The LNER Encyclopedia

I was surprised to read on Wikipedia that wagon-load freight is still an integral and substantial part of freight operations in several European countries, such as France, Germany, Italy,Spain and Switzerland. This got me wondering whether British Rail's push to run down and finally ditch its wagon-load services in the 70s and 80s was as much about 'operational convenience' as anything else. I am not for a moment suggesting that the typical rural weekly branch pick-up services so beloved of railway romantics should have been continued, but surely there were many businesses and firms situated on major routes that relied on regular deliveries and despatches by rail and were forced onto road transport.

This is very noticeable travelling by train in these countries. Earlier this year I went by train from Huddersfield to Cracow (I flew back, I'm afraid), passing numerous marshalling yards with a great variety of traffic. The on-train food and drink gets better as well, but that's another story.

Kudu

Pyewipe Junction wrote: ↑Thu Oct 24, 2019 3:55 am This got me wondering whether British Rail's push to run down and finally ditch its wagon-load services in the 70s and 80s was as much about 'operational convenience' as anything else. ...

Cost- (or more accurately accountancy-) driven; shunting costs time, manpower and money. The air braked Speedlink network (and its brief Enterprise renaissance with EWS) offered a window of hope but increasing pressure on business sectors to cover their own costs made its abandonment inevitable. The wider costs - of so many more lorries on roads ill equipped to handle them - tend to be 'unseen'

Pennine MC wrote: ↑Thu Oct 24, 2019 12:05 pm

Pyewipe Junction wrote: ↑Thu Oct 24, 2019 3:55 am This got me wondering whether British Rail's push to run down and finally ditch its wagon-load services in the 70s and 80s was as much about 'operational convenience' as anything else. ...

Cost- (or more accurately accountancy-) driven; shunting costs time, manpower and money. The air braked Speedlink network (and its brief Enterprise renaissance with EWS) offered a window of hope but increasing pressure on business sectors to cover their own costs made its abandonment inevitable. The wider costs - of so many more lorries on roads ill equipped to handle them - tend to be 'unseen'

Which, of course, raises the question how come they are able to retain wagon-load freight in other countries but not in the UK.

Pyewipe Junction wrote: ↑Thu Oct 24, 2019 3:55 am I was surprised to read on Wikipedia that wagon-load freight is still an integral and substantial part of freight operations in several European countries, such as France, Germany, Italy,Spain and Switzerland. This got me wondering whether British Rail's push to run down and finally ditch its wagon-load services in the 70s and 80s was as much about 'operational convenience' as anything else. I am not for a moment suggesting that the typical rural weekly branch pick-up services so beloved of railway romantics should have been continued, but surely there were many businesses and firms situated on major routes that relied on regular deliveries and despatches by rail and were forced onto road transport.

Just look at the geography. Europe has a contiguous rail network that extends over a huge distance compared to the UK. That creates a potential freight traffic volume to economically support a more capable and flexible freight traffic handling system. Switzerland restricting road truck movement across its territory helps too...

The closest modern equivalent to wagon load freight in the UK is container freight railed between ports and inland container terminals. There's the volume case to support such rail freight in 'wagon load' quantity.

Pyewipe Junction wrote: ↑Thu Oct 24, 2019 12:20 pm

Pennine MC wrote: ↑Thu Oct 24, 2019 12:05 pm

Pyewipe Junction wrote: ↑Thu Oct 24, 2019 3:55 am This got me wondering whether British Rail's push to run down and finally ditch its wagon-load services in the 70s and 80s was as much about 'operational convenience' as anything else. ...

Cost- (or more accurately accountancy-) driven; shunting costs time, manpower and money. The air braked Speedlink network (and its brief Enterprise renaissance with EWS) offered a window of hope but increasing pressure on business sectors to cover their own costs made its abandonment inevitable. The wider costs - of so many more lorries on roads ill equipped to handle them - tend to be 'unseen'

Which, of course, raises the question how come they are able to retain wagon-load freight in other countries but not in the UK.

Because they have a more holistic attitude to the economics? I can't comment on the political leanings of these 'other countries', but it would seem the logical answer

Comparing to what I see in the US, I think Hatfield Shed's point is closer. Here we have a large rail network although it is divided amongst companies.

Most of the traffic I see locally (on the old Fort Worth - Denver mainline) are coal drags and intermodal (ie. UK style block trains), but we do have mixed freight trains.

And the traffic in the mixed trains is invariably from rail-connected "industries" and longer distance travel. Ie. there's at most only one set of trans-shipment costs, instead of two.

For example every week we have a short sheet rock train come in from Qanah. Only a few cars, but it gets added to a mixed freight and leaves a few days later. Eventually it will end up at a distributors. There was one where we used to live in Irving - mostly lumber in that case, but it had a bunch of sidings connecting to the local BNSF yard. Lorries then took lumber,etc to local(-ish) builders merchants, Home Depot type places, etc.

Such trains may well have box cars, reefers, high beams (for sheet material), but also covered hoppers, gondolas (typically with scrap metal), tankers (anything from corn syrup to some quite nasty chemicals), steel, containerised rubbish (no idea how that is economic!), auto-racks, etc.