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Avon And Gloucestershire Railway
The Avon and Gloucestershire Railway also known as The Dramway was an early mineral railway, built to bring coal from pits in the Coalpit Heath area, north-east of Bristol, to the River Avon opposite Keynsham. It was dependent on another line for access to the majority of the pits, and after early success, bad relations and falling traffic potential dogged most of its existence. It was long, single track, and . It opened in part in December 1830 and carried its last traffic in January 1904, having been near-dormant since 1844. It used horses to pull wagons. Part of its route is accessible today as a footpath, and signs of much of the route are still visible. Origins In the latter years of the eighteenth century, coal pits were opened up in what became the northern and eastern parts of the Bristol Coalfield and the Somerset Coalfield. Extracting the coal was only part of the process, and bringing it to market was the necessary next step; before proper roads existed, land transpo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Break-of-gauge
With railways, a break of gauge occurs where a line of one track gauge (the distance between the rails, or between the wheels of trains designed to run on those rails) meets a line of a different gauge. Trains and rolling stock generally cannot run through without some form of conversion between gauges, leading to passengers having to change trains and freight requiring transloading or transshipping; this can add delays, costs, and inconvenience to travel on such a route. History Break of gauge was a common issue in the early days of railways, as standards had not yet been set and different organizations each used their own favored gauge on the lines they controlled—sometimes for mechanical and engineering reasons (optimizing for geography or particular types of load and rolling stock), and sometimes for commercial and competitive reasons (interoperability and non-interoperability within and between companies and alliances were often key strategic moves). Various solutions o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Horse-drawn Railways
Wagonways (also spelt Waggonways), also known as horse-drawn railways and horse-drawn railroad consisted of the horses, equipment and tracks used for hauling wagons, which preceded steam-powered railways. The terms plateway, tramway, dramway, were used. The advantage of wagonways was that far bigger loads could be transported with the same power. Ancient systems The earliest evidence is of the 6 to 8.5 km long '' Diolkos'' paved trackway, which transported boats across the Isthmus of Corinth in Greece from around 600 BC. Wheeled vehicles pulled by men and animals ran in grooves in limestone, which provided the track element, preventing the wagons from leaving the intended route. The Diolkos was in use for over 650 years, until at least the 1st century AD. Paved trackways were later built in Roman Egypt. Wooden rails Such an operation was illustrated in Germany in 1556 by Georgius Agricola (image right) in his work De re metallica. This line used "Hund" carts w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Plateway
A plateway is an early kind of railway, tramway or wagonway, where the rails are made from cast iron. They were mainly used for about 50 years up to 1830, though some continued later. Plateways consisted of "L"-shaped rails, where the flange on the rail guides the wheels, in contrast to edgeways, where flanges on the wheels guide them along the track. Plateways were originally horsedrawn but, later on, cable haulage and small locomotives were sometimes used. The plates of the plateway were made of cast iron, often fabricated by the ironworks that were their users. On most lines, that system was replaced by rolled wrought iron (and later steel) "edge rails" which, along with realignment to increase the radius of curves, converted them into modern railways, better suited to locomotive operation. Plateways were particularly favoured in South Wales and the Forest of Dean, in some cases replacing existing edge rails. Other notable plateways included the Hay Railway, the Glouces ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chaldron
A chaldron (also chauldron or chalder) was an English measure of dry volume, mostly used for coal; the word itself is an obsolete spelling of cauldron. It was used from the 13th century onwards, nominally until 1963, when it was abolished by the Weights and Measures Act 1963, but in practice until the end of 1835, when the Weights and Measures Act of that year specified that thenceforth coal could only be sold by weight. Coal The chaldron was used as the measure for coal from the 13th century, measuring by volume being much more practical than weighing low-value, high-bulk commodities like coal. It was not standardized, and there were many different regional chaldrons, the two most important being the Newcastle and London chaldrons. The Newcastle chaldron was used to measure all coal shipped from Northumberland and Durham, and the London chaldron became the standard measure for coal in the east and south of England. Many attempts have been made to calculate the weight of a Newc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Siston Hill Colliery
