willesden junction depot

[uav689]

Hi All

Is the willesden Jnct freight terminal in use any more? The big yellow cranes never seem to move any more..

[klordger1900]

I wouldnt be surprised if they have closed it down. Most block trains to/from the ports go direct to inland depots which are economical for trainloads. There isnt any need to marshall the contrs through London as such because the docks are served by road locally.

[33056]

I presume you mean Willesden Euroterminal? It is not currently in use as an intermodal / container terminal but is still used at times for engineers trains and, recently, for the R(ail)H(ead)T(reatment)T(rains)s.

[Intermodalist]

Originally Posted by klordger1900

I wouldnt be surprised if they have closed it down. Most block trains to/from the ports go direct to inland depots which are economical for trainloads. There isnt any need to marshall the contrs through London as such because the docks are served by road locally.

Since coming into being in 1994, Willesden Euroterminal prime purpose has never been as a terminal to cater for maritime traffic to/from the ports. Formerly a Freightliner terminal, handling both the intra-Britain and European traffic shipped in Freightliner units, the re-born Euroterminal was originally there just to handle Channel Tunnel intermodal trains.

Following the demise of all common-user Channel Tunnel intermodal services in 2006, due in large part to the problems stemming from recurring French rail strikes and UK/French customs checks, Euroterminal has been disused, apart from a brief spell spent handling maritime containers to/from Thamesport.

I doubt very much if anyone will see the yellow cranes moving there again.

Firstly, of the four cranes on site, the largest pair, the Morris units, are not as operationally efficient as present-day designs, and as such, it would probably not be worth the time, money and effort rehabilitating them. It’s no surprise that Freightliner chose to decommission the two pairs of Morris cranes of the same design, in use at Landor Street and Trafford Park respectively, during the last 12-18 months or so. They were barely 15 years old.

Secondly, Willesden is, as it has always been, an awful terminal in terms of road access. So, even in the unlikely scenario whereby DB Schenker were to offer the same kind of multi-user services that were begun in 1994, I can’t see many logistics companies being that enthusiastic about running their traffic through Willesden, due in large part to the risk of delays and costs caused by road traffic congestion.

In essence, I would say that although Willesden Euroterminal still exists in the physical sense, in the commercial sense, it is already dead.

It’s only a matter of time, I think, before DB Schenker hires in contractors to take the Morris cranes away to a scrap yard somewhere. Perhaps the one that EMR operates at Willesden!

As for other two cranes at Willesden, made by the now-defunct Armund, these, I think, will have a future elsewhere in Britain. They are probably worth rehabilitating, and could find a home at an existing intermodal terminal that operates with reach stackers only at the moment, such as Daventry, or at an as yet un-built terminal, such as the Goodmans-proposed terminal in Slough.

The latter, incidentally, has the potential to be a far larger and busier London terminal than the Prologis proposal at Howbury, which, despite the media hype, can only ever be a small operation.

[uav689]

thanks for that info- i thought all the cranes had been switched off, i can never remember any of them in use, for god knows how long.

[Intermodalist]

The cranes are rotting, and missing parts. They are probably the most visibile sign of how tax payers money can go to waste if big railway projects don't go as the planners though they would.

They are, in a sense, the 1990s equivalent of the 1950s plan to build new marshalling yards, like the one at Kingmoor.

[Dave Rowland]

Remember in the late 60's, when 1A Willesden MPD was hastily demolished to make way for the container terminal? That lasted about 10 minutes!

[8001]

I worked at Willesden MPD between 1961 and 1965 working on the diesels. Your right about the road access and the conjestion, even in the 1960's