On 26 Sep 2008 at 9:36, Dickie Bird wrote:
> Re the High Peak Railway inclines, they were operated by beam engines (most,
> if not all built by the Butterley Company) which merely controlled ascent
> and descent on a double acting system. The water tank which Trevor refers to
> is, in fact, for filling the loco boilers and old loco tenders, which latter
> were transported along the line to the limestone uplands and used to supply
> adjacent cottages with domestic water, there being no piped supply to them.
> There were some nine inclines along the route to Whaley Bridge, the last
> short one down to the canal basin at Whaley was operated by horse capstan.
> One of the original steam beam engines remains in situ at the top of the
> Middleton Incline (second along the route from Cromford) and has been
> restored. It exhibits the original Cornish boilers outside which were
> supplied with waste wood (latterly) derived from the carriage and wagon
> works in Derby. When the Cornish boilers were condemned, steam was supplied
> by a static loco boiler outside. The Middleton engine can be visited on
> certain Sundays in the month and now runs on compressed air. It is well
> worth seeing.
The Whaley Bridge incline was originally operated with a beam engine but this
was taken out after the enginehouse suffered mining subsidence and the
capstan installed to handle the small amount of traffic still using the incline.
Later use was to supply coal to industrial premises located close to the bottom
of the incline.
Cheers,
--
David Kitching
http://www.brocross.com
fearrmeox adlaž bręgen
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