Belvoir Castle Railway

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Belvoir Castle Railway
Fully loaded horse tram, secured with a freewheel pawl against unintentional rolling downhill
, Fully loaded horse-drawn tram with freewheel - pawl
secured against accidental rolling downhill
Belvoir Castle Railway route
Route
Route length: 2.5 km
Gauge : 1334 mm
Legend
   
 0 Muston Gorse Wharf on the Grantham Canal
   
 2.5 Belvoir Castle

The Belvoir Castle Railway or Grantham Canal Railway was a 2.5-kilometer horse course with a track width of 4 feet 4½ inches (1334 mm) in the county of Leicestershire in central England .

history

In 1815 (or according to other sources as early as 1793) the 5th Duke of Rutland built the Belvoir Castle Tramway to transport coal and other goods from Muston Gorse Wharf on Grantham Canal to Belvoir Castle . The light railroad was in operation until 1929 or 1936 at the latest, when the canal operation was stopped.

Track construction

The line was laid with fish belly splints designed by engineer William Jessop (1745-1814) and cast in his Butterley Ironworks in Derbyshire from 1813 to 1815 . Each rail snapped into the integrated foot of the next to create a secure connection.

Some fish belly rails and some wagons are still in the castle basement. Other rails are in the London Science Museum and the National Railway Museum in York , where the chassis of a car is located.

  • Crane on the canal

  • Rail scales

Route

The railway line curved around the west side of the castle and then led into a tunnel below. A short section of the route is still preserved in the castle grounds and extends into the cellars under the castle.

business

The wagons were pulled up the hill by horses. They were secured against rolling back with a beam hung on a hinge. The route of the railway line can still be traced and many of the stone block sleepers have been preserved.

  • Feldbahntrasse

  • Former rail scales

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Belvoir Castle Railway. On www.railalbum.co.uk. Retrieved February 21, 2019.
  2. ↑ a b c d e The Narrow Gauge Railway Museum Trust: Belvoir Castle Tramway. Gauge 4ft 4½in (1,334m).
  3. ^ Tim Warner: Leicestershire Landowners and the Railway: Resistance and Co-operation.
  4. ↑ a b Belvoir tramway . Pastscape, English Heritage. Retrieved October 29, 2010 and February 21, 2019.
  5. ^ Geoff Ward: The Belvoir Castle Railway. (4 '4½ "gauge). November 16, 2018.
  6. ^ Wagons in castle cellar (2007) . Narrow Gauge Railway Museum. Retrieved October 29, 2012 and from web.archive.org February 21, 2019.
  7. ^ National Railway Museum exhibit (2012) . Retrieved October 29, 2012 and from web.archive.org February 21, 2019.

Coordinates: 52 ° 53 ′ 41.2 ″  N , 0 ° 47 ′ 0 ″  W.