreight said: “We’re delight ed to be transporting Welsh slate from Llandudno. It is encouraging to see the Government and the private sector come together to enable a service that will transport key construction materi als, create employment opportunities and drive local growth.
er at Breedon’s Welsh Slate Business said “Breedon are delighted to have worked with Welsh Government to develop a high quality freight facility in North Wales. This will allow slate ag gregate to be delivered across the UK in a sustainable manner and remove truck movements from the A55.”
NORTH WALES RAILS
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Enthusiasts and railfans will enjoy the introduction of Cali fornia’s Cajon Pass, a popular photography and webcam spot, to Train Sim World 3 and BNSF’s ES44C4 locomotives. These 4400hp units, part of General Electric’s Evolution Series, pro vide enough power to haul some of the USA’s longest trains up challenging gradients and work alongside the ubiquitous SD40-2.Train Sim World’s longest ever route allows players to travel between Kassel and Würzburg at speeds of 280km/h behind the controls of Germany’s renowned ICE 1 and ICE 3 highspeed passenger trains. DB’s BR 185 can also be operated on the route, which features epic bridges and tunnels over a dis tance of Players186km.ofTrain
Sim World 2 will be delighted to hear that previously owned routes and locomotives can transferred to Train Sim World 3*, including the massively popular Spirit of Steam add-on that brought Jubilee Class and 8F steam traction to Train Sim World for the first time earlier this year. Spirit of Steam is also available as part of the Train Sim World 3 ‘Deluxe Edition’ and has been updated for this latest release. Horse shoe Curve, the Tees Valley Line and the West Somerset Rail way, are just some of the 50 add-ons that will be available to bring over (if previously purchased) from Train Sim World 2.*Routes and locomotives from Train Sim World 2, whilst compatible with Train Sim World 3, will not include the new features.
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Take to the tracks: machines with Train Take to the tracks, master the machines and battle the elements with Train Sim World 3, the latest offering in Dovetail Games’ Train Sim World franchise, out September 6 for PlayStation, Xbox and PC. Outside of spotting, photography and modelling, rail simulation has be come a large and growing arm of interest for the rail enthusi ast and at its centre is Dovetail Games. Their Train Sim World franchise has brough a variety of routes and locomotives into people’s living rooms, from the iconic HST along the Great Western Railway, to the romance of 50s steam and the LMS Jubilee Class. The latest iteration, Train Sim World 3, develops the high ly detailed environments and realistic locomotive handling for the latest generation of games consoles bringing dramatic weather conditions to the experience and with it, the chal lenge of navigating through them. Wind, rain and snow all now have a significant effect on running conditions, building on the realism so proudly recreated by the team at Dovetail Games.
“For Train Sim World 3, the team have done an amazing job enhancing and building on the immersive experience of our previous titles. The new lighting system transforms the visuals along with all-new weather dynamics that will significantly im pact the operation of trains in-game,” said Matt Peddlesden, Executive Producer at Dovetail Games. “This and the develop ment of our dedicated Training Center, guiding users through the controls, will see Train Sim World 3 bring existing players new and exciting challenges, whilst giving those new to the franchise an enjoyable introduction to the railway world.”
tracks: master the Train Sim World 3 headline newsheadline news www.freight-tracks.com AUGUST 29 2022 n 13
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Helen McAllister, Programme Director (Freight Reform), GBRTT (Great British Railways Transition Team) is relishing the opportunities to make a difference to rail freight in the coming years in the United Kingdom
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I would encourage as many people as possible to get in volved with the call for evidence. Once the evidence comes into us, we will use it alongside long-term forecasting to inform a range of rail freight growth options that will be put before the Secretary of State for consideration. This is part of our work at GBRTT to create a simpler, better railway for everyone in Britain. We will get there by centring our railway around the needs and wants of the travelling public and freight users, reaching out and engag ing directly with our stakeholders, as shown with this call for Theevidence.freight growth target call for evidence is now halfway through and will run until September 27 so please get your ideas to us now.
Initiatives like the Government’s Mode Shift Revenue Support scheme, which supports companies transporting goods by rail where road has a financial advantage, have been adapted in light of the disruption of recent rail strikes. This not only recognises the need to support rail freight in the short term through these difficult periods but also provides a modal shift incentive from road to rail. However, we also need to look at what the medium and long-term barriers to entry are and make it easier for busi nesses to make a commercial decision to use rail.
The Williams-Shapps Plan for Rail has highlighted that rail freight is a good thing and needs more of a focus. The creation of GBR gives us a huge amount of opportunity to do things better for freight.
Since I joined the rail industry 18 years ago, I have been lucky enough to hold a number of business and network strategic planning roles. Now at the Great British Railways Transition Team (GBRTT), I have been given the opportunity to really make a difference in how rail freight contributes to the UK economy. It is an exciting role. It is estimated that rail freight ac counts for about 10 per cent of surface freight, but people don’t realise that even that delivers social and economic benefits worth £2.5 billion to the UK each year, much of that in former industrial heartlands. Moving goods by rail also benefits the environment, compared to our road running friends, producing around three-quarters less carbon per tonne of goods transported. With that in mind, at GBRTT we’ve launched a call for evidence which could help us transform the rail freight sector by collecting the information needed to show how and where moving more goods by rail can contribute even more.There has been a real step change in the focus on rail freight over the last few years. Whether that’s been its performance through COVID in keeping goods moving, or the HGV driver crisis, rail has been shown as a reliable alterna tive. It won’t be easy, but the opportunity provided by re form; the establishment of Great British Railways and the creation of a new whole industry plan cannot be denied.
The call for evidence enables us not just to go out to the people who are familiar with rail freight, but to organisations that don’t use rail to look at why they don’t and what can be done to change that.
The barriers to entry for using rail are also complicated; it is a lot simpler to shift goods on a lorry but with rail it’s a more complex process requiring a delicate balance be tween passenger services and infrastructure requirements to even move the volumes we do. We are looking to demys tify this process and make it simpler and easier for custom ers to use the railway to move their goods.
