SCOTLAND c1876
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Robin Barnes - Railway Art and History |
The main business of Dick & Stevenson, of Airdrie in central Scotland,
was the manufacture of mining machinery, but between 1864 and 1890
the firm completed something under thirty small four-coupled tank locomotives
of distinctive appearance. Pictured here is one of two supplied
to the Provenhall Collieries, near Glasgow, where loaded coal wagons
had to be hauled up a gradient of 1 in 11. In the arrangement shown,
the locomotive would climb on its own, at the top position itself on the four large diameter rollers, which it then rotated through friction. The
rollers were geared to a central shaft set at right angles. This in turn
rotated a large winding drum located beneath the structure visible in
the foreground. By that means wagons would be hauled by cable to
to the summit. The only known illustration is a diagrammatic
representation, for which reason the painting is to a great extent
conjectural. The exact identities of the two locomotives have not
been established, while the apparatus itself, installed about 1875,
probably functioned for only a limited period.
All railway art is for viewing only and is copyrighted to Robin Barnes 2002.
The railway art may not be reproduced in any way without written permission from the artist. |