Bescot Yard
Coordinates: 52°33′55″N 1°59′27″W / 52.5654°N 1.9907°W
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  Bescot Yard Bescot Yard shown within West Midlands county | |
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Bescot Yard is a railway yard in Bescot, a suburb of Walsall in the West Midlands, operated by DB Schenker Rail (UK). The yard is the major freight yard of the region, handling all of the rail freight movements and most of the railfreight traffic around the West Midlands.
History
Bescot is on the Walsall Line between Birmingham New Street and Walsall, part of the former Grand Junction Railway, opened in 1837. It was built to handle the coal and industrial traffic associated with the West Midlands.
Bescot TMD is to the north-west of the yard. This entire complex of track is clearly visible from the northern end of the M6 and M5 motorway junction.
Present
After closure of the 1950s developed hump shunting yard, freight since the 2008 credit crunch have declined significantly, and the associated Bescot TMD now carries no allocation of locomotives. DB Schenker services workings are still the mainstay of operations in the area, Direct Rail Services nuclear flask trains pass once or twice a week, and Freightliner Group Intermodal and Automotive trains also pass through. Regular Freightliner Coal trains also run around on the up goods on their way to Rugeley Power Station.
The yard can be viewed in operation from Bescot Stadium railway station, served by London Midland.
Gallery
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British Railways Class 20 No.s 20167 and 20162 take the line to Walsall, Hednesford and Rugeley from Bescot with a short train of empty coal wagons, November 1982
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Bescot's former hump shunting control offices ably illustrate the run-down state of the present yard, September 2008
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DB Schenker Class 66 visible in Bescot, next to Network Rail infrastructure vehicles, June 2005