People who know the benefits of rail freight have been very patient and are now looking to see how we can rise to the challenge of getting more freight on the rails. We have traditionally been a very passenger-focused sector, which is not necessarily wrong, but has meant that decisions on the use of capacity have been skewed towards passenger trains. One of the ways to break down this boundary is by using economic analysis to inform decisions on the use of capacity. Now halfway through its twelve weeks, the evidence gathering exercise will help us understand how much of the current and future demand for freight could be met by rail, how we can make it even more efficient and sustainable and how we can connect to new customers.
What might we hear in our call for evidence? It could be anything from suggestions for additional links into different freight sites; sequential gauge clearance; using the capacity on the network differently; or benefits from the Europe an Train Control System (ETCS) implementation. It will be a better understanding of the realistic volume of goods that can be transferred to rail; where the potential for future rail freight traffic exists and where new rail terminals could be needed. The end result will be a logistics system where rail and road can work together better for the benefit of businesses and customers.
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We want views and ideas from the widest possible range of stakeholders within and beyond rail and logistics on how to expand rail freight.
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CLAYTON EQUIPMENT INVESTS IN ITS TOMORROW PEOPLE
Inland Rail Director of Health, Safe ty & Environment, Steve Jones said: “The graduation of our first students from the IRSA Foundation Course is a very proud moment for us and is a crit ical part of the legacy that we want to leave behind from Inland Rail.
"Inland Rail is not just about build ing the railway line, as important as that is, it’s also about building the ca pability and capacity of local communi ties to continue to grow.
The newest team members includ ed: Ricky West, Alvito Pacino, Josh Clarke (top – left to right) Gareth Scaife, Christopher Stokes, Daniel Taylor, Liam Ayland (Bottom –left to right) Daniel Whitehurst and Muhammad Farooq (not in photo). All recently recruited and joining the team in positions of Stores Manaer, Electrical Design Engineer, Buyer, Me chanical & Electrical Fitters and War ranty and Telematics Support.
First TAFEIR'sgraduatestudentsfromBoggabillacourse
Congratulations on joining, says the company."Weare delighted to have everyone on board and wish all every success for the future," said a statement from the UK-based operator.
AUSTRALIA Inland Rail has announce dthat the first cohort of students has successfully graduated from the Inland Rail Skills Academy (IRSA) Foundation Course at the TAFE NSW Boggabilla, NSW. In addition to developing skills in construction, students have accessed training in financial literacy, digital literacy, literacy, numeracy and career preparation skills. The successful graduates can now apply for positions working on the In land Rail (IR) project with contractors such as Freight Connect, the preferred civil works contractor for the North Star to Border (NS2B) Inland Rail sec tion.Alternatively, graduates can also take their studies further by undertak ing a Certificate II in Rail Infrastructure – some graduates have already regis tered for this - or in Infrastructure and Resource qualifications. Of the first eleven graduates from the programme, five have fully completed a Certificate II in Construction, providing options for a range of careers. The remaining stu dents have completed with competen cies or part-qualifications.
In August, to meet the burgeoning order book and unprecedented demand for its range of shunters and innovative hybrid locomotives, Clayton Equipment continued to ex pand and invest for the future with ad ditional personnel.
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“There is no better legacy than helping local people learn new skills."
Renfe will also provide its 252 locomotives to facilitate traction from Le Soler (France) to Barcelona.
This is a pilot test with which the Ministry seeks to demonstrate the technical and economic feasibility of rail transport of grain through the railway highway that crosses Europe from Lodz (Poland) to Barcelona Can Tunis (Spain).
Mitma starts pilot project to move 600 tonnes of corn from Ukraine to Spain
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The operation Specifically, outbound traffic is Madrid – Ludwigshafen – Duisburg – Lodz – Chelm, while return traffic is Chelm –Lodz – Duisburg – Barcelona Can Tunis through the railway motorway, which involves an approximate route of 2,400 kilometres.Thelogistics of the transport is planned to be carried out between Ukraine and Spain, transferring the merchan dise in Chelm (Poland), 25 kilometers from the border with Ukraine.Thecontainers, whose interiors have been fitted with "liners" (large special bags for transporting grain) left last night from the Madrid Abroñigal station bound for the Pol ish town of Chelm, where they are expected to arrive in the fourth week of August. There, the merchandise will be transferred to Renfe Mercancías containers for subsequent transfer to the terminal used by the logistics operator Kom biverker, in Lodz. The transfer between Lodz and Chelm is carried out by the Polish railway operator DBP. Once the containers are loaded, the train will run on standard gauge (UIC) from Lodz to Barcelona Can Tunis, as the final rail destination. The merchandise would be transported from the Barce lona terminal to the end customer. The arrival forecast is at the beginning of September.
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Maritime Support
The first steps of this pilot project coincide with the reopen ing of the Black Sea ports and the cereal maritime routes supervised by Turkey, so the test trip will be made with 600 tonnes of corn, a smaller volume than initially committed, but equally important to verify the viability of a railway solution led by Spain as support for maritime transport. Thus, the pilot project seeks to analyse the capacities of land transport that can help maritime transport using railway highways in public-private co-ordination with the transport and raw material management industries in the European Union (EU).
The Spanish Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda (Mitma) launched the pilot proj ect this month to transport grain by train from Ukraine to Spain as an alternative or complement to the maritime mode at a time marked by the invasion of Russia and the limitations in the Black Sea ports. Thus, Ren fe Mercancías has sent 25 40-foot containers to the border between Poland and Ukraine to transport 600 tonnes of Ukrainian corn to our country.
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Etihad Rail, the developer and operator of the UAE National Rail Network, has achieved a new milestone in the develop ment of the UAE's National Rail Net work, with the arrival of first batches of the company’s new and advanced rolling stock fleet. The locomotives and wagons, which reached the UAE via Zayed and Al Musaffah Ports, will operate across the whole network upon its completion.
