1825 the birth of the climate crisis. Mass transport of fossil fuels. 2023 the last coal train leaves the last UK major coal mine. 2024 the last coal train of imported coal runs from docks to the last coal power station which closes in the autumn. The epic draws to a close. How many billions of tons of coal were moved by UK rail in that 200 years.

Taster? Is there a full video to follow?

I’m excited for this. Not only because it’ll hopefully be running in the NER green livery, but also because the world will be able to see a G5 in service for the first time in well over half a century.

Excellent video, very interesting history. I wonder if the William Bouch mentioned was related to the Mr. Bouch of the Tay bridge consructoon in the 1870's ? Thanks a lot. Colin ( Wakefield ).

Sonic Blaster Upgrades Never Heard Or Seen Before By The Living

First game probably 1970-71, they opened the gate at half time and let the kids in for free, otherwise we jumped the fence. Hero was Brian Dale ‘Englands No 1’ !

I always thought it a little ironic that this song so associated with Australia has lyrics about an itinerant thief who commits suicide upon his imminent capture!

I am now 73 years old and my father and his family came from Witton Park. I remember Witton Park in the 50's and I too think that the importance of the area has been neglected. Thank you for a very informative programme.

minute 4:22 the drawing - how much of it has been deciphered? Doesn't it contain the answer to the puzzle at minute 14:00? In the drawing, why is there a break in the rope lines? What are the little cylinders on strings? What part of the rope do the directional arrows refer to? Is it possible for someone to access those drawings, like me?

Woah! Their conductor is a spector?!

At 3:36 why ever is the measurement in KM?? We're British and use MILES! Let others work it out if they need to, use what's standard here (do you think Stephenson used kilometres?) The narrator talks about 1100 yards and elevations in feet!!

The incline is in an abysmal state. You did not care well for your inheritance in Brusselton. What a shame.

Fantastic stuff. Very well presented.

A series of pulleys would be the most simple answer to how the cars crested the hill and were kept in line on a curved track. The most simple solution is always the best.

I think pulleys / sheaves would have been used to guide the rope around the corners. Look at cable cars in San Francisco.

On the Ascending pull , perhaps the Rope was attached at the BACK end of the Skips . This would push them through the Winch House prior to the to the rope being too far from horizontal . Where was the Reservoir fed from ? A Large Water-Wheel lift-pump may have been able to maintain supply . I can't find a handle on dealing with the Curve . Maybe the Deputy Project Director was one Mr H . Potter Esq . lol . Probably Idler Pulleys to hold the Rope . Fascinating Victorian , Industrial Revolution , Construction and Engineering . Really enjoyed watching this .

Love this, thanks!! 👍👍👍

great idea to let a northerner read this, ensuring that no pesky foreigners have a chance of understanding the text.

If you attach the rope to the back of the train, the front car can be past the peak while the rope still has a useful angle

Volume too low.

Well done the gang ,nice video explanation truly professional.A little gem in the history of railways Thanks 👍👍👍

Been clearing and fixing an old eletric trolley road built as a causeway threw a beaver swamp, it's was powered by Niagera falls, and went there to. Mine is the reservation/county line section.

thanks for an interesting and well done video of industrial heritage.

Wonderful!

Teriffic

Great Video - thank you. Very similar operation to the Allegheny Portage Railroad that was part of the Pennsylvania Canal system. Built around the same time.

I see where the idea of the Tehachapi Loop may have originated.

Too bad the narration is unintelligible at some points. A more widely understood narration style would be helpful. Even the Google transcription 'voice to text' system cannot make sense of many words and phrases.

There is nothing like "the engineering mindset" of "here is a problem, come up with ways to solve it" ... which in todays world is becoming ever rarer.

The first question regarding how the (6 I think) carriges could get up and over the crest of the hill. Attach the rop to the last arriage which pushes the othes up and over he top. I was really disappointed when this video had to end.

Thanks for this. I particularly enjoyed hearing the narrator's accent, which I've never heard before.

Fantastic! Now in Turkeym I lived in Esh Winnng for years and greatly enjoy learning about our Durham heritage

..which meant that a two track system was more thoughtafter. One for the load and the other for the empties.

The Magic to this engineering feat was that the rope used was a massive continuous loop.

Rope spindle guides between the tacks had to be added to suit the lay off the land. An opporater had to follow the cars with a pole to guide the rope in.

Bypass the engine house winch barrel with a short direct hitch line. But would have to be reattached to stop the cars running away.

Fascinating. I know industrial revolution stuff gets labelled as boring, but that's only because we are still so close to it historically (the 'boring/irrelevant' window exists -ask most people and 'history' only starts to get interesting when you go back 500 years or so). 07:28: I can only imagine the wonder these people felt at seeing wagons being drawn without horses for the first time. Using steam engines was completely revolutionary - a real leap forward after thousands of years. The guys who are so passionate about preserving this part of our history are actually unsung hero's. In ~400 years this 'early steam stuff' will be of global importance, preserving it will be a nest-egg future generations will be grateful for.

pulling the back car would get them over the crest. do you know or assuming they pulled from the front car? could even brake it at the over balance point and change ends to go down again. interesting before real locomotives started showing up. to have a stationary engine doing the work. egyptians knew of steam but not how to exploit it. thanks for the historical look.

1. Uphill portion: Probably the wagons were not pulled from front wagon (like in the video), but by the rear one, with the rope going over the whole train. In this way, some of train wagons could be pulled over the top of the incline, stopping in balance. 2. Downhill portion: The rope probably was guided by the tracks themself so it would go "round" those curves. The weight of the rope, and the angle of descent, would make the rope lay on the tracks, even when under pulling tension.

Wonderful presentation.. did they have a condenser to recycle the water ? Lol

it were, were it... jeez..

Outstanding.

good question?

18:00 How did they fill the reservoir with water? They probably used a windmill driving a well pump. This technology dates back 4 centuries before the incline was built. 18:44 How did the cars crest the peak? The easiest way would have been to attach the end of the rope farther back than the middle of the train. If desirable, they could have used multiple attachment points. The other methods are a bit more cumbersome because they require chocking the train, slacking the rope, and manually changing the attachment point (or moving the rope to a forward pulley) before hauling over the peak. 19:12 How did the rope manage the curve? This one is pretty easy. They used large pulleys (like spools) on the inside of the curve. The technology for this was also 4 centuries old. And although you didn't ask, these would also have kept the rope from dragging on the ground and abrading which would have worn it out too fast.

So... No answer to how the tangentially aimed engine and rope sheave house pulled coal cars on a curve near the bottom of the incline?

Very interesting, thanks for creating and sharing.

Every once in a while, I'm so inclined.

Answer to the hilltop problem: They didn't attach the cables to the front of the cart train, but further back, possibly to the last cart. It would have been pretty sketchy at first with the necessity of keeping the carts and cable in column but the carts were on rails, making it possible. That probably contributed to the early accidents,

I've learned more in this video than many school trips to the museum, before the Locomotion was built. Maybe its now that I've moved out of Shildon that my interest was peaked when this somehow found its way to my feed. Found it fascinating.

This video reveals how early in History, Greedy Capitalists employed evolving technology to make themselves even Richer. Yet they fooled the Ever Gullible Public to Believe that: "We're doing it ALL just for YOU !!!" How did all that is revealed here benefit the Desperately Poor People stuck in the Slums of East London and in other developing English Industrial Cities at the time ??? Is it any wonder then that this Moral Depravity led a Socially Compassionate Man like Karl Marx, to conjure a Communist Utopia that was based on a more equitable distribution of Labor and Wealth ???