Cromford and High Peak Railway

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previously in use; and justly so, as whether we consider it with reference to its cost, its regularity and despatch, the perfect ease with which it is controlled, or its never-tiring energies, we are compelled to By 1860 the line had six more locomotives gradually displacing the horses. These locomotives were hauled up and down the inclines along with their trains with the cables, which initially had been hemp, replacing the earlier chains, but by then were of steel. The railway juggernaut has not yet called upon me to pay the sacrifice for my sins, instead of which I find myself at Whaley Bridge, on Saturday, July 10th, 1880, still pursuing the romance of railways, and about to take a trip on the engine over the High Peak Line, a privilege for which I am indebted to the Engineer of the London and North Western Company. of this line, to induce the proprietors to employ steam instead of animal power. Great and important were the difficulties to be overcome in the adoption of such power

Where earthworks were unavoidable, the result was a number of huge embankments and narrow cuttings. A 19th century writer described it as, ' the sky scraping High Peak Railway with its corkscrew curves Runaways were rare but always spectacular. Shortly after dark on 1st March 1888 – before the catchpit had been dug – a chain broke with catastrophic consequences. A wagon full of lime and brake van containing gunpower hurtled down the incline, reaching a speed calculated at 120mph. At the bottom they derailed, launched themselves over the canal and disintegrated, scattering remains across the main line. Thirty two and a half miles long, this mountain line connects the Cromford Canal and the Midland Railway at Whatstandwell, in Derbyshire, with the Peak Forest Canal and the London and North Western system at Whaley Bridge, in Cheshire. That Sleepy Hollow is Adam’s Bede’s country; and in the churchyard yonder Dinah Morris awaits the Resurrection bidding. Do you recognise the scene from ‘the preaching’ chapter of George Eliot’s first, freshest, and most famous work? While its function was to provide a shorter route for Derbyshire coal than the Trent and Mersey Canal, it figured largely in early East Midlands railway schemes because it was seen as offering a path into Manchester for proposed lines from London. However, the unsuitability of cable railways for passengers became clear within a few years.It should be noted that, depending upon which company record is referred to, then the gradients do vary slightly from the values given above and over the years some of the gradients were modified, particularly that of the Following Jessop's untimely death in 1826, he was replaced by Thomas Woodhouse who became the resident engineer for its construction.

The story of Middleton and Sheep Pasture inclines: A Balancing Act The story of Middleton and Sheep Pasture inclines: A Balancing Act Sheep PastureIncorporating the Cromford incline. Stationery engine. Gradient 1 in 8½, 1,320 yards long. The railway's first steam locomotive arrived in 1841 in the shape of Peak, built by Robert Stephenson and Company. By 1860 the line had six more locomotives gradually displacing the horses. Because the inclines were too steep for adhesion traction by these early locomotives, they were hauled up and down the inclines, along with their trains, by static steam engines. Hemp rope or chain, initially used for hauling trains, was later replaced by steel cables. The railways first steam locomotive arrived in 1841 in the shape of Peak, built by Robert Stephenson and Co.

Audio tours

Hubert reported for duty one morning to find the engine shed was smokeless. The overnight cleaner, who should have prepared the loco, was barricaded in the cabin, adamant that he’d seen a ghost – “summat white with a clanking chain behind it”. A short while later, Sparrow Bond arrived from his nearby smallholding, looking for a goat which had escaped in the night. The engine house of the Middleton incline at Middleton Top was preserved as a Visitor Centre and the beam engines, once used to haul waggons, are occasionally demonstrated with compressed air. The train is the only moving thing in sight, save when a grouse, wild on the wing, rises with a sharp startled cry. Then just as Buxton is seen, with its white houses lying in the hollow, and shining like a pearl in a setting of emerald, a sudden scream from the engine takes the startled air, and darkness shrouds the feeding train.