The achievement was announced during an event, which was organ ised by Etihad Rail at Al Mirfa city in the Al Dhafrah region in Abu Dhabi, to unveil the new fleet of locomotives and wagons. The event was attended by His Excellency Shadi Malak, CEO at Etihad Rail, alongside Marty Haycraft President and CEO at Progress Rail and Henry Pang, Executive DirectorMENA at CRRC, in addition to a num ber of senior officials from all sides.
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Etihad Rail welcomes first batches of new state-of-the-art
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The UAE Railways Programme aims to set a new roadmap for transporting goods and passengers via train across the country, which will contribute to developing a sustainable land trans port system that connects the cities of the UAE via railways. The first batches have arrived in the UAE through Zayed and Al Musaf fah Ports, which comes as part of Eti had Rail's commitment to expanding its fleet of trains to serve the entire network. The company will increase its fleet of heavy freight locomotives to 45 heavy transport locomotives, which is equivalent to six times of its current fleet. Progress Rail, a Cater pillar company, will handle the manu facturing and supply of the new EMD SD70 electro-motive diesel locomo tives. The company has increased the number of its wagons, with the new fleet aiming to house more than 1000 multi-purpose wagons, three times of its current fleet. China's CRRC Group will handle handling the manufactur ing and supply the new fleet of wag ons.Mohammed Al Marzouqi, Execu tive Director of Rail Relations Sector at Etihad Rail said: “The arrival of the new fleet of locomotives and wagons to the UAE on schedule reflects the level of the achievements that the Eti had Rail project is achieving. We also
The locomotives are equipped with the latest filtering innovations such as the pulse sand filtering system, which ensures that the train operates at high effectiveness and efficiency when passing through desert regions. They also incorporate and comply the latest technologies and standards for reduc ing Theemissions.locomotives are equipped with advanced on-board technologies and systems like the European Train Con trol System (ETCS) Level 2, the most advanced signalling system of its kind, in order to ensure safety, security, and reliability, in addition to efficiency and sustainability.Eachlocomotive can pull 100 wag ons, which is equivalent to the capaci ty of 300 trucks. The volume of goods transported by these trains is equiva lent to 5600 daily truck trips. Multi-function wagons The wagons are equipped with the lat est braking, signalling, control, com munication, and safety systems. The variety of wagons will enable a higher flexibility and capability in transport ing goods of various sizes, including petrochemicals, raw steel and its products, limestone, cement, building materials, industrial and house hold waste, aluminum, food, and assorted goods. This helps reduce transportation costs by 30% and in crease logistic efficiency, which drives economic success for clients and users of the network. In addition, railway transport will reduce road congestion caused by trucks, which are currently the only shipping method.
The new locomotives and wagons will be stored at Etihad Rail’s facilities in Al Mirfa until the completion of con struction works on the UAE National Railway Network.
Ben Quak, General Manager of CRRC UAE said: CRRC is excited to be a partner in Stage Two of the UAE Na tional Rail Network, contributing to the growth of Etihad Rail, the UAE, and the region by supporting the de velopment of the rail industry. We are pleased to witness the successful de livery of the multi-function wagons, which will contribute to reducing car bon emissions and provide safe, sus tainable, and efficient services.”
state-of-the-art ROLLING STOCK www.freight-tracks.com AUGUST 29 2022 n 19 headline newsheadline news
The fleet is set to elevate the trans port and logistical services system in the UAE, solidifying the country’s po sition in the logistics sect Each of the fleet’s new die sel-and-electricity-operated Elec tro-Motive Diesel EMD SD70 locomo tives, provides 4600 BHP, which makes it one of the most powerful engines in the Middle East.
ensured that the fleet suits the local geography and climate in the UAE andthe region and meets current and future needs of Etihad Rail’s clients, in cluding industrial companies, shipping companies, building materials suppli ers, quarriers, and more,” Al Marzouqi added.“Our diesel-electric EMD SD70 locomotives meet the highest global standards,” commented Haycraft. "Eti had Rail's new fleet is a great example of what our customers have come to expect from our advanced locomo tives, which are designed to perform in extreme conditions.”
Etihad Rail’s new fleet was de signed specifically to withstand the geographic, climate conditions and the high temperatures and humidity levels in the GCC region, ensuring the highest levels of performance, effi ciency and sustainability.
MEDWAY, through a consortium made up of 10 entities, will devel op a strategy to recover the railway wagon manufacturing industry in Portugal, with the aim of returning production capacity to the country, with the creation of intelli gent freight wagons. so-called 'smart wagons'. This consortium comprises five companies (MEDWAY Maintenance & Repair, MEDWAY Terminals, MEDWAY Rail Freight Operator, Nomad Tech and EVOLEO Tech nologies), four ENESIIs (Non-Business Entities of the Research and Innovation System – Instituto Superior Técnico, Faculty of Engineering of the University do Porto, INEGI - Institute of Science and Innovation in Mechanical Engineering and Industrial Engi neering and ISQ) and the cluster for competitiveness, form, capable of producing a product with of technology, technical knowledge. scientific entire life cycle of the wagon.
MEDWAY leads a consortium that will invest €82 million in the develop ment of production capacity in Portugal. the Investment will allow the creation of 65 direct jobs.
"In addition to the impact on the specialization omy, this investment will also allow the recovery invert the country's trade balance, replacing
MEDWAY restarts wagon manufacturing
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Bruno Silva, General Director of MEDWAY MEDWAY is a part, intends to transform the ductive capacity of freight wagons and sensing tion of predictive maintenance methodologies, availability of this asset.
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Paulo Duarte, Executive Director of the Portuguese Railway Platform says: “It is an undeniable opportunity to demonstrate our industrial production capacity, com bined with innovative and high added value technologies that differentiate in the railway market, showing the results that it is possible to achieve, in a work of team and national enhancement, from the Railroad Cluster.”
competitiveness, the Portuguese Railway Plat with high added value, with the incorporation scientific and industrial production, covering the MEDWAY highlights: “This consortium, of which the Portuguese profile, enhancing the pro sensing systems, as well as the implementa methodologies, reducing waste and increasing the specialization profile of the Portuguese econ recovery of Portugal's railway industry and replacing imports with exports.”
