Inclined planes - how do they work?

[rogerb]

I understand that there is an inclined plane at Foxton that is being restored - how do these work?

 

Are the boats pulled up them by an engine with rollers underneath it in a similar way to a big dipper getting to the top of its run?

 

Apparantly there are a number of these working in Europe but I don't know of a working one in the UK.

 

Roger

[BigRoj]

I understand that there is an inclined plane at Foxton that is being restored - how do these work?

 

Are the boats pulled up them by an engine with rollers underneath it in a similar way to a big dipper getting to the top of its run?

 

Apparantly there are a number of these working in Europe but I don't know of a working one in the UK.

 

Roger

 

Hi Roger,

The inclined plane at Foxton works, or worked on the balance principle. As one trough with boat and water was being raised up the incline, another trough with or without boat was being lowered down the incline, both being attached to each other by cables and chains to a, I think, 25 rated horse power steam engine. The two troughs weighed roughly the same, therefore balanced each other.

The troughs ran on rails, similar to railway track rails.

 

I am in danger of waffling on here and confusing you. If you go to the website of the Foxton Inclined Plane Trust I believe it explains the principle there.

www.fipt.org.uk

[Hairy-Neil]

The troughs ran on rails, similar to railway track rails.

 

When the Foxton Inclined Plane opened around 1900 I believe it ran on surplus bridge rail salvaged from Brunel's 7 foot guage railway that had been dismantled a few years earlier.

[John Orentas]

There was some very clever design in these things, one of those contraptions that look more difficult the more you think about it. For example when rolling a tank into the canal the entire thing gets lighter as it goes into the water and it's buoyancy increases, this was compensated for by a variation of the angle of the 'plane'. The full tanks of course always contained the same combined weight of boat and/ or water, that Greek bloke worked that out.

[fender]

There was some very clever design in these things, one of those contraptions that look more difficult the more you think about it. For example when rolling a tank into the canal the entire thing gets lighter as it goes into the water and it's buoyancy increases, this was compensated for by a variation of the angle of the 'plane'. The full tanks of course always contained the same combined weight of boat and/ or water, that Greek bloke worked that out.

 

Some inclined planes also worked without tanks like those found at Foxton - eg on the Shropshire Tub Boat canals and the Bude canal etc (and I think Worsley also) Their boats had wheels on them, dispensing with the need for a special tank to transport the vessel.

[Hairy-Neil]

The alternative means is for the cassion (tank) to drop into a hole in the ground, rather like the arrangement at Anderton and with the new build Falkirk Wheel. The probelm is then sealing off the interface with the canal to keep the hole from filling with water.

[NB Willawaw]

http://www.fipt.org.uk/lift.html

[rogerb]

Hi Roger,

The inclined plane at Foxton works, or worked on the balance principle. As one trough with boat and water was being raised up the incline, another trough with or without boat was being lowered down the incline, both being attached to each other by cables and chains to a, I think, 25 rated horse power steam engine. The two troughs weighed roughly the same, therefore balanced each other.

The troughs ran on rails, similar to railway track rails.

 

I am in danger of waffling on here and confusing you. If you go to the website of the Foxton Inclined Plane Trust I believe it explains the principle there.

www.fipt.org.uk

 

Thanks for this - the mist is clearing - so the next question is: why did they fall out of favour - are locks a more cost-effective way of changing levels?

[NB Willawaw]

"The lift worked well but, the locks at Watford Gap were never widened, and the traffic didn't increase. This made the lift uneconomic.

The locks were refurbished for night traffic in 1909. FMC wanted to use their steam boats for “Fly runs” non stop boating, the crew taking turns to sleep. They could compete with the time tables of the railways.

 

In 1911 the Lift was mothballed to save money, the traffic returning to the locks which have been in use ever since. In 1928 the machinery was sold for scrap".

 

Courtesy of website (http://www.fipt.org.uk)

Edited June 9, 2007 by NB Willawaw

[Hairy-Neil]

Thanks for this - the mist is clearing - so the next question is: why did they fall out of favour - are locks a more cost-effective way of changing levels?

 

The problem for Foxton was it was steam powered and for it to be quicker than the locks meant it had to keep a good fire going in the boiler even when there was no traffic about.....

[rogerb]

"The lift worked well but, the locks at Watford Gap were never widened, and the traffic didn't increase. This made the lift uneconomic.

The locks were refurbished for night traffic in 1909. FMC wanted to use their steam boats for “Fly runs” non stop boating, the crew taking turns to sleep. They could compete with the time tables of the railways.

 

In 1911 the Lift was mothballed to save money, the traffic returning to the locks which have been in use ever since. In 1928 the machinery was sold for scrap".

 

Courtesy of website (http://www.fipt.org.uk)

 

The mists have cleared I think - works on the principle of two buckets each of equal weight going over a pulley - very little effort is needed to produce movement - been onto the fipt website - fascinating.

 

Thanks Roger

[WJM]

Roger, If this interests you then you MUST go and see the Anderton Lift - it is an absolutely astonishing piece of technology - and basically an inclined plane made vertical

 

There are some very basic inclined planes in Poland - wheeled cradles in which the boat is pulled up by a winch. There is a more sophisticated one in Czech Republic, and the biggest of all is in China, a massive lift over a dam.

Edited June 12, 2007 by WJM

[rogerb]

Roger, If this interests you then you MUST go and see the Anderton Lift - it is an absolutely astonishing piece of technology - and basically an inclined plane made vertical

 

There are some very basic inclined planes in Poland - wheeled cradles in which the boat is pulled up by a winch. There is a more sophisticated one in Czech Republic, and the biggest of all is in China, a massive lift over a dam.

 

I have been to see the Anderton Lift a number of times but never picked a day when it was working.

My favourite canal engineering work in the North West is the Barton Aquaduct - the canal being carried over the Manchester Ship Canal is absolutely stunning.