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Hi I ventured out on the cold morning to walk part of the Brusselton Incline. Before I add the pictured here is a little bit of history of the Incline.
The solution they devised was to create two rope hauled inclines over the hills; both powered by static steam engines. The Brusselton Incline is the second, and easternmost, of these inclines. Today, many features still survive, telling us much about the ingenuity and resolve of those early railway engineers.
As you can see by the pictures the original stone footings where the rails and chairs were bolted to. The engine man's cottage and the engine house still stand but the engine shaft which turned a large pulley wheel is no longer there. But on the engine house you can see where it had been bricked up using stone. Around the back of these houses the railway built a resivour to feed the two steam engine to power the pulleys.
Anyway enough talking here are some pictures..
THE BRUSSELTON INCLINE
The decision to invest in steam powered railways in the early 19th Century was driven by the need to transport coal, from the hilly South Durham Coalfields, east to ports on the River Tees.
Early steam locomotives could pull trains of coal wagons, known as 'chaldrons' as long as the route was relatively flat. The challenge facing the Stockton & Darlington Railway was that the coal they were transporting had to, first, be brought over two great hills.The solution they devised was to create two rope hauled inclines over the hills; both powered by static steam engines. The Brusselton Incline is the second, and easternmost, of these inclines. Today, many features still survive, telling us much about the ingenuity and resolve of those early railway engineers.
As you can see by the pictures the original stone footings where the rails and chairs were bolted to. The engine man's cottage and the engine house still stand but the engine shaft which turned a large pulley wheel is no longer there. But on the engine house you can see where it had been bricked up using stone. Around the back of these houses the railway built a resivour to feed the two steam engine to power the pulleys.
Anyway enough talking here are some pictures..