This investment will allow the creation of 65 direct jobs in the middle Tagus re gion, overcoming the recent challenge of generating new jobs in compensation for the closure of the Pego Thermoelectric Power Station.
manufacturing in Portugal
The development of smart wagons will also have a significant impact on reducing carbon emissions, reducing CO2 emissions during the production process by 55%, since, in addition to more efficient maintenance, production will use renewable ener gy and will incorporate recycled materials.
headline newsheadline news Demonstration of GATX wagons MRCE orders 14 MS Vectron locomotives MRCE and Siemens have a long histo ry of conducting business together and collaborating on multiple proj ects. The robust relationship between the two companies is again confirmed by a new order of fourteen Siemens Vectron A10 locomotives improving MRCE’s position as a full-service traction provider on the East-West Corridor (DE-AT-HU-PL-CZ-SK-RO-NL) connecting the Netherlands with Eastern Europe. “We are pleased about the expansion of the Vectron fleet of our long-standing customer MRCE. MRCE’s confidence shows that our Vec tron locomotives stand for reliability and flexi bility in European passenger- and freight trans 22 n AUGUST 29 2022 @freighttracks
GATX
wagons for SNF
The SNF representative, Pierre Congard, was very satisfied with GATX's commitment to a quality con struction process, technical explanations, produc tion steps and demonstrated results, which was also confirmed by Valentine Peresson, a independent ex pert invited by SNF. Throughout the tour, customers were pleased to witness every stage of construction in detail, see the inside of the tank and observe axle maintenance, sanding and painting. The client has confirmed that all of its requirements have been ful ly met.The wagons have recorded a cleanliness level of 1.2.1.2 and will be safely stored at Ostroda until the delivery date. Teams will support SNF in its planned use of telematics solutions and sensors for better logistics monitoring. The hope is that the cars will be quickly completed and will soon receive approval from the ERA authorities in order to meet the final delivery expected in the fall. Following this success, the parties are discussing other railcar collaboration projects
MRCE will continue to procure the reliable MS Siemens Vectron locomotives in the future to make its fleet younger and more homoge nous, which will have positive effects on plan ning, maintenance, spare-part management and the commercial availability of their loco motives.
To stimulate the railway market, the Euro pean Union has set initiatives such as the ‘Eu ropean Green Deal’, ‘30% by 2030’, and the deployment of ERTMS throughout Europe, en suring an interoperable railway network that is competitive, environmentally friendly, and efficient for both freight and passenger railway traffic. MRCE is currently renewing its fleet by procuring new A10 locomotives. The aim is to optimize the portfolio and to ensure serving its customers for their future traction in this region while staying aligned to the future re quirements of the European Union.
locomotives from Siemens Mobility port,” says Albrecht Neu mann, CEO Rolling Stock at Siemens Mobility.Asthe Rail Freight Cor ridors are in creasingly uti lized, the need for cross-bor der traction is expected to remain very solid. With their high availability, the new A10 locomotives are a very competitive and flexi ble alternative compared to older locomotive types in the region.
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staff hosted SNF representatives at GATX's in-house workshop in Ostroda, Po land for a demonstration of the construc tion processes of our new 15 x 2591 tank cars . SNF specializes in water treatment for munic ipalities, industries, oil and gas, paper mills, textile and cosmetics markets, with the aim of improving waterWithquality.water becoming a globally threatened re source, the company plans to dramatically increase production over the next five years and use the most sustainable mode of transportation wherever possi ble, including GATX wagons.
“We believe that Vectron will be the solu tion in the long run to attend to the future cross-border needs in the European market, and we therefore intend to increase Vectron steadily to be a main asset in our portfolio,” says Hayato Yanagisawa, CEO of MRCE.
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Mark Wyborn, Head of Freight at Porterbrook said: “This partnership demonstrates Porterbrook’s long-term commit ment to investing in rail freight. The successful production of
JNA-X Box Wagon prototype
It is part of the agreement for 50 new box wagons an nounced in March this year between Porterbrook, GB Railfreight and Greenbrier. The delivery of the box wagons to the UK will take place in two batches later this year, with the first arriving in September and the second in October.Thewagon, which is fitted with track friendly bogies, has been designed to optimise the tare weight, volume capacity, and payload with the shortest wagon length over buffers for the bulk material it will transport. The box structure is fabri cated from high strength steel providing structural reliability and longevity over the life of the wagon. With each tonne of freight transported by rail producing 76% less carbon than road haulage, the new box wagons will support the Green Recovery and help to deliver a more sustainable railway.
Porterbrook, GB Railfreight and Greenbrier are pleased to share the first picture of the brand new JNA-X Box Wagon. The prototype, which has now successfully completed the audit and inspection process, is the first to roll off the production line in Romania.
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the prototype JNA-X Box Wagon is all-the-more impressive because of the challenges the team has had to overcome, including significant disruption in the supply chain.
David Golding, Asset Director at GB Railfreight said: “We’re excited to take delivery of the first of the new JNA-X Box Wagon’s next month.
prototype ready to go
“It is testament to the strength of our partnership with GB Railfreight and Greenbrier that we’ve worked together and agreed ways to mitigate those challenges and keep de livery of the box wagons on track.”
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"This partnership and cooperation during these unprece dented times where steel and energy costs have more than doubled is evidence of our long-term commitment to supply these box wagons to our customers on time.”
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"This new rolling stock, alongside other investments made by GBRf, continues to demonstrate our commitment to reducing our emissions and supporting the government’s net zero ambitions. We look forward to continuing to work with our partners to help look for opportunities to decarbo nise our industry.”
John Brown, Head of UK Sales at Greenbrier said: “We were thrilled that Porterbrook and GB Railfreight had chosen to extend its partnership with Greenbrier Europe which goes back more than fifteen years.
