Prototype PhilH's Industrial Railway Photos

[d827 kelly]

Unfortunately I didn't take any other photos of the staithe itself, but this was taken on the opposite side of the level crossing showing No.10 waiting the go ahead to cross the road.



I would guess that it was taken from or fairly near to the level crossing. If nothing else it shows the type of stonework in the wall on the left !
Interesting to note that the rails are still in place at the level crossing (or they were when Google Maps covered the area) although everything else has disappeared.

Phil, thanks for that. What you have uploaded has been helpful and interesting. Thanks!

I wasn't sure if the walls seperating it would have been stone or brick, so this photo gives some insight. I think some of the boundary walls were brick though? But stone has a more NE feel to it.

 

[PhilH]

Bersham's Diesel Locomotives:

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Ruston & Hornsby 88DS 4wDM no.326068 built in 1953 and supplied new to Point of Ayr Colliery, Flintshire. Photographed in March 1980 newly arrived from Point of Ayr where it had been swapped for Hunslet 0-6-0DM no.6664 after the latter locos unsuccessful trial at Bersham.

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By September 1981 the track layout had been relaid to accommodate MGR wagons and the screen roads lifted. The revised layout was now suitable for
0-6-0 diesel locos. HORNET stands isolated on a short length of track near the former weighbridge as Hunslet 0-6-0DM works no.6663 shunts loaded HAA hoppers into the exchange sidings.

Hunslet 325hp 0-6-0DM works no.6663 built in 1969, transferred from Granville Colliery, Shropshire via the NCB's Walkden Central Workshops.




A second Hunslet 0-6-0DM works no.7018 built in 1971 with a larger 400hp engine arrived in 1982 from Hem Heath Colliery, Staffordshire, again after overhaul at Walkden Workshops.


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In contrast to the long period when SHAKESPEARE was the only loco at Bersham, in August 1983 no less than four locos were present - RH 326068, HORNET, HE 7018 and (out of photo) HE 6663

RH 326068 was scrapped shortly before the colliery closed. After the closure the two Hunslet 0-6-0DMs were transferred to Holditch Colliery in Staffordshire.

 

[dibateg]

Thanks for sharing these wonderful photos Phil, I have spent an enjoyable hour or two working my way through the thread!

Best Regards
Tony

 

[PhilH]

One of the most spectacular but little known railway lines in the UK was round the Penmaenmawr Headland on the North Wales Coast, and I'm not referring to the North Wales Coast Line at the bottom of the headland but something rather higher up. This line was part of the 3ft gauge Penmaenmawr Quarry system, which connected the different quarry levels with the crushing mills, ship loading piers and main line railway sidings.

Quarrying at Penmaenmawr began in earnest early in the 19th Century. Before the building of the Chester to Holyhead Line in the 1840s most of the trading along the North Wales Coast had been by sea from ports on the Rivers Dee and Mersey. The boats were beached and the goods unloaded at low tide. For the return voyage the boats were ballasted with pebbles from the beach which were subsequently used in the cobbled streets in the towns of the North West. It was noted that the pebbles obtained from the beach at Penmaenmawr were particularly hard wearing, and when setts began to replace cobbles for road construction a merchant from Runcorn named Brundrit obtained a lease to open a sett quarry on the Penmaenmawr Headland in 1832. Brundrit's Quarry was actually in two sections, the Penmaen East Quarry on the Penmaenmawr Town side of the headland and the Penmaen West Quarry on the Llanfairfechan side, each with its own incline system connecting the quarry levels with shipping piers on the shore.

When the Chester & Holyhead Railway was constructed around the headland in 1845-8 the quarry incline system on the east side was carried over it on a bridge. However on the west, Llanfairfechan, side the Chester & Holyhead was constructed on a high sea wall at the base of the mountain which required removal of the existing West Quarry pier. To replace it a line was built around the headland approximately at the 500 foot contour to enable stone from the West Quarry to be transported to the pier on the east side.

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Aerial Photo of Penmaenmawr Headland taken in the early 1930s. From sea level, first is the Chester & Holyhead Line emerging from the tunnel to cross the Pen-y-Clip Viaduct; above is the new 7 arch A55 viaduct still under construction, it was officially opened on 5th October 1935; above that is the road built by John Sylvester for the Caernarvonshire Turnpike Trust opened in 1774 and improved by Thomas Telford in 1830; part of this at Pen-y-Clip was replaced at a higher level by 1860 and this road was still in use for traffic at the time of the photograph; well above and near the top of the photo is the quarry railway line. In the left distance is the Penmaen East Quarry Pier and beyond the houses of Penmaenmawr.

