UK Rail Freight Focus, Ely and East Anglia
In this video I will be looking at the variety of freight that passes through Ely and the surrounding lines in Cambridgeshire. The primary traffic flow through Ely are intermodal workings to and from the port of Felixstowe.
These reach Ely via the cross country line towards Soham and Bury St Edmunds which heads east at Ely Dock Junction. Here we see 66711 heading south from Ely towards Ely Dock Junction with a liner bound for Felixstowe.
There are stone terminals at Kennett, Bury St Edmunds and Barham north of Ipswich which generate traffic on this section of line as well.
There is also a stone terminal at Ely Papworth just north of the station. Here we see 66129 with empty wagons entering the down goods loop where it will run round. Coming in the other direction is 66415 with empty wagons from Barham.
We will now look at traffic on the line to Kings Lynn. All of the freight on this line is generated by the terminal at Middleton Towers which handles sand from the nearby quarry which is used in glass making.
On Saturdays DCR work a loaded sand train along the line.
Freight trains from the lines to Kings Lynn and Norwich use the single track bi-directional loop between the West and North Junctions to avoid the need to run round at Ely.
The cross country line to Norwich is much less busy with freight. There are regular deliveries to the stone terminal at Norwich Trowse plus there are terminals at Brandon and Eccles Road which receive deliveries on as as required basis.
We will now look at traffic on the line that heads west from Ely via March and Whittlesea to Peterborough.
Here we see the DCR Class 60 working Fridays empty wagons bound for Middleton Towers which will form the loaded Saturday train we saw earlier.
66501+66593 4M81 Felixstowe - Trafford Park at Ely North Junction 14/4/2025
66711 4L28 Doncaster Iport - Felixstowe at Ely 14/4/2025
66709 4L11 Masborough - Felixstowe at Soham 2/4/2025
66747 4M21 Felixstowe - Trafford Park at Kennett 15/3/2025
66418 4E56 Felixstowe - Leeds at Soham 2/4/2025
66724 4L13 Hams Hall - Felixstowe at Kennett 15/3/2025
66128 6L43 Mountsorrel - Kennett at Soham 17/2/2025
66129 4M31 Ely Papworth - Mountsorrel at Ely 14/4/2025
66415 6M55 Barham - March Yard at Ely 14/4/2025
69007 4H98 March Up Yard - Middleton Towers at Queen Adelaide 7/4/2025
69009 6E86 Middleton Towers - Monk Bretton at Queen Adelaide 8/4/2025
69004 6E86 Middleton Towers - Monk Bretton at Littleport 6/3/2025
60055 6Z89 Middleton Towers - Chaddesden at Ten Mile Bank 8/3/2025
69007 6E85 Middleton Towers - Barnby Dun at Ely Bi-Directional Loop 14/4/2025
66070 4O50 Norwich Trowse - Acton Yard at Two Mile Bottom 4/3/2025
66143 4O50 Norwich Trowse - Angerstein Wharf at Santon Downham 8/4/2025
66520 4E31 Felixstowe - Doncaster at Ely West Junction 8/4/2025
66708 4M23 Felixstowe - Birch Coppice at Black Bank 11/4/2025
66011 4M20 Eccles Road - Toton at Ely West Junction 7/3/2025
66104 4L45 Wakefield Europort - Felixstowe at Black Bank 11/4/2025
66722 6M60 Whitemoor Yard - Mountsorrel at Beggars Bridge 31/3/2025
66763 4E20 Felixstowe - Masborough at Welney/Pymoor 31/3/2025
66755 4L28 Doncaster Iport - Felixstowe at Beggars Bridge 31/3/2025
66532 4L54 Ditton - Felixstowe at Welney/Pymoor 31/3/2025
66784 4M23 Felixstowe - Hams Hall at Whittlesea 27/1/2025
66005 4L45 Wakefield Europort - Felixstowe at Whittlesea 27/1/2025
66588 4M87 Felixstowe - Lawley Street at Kings Dyke 27/1/2025
60055 6L92 Chaddesden - Kings Lynn at Ely West Junction 7/3/2025
This video explores freight operations in and around Ely, Cambridgeshire, focusing on the movement of goods through key locations such as Bury St Edmunds, Felixstowe, and nearby terminals. It features various locomotives including Class 60 and Class 66 units operated by companies like GBRf, Freightliner, and DB Cargo UK. The footage highlights intermodal traffic heading to and from the port of Felixstowe, as well as freight movements on lines leading to Kings Lynn. Several headcodes are noted, indicating scheduled services passing through the area.
Fishplate has identified 28 locomotives in this video. We’ve also matched 23 headcodes and 8 operators . Create a free account to see where they appear, unlock timestamps and locations, and view the full breakdown.
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