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he first intermodal train linking Abruzzo with Po land, offering a multi-commodity and multi-cus tomer railway service aimed, in particular, at the automotive hub of Val di Sangro, left on 13 Au gust last from the Manoppello Interport. For the occasion were present the Sole Director of Sangritana, Alberto Amoroso , with the Head of the Car go BU, Sandro Imbastaro, Emanuele Arcese - Road Freight FTL BU Director and member of the executive committee of Arcese Group, Angelo Accomando, Commercial Direc tor of Captrain Italy and Mosè Renzi Director of the Inter port of Abruzzo.
SANGRITANA AUTOMOTIVE INTERMODAL SERVICE
The train is operated by Captrain Italia , which acts as Main Contractor for both national and foreign rail trans port, and by Sangritana which provides locomotives, per
The railway connection, strongly desired by the Arc ese group, leader in Europe in intermodal transport, was announced on 15 February in the presence of the repre sentatives of the Abruzzo Region and of the companies involved in the project, including Stante Logistics .
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Polluting emissions
The project will provide local companies in the region with a green tool to deal with the international market, just think that the CO2 saving for this section alone allows a reduction of carbon dioxide emissions per single train of at least 25 tonnes compared to the equivalent transport. by road, a benefit that at the end of the year totals more than 7200 tonnes of CO2 saved, subtracting the equiva lent of hundreds and hundreds of trucks from the motor way network.
Intermodal transport is a method that combines several means of transport and has the objective of reducing road trips, thus limiting transport costs and polluting emissions into the environment.
SERVICE BETWEEN ITALY AND POLAND STARTS
sonnel, know-how as well as railway shunting services for the Atservice.themoment there are 3 pairs of trains per week but further circulations are not excluded for 2023.
According to Anke Förster, Chief Financial Officer at DPD Germany, climate-neutral logistics is the long-term goal. The shift to freight trains puts the focus of DPD's car bon reduction efforts on the main leg. That's the long-dis tance segment of the journey that is usually handled by lorry, and the source of the most carbon emissions for theseIt'sshipments.alsoahighly practical arrangement for DPD.
T
Maiden voyage for DPD parcels
The switch from road to rail is a boon for the environ ment and DPD's climate goals. "Each time we use rail to ship a swap body loaded with DPD consignments from Hamburg to Duisburg and back," says Björn Saschen brecker from Sales at Kombiverkehr, "we cut our carbon emissions by about a tonne compared with the same transport by road. That's a reduction of over 80% and a clear indication that intermodal transport will help DPD reach key milestones on its path to a low carbon future."
he first iInternational parcel delivery service provider DPD launched its latest pilot project at the end of May this year: using DB Cargo freight trains for the daily shipping of parcels between Duisburg and Hamburg. Kombiverkehr is the neutral ser vice provider for the project, offering reliable intermodal transport for DPD. It's also a strategic partner and an affil iate of DB Cargo AG.
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The first phase of the project is focused on the trans port of two DPD swap bodies on the rail route between Hamburg und Duisburg. More is planned. By 2023, DPD intends to ship 5% of its domestic freight by rail, with ad ditional routes already on the discussion table.
Near future
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parcels in the Kombiverkehr network www.freight-tracks.com
"Thanks to Kombiverkehr, we don't have to fill a whole train," says Förster. "We can book individual swap bodies on existing routes. This route in particular is ideal since our depots in both Hamburg and Duisburg are located very close to transhipment terminals for the railway."
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Every evening, goods trains carrying DPD swap bodies depart at almost the same time from both Hamburg and Duisburg. DPD would like to shift an even larger share of its freight volumes to rail in the near future. When that happens, DB Cargo will be ready. It's already working in close cooperation with its partners on service offerings and solutions precisely tailored to the needs and interests of theseLogisticscustomers.service providers can find support for the shift to rail from organizations such as the Pro-Rail Alli ance or Germany's National Association for Freight Trans port, Logistics and Waste Disposal (BGL), both long-time advocates of greater use of the rail network for freight transport. Untapped potential According to a survey conducted in 2021, the market is still full of untapped potential. When it comes to freight transport, small and medi um-sized enterprises in particular could benefit greatly from combining road and rail.
1830: Baltimore & Ohio opens as the first US common-carrier railroad just five years after the pioneering Stockton & Darling ton Railroad and four months before the Liverpool & Manchester Railway in England opens. It offers the first scheduled rail freight service to the public
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1659: Two boys die when they are run over by a wagon on a wooden coal train way at Whickham, County Durham, UK. While such tramway accidents are not generally listed as rail accidents this is sometimes cited as the earliest known railway accident.
1831: US mail is carried on the rails for the first time.
1827: The first railroad in France, from Saint-Étienne to An drézieux, opens
1842: The UK's Railway Clearing House is established to man age the allocation of fare and fee revenues collected by competing railway companies. It would apportion income between member companies from goods travelling over the lines of rivals. It will last until 1955.
1851: First refrigerated railcar known to have been built in the US began service when eight tonnes of butter were shipped from Ogdensburg, NY to Boston.
FREIGHT
The railway network has been used to transport goods of various types and in varying volumes since the early 19th century ... or earlier!
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1900: John Luther Jones, also known as Casey Jones, dies in a train wreck. Jones’s Illinois Central passenger train crashed into the back of a stalled freight train in Vaughan, Mississippi, on the foggy night of April 30.
1885: The famous circus elephant “Jumbo” is killed by a GTR freight train, hauled by locomotive #788 at St Thomas, Ontario,
1869: After a 16-day trip, the first carload of rail freight arrives in San Francisco from Boston.
1900: The start of the two day great fire of Hull-Ottawa that destroys a great deal of railway infrastructure, including 13 cars of the Ottawa and Gatineau and Pontiac Pacific Junction Rail ways and 175 Canadian Pacific freight cars. These are valued at $130,000. The Canadian Pacific Union Station and freight sheds on Lebreton Flats are destroyed, seeing $70,000 of damage. The fire creates such a shortage of lumber in the area that the Canada Atlantic Railway car shops in Ottawa East are forced to temporari ly cease building new freight cars.
FREIGHT DATES
1861/65: The US Civil War becomes the first major conflict in which railroads play a major role, as both sides use trains to move troops and supplies.
