What About The Bee Posted September 26 Share Posted September 26 (edited) Today, 27 Sept 2024, is the 199th anniversary of the opening of the Stockton and Darlington Railway. The first public railway operated by steam locomotives. While I have focused on the locomotives and rolling stock in other threads, there are other things to see. Here are some other views of the railway. Skerne Bridge over the Skerne River Painting by John Dobbin, first hand observer, created decades later from memory and sketches. The crowd on Opening Day was estimated, at the time, to be 40,000 persons. The bridge is still in use as a railway bridge. The Brusselton Inclined Planes. Adamson, 1826. In between the coal and the harbor was Brusselton. Much like the later steep inclines on the LMR, the locomotives could not manage steep inclines. A stationary winding engine was housed at the apex of the hill. A stationary engine made by Robert Stephenson and Co. It was replaced by 1831 with a stationary engine by a different manufacturer. The slopes are as you see, unequal. The west side or image right was 1,960 yards in length, rising 150 feet. This is a 2½% grade. The east side or image left was 800 yards with a 90 feet rise. This is a 3¾% grade. To account for this, the diameters of the winding drums were unequal. The longer incline used the larger drum. Thus the system increased efficiency by using one consist as an offset balance against the consist on the other incline, arriving simultaneously due to the unequal drum diameter. View of the Brusselton Engine House, 1875. Fifty years after opening day. The engine house was closed as a more efficient route was installed, around Brusselton. The River Gaunless also needed to be crossed. George put in a cast iron bridge in 1823. The bridge was situated between the Brusselton and Etherley inclines, so it was worked by horses, not traveling engines. I must say, on satellite view, the word "river" appears to quite generous. Gaunless Bridge, as illustrated in The Engineer, 1875. Parts of this bridge are preserved at the Science Museum. This bridge is an obvious target for 3D printing for a layout. Visually unusual and completely free standing , no buttresses needed. Bee Edited September 26 by What About The Bee 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rallymatt Posted September 26 Share Posted September 26 (edited) The Gaunless Bridge has now been fully restored and currently is available to view at Locomotion, Shildon. The World’s first Railway Town. The next part of the plan is to have it re-instated in its original location across the River Gaunless. This is all quite special to me being ‘of the area’. The Gaunless was at the end of our gardens. As a kid I cycled to Shildon wagon works to watch the shunters arrange newly made wagons, even got tea and cake and a crafty ride/drive on an 08! Many years later I have cycled the far reaches of the original S&D railway line into High Etherly, somehow Stockton and Darlington doesn’t really describe it well. An early addition to S&D Railway was the line through to Parkhead (later named Blanchland) now a cycle path. The highest standard gauge Railway in Britain. One of the First Railways of all was of course Stephenson’s Bowes Railway using gravity and stationary engines with ropes and the very first stop on the London Underground, the World’s first Underground Railway was at Kibblesworth, County Durham, only a few metres from the Bowes line. As we celebrate S&D at 199 and look forward to a very special 200 years next year, it’s worth remembering all the pioneering railway accomplishments and people that changed the world forever from a little corner of North East England 😁 Edited September 26 by Rallymatt 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
What About The Bee Posted September 26 Author Share Posted September 26 Hilariously, I seem to have posted this two hours too early. I guess 1 part per million is acceptable. OO Locomotion No.1 is now due 13 Nov. My excitement is palpable. Hurry Hornby, before I burst in anticipation. Thanks for the correction on the bridge location @Rallymatt. I could not understand why this looked so good. Is this the restored bridge at Shildon? Bee ¹ 2 hours / (199 years × 365.25 days per year × 24 hours per day) = 0.000001 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rallymatt Posted September 26 Share Posted September 26 @What About The Bee yes that is the section now on display at Shildon. The deck is to be added when the bridge is in place. That’s the next big project for this. It’s just been finished in time for summer display, it does look rather good. I can assure you the River Gaunless is a real river, it might not be the Mississippi but it caused the Romans problems! The Vikings, not so much. 🤣 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
What About The Bee Posted September 26 Author Share Posted September 26 20 minutes ago, Rallymatt said: that is the section That is the entirety of the bridge! Four spans. George originally built it with three, but due to ice flow(?) issues, he re-built it with four. Just as shown in The Engineer illustration of 1875 (see initial post). Buttress to Buttress, it appears about (roughly by eye, nothing scientific) to be 40ish feet or thereabouts. Perhaps as much as 48 feet, if we can go by the 4 foot sections of black fence. Bee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rallymatt Posted September 26 Share Posted September 26 @What About The Bee 😁 ok, you pop over with your best wellies and let’s see how tame you find The Gaunless, we have a saying here, ‘still waters run deep’ and as every child of the 70’s knows , ‘currents can be killers’ hence the fall in popularity of a school desert which will undoubtedly be banned by the word police ‘spotted (short name for Richard)’ Returning briefly to reality, both the River Gaunless and River Wear are known for the gorge like cuttings they make through the limestone leaving steep sided banks along rivers. Nothing is flat round here except the beer! 😁 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
