UK Rail Freight Focus, KENT

In this video I will be examining some of the typic freight traffic that can be found operating in Kent. We start at Hoo Junction and the Grain branch situated in north west Kent between Gravesend and Higham.

Here we see 59201 passing Hoo Junction with the stone empties from Allington. The yard primarily handles civil engineers traffic and can be busy during the weekends.

Situated at the eastern end of the Grain branch is the former Thamesport container terminal, an aggregates terminal plus an oil terminal handling imported aviation fuel.

There is also a short spur serving the Brett Aggregates terminal at Cliffe which handles sea-dredged sand and gravel from the Thames Estuary.

The Thamesport container terminal in currently being used to fabricate tunnel lining segments for the HS2 project. The loaded train leaves the site in the late evening with the empties returning mid morning.

Tonbridge yard is situated to the west of the station and is the main GBRf depot in Kent. The yard is particularly busy during the Autumn Rail Head Treatment season.

The empty box wagons from the British Gypsum site at Mountfield pass through Tonbridge during the middle of the day and are seen here heading towards London at Polhill.

European imported and exported freight traffic also passes through Kent and is staged Dollands Moor yard in Folkestone close to the Channel Tunnel.

A recent new flow is the export of Toyota cars from it’s Derbyshire factory running as 6X11.

Some of the Channel tunnel freight now runs via HS1 although these generally run during the night with occasional one off daytime workings as seen here.

Imports of new rolling stock can also work over the high speed line.

The nuclear flask traffic from the power station at Dungeness has been a feature of the freight scene in Kent for many years. Today these trains are worked by DRS Class 68s.

59201 6V18 Allington - Whatley at Hoo Junction 9/1/2023

66244 6N31 Nunhead Junction - Hoo Junction at Aylesford 11/2/2024

66763 6G10 Hoo Junction - Shortlands at Polhill Bank 29/6/2024

66846 6C02 Hoo Junction - Shortlands Teston 29/6/2024

73109+73128 6Y48 Eastleigh - Hoo Junction at Milton Ranges/Chalk 19/6/2023

60029 6Z71 Grain - Willesden at Sharnal Street (Grain Branch) 3/5/2023

66750 6O37 Willesden Euroterminal - Cliffe at Cliffe Junction (Grain Branch) 3/5/2023

66727 6Y79 Angerstein Wharf - Grain at Cliffe Junction (Grain Branch) 10/2/2023

66793 6V04 Grain - Colnbrook at Lower Stoke (Grain Branch) 22/11/2021

66795 6O07 Colnbrook - Grain at Lower Stoke (Grain Branch) 8/4/2023

66760 6X82 Grain (Thamesport) - West Ruislip at Stoke (Grain Branch) 24/6/2024

66304 6O82 West Ruislip - Grain (Thamesport) at Cooling Street 9/6/2023

66603 6V18 Allington - Whatley at Milton Ranges/Chalk 10/2/2023

73128+73212 3W01 Tonbridge - Tonbridge RHTT at Tonbridge 12/11/2022

69003 4Y19 Mountfield - Southampton Western Docks at Polhill 7/4/2022

66065 6X11 Toton North Yard - Dollands Moor at Kemsing 24/6/2024

66127+66053 6X11 Toton North Yard - Dollands Moor at Westwell Leacon 9/6/2023

66135 6C24 Dollands Moor - Daventry at Great Chart 1/3/2020

92041 6O27 Ripple Lane - Dollands Moor at Singlewell 7/4/2022

92041 6L25 Dollands Moor - Ripple Lane at Blue Bell Hill 8/7/2019

92041+66002+231007+231008 6L22 Dollands Moor - Ripple Lane at Singlewell 6/6/2022

68004+68017 6M95 Dungeness - Crewe at Hollingbourne 9/6/2023