The line was originally worked by horses, but in the 1870s a mysterious vertical boilered loco MONA, about which little is known, was acquired to work the line. Apparently MONA proved to be a failure and was traded in to DeWinton for their new loco PENMAEN built in 1878, which then worked the line. The remains of PENMAEN are still at the quarry, two inclines up from this line.

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PENMAEN as it was in 1963, abandoned in the loco shed at Bottom Bank Penmaen East Quarry for about 30 years. At that date it was more or less intact, but the smoke vent in the shed roof had disappeared and water draining through the hole had rusted away the chimney and top of the boiler. It would have been a good candidate for preservation but its location made it impossible to remove intact. It was later dragged outside and stripped so that only the bare chassis, wheels and boiler shell now remain. Two further DeWintons were acquired later by Brundrits - PUFFIN, similar to PENMAEN, in 1893 and the larger LLANFAIR in 1895. The latter loco has been preserved and is (or was recently) on display at Dinas Station on the Welsh Highland Railway.

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LLANFAIR on display at Dinas Station in 2016. Its likely that the larger LLANFAIR took over from PENMAEN on the West Quarry line prompting the transfer of the latter loco to the higher level.

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In 1902 Hunslet supplied a new loco to work the line as shown in the works photograph. This was a unique inside cylinder 0-4-0ST named TIGER, built to a narrow width because of the limited clearances on some parts of the line, its maximum width being only 4'‑6", nearly one foot less than other Quarry Hunslets.

An illustration from a Brundrit & Co.Ltd. publicity brochure of 1905 shows TIGER with a train of 12 wagons from Penmaen West Quarry.


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A view of the same location today. The parapet on top of the stone embankment has disappeared and there is more tree growth apparent. The view is slightly different because the photographer in 1905 must have been standing right on the edge of a rock outcrop with a considerable drop below - I wasn't prepared to go that near the edge !

In 1911 Brundrit's Penmaen Quarries were amalgamated with Darbishire's Graiglwyd Quarries, situated directly behind the town, and the Welsh Granite Co., which had quarries on the Lleyn Peninsula, to form the Penmaenmawr & Welsh Granite Co.Ltd. The two Penmaenmawr Quarry rail systems were connected by a line on the same level as the line round the headland. In the early 1930s the hand loading of stone at the quarry faces into 3ft. gauge wagons was replaced by mechanised loading into standard gauge wagons at the summit of the headland - the upper level of the Penmaen East Quarry - and most of the other quarry levels, including the Penmaen West Quarry and the line around the headland, were closed at about the same time. Subsequent quarrying has reduced the height of the headland by approximately 260 feet below its original summit.

 

[PhilH]

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Working along the line from east to west, the first item of interest is the remains of Brundrit's loco shed, which originally had a curved corrugated iron roof.

The line curves round the extremity of the headland and on the left is a drop of about 500 feet to the sea interrupted only by the A55 Road.


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Looking west, below are respectively the old coast road now used as a cycle path and footpath; the 1935 road viaduct (now the east bound lane of the A55) and the Chester to Holyhead line.

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Parts of the narrow track formation were widened with timber on steel supports, now mostly rotted away. I doubt if the couple of planks attached to the vertical leg would have prevented much from going over the edge !

A narrow section of the trackbed




The gabions (wire mesh baskets filled with stone) are a recent addition to prevent loose material from above reaching the road below.




A view looking east from the stone embankment shown in the photo of TIGER


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The concrete slab is a recent addition to maintain an access through on top of an old stone embankment, but the formation must have been particularly narrow here.

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At the west end of the line two inclines led up to the bottom bank of Penmaen West Quarry, the remains of the first incline drumhouse are at the top right of the photo. The incline itself slopes down behind the roof of the drumhouse in the foreground. Just below it is the rough remains of the original 1830s incline which led down to the pier. The drumhouse in the foreground was a late addition, probably about 1920, which connected with a series of inclines down to an exchange siding with the Chester & Holyhead line.