1865: The railroad tank car is invented by Charles P. Hatch of the Empire Transportation Company in the United States. The earliest tank cars were flat cars with wooden tubes mounted on top used to transport several thousand gallons of crude oil. In addition to oil products, early tank cars transported, among other things, pickles in brine and oysters on ice.
1886: Regular freight traffic begins to pass through the Great Western Railway’s Severn Tunnel linking southern Gloucestershire and Monmouthshire as it is initially freight only.
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1984: Millions of people worldwide tuned in to watch a train crash on live TV in the UK, a crash with no casualties and on a section of disused railway that made headlines. This was Operation Smash Hit, a demonstration to show how safe the flasks used to carry nuclear waste by road and rail were, by running a 239 tonne train into a flask at 100mph (160km/h).
1936: The Chicago Great Western Railroad moves several hundred truck trailers on flatcars modified for this purpose. This is the beginning of the intermodal concept as we generally know it today
1905: The Pennsylvania Railroad inaugurates the fastest freight train schedule in the world, operating between Chicago, IL, and New York City in 18 hours
1938: The French railway system was effectively nationalised when the Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer Français (SNCF) took over the operations of the privately owned Est, Midi, Nord, Paris-Lyons-Mediterranean, and Paris-Orleans railways, as well as the railways in western France..
1950: General Motors Electro-Motive Division produces its first six-axle freight diesel locomotive, an SD7. It tours as demonstrator #990 before being sold to the Southern Pacific Railroad, which numbers it #1518. It is preserved at the Illinois Railway Museum.
1949: Last day archbar freight trucks can legally operate in US Interchange service only on empty cars returning to their home roads.
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1955: Intermodal freight — the movement of containers and high way trailers by rail — is reported as a separate category of freight for the first time. In that year, railroads moved 168,000 carloads of trailers and containers.
1980: The US Congress passes the Staggers Rail Act, reducing the Interstate Commerce Commission’s regulatory authority over railroads and sparking competition that stimulates advances in technology and a restructuring of the industry, including creation of hundreds of new shortline and regional railroads using rail lines spun off from larger railroads.
1956: Trucking executive Malcom McLean converts a military tanker into the first marine containership: the Ideal X sailed from New Jersey to Houston with 58 containers on board. McLean’s in novation, is a key technology that makes the globalisation of trade possible.
1940: A German air-raid on Liverpool Docks is so destructive that South Docks Goods depot is hit and completely destroyed. When the wreckage was cleared it was decided not to rebuild or re-open the goods station.
2006: US and Canadian railroads move 14.6 million intermodal trailers and containers, an all-time high.
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2011: European-sized freight wagons operate on High Speed 1 for the first time. The trial involved two wagons from DB Schenker's www.freight-tracks.com
1986: THE CLASS 59 Co-Co diesel locomotives built by EMD for Foster Yeoman enter service to become the first US-built diesel locomotives to operate regularly on the British network. They had arrived at Southampton docks a month earlier.
1996: After 108 years, the Interstate Commerce Commission goes out of existence and is replaced by the Surface Transportation Board, which assumes responsibility for remaining regulation of rail rates and services.
DATESFREIGHT
1994: At about 3:25 am three Burlington Northern freight trains are involved in an accident. An eastbound train that has stopped for a train ahead was struck in the rear by a following eastbound train. Before the collision, the striking eastbound train had passed restricted proceed signal indication at high speed without apprecia bly slowing. The lead unit of the striking train derailed and came to rest on an adjacent track where it was hit by a westbound train. The engineer and conductor of the striking eastbound train were killed and the engineer and conductor of the westbound train are injured. Damages to track, equipment, and lading were estimated at $2.5 million.
2009: freight operator Stobart commences a weekly refrigerat ed train service, operated in conjunction with DB Schenker. The 1100 mile (1800 km) journey from Valencia, Spain terminates at the Ripple Lane inter-modal depot developed originally for Ford Dagenham. The first fully refrigerated goods service to run through Eurotun nel, it is the longest train journey at launch in Europe by a single operator.
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2009: The severe recession leads to sharply lower rail traffic. Every major commodity category of rail traffic was down in 2009, most of them sharply.
2009: Canadian Pacific’s Lambton Yard in Toronto, a freight marshalling located to the west of and contiguous with the West Toronto Yard on the Galt Subdivision, is closed.
2008: Coal again becomes the top source of US rail industry rev enue, overtaking intermodal (which had taken over the top spot in 2003). Class I railroads originate a record 879 million tons of coal.
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1996: Three British trainload freight companies, Load-Haul, Mainline Freight and Trans-Rail, are acquired by North & South Railways, an affiliate of US-based train operator Wisconsin Central, as part of British Rail’s privatisation.
Spanish logistics business Transfesa and four curtain-sided Mega Combi swap bodies.
2017: Class I railroads terminate 208,036 carloads of crude oil, down from a peak of 540,383 in 2014. The decline is due largely to the construction of many new crude oil pipelines.
2017: The first freight train from China to the UK arrives in Lon don, having crossed seven countries in 18 days. The train left the city of Yiwu travelling 7500 miles (12,000 km), before arriving at a freight depot in Barking, Essex. It delivers 34 containers.
2018: US railroads originate 14.5 million intermodal contain ers and trailers, setting a new annual record. In 1990, containers accounted for 44% of intermodal traffic. By 2000, the share was 69%. In 2018, it was 91%. Containers are generally more efficient than trailers, in part because they can be “double-stacked.”
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2013: Intermodal revenue (approximately $15.0 billion) surpasses coal ($14.3 billion) as the top source of US freight rail industry revenue.
2014: Class I railroads originate more than 493,000 carloads of crude oil, up from 9500 in 2008, 29,600 in 2010 and 234,000 in 2012. By serving almost every refinery in the United States and Canada, railroads offer market participants enormous flexibility to shift product quickly to different places in response to market needs and price opportunities.