What About The Bee Posted September 27 Author Share Posted September 27 Re: The Gaunless River. I surrender the field. I have no wish to interfere with local pride. I hereby accept that the Gaunless is a river. I was attempting to estimate the span between buttresses, not disparage the river. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaunless_Bridge states that the total span between buttresses was 50 feet, with the longest section at 12' 5". Apparently, the editor of the Wikipedia page doesn't understand imperial measurements and arithmetic. Bee 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LTSR_NSE Posted September 27 Share Posted September 27 Later in the article it mentions that all four spans are identical in length at 12ft 5in, so either this is a typo (and should say 12ft 6in) or else the total has been arrived at by someone more used to metric & has simply been misread as saying 12 ½ ft. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
What About The Bee Posted September 27 Author Share Posted September 27 Because, clearly, ½ foot = 5 inches. Ah, the joys of decimalization. 🤣 Bee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LTSR_NSE Posted September 27 Share Posted September 27 I’ll happily admit that if I saw 12.5 ft recorded digitally, I’d be unsure which was meant! 🤷♂️ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96RAF Posted September 27 Share Posted September 27 Remember anyone can write a Wiki, even me. There is as much truth in some Wikis as come out of politicians mouths, others are good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RB51 Posted September 27 Share Posted September 27 7 hours ago, LTSR_NSE said: 12.5 ft recorded digitally, That would indeed be confuduling. R- 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aussie Fred Posted September 27 Share Posted September 27 I thought it was 12 feet 4.82 inches, but I could be wrong Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
What About The Bee Posted September 28 Author Share Posted September 28 The Brusselton Incline Group pose an interesting problem. The winding engine is directly at the apex of the hill. See the 1875 water color and the 1826 drawing. Assume a set of chaldrons is pulled up to the winding engine. Due to the location of the winding engine, the chaldrons are still headed up hill, at the conclusion of winding. The winding engine cannot draw the chaldrons over the top. How are the chaldrons brought over the apex, such that they are now on the down hill slope on the other side. Seems obvious, at first. In practice, controlling tons of coal in loaded chaldrons, with the primitive brakes, could be quite challenging Have you an answer? Bee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LTSR_NSE Posted September 28 Share Posted September 28 My solution would be: I imagine winding wheel is attached to leading wagon (on each side) during the uphill climb. At the top there could be an anchor point to attach leading wagons to whilst winding ropes/cables/chains are transferred to trailing wagons. Anchor ropes/cables/chains are then detached and winding wheel proceeds to pull both sets of wagons to just past their tipping points. Once past tipping point, either winding ropes/cables/chains are detached for a couple of terrifying rides to the bottom. Or (since winding mechanism is strong enough to raise them) trailing wagons are attached to anchor points whilst winding ropes/cables/chains are swapped between wagon trains. Anchor ropes/cables/chains are then detached and winding mechanism is run in reverse to lower wagons in a controlled manner! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
What About The Bee Posted September 29 Author Share Posted September 29 I hadn't considered that, but I think that could be made to work. Propelling the cars in front by dragging one of the last cars up by winding engine. It is to be noted that the https://brusseltonincline.group/ is seeking this answer. Further, as I understand it, there is no consensus on the solution. My thought was that they simply used a pulley, situated beyond the apex of the hill. The winding engine and rope still drag the chaldrons, but because the pulley is beyond the apex, it drags them up and over. This would simply require a stone pier to anchor the pulley to. I am hopeful that there may be other theories this group can present to the Brusselton Incline Group. There are no wrong answers here chaps, give it a whirl Bee 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
threelink Posted Monday at 00:10 Share Posted Monday at 00:10 A short section of near level track at the apex. Ascending chaldron train wound up to level section and secured by pinning down brakes or applying sprags or chocks. Winding rope detached from lead chaldron. Train run forward (gravity/horse shunt/capstan/pulley) and re-braked /spragged/chocked. Rope attached to rear most wagon. Train un braked and sent on its merry way when the other train is ready to ascend. The incline appears to be double acting (ie the weight of a descending train assists in lifting the ascending). I think that this works. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
