Breedon Class 20 Number 3/20906 At Hope Valley + a look some freight working through Peak Forest.
We begin at Earles Sidings, just behind the Cheshire Cheese Inn, which serves Breedon Hope Cement Works. Notably here are a couple of illusive British Rail Class 20 on long term hire from Harry Needle, which are used primarily for shunting duties, working out from the Cement Works to shunt wagons into the sidings and take the arriving freight traffic in.
I took a gamble visiting here today as there were no inbound or outbound mainline workings, so I was extremely pleased to see Breedon Class 20 No. 3 / 20906 emerge with a rake of wagons ready to form a freight with another half a rake of wagons further down the yard before returning to the Works. Note the 20s here are equipped with silencers and feature these modifications to keep noise levels down and minimise disturbance to the local Peak District community, so not the usual whistle of the Class 20 were used to hearing on the channel.
The second stop of the afternoon was just a short drive along the road to Peak Forest, situated on the former Midland line from Manchester to Derby and London.
The Great Rocks Line is a freight railway line in Derbyshire, that runs between the Hope Valley Line at Chapel Milton and the stone quarries and sidings at Peak Dale and Peak Forest, before looping around to the town of Buxton. It takes its name from the Great Rocks Dale through which it runs. The Peak Forest railhead and depot services the Dove Holes Quarry (a large limestone quarry operated by Cemex UK) and frequently handles heavy aggregate trains from the nearby Tunstead Quarry (operated by Tarmac).
There was a good variety of freight traffic through here during the short time I spent observing various movements around the site and somewhere I’d certainly come back to!
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The video captures a British Rail Class 20 locomotive, No. 20906, operating at Earles Sidings near Hope Valley, where it is used for shunting duties at Breedon Hope Cement Works. The footage includes the locomotive moving wagons within the yard and forming freight trains. Several other locomotives are also present, including Class 195, Class 56, and multiple Class 66 units. The video highlights modifications on the Class 20 to reduce noise for the local community. Freight operations and related rail movements are documented across various locations in the region.
Fishplate has identified 11 locomotives in this video. We’ve also matched 4 headcodes and 5 operators . Create a free account to see where they appear, unlock timestamps and locations, and view the full breakdown.
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