The sinking date for Siston Hill Colliery, Siston, Bristol is unknown, but was probably in the late 1790s or early 19th century. There is a surviving accident report dated 1804. This names the colliery owner as a Mrs. Peterson. By 1831 the colliery was under the ownership of Toghill & Company. The 1880 List of Mines names the owner of the pit as S. H. Hadley. The pit was put up for sale in 1889 and the prospectus states that it had four shafts, two of which were sunk to a depth of . The winding shaft was in diameter, walled throughout and had two separate cages. The winding engine was a Boulton and Watt Boulton & Watt was an early British engineering and manufacturing firm in the business of designing and making marine and stationary steam engines. Founded in the English West Midlands around Birmingham in 1775 as a partnership between the Engli ..., had a stroke and a drum, and could lift 700 to 800 tons of coal a day. The pumping engine had two cylinders and was in work ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cable Railway
Cable may refer to: Mechanical * Nautical cable, an assembly of three or more ropes woven against the weave of the ropes, rendering it virtually waterproof * Wire rope, a type of rope that consists of several strands of metal wire laid into a helix ** Arresting cable, part of a system used to rapidly decelerate an aircraft as it lands ** Bowden cable, a mechanical cable for transmitting forces * Rope generally, especially a thick, heavy ("cable laid") variety Transmission * Electrical cable, an assembly of one or more wires which may be insulated, used for transmission of electrical power or signals ** Coaxial cable, an electrical cable comprising an inner conductor surrounded by a flexible, tubular insulating layer, coated or surrounded by a tubular conducting shield ** Power cable, a cable used to transmit electrical power ** Submarine communications cable, a cable laid on the sea bed to carry telecommunication signals between land-based stations * Fiber-optic cable, a cable co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
California Gold Rush
The California Gold Rush (1848–1855) was a gold rush that began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California from the rest of the United States and abroad. The sudden influx of gold into the money supply reinvigorated the American economy; the sudden population increase allowed California to go rapidly to statehood, in the Compromise of 1850. The Gold Rush had severe effects on Native Californians and accelerated the Native American population's decline from disease, starvation and the California genocide. The effects of the Gold Rush were substantial. Whole indigenous societies were attacked and pushed off their lands by the gold-seekers, called "forty-niners" (referring to 1849, the peak year for Gold Rush immigration). Outside of California, the first to arrive were from Oregon, the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii) and Latin America in late 1848. Of th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Siston Brook
Siston Brook rises in two separate streams which issue from a ridge just north of the village of Siston, South Gloucestershire, England. The brook is approximately long and is a tributary of the Bristol Avon. Much of its course is through the eastern suburbs of Bristol, although it remains outside the city boundaries. Tributaries include the Warmley Brook and an unnamed tributary from Bridgeyate. The stream has provided power for watermills and battery mills in the past and some mill buildings still survive. Wildlife is supported by nature reserves through which the Siston Brook runs. Flooding has caused problems in the past, but modern measures to alleviate this include an attenuation reservoir and proposals to reinstate historic weirs and sluices. The name Siston is believed to derive from Anglo-Saxon, meaning ''Sige's Farmstead''. Course The source of Siston Brook is two springs which flow out of a ridge just north of the village of Siston. These join near to the village c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Avon & Glos Rly
Avon may refer to: *River Avon (other), several rivers Organisations *Avon Buses, a bus operating company in Wirral, England *Avon Coachworks, a car body builder established in 1919 at Warwick, England, relaunched in 1922, following refinancing, as ''New Avon'' *Avon Inflatables, a manufacturer of inflatable boats, RIBs and marine safety equipment *Avon Products, a manufacturer of various cosmetics and personal care products *Avon (publisher), an imprint of the publisher HarperCollins *Avon Rubber, a manufacturer of rubber products *Avon Tyres, a UK car, motorcycle and racing-tyre manufacturer, owned by the Cooper Tire & Rubber Company *Avon and Somerset Police, a police department in the United Kingdom People *John Avon (born 1961), Welsh illustrator *Avon Cobourne (born 1979), American football running back *Anthony Eden (1897–1977), Earl of Avon *Avon Honey (1947–2010), American politician from Louisiana *Avon Long (1910–1984), American singer and actor *Avon ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Midland Railway
The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had its headquarters. It amalgamated with several other railways to create the London, Midland and Scottish Railway at grouping in 1922. The Midland had a large network of lines emanating from Derby, stretching to London St Pancras, Manchester, Carlisle, Birmingham, and the South West. It expanded as much through acquisitions as by building its own lines. It also operated ships from Heysham in Lancashire to Douglas and Belfast. A large amount of the Midland's infrastructure remains in use and visible, such as the Midland main line and the Settle–Carlisle line, and some of its railway hotels still bear the name '' Midland Hotel''. History Origins The Midland Railway originated from 1832 in Leicestershire / Nottinghamshire, with the purpose of serving the needs o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