As stated earlier the line was originally constructed because the Chester & Holyhead Railway required the removal of Brundrit's West Quarry pier and no doubt the railway company had to compensate the quarry company for the cost of its construction. Its tempting to think that the C&H Railway's engineer Robert Stephenson might have played a small part in its design and construction.

 

[PhilH]

Some industrial railways regularly used methods of working usually unfamiliar now on main line railways such as rope haulage, gravity working and fly shunting. Probably more unusual was the running round a train on the fly, i.e. moving the loco from the front of the train to the rear of the train while the train was in motion. At Penmaenmawr Quarry a 3ft. gauge line 1,400 yards long connected the primary crushing mill with the secondary crushing mill. This was worked by 3 diesel locos with trains of 26 box wagons of 3 tons capacity. The wagons were loaded with the aid of a creeper between the rails which moved each wagon in turn below the loading chute, the actual loading being carried out by a vibrating feeder. At the secondary mill the wagons were tipped two at a time in a rotary tippler which turned the wagons through 360 degrees then they ran down a ramp and via a kick back into the empties siding. The operation was carefully choreographed so that full trains were handled by the biggest loco, a 88hp Hunslet 0‑4‑0DM named VIXEN, empty trains by an Armstrong Whitworth 0‑4‑0DE named ALICE and shunting at the tippler by a Hunslet 4wDM named TAFF.

The line approached the tippler on a falling gradient of about 1 in 200 which changed to a rising gradient before it reached the tippler, and in the dip was a short loop with the entry point controlled by a hand lever but sprung in the direction of the loop. As the full train approached the loop VIXEN slowed to slacken the couplings and the drivers mate swung out round the back of the cab, where there was a step on the buffer beam and a handrail, and reached down to uncouple the loco from the train. The loco then accelerated into the loop and as it passed the entry point the drivers mate jumped off, grabbed the point lever and held it over to direct the train past the loop. As the last wagon cleared the point he released the lever and jumped on the end of the last wagon, and when this had cleared the other end of the loop the loco ran out and he coupled it on to the rear of the train. By this time the train would have been slowing on the rising gradient and if the driver had judged it correctly little if any braking by the loco would have been required before the train was stopped just before the tippler. VIXEN then propelled the train so the first two wagons were over the tippler.

Considering the line was intensively worked, as it carried all the stone produced by the quarry, this system worked well and during the 2½ years I worked in the quarry drawing office I was only aware of two incidents when things went wrong. In the first the train must have been travelling a bit quicker than normal and for some reason the driver failed to catch it at the end of the loop. The result was the train continued through the tippler and about 6 wagons went over the end of the kick back. Fortunately none of the wagons went over the edge of the bank, but some of the contents did and were showered down on the level below. On the second occasion the drivers foot apparently slipped off the clutch as the train was passing the loop and the loco shot forward, hit the side of the train and was knocked on its side. It was righted with the aid of a tractor shovel. Fortunately no injuries were caused in these two accidents but it does bring home the possibilities in these kind of operations where one slip or misjudgement could have very serious consequences.

To continue the description of the operation, when the loaded train arrived TAFF would have been standing with the rake of empty wagons having drawn them forward to the end of the empties line which joined the "main line" opposite the loop. After the loaded train had passed TAFF uncoupled and ran into the loop. ALICE arrived light engine, coupled on to the empties and left for the loading station. VIXEN then followed, catching the empties part way and banking from the rear. TAFF then left the loop and continued the operation of shunting the full wagons over the tippler. At the other end of the line on the approach to the loading station VIXEN dropped off the train, ran into the loop and collected the full wagons. ALICE continued past the loading station to the end of the line and backed the empties into the far end of the loop ready for loading, then ran light engine following the loaded train. There were thus always 3 sets of wagons in use - one being loaded, one being unloaded and one in transit.

