The "dramway" from Coalpit Heath to the river Avon is a very late horse
drawn mineral tramway. First suggested in January 1786, the first part
didn't open until July 1832. It was quickly superseded by steam (midland
line opened 1844) but is worth mentioning because it had separate stone
sleeper blocks. I'm pretty sure the midland railway line had wooden
sleepers, certainly none of the connecting lines to the mines in Frampton
Cotterell, Yate and Rangeworthy have yet revealed any signs of stone blocks.
It is perhaps therefore not the date which is most relevant regarding
transverse sleepers but the haulage method. If a horse is being used and it
walks down the middle separate blocks would be more likely.
Regards
David Hardwick
----- Original Message -----
From: "No Name" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Friday, May 27, 2005 3:41 PM
Subject: Re: [MINING-HISTORY] Railway sleepers in mines (or elsewhere)
> Thanks Robert. It seems early railway history goes largely
> ignored, at least in online forums. It seems such a simple
> question to ask "When did transverse railway sleepers come into
> common use" but I'm blowed if I can come up with a meaningful
> answer. I know the London-Birmingham line was laid with stone
> blocks, as I believe was the London-Croydon Railway, but when were they
> relaid in the 'modern' fashion?
>
> Our subterranean incline from 1809 is buried under a 60 ft deep
> chalk spoil tip, and can only be entered by cave divers. Even
> that is denied now as there are access problems to the site.
>
> Divers report lengths of edge rails in the shaft, but cannot say
> whether they were dumped down the shaft or are in situ. There
> are no lines in situ in the underground galleries, flooded or
> otherwise.
>
> Dry workings a few miles away do have Plate Rails in situ, and
> are laid with their flanges outwards, at a gauge between flanges
> of 36 inches.
>
> If our 'sleeper' props in the flooded gallery are indeed re-used from a
> railway, their length suggests at least standard gauge line use. the
> galleries themselves are rarely wide enough to admit a standard-gauge size
> wagon, so I doubt these props are derived from a local underground
> tramway. The nearby limeworks
> was served by a private spur from the London-Brighton Railway from the
> 1840s, and this spur ran very close to our incline
> shaft.
>
> Further thoughts are always welcome, such as directions to a
> Railway History Online Forum?
>
>
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