This is how they used to work . Where tac came from .
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scD0B7Gczp8
Mike
Mike, Great Video/Story…
Thanks for sharing…
Very cool Mike. I had no idea there even was a gravity train.
Great! Thanks for sharing !!
Fascinating…
Yes , brave men huh ?
I wish that the film had made the point that the slates , which have sharp edges , were stacked vertically in the wagons and the brakesmen had to sit on top of them . It has to be remembered that in those days the working chaps had two suits , one for working and another for church . Cloth was hard to come by , so these blokes had to scrounge some to sit on , so protecting their bums from injections of slate into their flesh and stop the slate ruining their second suit .
Mike
ps …I have just been looking for a film of the skates that the miners used to get down the hill
I couldn’t find it , but will try again----it’s even more spectacular .
Found it , see “no brakes” in this section
Mike
Mike Morgan said:
Yes , brave men huh ?
I wish that the film had made the point that the slates , which have sharp edges , were stacked vertically in the wagons and the brakesmen had to sit on top of them . It has to be remembered that in those days the working chaps had two suits , one for working and another for church . Cloth was hard to come by , so these blokes had to scrounge some to sit on , so protecting their bums from injections of slate into their flesh and stop the slate ruining their second suit .
Mike
ps …I have just been looking for a film of the skates that the miners used to get down the hill
I couldn’t find it , but will try again----it’s even more spectacular .
I believe the slate would normally be stacked vertically. Less breakage that way.
Over here, they not only ran trains by gravity DOWN the mountain, but also pulled them UP the next hill with a stationary steam engine.
The D&H had a 47 mile gravity railroad across the Poconos to Hawley, PA.
http://explorepahistory.com/hmarker.php?markerId=1-A-C2
These were the guys who ordered 4 steam engines from England in 1827, the most notable being the Stourbridge Lion, which was the first steam locomotive to run in America.
OK. I don’t remember which one of you built the steam engine I saw at the ECLSTS, but surely one of you could build a “Double Header” Steam Engine like the one in the video.
The beauty in it is you don’t need a turntable!
The steam winching of trains uphill was quite common in the UK , but I think the cleverest were where they used a full train to pull an empty one up on a counterbalance system , or used water tanks on a counterbalance system to haul empties back up , both counterbalances being like an inverted"U" track with a large wheel for the cable to go round . The latter system often used water pumped from the mines they served .
Lou , I believe there is a kit of the Fairlie Double Ender , and also LGB have a German equivalent .
Mike
Mike, round here we call them Inclines. They were more properly called Funicular Railways.
What fun!
Thanks Mike, great story!
I’m just suggesting that Shawn could scratch build a “Double Headed Mother Hubbard”. Engineer always in the middle!