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VIXEN on a loaded train shortly after leaving the loading station circa 1960. The large building at the top of the photo, a prominent feature on the skyline at the top of the headland for many years, housed the primary crusher in the right hand side. The left hand side was originally the loco shed for the standard gauge system, but by that date used as a garage for the dumpers which had replaced the railway by 1956. Just below the crusher is a screen house where the finer material was removed and transported by a conveyor to the waste tip on the left. The stone then passed over the elevated conveyor to a concrete tower and dropped into a large storage chute with a capacity of 800 tons, at the bottom of which was the loading station for the 3ft. gauge wagons. The bridge over the line just on this side of the loading station carried a single track hoist (powered) incline and entered the building at the top by the opening just visible, where the winch house was situated. This incline climbed a vertical height of 772 feet with a maximum gradient of 1 in 1.73 and had been used to bring up all the equipment needed, including the standard gauge locos and the dismantled parts for the 182 ton primary jaw crusher and 120B Bucyrus-Erie electric face shovels. It was also used to bring the workmen up every morning. Pity the poor sod who had to climb up every day before the start of work to operate the winch ! In 1962 a road was built up to the summit from the Llanfairfechan side of the mountain and thereafter the men were carried up in ex army Bedford QL troop carriers.

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The loading station after the closure of the line. The creeper between the rails was formed from a series of paddles in an endless chain which contacted the axles of the wagons. The driving mechanism is in the box on the right with the operators cabin just beyond.

A slightly blurry view of VIXEN with a loaded train circa 1960.




TAFF shunting the loaded wagons onto the tippler in 1963.


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The tippler, which was on a gantry above the secondary mill chute. Empty wagons were pushed by hand off to the right then ran down a ramp and reversed via kick back (short steep ramp) and spring points into the empty line in the foreground. The higher level gantry on the left with a side tipping table was at the bottom of an incline serving a higher level.

 

[PhilH]

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ALICE was built by Sir W.G. Armstrong Whitworth & Co. (Engineers) Ltd., Newcastle upon Tyne, works number D53 in 1935. It was powered by an Armstrong-Saurer four-cylinder diesel engine rated at 60hp coupled directly to the generator. The traction motor was fixed between the frames at the front of the locomotive, and drove the rear axle by cardan shaft and worm reduction gearbox, both axles being coupled with side rods. Controls were duplicated on each side of the cab and a handbrake column fitted in the centre. Sandboxes were fitted on the footplate at the front, and inside the cab at the rear, but they were apparently little used as latterly only one of the four feed pipes remained. A large battery box was fitted alongside the bonnet on the left hand side and a toolbox set into the footplate on the right hand side. The locomotive was later fitted with an AEC engine in place of the original, and to accommodate this the radiator and bonnet front were moved forward approximately ten inches.

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VIXEN was built by the Hunslet Engine Co.Ltd. works number 3129 and was despatched to Penmaenmawr on 19th October 1944. It was a diesel mechanical with jackshaft drive from a gearbox under the cab floor. The engine was a McLaren four cylinder diesel developing 80/88hp. It was fitted with Westinghouse air brakes and a Hunslet patent clutch. VIXEN inherited the name from the standard gauge ex LMS (L&Y) 0-4-0ST which was sold about 1940. Hunslet had initially proposed an 0-6-0 design similar to VIXEN (apart from wheel arrangement) although slightly smaller in overall dimensions.

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TAFF was purchased secondhand in December 1947 from dealers B.C.S. (Engineers & Contractors) Ltd. at Taff's Well, Glamorgan (Hence the name). It was built by Hunslet works number 1770 in 1935 to metre gauge and supplied to Balfour, Beatty & Co.Ltd. for work on their Kut Barrage contract in Iraq. In July/August 1940 it was returned to Hunslet for conversion to 3ft 0in gauge, and then sent to another Balfour Beatty contract in the Orkneys, subsequently being disposed of to B.C.S. As built it was fitted with a McLaren 37/40hp diesel engine, but at some later date acquired a four cylinder Gardner engine. Drive was by chains from the gearbox to both axles. Block buffers were fitted instead of the spring buffers on the other two locomotives. An unusual feature was the bell fitted on the cab front.

All three locomotives were painted green - ALICE and VIXEN bright green, TAFF a darker shade. Lining on all three was white, with buffer beams and coupling rods red, and frames and running gear black. The names were painted on the bonnet front of each locomotive.

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One of the 3 ton box wagons used on the line, apparently recently repainted. They were painted light grey with white ends. A coupling chain was fitted at one end and a hook hinged to the drawbar at the other.

As the stone at the summit level became exhausted quarrying continued below the summit and in 1965-66 a new primary mill was constructed on a lower level. Output from the new mill was taken along a new road above the railway to a point above the secondary mill, where the stone could be tipped on to a conveyor to feed the mill chute. By about July 1967 the new mill had come into full production, and the existing primary mill and the railway were closed.