What About The Bee Posted Monday at 00:24 Author Share Posted Monday at 00:24 (edited) 33 minutes ago, threelink said: The incline appears to be double acting (ie the weight of a descending train assists in lifting the ascending). I agree, without any doubt. And I do believe your process works. It only requires a small level at the apex of the hill. The 1826 drawing shows 6 chaldrons on one incline, with 5 chaldons around the other incline. Even at 15 feet per chaldron, 6 chaldrons is just 90 feet. A tiny level in consideration of the very long inclines. The inclines are 1960 yards (5880 feet) and 800 yards (2400 feet). The drawing, while representative, is inaccurate in terms of angles and incline lengths. Bee Edited Monday at 00:44 by What About The Bee Misspelled a word, caught in time! 😉 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
threelink Posted Monday at 04:35 Share Posted Monday at 04:35 The 1875 view appears to show double track merging into single in a shallow cutting spanned by the winding drum axle. Perhaps an indication of a near level section of track at that location. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rallymatt Posted Monday at 10:11 Share Posted Monday at 10:11 The drawings and illustrations are quite misleading. They are more of a dramatisation of the equipment and the area so that investors etc could understand the workings. To accommodate the passing loop at the top of the incline that area would have to be flat, Stephenson knew that, if you look at the actual site it’s more obvious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rallymatt Posted Monday at 10:34 Share Posted Monday at 10:34 I have taken a couple of screenshots of the current OS maps covering the top of Brusselton Incline. One on 1:50k, closer in on 1:25k. The building shown, is the winding station at the top of the incline, which is not the top of the hill, it plateaus out on a cutting at 150m and is quite extensive. Something else to note is the reservoir (dis) which was there to provide water, used as counter weight in empty wagons. I am hoping to be over that way next weekend weather permitting so I will ride up along that section and get some photos. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
threelink Posted Monday at 13:30 Share Posted Monday at 13:30 @RallymattCan't wait to see your pics but can't view them at present - the hotel WiFi is not up to the task (on holiday). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rallymatt Posted Monday at 14:24 Share Posted Monday at 14:24 Enjoy the holiday! Hopefully if it’s decent weather I will divert up the old track bed to get some pictures next weekend, maybe a video if it seems worthwhile, showing how it really looks. Seeing how successful Stephenson was in many of his engineering projects I don’t think he would he made life so difficult 😁 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
What About The Bee Posted Monday at 14:35 Author Share Posted Monday at 14:35 (edited) Posting the OS map made me think of Google Street View. Sure enough, one side of the Brusselton Incline is a paved road. The other side had a section of stone sleeper railway block. The old engine house was blurred. No view of the reservoir. The Brusselton Incline Group has the reservoir for supplying the engine with water. Interesting thought about using water as a counterweight. And.... it appears that there is a level at top! Bee Edited Monday at 14:43 by What About The Bee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rallymatt Posted Monday at 17:25 Share Posted Monday at 17:25 It’s a very similar in basic design to the Bowes Incline also engineered by Stephenson and opened only a few months later in 1826. The most significant incline on this line leads up to Springwell. I am sure this originally opened using gravity (water ballast) to haul wagons up. From its name you can guess it has a spring! In fact part of the path is currently closed while Northumbrian Water build a new underwater reservoir to feed the surrounding area. I’m sure the idea of using water ballasted wagons to help the stationary engine wouldn’t be lost on Stephenson. I am wondering if the illustration is a bit of misdirection as it depicts a famous ‘rope breakage’ rather than a faithful rendering of the layout. I found a couple of images from The Northern Echo in 2014 showing the route of this section , it’s not all clear on the OS maps, and part of the stone pad/sleeper section, it’s not that steeply inclined (I’ll have a better opinion having cycled up it 🤣) Something that Bowes always had was a series of pulleys and rollers in between the rails to guide the rope, it’s the same idea on Crawleyside, that used a stationary engine on the huge incline down it to Weardale, a few miles to the west of Bishop Auckland. I rode down that earlier in the summer! It’s a wild ride. The stone pads are still there in places and centre stones with the remains of iron anchors that held the rope guides. The line served the limestone quarry near Waskerly down to Stanhope (With Weardale line running into Bishop Auckland) From the other side of the stationary engine UKs highest standard gauge line ran from Park Head Station (later called Blanchlands) to Consett (Iron and steel works fame) it was bought by S&DR early in its life, the mile posts still bear the markings. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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