2017: The first-ever UK export train bound for China departs just under three months after the first-ever import train from China arrived in the UK. The train will make the 7500 mile (12,000 km), three-week-long journey, travelling from DP World London Gateway’s rail terminal in Barking, Essex, bound for Yiwu in the Zhe Jiang province in eastern China.
2015: US freight railroads spend $30.3 billion — more than ever before — to build and maintain locomotives, freight cars, tracks, bridges, tunnels and other infrastructure and equipment. America’s freight railroads operate almost exclusively on infrastructure that they own, build, maintain, and pay for themselves. By contrast, trucks, airlines, and barges operate on highways, airways, and wa terways that are overwhelmingly publicly financed.
2018: A study from Towson University’s Regional Economic Studies Institute found that, in 2017 alone, the operations and capital investment of America’s major freight railroads supported approximately 1.1 million jobs (nearly eight jobs for every railroad
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2011: Ethanol carloads on US railroads rise to nearly 341,000, up from fewer than 40,000 in 2000. In 2011, ethanol accounted for 1.2% of total US rail carloads, up from 0.1% in 2000. Railroads account for approximately two-thirds of ethanol movements.
2019: Class I railroads originate 471 million tons of coal, down 46% from 2008’s peak of 879 million tons. Coal accounted for 23% of US electricity generation in 2019.
2019: Class I railroads pay $1.4 billion in state and local prop erty taxes, double what they paid 10 years earlier. Unlike trucks and barges, railroads pay property taxes on their infrastructure. In many states, railroads also pay taxes on the value of their freight cars.
2020: Freight railroads adapt to the COVID-19 pandemic to safeguard employees while ensuring the continued flow of critical goods the nation relies on.
2020: Thanks to the relentless dedication of freight rail employ ees, Class I railroads successfully meet the congressionally mandated deadline to have Positive Train Control (PTC) fully operable by the end of 2020. Today, PTC is fully implemented and in opera tion on 100% of Class I PTC route-miles network wide.
Holiday Reading job), nearly $219 billion in economic output, and $71 billion in wages. Railroads also generated nearly $26 billion in tax revenues.
In addition, millions of Americans work in industries that are more competitive in the tough global economy thanks to the affordabili ty and productivity of America’s freight railroads.
2020: Between 2000 and 2021, the train accident was down 33% and between 2000 and 2020, the hazmat accident rate was down 60%. The rail employee injury rate in 2020 was an all-time low.
2020: Class I railroads move a ton of freight 487 miles, on av erage, per gallon of fuel consumed — roughly the distance from Washington, DC to Dayton, OH or Chicago, IL to Pittsburgh, PA.
2022: UK's Freightliner jumbo trains see first anniversary.
2021: China's imports and exports with the 24 countries along China-Europe freight train routes reached 6.88 trillion yuan ($1.01 trillion), up 19.7% year-on-year.
2020: Since the Staggers Act was passed in 1980, average rail rates adjusted for inflation have fallen 44%. This means the aver age rail shipper can move much more freight for about the same price it paid more than 40 years ago.
2022: Launch of Freight Tracks digital magazine to reflect the fascinating modern rail freight scene worldwide. www.freight-tracks.com
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From 1980 through 2020, US freight railroads consumed 95 billion fewer gallons of fuel and emitted more than a billion fewer tons of carbon dioxide than they would have if their fuel efficiency had not improved.
The names and nicknames of freight trains operated
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In 1952, the year that Britain acquired a new mon arch and Harry S Truman handed over power to General Eisenhower in the United States, the As sociation of American railroads published a handy booklet of the names and nicknames of freight trains operated by the railroads of the United States and Canada.The thundering freight train, starts the book let, the burden bearer of industry and commerce, symbolises dynamic America on the move. Every few seconds day or night, in all sorts of weather, a freight train starts on itsrun somewhere in the Unit ed States.
There are Cannonballs, Bullets, Rockets, Meteors, Thunderbolts and Redballs and names that savour of speed and the roar of the rails. The booklet's 22 pages contain details of some 360 names and nicknames. Over are some interest ing examples.
These freight trains, heavy laden with goods, products and commodities in limitless variety, are in most cases identified by numbers, but in the course of their operations many acquired names or nick names by which they were familiarly known. to rail road staff and enthusiasts. Often these names reflect something of the color and romance of American railroading. Sometimes they relate to the railroad's history, the area served by the railroad or the nature of the railroad's services.
