anybody know what this is/was ????

i was out for the day on Monday and came across this...



it's in the heart of the midlands and there is not much of it left but...

it's a fascinating bit of engineering that opened in 1900 and was in operation until around 1910. the link to steam ?? well it was powered by a stationary steam engine, which was one of the main reasons it was closed down due to it being uneconomical to keep "in steam" for the little use it was getting.

i know what it was and have found a picture from this very same spot when it was in operation, it's an amazing bit of engineering considering the amount of weight it had to .... oops, too many clues

anybody ???

craig

At a guess I'd say an early mechanised lock to transport boats up to or down from the top. Possibly in water or on their own.

well yes, thats close enough, now this picture is from the same spot with with the "thing" fully working...





its called The Foxton Inclined Plane Barge Lift and as you can probably guess, its at foxton locks...



this website gives all the details... click but i think you have to agree, what an amazing bit of engineering it was. two huge tanks of water on rails going up and down the hillside as an alternative to an hour or more through the locks.
each tank weighed an amazing 230 tons and went up the 1in4 slope in twelve minutes. as the tank reached the bottom it actually submerged into the canal.

these people are actually trying to get it fully restored and working again, what an amazing sight that would be !!!!

this is a slightly more modern version...



can you imagine the conversation.... "well actually i think we should have two giant tanks of water, on rails, going up and down the hillside. you drive the boat in at the top and wind it down the hill and out at the bottom"... " "

Hi Well I did not get it. !!

But do you know what the footing is made out of ??

Now this is what you call a proper boat lift, have a look at this link, there are also some even bigger ones in Germany.

http://www.mywarrington.me.uk/waterfront_anderton_boat_lift_030609_01.JPG

hughb wrote:Hi Well I did not get it. !!

But do you know what the footing is made out of ??

dont know ???? do tell !!!

Vapor wrote:Now this is what you call a proper boat lift, have a look at this link, there are also some even bigger ones in Germany.

http://www.mywarrington.me.uk/waterfront_anderton_boat_lift_030609_01.JPG

wow, another big one !!!

but there's something about the foxton lift that makes it look totally unsafe, and therefore scary and therefore exciting and therefore fascinating

i may be wrong but i would imagine that with all the weight involved it would creak and grown its way up and down the rails, add to this the huge tank rising from the canal and i think it would be amazing to watch. lets hope they do get it fully restored one day

There is a large on on the Forth Clyde canal in Scotland in the form of a giant ferris wheel. Sadly I have only seen pictures.

Augustrock

oh yes. that would be this one....



another great design

but then this would have been designed on a computer. the foxton lift would have been done the old fashioned way

nope, im still going with the foxton one as the most impressive

We had a ride on that when we were there in 2007. It was a fine day too. (Had to pay a pound to park the motorhome for the day and as we were only there for 4hrs, we gave the ticket to the next motorhome that arrived when we left.) Chris

The Falkirk Wheel works on the principle of the weight of the descending barge lifting the other and, if memory serves me right, it uses the same energy as needed to boil a kettle for each lift. Did the Foxton lift work on the same principle - similar to many cliff railways?

yes, the tanks were connected. so as one went up the other went down, passing in the middle. very clever

i think if you look at the photo i posted of the more modern version you can see counter weights to do the same thing ???

Both caisons weigh the same even if only one has a boat in it as the boat displaces its own weight of water so the balance remains.

craig@STW wrote:oh yes. that would be this one....



another great design

but then this would have been designed on a computer. the foxton lift would have been done the old fashioned way

nope, im still going with the foxton one as the most impressive

I remember seeing this on the TV - Mark Williams Industrial Revelations - a brilliant series showing our indistrial heritage to the max and a funny many presenting it with great enthusiasm.