The three locomotives stored out of use in September 1967.​

An attempt was made to preserve ALICE but by that time the hoist incline from the summit was out of use and the road access considered unsuitable for the required vehicle so the scheme fell through. The three locomotives were cut up on site in June/July 1969.

 

[michael mott]

Driving those locos up on the tops around the headland would not have been for the feint of heart. Pity the preservation of Alice didn't happen.

Michael

 

[34091 Weymouth]

What an excellent post, thanks for sharing your pictures Phil they are great. I don't suppose you have anything on the big North british man diesels that was at Ashington as well as others?

Cheers

Si

 

[PhilH]

What an excellent post, thanks for sharing your pictures Phil they are great. I don't suppose you have anything on the big North british man diesels that was at Ashington as well as others?
Cheers
Si

Si,
I didn't see the two at Ashington which would be NB 27766/59 and NB 27868/59. However I photographed similar North British 440hp MAN W8V engine locos at South Hetton.

65 NB 27764/59 at South Hetton in September 1975


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A similar loco at South Hetton in September 1970 - unfortunately I didn't identify this one, it could have been 65 again before the diagonal stripes were added to the buffer beams or 66 NB 27765/59

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Two views of 67 NB 27717/57 at Hesledon in June 1979, which was at the top of the two rope-worked inclines from South Hetton down to Seaham Harbour. This was fitted with a more powerful 520hp MAN W6V engine and formerly a North British demonstration loco. It was sold to the NCB in 1963 by Andrew Barclay following the liquidation of North British and initially used at Brandon Pit House Colliery near Durham, which had a gradient of 1 in 18 on a section of its 2½ mile line where its extra power would no doubt have been useful. It was transferred to South Hetton when Brandon Pit House closed (info from IRS Durham Handbook).

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The only other NB loco I saw in the Durham and Northumberland Areas was No.1 NB 27410/55, photographed in the rain at Lambton Staithes, Wearmouth in 1966. This was fitted with a 400hp Paxman engine and different externally with a Lambton cut away top part of the cab.

 

[34091 Weymouth]

Si,
I didn't see the two at Ashington which would be NB 27766/59 and NB 27868/59. However I photographed similar North British 440hp MAN W8V engine locos at South Hetton.

View attachment 173933

65 NB 27764/59 at South Hetton in September 1975


View attachment 173934​

A similar loco at South Hetton in September 1970 - unfortunately I didn't identify this one, it could have been 65 again before the diagonal stripes were added to the buffer beams or 66 NB 27765/59

View attachment 173935


View attachment 173936​

Two views of 67 NB 27717/57 at Hesledon in June 1979, which was at the top of the two rope-worked inclines from South Hetton down to Seaham Harbour. This was fitted with a more powerful 520hp MAN W6V engine and formerly a North British demonstration loco. It was sold to the NCB in 1963 by Andrew Barclay following the liquidation of North British and initially used at Brandon Pit House Colliery near Durham, which had a gradient of 1 in 18 on a section of its 2½ mile line where its extra power would no doubt have been useful. It was transferred to South Hetton when Brandon Pit House closed (info from IRS Durham Handbook).

View attachment 173937​

The only other NB loco I saw in the Durham and Northumberland Areas was No.1 NB 27410/55, photographed in the rain at Lambton Staithes, Wearmouth in 1966. This was fitted with a 400hp Paxman engine and different externally with a Lambton cut away top part of the cab.

Wow, absolutely brilliant. Not many photos of them about. They are great. I have one to build at some point. What colour did they wear? The Ashington ones were blue & I know the preserved one is green. Didn't realise there were more in Durham.

Si

 

[Renovater]

What a headcode on that 37. Thanks for all the photos.

 

[jonte]

Phil

Many thanks for sharing the Penmaenmawr photos.

I’ve passed by so many times and never realised there was any sort of railway up there. Incredible.