What's in a name for
Salesman PRR
Katy Packer MKT
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L&N
GN
Oil Time Freight GN
Mad Run EJ&E
Naked Lady IC
Iron Master SAL
Silver Bullet L&N
Klondyke CN
Uncle Sam PRR
The Crestline, OH to Buffalo Chicago to New York Cincinatti & Columbus to Norfolk East St Louis, IL to Enola, PA Chicago to Dickinson, W VA East Buffalo-DeWitt NY
Virginian NYC
The Thing NYC
Shippers Pride NYC
The Birmingham, AL to Richmond, VA Ft Worth, TX to Kansas City Lindsay-Howland Newberry Jct, PA-Gardenville NY Chicago to Harsimus Cove, NJ Joliet, IL to Goose Lake, IL Centralia, IL to Chicago Harve to Spokane
Long Suffering NYC
B&O Line Missouri-Kansas-Texas Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Great Northern Louisville & Nashville New York Central IC Illionois Central NYNH&H New York, New Haven & Hartford LV Lehigh Valley
Baltimore & Ohio B&M Boston & Maine WP Western Pacific PRR Pennsylvania NYC New York Central SR Southern CN Canadian National SAL Seaboard Air
for a freight train? Holiday Reading operated on the railroads of the United States on the 1950s Air Line B&O Alegheny to Demmler, Pa The Ball - The Cannon Ball NYNH&H Boston-New York Big Chief B&M Boston to Mechanieville, NY Cabbage Cutter WP Stockton, CA-Terminus The Cornucopia PRR Buffalo to Philadelphia Flying Forwarder LV NYC, Jersey City & Newark to Buffalo, NY Flying Saucer Erie Jersey City-Chicago Georgia 52 SR Jacksonville, FL to Cincinnati Dive Bomber B&O Baltimore to Baltimore Yard First Bullet CN Toronto-Montreal Hoosier Special NYC East St Louis-DeWitt, NY
MKT
EJ&E
NYC
Man o' War PRR
Box Car Willie sings
There can be no singer more closely associated with freight trains than Lecil Travis Martin (September 1 1931 – April 12 1999), better known by his stage name, Boxcar Willie. He was an American country mu sic singer-songwriter, who sang in the "old-time hobo" music style, complete with dirty face, overalls and a floppy hat. Boxcar Willie was originally a char acter in a ballad he wrote but he later adopted it as his own stage name. His early musical career ran parallel to service as an enlisted United States Air Force (USAF) Flight Engineer. Martin was born in Ovilla, Texas. He joined the USAF in May 1949, and served as a flight engineer on the B-29 Super Fortress during the Korean War in the early 1950s. In Lincoln, Nebras ka, Martin was once sitting at a rail road crossing and a fellow that closely resembled his chief boom operator, Willie Wilson, passed by sitting in a boxcar. He said: "There goes Willie." He pulled over and wrote a song entitled Boxcar Willie. It eventually stuck and became Martin's nickname. In 1962, Martin met his future wife, Lloene, in Boise, Idaho. They later had fourInchildren.SanJose, California, Martin at tended a talent show as "Boxcar Willie" and performed under that nickname for the first time. He won first place, a $150 prize and a nickname that he for ever went by. That was his part-time vocation, however, for he was still in the Air Force and had been flying daily missions. In the early 1970s while as signed to the 136th Air Refueling Wing of the Texas Air National Guard, Mar tin served as a Flight Engineer aboard the Boeing KC-97 Stratofreighter and participated in Operation Creek Par ty. This operation provided critical inflight refueling services for fighter air craft assigned to the U.S. Air Forces in Europe for 10 consecutive years. In 1976, Martin retired from the Air Force and became a full-time per former. One of his first national ap pearances was a win on Chuck Barris' The Gong Show. In the late 70's Martin would travel to Grand Prairie, Texas where he would purchase hundreds of 8-track tapes pre-recorded with his music to later sell in various places. After he received a contract with oth er recording studios he discontinued his dealings with Cleo McDonald. He entered American mainstream pop culture consciousness due to a series of television commercials for record compilations of artists who were ob scure in the United States, yet had large international followings, such as Slim Whitman and Gheorghe Zamfir. He went on to become a star in coun try music. In 1981, Martin achieved a professional landmark by being in
Holiday Reading
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ducted into the Grand Ole Opry. His was more than a US success too, with his 1980 album King of the Road giving him his greatest chart success by reaching No 5 in the UK album chart. Travelling around the world with his band, was his steadfast and trusty steel guitar player Chubby Howard, radio show host and musician for many years. In 1985, Martin moved to Branson, Missouri and purchased a theatre on Highway 76, or 76 Country Music Bou levard. In addition to the Boxcar Wil lie Theater, he opened a museum and eventually had two motels, both bear ing his Boxcarname.Willie was one of the first big stars to open a show in Branson, paving the way for the other nationally known names that followed. He performed at his theatre in Branson until his death. On February 23 1992, Boxcar Willie was featured on the Season 2 premier of Tracks Ahead in which he performed with his band at the Boxcar Willie The ater. Album cover The album cover opposite features an Erie Lackawanna EMD SD45 #EL 3632. One of the songs on the LP was the ‘The Wreck of the Old 97’. It tells of the 1903 crash involving the Southern Railway mail train, officially known as the Fast Mail (train number 97), while en route from Monroe, Virginia, to Spencer, North Carolina, on September 27 1903. Travelling at an excessive speed in an attempt to maintain schedule, the train derailed at the Stillhouse Trestle near Danville, Virginia, where it ca reened off the side of the bridge, killing 11 on-board personnel and injuring sev en others. The wreck inspired a famous railroad ballad, which was the focus of a copyright lawsuit and became seminal in the genre of country music.
sings the rails
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KEEP THE DATE: Railway industry calendar of events 07-08 September Warsaw, Poland Rail Freight Summit 08 September London, UK RFG Awards Dinner 22-25 August Montpellier, France International Conference on Railway Technology 14-16 September Munich, Germany 17th Conference on Critical Information Infrastructures Security 16-22 September Europe European Mobility Week 20-23 September Berlin, Germany innoTrans 27 September Worldwide World Freight Train Day 30 September Manchester, UK Rail in the North of England 04-06 October Berlin, Germany EPCA Annual Meeting 05 October London, UK RFG Annual Conference 05-07 October Prague, Chezchia International Rail Forum Conference 12-13 October Germany Rail Infra Forum 13-14 October Nis, Serbia Railcon 19-20 October Debrecen, Hungary Rail Freight on Tour 19-20 October Jakarta, Indonesia RailwayTech Indonesia 19-21 October Berlin, Germany Deutsche Logistik Kongress November TBC Barcelona, Spain BCNRAIL Internacional Rail Forum 07-09 November Warsaw, Poland 9th International Transport & Logistics Exhibition 08-10 November Amsterdam, Netherlands Intermodal Europe 09 November Stockholm, Sweden Scandinavian Rail Optimisation 14-17 November Lisbon, Portugal Transport Research Arena 15-17 November TBC Intelligent Rail Summit 2022 29 Nov - 01 Dec Malaga, Spain Rail Live 2022 07-08 December Duisberg, Germany European Silk Road Summit 08 December Paris, France 101st UIC General Assembly 2023 28-30 March Lille France 13th International Exhibition of Railway Technology 09-11 May Birmingham, UK Railtex 03-05 October Milan, Italy Expo Ferroviaria If you would like your event listed here free of charge, just send details to freighttracks@gmail.com 42 n AUGUST 29 2022 @freighttracks
visit: tankcontainermedia.com BECAUSE NOT ALL FREIGHT ON A TRAIN MOVES IN A BOX
