Dear list
A friend has asked me to post the following query, about horse winding
underground. A horse whim was a simple and often crude structure, where
the only method of reversing the winding was to turn the horse(s) round, so
they walked in the opposite direction. The action of turning the horse
around must have needed considerable extra space beyond the diameter of the
horse circle. This would be no problem where the whim was at the surface,
but for winding from an underground station with a horse, space was clearly
at a premium - and would have cost money to make the winding chamber larger
than was strictly necessary to accommodate the horse circle.
So, the question is - has anyone ever come across any evidence (in situ or
documentary) of a gearing mechanism on a horse winder underground used to
reverse the direction of winding without turning the horse around? And if
so, how exactly did it work?
Ian
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