Loadhaul
 | |
| Industry | Rail freight |
|---|---|
| Fate | Acquired by Wisconsin Central Ltd. |
| Successor(s) | part of EWS |
| Founded | 9 June 1994 as Trainload Freight North East |
| Defunct | 1996 |
| Headquarters | Doncaster, United Kingdom |
| Services | Freight train owner/operator |
| Parent | British Rail |
Loadhaul Ltd. was a railfreight operator based in the north-east of the United Kingdom. It was formed in 1994, as part of the privatisation of British Rail, and acquired in 1996 by a consortium headed by Wisconsin Central, then merged into a new company English Welsh and Scottish Railway.
History
Loadhaul was created in 1994, along with Transrail and Mainline as part of the broadly regional split of British Rail's Trainload Freight trainload freight operations - Loadhaul's centre of operations were north east England, and south and east Yorkshire. The three companies were created with the aim of promoting competition between the businesses with the eventual aim of being privatised. It was initially and briefly named "Trainload Freight North East Limited" before being renamed Loadhaul Limited.[1][2]
In late 1995 the company employed 1650, with a fleet of 194 locomotives and over 5000 wagons, carrying 38million tons of freight with a revenue of $225 million. The company's main locomotive depots were Immingham TMD and Thornaby TMD with smaller facilities at Knottingley TMD and Doncaster TMD. The company's primary customers were the coal fired powerstations in the Aire Valley in south Yorkshire and British Steel at Scunthorpe Steelworks and Lackenby Steelworks.[3]
All three former Trainload Freight companies including Loadhaul were acquired in February 1996 by 'North-South Railways': a company formed by a consortium led by US railroad company Wisconsin Central, for a combined total of £225.15million (approximately $349 million). The USA based Omnitrax in association with Loadhaul management submitted an unsuccessful bid. The three companies together with Rail Express Systems were formed into a new company, English Welsh and Scottish Railway (EWS).[1][2][4][5]
Fleet
The fleet included Class 37 and Class 56 diesel locomotives, as well as the then new Class 60 diesel locomotives.
An unusual member of the fleet was class 122 'Bubblecar' No. 55012. This was used primarily for driver training and retained Loadhaul livery well into the EWS era.
Livery
The company introduced a livery of black with orange lower cabsides. This livery was unveiled at Doncaster Locomotive Works' open day in summer 1994; the first loco to have this livery was 56039. Some locomotives remained in triple grey livery and received a large body side logo and orange flashes next to the cab doors. No shunters received Loadhaul livery despite being operated by the company. A small fleet of lorries also received Loadhaul livery for carrying finished steel products.
Many wagons also received Loadhaul livery, with revenue earning stock such as HEA domestic coal hoppers and BDA steel flats being repainted during refurbishment. Non-revenue earning stock (engineering wagons) such as YGH Seacows and a shark brake van were also re-liveried.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 C. Nash; T. Fowkes (2004), "Rail Privatisation in Britain - Lessons for the rail freight industry : 2. The privatisation process", in European Conference of Ministers of Transport. Economic Research Centre, Report of the Hundred and Twenty Fifth Round Table on Transport Economics Held in Paris on 28th-29th November 2002 on the Following Topic: European Integration of Rail Freight Transport, OECD Publishing, sections: C. Trainload, p.70; C1 EWS, pp.70-1
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Philippe Thalmann (2004), The dynamics of freight transport development: a UK and Swiss comparison, Ashgate Publishing, The Privatisation of the Freight Business, p.34-35
- ↑ Walker, Mike (September 1996). "Wisconsin Central's British Empire". Railfan & Railroad 15 (Carstens Publications). p. 44.
- ↑ "Rail Privatisation". hansard.millbanksystems.com. Hansard, House of Commons, UK. 27 December 1996. volume 296, 275W.
- ↑ "WC group buys British freight services - Wisconsin Central buys Loadhaul, Transrail and Mainline Freight", Railway Age (Simmons-Boardman Publishing Corporation), March 1996
Sources
- WebCHeck - Select and Access Company Information, Companies House, see entries for LOADHAUL LIMITED, Company No. 02938985
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Load-Haul. |
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