Direct Line
The diagonal slash of Ingleby Incline, a key feature of the Rosedale Branch ironstone railway, operational between 1861 and 1929, seen from the Cleveland Hills escarpment. Constructed by the North Eastern Railway, the line was used to transport ironstone from Rosedale to the hungry furnaces of Teesside. The incline, whose gradients were one in 11 increasing, near the top, to one in five, rose 729 feet, to Greenhow Moor, in less than a mile. It was approached, from a junction with the main line at Battersby, via a much gentler ascent over two-and-a-half miles. The climb began at Bank Foot, a short distance from Battersby, a busy junction of four lines and where exchange sidings and a locomotive shed were provided.
Steel cables, passing round huge drums housed at Incline Top, hauled empty wagons up, with descending laden wagons producing the required energy. Wagons generally went three at a time. The ascent, at 20mph, took three minutes. Beyond Incline Top, the 14-mile branch ran via Bloworth Crossing to Blakey Junction, from where separate lines served mines at Rosedale East and Rosedale West. Today, it is hard to imagine the sight of steam locomotives puffing across the North York Moors at a maximum altitude of 1,370 feet. Locomotives, usually of an 0-6-0 tender design, were stabled and stored at Rosedale West. They were taken down Ingleby Incline, a hazardous exercise, only when serious maintenance was needed.
Ingleby Incline, now a bridleway, is used by Forestry Commission workers and shooting parties.
Direct Line
The diagonal slash of Ingleby Incline, a key feature of the Rosedale Branch ironstone railway, operational between 1861 and 1929, seen from the Cleveland Hills escarpment. Constructed by the North Eastern Railway, the line was used to transport ironstone from Rosedale to the hungry furnaces of Teesside. The incline, whose gradients were one in 11 increasing, near the top, to one in five, rose 729 feet, to Greenhow Moor, in less than a mile. It was approached, from a junction with the main line at Battersby, via a much gentler ascent over two-and-a-half miles. The climb began at Bank Foot, a short distance from Battersby, a busy junction of four lines and where exchange sidings and a locomotive shed were provided.
Steel cables, passing round huge drums housed at Incline Top, hauled empty wagons up, with descending laden wagons producing the required energy. Wagons generally went three at a time. The ascent, at 20mph, took three minutes. Beyond Incline Top, the 14-mile branch ran via Bloworth Crossing to Blakey Junction, from where separate lines served mines at Rosedale East and Rosedale West. Today, it is hard to imagine the sight of steam locomotives puffing across the North York Moors at a maximum altitude of 1,370 feet. Locomotives, usually of an 0-6-0 tender design, were stabled and stored at Rosedale West. They were taken down Ingleby Incline, a hazardous exercise, only when serious maintenance was needed.
Ingleby Incline, now a bridleway, is used by Forestry Commission workers and shooting parties.