Anderton Lift

[Pluto]

On 28/10/2023 at 10:16, Paul C said:

Wasn't the original design, hydraulic cylinders but using (the local water is a bit salty) water as the working fluid? And surprise surprise, it didn't last long. Then idea 2 was the big structure on top, with cables and counterweights. And now we're on idea 3 which is to go back to hydraulics, but with actual hydraulic fluid and independent cylinders, not needing to be counterbalanced with each other.

The original system lasted thirty  years, so was pretty successful. The problem was that the caisson entered  river water when lowered, and this caused the ram to become corroded. After electrification, the caissons used dry chambers at the lower end, reducing the corrosion from the salty river water.

[David Mack]

The other problem with the lower caisson entering the river is the resulting flotation. That means there is less force to lift the upper caisson up the last bit, so presumably it had to be pumped. Not an issue with a dry chamber at the bottom.

For the same reason the gradient at the top of Foxton Incline Plane reduces at the top so that balanced operation could continue as the lower tank entered the water.

[Phoenix_V]

15 hours ago, David Mack said:

The other problem with the lower caisson entering the river is the resulting flotation. That means there is less force to lift the upper caisson up the last bit, so presumably it had to be pumped. Not an issue with a dry chamber at the bottom.

For the same reason the gradient at the top of Foxton Incline Plane reduces at the top so that balanced operation could continue as the lower tank entered the water.

As far as I could tell in the Belgian ones which use the original system, there is a combination of letting water out of the top tank (as seen in my photos) and a there is also a pump between the rams.

[Pluto]

17 hours ago, David Mack said:

The other problem with the lower caisson entering the river is the resulting flotation. That means there is less force to lift the upper caisson up the last bit, so presumably it had to be pumped. Not an issue with a dry chamber at the bottom.

For the same reason the gradient at the top of Foxton Incline Plane reduces at the top so that balanced operation could continue as the lower tank entered the water.

A small steam powered pump was used to level the caissons on the original lift, as per drawing. The Belgian lifts used hydraulically powered pumps supplied by Cockerill & Co. The founder of the firm was a textile engineer from Haslingden, and was invited to set up an engineering industry in Belgium when the country was formed.

[system 4-50]

4 hours ago, Pluto said:

A small steam powered pump was used to level the caissons on the original lift, as per drawing. The Belgian lifts used hydraulically powered pumps supplied by Cockerill & Co. The founder of the firm was a textile engineer from Haslingden, and was invited to set up an engineering industry in Belgium when the country was formed.

That is a beautiful scene.  Apart from the pale blue.  How could you do that?  

[Dav and Pen]

The original lifts in Belgium were closed for a long while after an accident with the bottom lift. The caisson started to go up went the Peniche was about half way out, the boat was broken in half and the lift was eventually stripped right down and rebuilt by the Eiffel company.

We did a couple of coal runs on the weaver selling mainly to the lock keepers around 1978 and loaded the first load near Harecastle tunnel and the second load on the weaver. That load came from the forest of dean as the NCB were having a dispute with the miners and the pits were closed. I don’t remember any payment for the lift so maybe commercial traffic was ecempt.

[Snakey]

On 27/10/2023 at 15:50, Jon57 said:

Maybe they should run like a Disney attraction ride £50 for a family of 4. Plus all the merchandise. T shirts. Baseball caps. Fridge magnets etc.

Imagine if they still had the original chutes, what you could make for the cost of a hundred cocoanut mats and a small kiosk...

[Rassiloth]

On 27/10/2023 at 15:57, Arthur Marshall said:

I got told by one of the blokes working it that it cost about 10p for each trip. Possibly he hadn't included maintenence costs...

 

The last I heard it cost about £100 each time the lift operates.

 

[BEngo]

Like costing many things,  costing the operation of the Anderton lift is more of an art form than a science. Knowing the answer you want is a good start.

 

What do you decide to include?

Electricity?

Wages of the x people needed to operate it?

Pension  and other costs of those people?

Some proportion of Head office and Regional office costs? If so how much?

Depreciation?

Maintenance costs- for the lift, for the operating building, for the grounds.....?

Some portion of the costs of the CRT booking system?

Publicity costs?

Trip boat costs, if it is a public trip operation?

 

Lots of others to choose from too.  

 

With accountants the answer is always a piece of string 😀.

 

N

[Sea Dog]

13 hours ago, BEngo said:

With accountants the answer is always a piece of string 😀.

Well I for one won't be using the Anderton Lift again if  that's how it works! 

[ditchcrawler]

3 hours ago, Sea Dog said:

Well I for one won't be using the Anderton Lift again if  that's how it works! 

CRT and BW before them have a long history of using bits of string, normally blue

[Heartland]

Were the strings attached?

[ditchcrawler]

1 hour ago, Heartland said:

Were the strings attached?

They should be on those micro switches that stop it working