Coils Conundrum #1?
I noticed on RTT on June 4th that the daily Margam to Corby steel train was coming not from South Wales, but Tees Yard near Middlesbrough.
In looking at this working most days for the past 20 years or so, I'd never seen this happen before. Interestingly, it was shown as 'aggregates' and not the usual 'metals'. Unfortunately domestic matters prevented me from seeing it.
My initial hunch was that some coils had been moved from the Hartlepool pipe mill to Tees Yard, before moving on south. I checked the details on 6V92, the empties working, and sure enough that had gone to Margam, but unusually ran late whereas if not at booked time this service often runs early.
On June 6th I noticed that this was an STP for the following day, so decided to photograph the train. Also, I noticed an item on the BBC website that mentioned how a new 'super hub' was going to be built on the vacant land that had been the result of a modernisation project that has been taking place during the last couple of years at Corby Steelworks. Could some aggregates be needed for this work? If so, surely they would come from one of the quarries in the Peak District, although some stone does arrive at Redcar ore terminal these days.
Three potential possibilities then
-coils from the north east, probably Hartlepool, possibly Lackenby
-aggregates
-a mixed train
New sidings were laid a couple of years back to allow scrap steel from the building work to be taken back to South Wales, so unloading could have taken place there. My thoughts however were that the foundations of the steelworks would have been good enough to support the new buildings.
So, confirmation of where and why these coils came from Tees is sought!
66053 on Seaton Viaduct with the 6Z94 01.19 Tees Yard to Corby steel coils.
Around 45 coils, roughly 10 - 20 short of the usual load on 6M94 from Margam. Some of them look a bit rusty......
Coils Conundrum #1?
I noticed on RTT on June 4th that the daily Margam to Corby steel train was coming not from South Wales, but Tees Yard near Middlesbrough.
In looking at this working most days for the past 20 years or so, I'd never seen this happen before. Interestingly, it was shown as 'aggregates' and not the usual 'metals'. Unfortunately domestic matters prevented me from seeing it.
My initial hunch was that some coils had been moved from the Hartlepool pipe mill to Tees Yard, before moving on south. I checked the details on 6V92, the empties working, and sure enough that had gone to Margam, but unusually ran late whereas if not at booked time this service often runs early.
On June 6th I noticed that this was an STP for the following day, so decided to photograph the train. Also, I noticed an item on the BBC website that mentioned how a new 'super hub' was going to be built on the vacant land that had been the result of a modernisation project that has been taking place during the last couple of years at Corby Steelworks. Could some aggregates be needed for this work? If so, surely they would come from one of the quarries in the Peak District, although some stone does arrive at Redcar ore terminal these days.
Three potential possibilities then
-coils from the north east, probably Hartlepool, possibly Lackenby
-aggregates
-a mixed train
New sidings were laid a couple of years back to allow scrap steel from the building work to be taken back to South Wales, so unloading could have taken place there. My thoughts however were that the foundations of the steelworks would have been good enough to support the new buildings.
So, confirmation of where and why these coils came from Tees is sought!
66053 on Seaton Viaduct with the 6Z94 01.19 Tees Yard to Corby steel coils.
Around 45 coils, roughly 10 - 20 short of the usual load on 6M94 from Margam. Some of them look a bit rusty......