To comply with the large combustion plant directive, flue-gas desulphurisation equipment was commissioned at Rugeley power station
in 2009. A by-product of this process is gypsum, which is usually sold to the manufacturers of plasterboard.
There had been very occasional gypsum trains out of Rugeley prior to this, but in the summer of 2011 they seemed to have started running
to a regular pattern, inbound late on a Friday evening (4M80), and out early on Monday morning (4M81). This is 66706 seen on Monday 22nd
August 2011. It has run round 4M81 Rugeley - Hotchley Hill at Bescot and is seen departing towards Pleck Jct, pretty much bang on time
at 09:28. In the event it proved to be a false dawn, and these services soon stopped. No more gypsum trains ran to Rugeley until the
end of May 2013 when the weekly service re-commenced, once again arriving on Friday or Saturday evening, and leaving on Monday morning.
