tarboat's photos with the keyword: tramway

Looking along the remains of the top mill at Rhiwbach slate quarry. In the background are the boiler and enginehouse and the course of the incline that lifted the finished slates up to the Rhiwbach tramway which carried them down to the Ffestiniog railway for onward transport to Porthmadog.

Boiler and enginehouse at Rhiwbach slate quarry with the remains of the top mill behind. This view is looking down the incline which brought the finished slates up to the Rhiwbach tramway which carried them down to the Ffestiniog railway which took them on to Porthmadog.

The western exit to the Caldon Low tramway tunnel is impassable due to flooding. This was the fourth line to be built connecting the Caldon Low limestone quarries with the canal and limekilns at Froghall. It operated as a series of self-acting inclined planes and was 3ft 6ins gauge. Closure came in 1920.

The Great Orme Tramway is Britain’s only funicular, or cable-hauled, tramway that travels on public roads. The one mile line, which runs in two sections, opened in 1902. The equipment was supplied by aerial ropeway specialists R White & Son of Widnes.

The first electric tramway route by the Ashton-Under-Lyne Corporation began in 1902 between Ashton-under-Lyne and Hurst. A maintenance depot for the electric trams was created in 1902, on Mossley Road in Ashton-Under-Lyne for the repair and maintenance on the electric trams. This building was later repurposed for electric trolleybuses and then repurposed into business offices for present day use. The Corporation coat of arms is incorporated in a panel over the original office section of the depot.

The Caldon Low tramway tunnel is a favourite of mine even though it is such a pain to get into due to the collapsed trees in the entrance cutting. I went back last year and got almost to the west end before the ochrey gloop overtopped my wellies. This was the fourth line to be built connecting the Caldon Low limestone quarries with the canal and limekilns at Froghall. It operated as a series of self-acting inclined planes and was 3ft 6ins gauge. Closure came in 1920.

Base of an air shaft in a disused tramroad tunnel. The pile of rubble on the floor may have come from a stone arched 'beehive' capping that has collapsed.

A few roof problems inside the disused Caldon Low tramway tunnel.

Action on the Danes Moss peat tramway in Macclesfield. This 'railtour' took place on 26th October 1962 and was punctuated by several derailments on the grassy tracks. Here the passengers scramble back aboard after rectifying a derailment whilst the motive power patiently watches. The gauge was 3ft 0ins and the motive power was named 'Star'. In the background can be glimpsed Macclesfield Moss signal box and wagons on the sidings adjacent to the building belonging to the British Peat Moss Litter Company Ltd which built and operated the tramway. I am very grateful to Alan Brackenbury for giving me permission to post his photograph and consult his notes made on the day of the railtour.

In 1937 the Staffordshire Potteries Water Board gained authority for the erection of pumping stations at Peckforton and Tower Wood in Cheshire, with a reservoir on Bulkeley Hill, whence the water would gravitate to a large storage reservoir at Cooper’s Green near Audley, for distribution to Tunstall and the Potteries. Most of these enterprises were held up by the Second World War and it wasn't until 1953 that the Peckforton scheme and its linking aqueduct to Audley had been completed. There are two boreholes where water is pumped from the Sherwood Sandstone aquifer which is near to the surface: Close to the Coppermine Inn (three pumping stations) and at Peckforton Gap. There is a holding reservoir at the Gap, from where water is pumped up 110 metres to a covered reservoir on Bulkeley Hill at 210 metres above sea level. From there a 27 inch steel pipe feeds the water under gravity to the reservoir at Cooper’s Green, Audley, 140 metres asl. The Bulkeley Hill railway was the hauled tramway used in the construction of the Bulkeley Hill reservoir and water main, including a massive anti-surge valve at the top of the tramway. There are foundations for a haulage angine at the top of the line. The climb up the track is approximately 105 metres of ascent. The tramway is on the route of the main supplying the water to the Potteries. This view is looking downhill from the top of the line.

The Haytor Granite Tramway was opened in September 1820 by George Templer to carry stone from his quarries around Hay Tor down to the Stover Canal for onward shipping. It is remarkable for the rails being made of the same material as its intended traffic. It operated until the late 1850s when competition from rail served quarries caused a significant decline in demand. The large L shaped pieces of granite used for rails remain in situ and on the upper section owned by the Dartmoor National Park the line is now a Scheduled Ancient Monument. Here, where the line curves downhill through Yarner Wood, some five miles from the canal basin terminus, it looks as if it remains ready for traffic and a load of granite slabs might be appearing at any moment!

The coal from the shaft seen in the previous image was brought down this incline and through a tunnel to reach a staithe near the main road. Looking uphill to the collliery site, the embankment is made of random gritstone pieces.

At the end of the tramroad seen in the previous image was this staith where the coal was transferred to carts for delivery to customers around the area. The tramroad emerged from a tunnel on the top left side and ran in front of the bales to, I assume, tipplers on top of the wall for loading carts.

Typical conditions in the narrow section of the 1847 Caldon Tramway Tunnel. At least some of the trackbed is clear of the gloop in this bit.

A few of the objects to be surmounted on the approach to the abandoned tramway tunnel.

Peering across the ochre mud towards the narrow section of the 1847 Caldon Tramway Tunnel.