Jon

 

[PhilH]

Wow, absolutely brilliant. Not many photos of them about. They are great. I have one to build at some point. What colour did they wear? The Ashington ones were blue & I know the preserved one is green. Didn't realise there were more in Durham.
Si

There were 7 in the NCB Durham Areas, not including the different Lambton loco. Ashington actually had a third for a short period in addition to NB 27766 and NB 27868, as one of the Durham locos had a spell there from January to April in 1977 and February 1978 to April 1979. Between those two periods it was on loan to the NCBOE Butterwell Opencast Site. Two of the Durham locos were obtained secondhand from BSC Scunthorpe Works in 1975, although one only lasted less than two years before it was dismantled for spares and the remains scrapped.

I didn't record the liveries or take any colour photos of these locos, but I did take some cine film of trains leaving the incline top at Hesledon for South Hetton Colliery. The following are stills from that film so excuse the poor quality.

This is 66 NB 27765/59 in a fairly bright green, 65 would have been the same.




67 NB 27717 in black

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[34091 Weymouth]

There were 7 in the NCB Durham Areas, not including the different Lambton loco. Ashington actually had a third for a short period in addition to NB 27766 and NB 27868, as one of the Durham locos had a spell there from January to April in 1977 and February 1978 to April 1979. Between those two periods it was on loan to the NCBOE Butterwell Opencast Site. Two of the Durham locos were obtained secondhand from BSC Scunthorpe Works in 1975, although one only lasted less than two years before it was dismantled for spares and the remains scrapped.

I didn't record the liveries or take any colour photos of these locos, but I did take some cine film of trains leaving the incline top at Hesledon for South Hetton Colliery. The following are stills from that film so excuse the poor quality.

View attachment 173955

This is 66 NB 27765/59 in a fairly bright green, 65 would have been the same.


View attachment 173956

67 NB 27717 in black

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Very different in colour are both of those Phil. I like that light green livery it looks different & will suit a model. I actually had planned to do 2 one from Ashington in blue & a Scottish one in green. They had different door positions & the bonnet shape was different near the cab.

Great pictures, it's a great post.

Si

 

[PhilH]

Rope worked inclines are rarely included in model railways, yet were an important feature of some prototype industrial systems. The last gravity worked standard gauge inclines were on the NCB's South Hetton Railway, which conveniently follows on from the last two posts of South Hetton's diesel locos. If there's sufficient interest I'll post a few more photos of both standard gauge and narrow gauge inclines.

The South Hetton Railway was opened in 1833, connecting the newly opened South Hetton Colliery with Seaham Harbour, from where coal was shipped by sea. The line ran from the colliery 2½ miles to Hesleden then down two inclines, Stony Cut Incline just over 1 mile long and Swine Lodge Incline approx. 1,000 yards long, to Seaham Harbour. Colliery waste was also taken down the line for dumping at sea and in latter years, with more and more coal being despatched via BR, the line was mainly used for waste traffic. The line operated for just over 150 years until the start of the miners strike in March 1984. It had been intended to resume working after the strike ended but during that period sections of the trackbed, which had been built on small coal rejected as waste when the line was originally built, were excavated by miners and their families for fuel which seriously undermined the track. So the NCB abandoned the line and the waste was tipped instead in a disused quarry nearer the colliery. The track was lifted in 1985.

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In September 1970 steam was still in use at South Hetton and Austerity number 72 built by Vulcan Foundry works no. 5309 of 1945 is pictured at Hesleden, running round after just arriving with a loaded train from the colliery. Its passing over the pit which housed the incline brake and cable return wheel, and the summit of Stony Cut Incline is in the right distance. 72 was sold for preservation in December 1973, and initially went to the Colne Valley Railway but has since been used on a number of preserved lines.

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After collecting the empties 72 departs from Hesleden for the colliery. The fulls sidings are at a higher level on the right with a single empties track on each side at a lower level.

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Another view at Hesleden in September 1970, this time with a North British 0-6-0DH just arrived on a loaded train. The fulls sidings were graded down towards the incline summit with wagons run all the way by gravity, the empty sidings were graded down away from the incline summit. Mainly steel bodied wagons are evident in this view.

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View towards the summit of Stony Cut Incline in June 1979. The fulls sidings converge at the point in the right centre then pass over the brake wheel pit. The incline wire rope emerges from the pit on each side of the fulls track. The empties reach the summit on tracks either side of the centre fulls track on a raised ramp known as a kip (possibly from a term originating in Scotland - "a jutting or projecting point on a hill") which gives a downward gradient away from the summit.

