China Clay trains

[38Cto15E]

There used to be a lot of china clay trains in Cornwall back in the day.
In recent years this has turned into very few.
Was the prime reason less demand for the clay in the Potteries or did the supplies of the clay around the greater St Austell area run out?

 

[Adrian Barr]

China clay traffic to the Potteries has been fairly stable, in the form of a a weekly trainload delivery to Cliffe Vale (Stoke), which has been the pattern for many years now. Currently serves Cliffe Vale on Fridays.

The trainload clay slurry "silver bullets" from Burngullow to Irvine switched to imports (in 2008 according to a post I found) which continued using rail through the tunnel from Antwerp until it ceased early last year.

There were some less-than-trainload flows from Cornwall to Scotland and elsewhere, some were lost with the end of Speedlink and some survived into the EWS "Enterprise" era before dwindling to nothing.

Volumes sent by rail within Cornwall to Fowey for onward shipment seem to have gradually declined over the years, I think it's more to do with economics and foreign competition than running out of clay.

Loading points have gradually been reduced to Goonbarrow (for Fowey), with the Cliffe Vale traffic being loaded at Treviscoe and Par Harbour. I'm not sure if the places that have ceased rail loading over the years (such as Marsh Mills) actually closed or switched to road transport.

 

[The Puddock]

The trainload clay slurry "silver bullets" from Burngullow to Irvine switched to imports (in 2008 according to a post I found) which continued using rail through the tunnel from Antwerp until it ceased early last year.

There were some less-than-trainload flows from Cornwall to Scotland and elsewhere, some were lost with the end of Speedlink and some survived into the EWS "Enterprise" era before dwindling to nothing.

Imported china clay comes by ship through the port of Aberdeen then via rail to Irvine and Workington.

 

[Benters]

There used to be a lot of china clay trains in Cornwall back in the day.
In recent years this has turned into very few.
Was the prime reason less demand for the clay in the Potteries or did the supplies of the clay around the greater St Austell area run out?

Remember seeing these pass through Stoke station in my student days. They usually had a Class 45 at the head.

 

[ac6000cw]

Remember seeing these pass through Stoke station in my student days. They usually had a Class 45 at the head.

...and up to the demise of the cl. 52 'Westerns' would often be hauled by one as far as Bescot - I used to see them fairly regularly at Stourbridge Junction in the '70s, passing a nice set of lower quadrant semaphores hauling a set of wooden bodied, tarpaulin covered wagons

 

[Gloster]

...and up to the demise of the cl. 52 'Westerns' would often be hauled by one as far as Bescot - I used to see them fairly regularly at Stourbridge Junction in the '70s, passing a nice set of lower quadrant semaphores hauling a set of wooden bodied, tarpaulin covered wagons

They also ran at one time via a meandering route: Taunton, Westbury, Swindon, Oxford and Claydon Junction to Bletchley Flyover, where the north- and southbound trains changed motive-power, being AC hauled Bletchley-Stoke. Later on, in the early 1980s, I used to watch the long trains of sheeted four-wheelers passing my box: they made up the main part of the outgoing traffic from Exeter with at least one train going direct to the Potteries.

 

[Jamesrob637]

Marsh Mills is now fully out of use and has been for a good decade now.