IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Isle Of Grain, ROCHESTER, ME3 0EP

This pylon stands immediately adjacent to Medway power station.

The line across the Hoo Peninsula is single track and one of the most interesting lines in Kent. Passenger trains ran on this line from 1882 to 1961, which seems surprising now as it doesn't really serve any significant centres of population. It is still in use by regular container trains on their way via Hoo Junction to and from Thamesport on the Isle of Grain. The site of Grain Crossing Halt was a short distance ahead - see https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/3603248 See http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/g/grain_crossing_halt/ for more information on the Hundred of Hoo Railway and Grain Crossing Halt. The view in the other direction can be seen at http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/5815537 This leads to Aggregate Industries siding and yard.

Claimed to be one of the UK’s most advanced combined cycle power stations, Medway is fired by gas and produces 688 MW of electricity. This plant stands only a mile or so from the familiar outline and chimney of Grain power station (TQ8875)

A gas fired combined cycle plant.

Mineral railway heading towards the Power Station from Hoo Junction, near Gravesend. Seen from the access road level crossing.

This is part of the Mineral Railway carrying material from the Thamesport Container Port and the Power Station towards Gravesend. Seen from the Thamesport access road level crossing. The railway heads towards the Grain Road crossing.

A little way within the complex, the road to the left goes to Medway power station. The freight-only railway serves the port - both container trains and bulk crushed stone trains use the line. The unused security office on the right is a "left over" from the time when the site was the Isle of Grain BP oil refinery.

Grain Power Station opened in 1979. The site closed by December 2012 and the chimney which was the second tallest in the United Kingdom was demolished on 7th September 2016. A new Combined Cycle Gas Turbine plant capable of generating enough electricity to supply around one million homes has now been constructed on the site - see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grain_Power_Station and https://www.power-technology.com/projects/isleofgrain/

This access road leads from Grain Road towards the Power Station and London Thamesport Container port. It crosses the Mineral Railway heading right leads to Medway Power Station (seen on the left) and the port towards Hoo Junction, near Gravesend.

CHP stands for Combined Heat & Power. Not only do the three turbines seen here produce electricity but they also provide heat to convert liquefied natural gas (LNG) into a more usable form at the National Grid's nearby LNG terminal. The CHP plant, opened in 2010, stands near the former oil-fired Grain Power Station which is in the process of being dismantled.