Chain lift
A chain conveyor is a rail-bound means of transport in which the vehicles are pulled by one or more stationary drive stations by means of a chain . Usually the chain is endless.
In the 19th and early 20th centuries, chain railways were particularly popular in mining as mine railways, pulling full hunted or carts out of the pit and then, after emptying, back in for refilling. It was particularly suitable for use in open-cast mines , where the train - like an inclined elevator - has to overcome a relatively short and straight route with a steep gradient. Because of the branched and winding corridor systems with correspondingly complicated rail and chain guides, chain railways were only used in a few underground areas.
The first chain railway in German coal mining was laid in 1900 in the old pit of the Wattenbacher coal mine.
Chain ropeways represent a predecessor of the rail cable car, in which a chain is used instead of a wire rope . This is explained by the fact that wire ropes were only developed at the beginning of the 19th century, and were initially very expensive, heavy and still quite unreliable. In addition, chains offered advantages in terms of guidance, deflection, easy hanging and unhooking of the load, easy repairs and insusceptibility to dirt. The technology of chain transport has been tried and tested adequately in other applications, for example chain hoists or chain shipping . Today, since wire ropes are cheaper and more reliable, the cable cars have replaced the chain lifts with the exception of a few special applications.
Chain railway of the Fortuna mine
Chain railway in the Berzdorf opencast mine (1922)
Path boundary on the Hürtherberg , made from parts of a former chain railway
Chain railway in the Prince of Hesse pit
Grubenhunt of the chain railway ( Grubenbahnen Messel )
Former chain railway trolley ( Upper Palatinate lignite mining area )
Individual evidence
- ↑ Wattenbach coal works. In: Eco path mining in the Söhre. May 2010, accessed April 6, 2016 .