First Incline, Cromford and High Peak Railway
Two wagons are now ascending and even from the A6 road bridge we can hear the whirring of the cables. We gaze uphill to await the balancing load coming down of two more wagons. The catchpit between the lines was to prevent runaway wagons from blasting into the Cromford warehouses. The black hut with a smoking chimney was occupied by someone whose job was to throw the catchpoints if a runaway was telephoned. Once, in the 19th century, an errant unstoppable set of wagons, one containing gunpowder, flew downhill, cleared the canal and smashed onto the Midland main line. Boy I would like to have seen that (from a safe distance). December 21 1966. This picture is from The Cromford and High Peak Railway in Colour (Amberley) and has been cleaned by Chris Nicholson.
Copyright John Evans. No unauthorised copying or downloads.
First Incline, Cromford and High Peak Railway
Two wagons are now ascending and even from the A6 road bridge we can hear the whirring of the cables. We gaze uphill to await the balancing load coming down of two more wagons. The catchpit between the lines was to prevent runaway wagons from blasting into the Cromford warehouses. The black hut with a smoking chimney was occupied by someone whose job was to throw the catchpoints if a runaway was telephoned. Once, in the 19th century, an errant unstoppable set of wagons, one containing gunpowder, flew downhill, cleared the canal and smashed onto the Midland main line. Boy I would like to have seen that (from a safe distance). December 21 1966. This picture is from The Cromford and High Peak Railway in Colour (Amberley) and has been cleaned by Chris Nicholson.
Copyright John Evans. No unauthorised copying or downloads.