View away from the incline summit. Mostly timber bodied hopper wagons evident in this 1979 view.


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View down Stony Cut Incline, with the 3 tracks at the summit converging into 3 rail track on the incline itself. The two points are controlled by weighted levers to direct empties into the two outer tracks. On the next "run" the loaded wagons will be directed into the left hand of the 3 rail track and the empties will arrive on the right hand track. On the following run the loads will take the right hand of the 3 rail and the empties arrive on the left hand track. This alternate use of the 3 rail section keeps the rope on the descending wagons clear of the ascending wagons on the upper section of the incline. At the halfway point the tracks diverge to form a passing loop then converge to single track for the bottom section of the incline.

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NCB timber hopper wagon at Hesleden in 1979. The NCB's Seaham Wagon Shops rebuilt many of the internal use steel bodied hopper wagons with timber bodies. Despite being labelled "COAL ONLY" by this date these wagons would be carrying colliery waste. Hawthorn was a combined mine opened in 1960, connected underground and winding coal from 3 other collieries. In the latter years it provided most of the traffic on the railway.

 

[PhilH]

View up Stony Cut Incline from the incline foot in September 1975.​

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View in the opposite direction from the same position looking towards the top of the Swine Lodge Incline, which has the tracks at the top reversed, i.e. the empties track is in the centre with the fulls tracks on each side. The end of the Stony Cut incline rope has been detached from the loaded wagons on the right and attached to the empties on the centre track, while the Swine Lodge incline rope has been attached to the fulls. It then disappears below ground to the brakedrum and cable return wheel located in a pit just in front of the empty wagons and re-emerges on the other side of the centre track. The length of chain at the end of the rope is to enable it to be swapped from fulls to empties on adjacent tracks without dragging the rope itself over. The rope moves over when the slack is taken out by the fulls leaving the summit.

Underside view of a rather battered rebuilt timber hopper wagon at Swine Lodge Incline top, presumably the result of an incline runaway.​

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View from the top of Swine Lodge Incline with the kip for empty wagons on the centre track and the fulls track on the outside protected with a stop block and catch point. Apparently some track relaying has been carried out with flat bottom rail replacing bullhead and fresh ballast provided.

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View down Swine Lodge Incline from the summit with a similar arrangement of 3 tracks converging into 3 rail. The weighted point levers are now set to work the other way to the Stony Cut Incline and direct empties into the centre track. The vacant area on the left is the site of another shorter incline at the foot of which were sidings off to the left connected to the BR Seaham to Hartlepool line, which crosses the Swine Lodge Incline on the overbridge in the distance.

 

[PhilH]

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Top end of the passing loop or "meetings" on Swine Lodge Incline with more flatbottom rail. The second overbridge in the distance also carries a BR line.

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Bottom end of the passing loop, still in bullhead track. Vertical rollers between the tracks on the loop keep the rope attached to wagons ascending or descending the left hand track and rounding the curve below the loop clear of wagons on the right hand track.

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At the bottom of Swine Lodge Incline the track crossed a road and curved fairly sharply to the right to enter the dock area. The shunting at Seaham Harbour was carried out by the dock company's locomotives and one of their English Electric 0-6-0DHs is just visible in the centre distance.

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End view of a timber hopper wagon showing attachment of the incline rope. The chain at the end of the rope is attached to the wagon coupling hook with a quick release or slip coupling. By removing the pin attached to the small chain from the end of the long lever the handle can be knocked off the end of the lever when required thereby releasing the chain on the end of the rope.

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Seaham Harbour Dock Co. Ltd. number D5, an 0-6-0DH by English Electric (Vulcan Works) no.D1195 of 1967, at a level crossing in Seaham with NCB steel and timber bodied hopper wagons in June 1979. The wagons are from Seaham Colliery, also connected to the dock lines by an NCB line.

In 2013 the Industrial Railway Society published a detailed account of the use of inclines in the UK and elsewhere in the world under the title of "Rope & Chain Haulage, The Forgotten Element of Railway History"

 

[PhilH]

Cine film taken in 1979 showing the inclines in operation:

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Its a homemade transfer of cine film to video, so excuse the quality !

 

[Scale7JB]

Fantastic shots as ever Phil. I could quite happily have sat back and watched the Austerity doing its thing for a few hours..

JB.