Hay Inclined Plane

Hay Inclined Plane

 

The inclined plane was used to carry loaded small tub boats from the Shropshire Canal at the top to the short stretch parallel to the river to a wharfage at Coalport. These tubs were 20 ft (6m) long and 6 ft 6 in wide (2m). Fully loaded they weighed approx 5 tons.
After they were attached to a cradle they were pulled to the apex of the gorge using a Heslop low pressure steam engine (haystack boiler). From here they were attached to a drum and chain which was fully wound. On the opposite set of tracks was a second chain which ran down the length of the incline where it was attached to a second cradle and empty tub boat.
From here gravity took over and the full tub and cradle travelled down and the empty one travelled up. At the top a man controlled the speed of the descent by monitoring the rate of assent.
A fully competent crew could move two tubs, one up and one down in four minutes.
The incline has a vertical drop of 206 ft (63m) and a length approx of 700 ft (215m) giving it a slope of 1 in 4 (25%). An unrestricted cradle and tub would be travelling at almost 25 mph (30Km/h) at the bottom.

 

Submitted By: Neil Cartman on 14 February 2011

 

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