THE restoration of the self-acting incline brakeman’s cabin at the top of the Bowes Railway’s Springwell incline, supported by Heritage Lottery funding, has been completed.
It was the first incline on the 1826 Bowes system running between Springwell Yard and the bank foot at Wardley.
It was a self acting (gravity) incline and depended on the weight of full wagons descending hauling the empty wagons uphill.
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Both sets of wagons were connected by a rope which passed around a 14ft wheel attached to a braked drum located in a purpose-built pit at the bankhead.
Read more in Issue 251 of HR – on sale now!
