IMMENSE HAULAGE SYSTEM.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2159, 27 May 1914, Page 14

IMMENSE HAULAGE SYSTEM.

•DENNISTON-'S FAMOUS INCLINE.

Before the company could begin coalgetting it had to devise some means of transporting tho coal from tlio mine Jioad at tho edge of a precipitous height nearly 2000 feet abovo sou level to the Government railway lino on tho flat below. To do this tho famous Donniston incline- was built. The line, which is one of tho steepest railways in the world, lias a maximum gradient of 1 in 1.34. a ruling grade o f i ; n 2 . 2 5, am l a total length of 85 chains. H ;" in two sections known as tho upper incline, 35 chains in length, and the lower inchno, 50 chains in length. The sections aro operated independently, and tho principle is to mako ttie descending truckful of coal pull up the empty truck. At the head of jcaoh section'oi tho incline tho wire, ropes to which the trucks are attached pass round great winding , drums 9ft. and 10ft. in diameter...To these drums hydraulic brakes are attached, ami the brakoman, standing at his post behind tho drums, can seo the truck as it arrives at the head of his section, and from an indicatoi can tell exactly where it is throughout tho whilo passage down tho mountain Bide. At the bottom of the incline n Conn's Creek railway station, wh<:rc tho trucks are taken in hand by the ordinary railways staff, mado up ink rakes or races, as they aro called, anc dispatched to AVcstport wharf, twelve miles away, to be promptly emptied ink the ships' holds, and relumed once again to climb tho mountain. It shoult bo explained that the trucks here spoker of are tho Government railway con wagens, each capable of carrying i

tons or 8} tons of coal. The incline is capable of dealing with 20 truck-loads per hour, and tho average for each working hour is about 18 trucks, which works out at something like 150 tons to tho hour.

Perched on the skyline at tho top of the cliff are the storage bins and screening plant, offices of tho company, the men's clubhouse, and round about are the buildings of tho wind-swept township of Denniston. On a clear day tho prospect from Denniston is as fino as is to be found anywhere. On one side is the sea stretching away for miles, and on tho other that magnificent panorama of mountain peaks described by Sir Julius von Haast. The old Banbury seam, tho first portion of tho field to be worked by tho company, was entered by a drive in tho.hillsido about a quarter of a. milo back from the incline It was long ago worked out, and the coal now comes from, the Coalbrookdalo and Iron Bridge mines. Thoso mines are respectively three miles and a quarter and two miles and # throe-quarters distant from the top of the incline, and storago bine.

Tho coal is brought from tlio mines to the bins in small tubs or trucks, each holding about 12 cwt. These are run by ondless-rope haulage over a 3ft. double track tramway. On ono track of tho tramway arc the loaded tubs on their outward journey, and on tho other are •the empties returning to tho workings. From the hins to tho Wooden Bridge junction, a mile and a half v distant, tho one double-track line carries the coal from both mined. At the junotion hore tho Ooalbrookdale goes to the right, through tho littlo mining township of Burnett's Face, and follows the winding of'the stream for a mile and threequarters to the pit mouth. Tho line to the Iron Bridgo mino goes through a tunnel and over some bridges for a mile land a half away from the junction. The tubs are attached to tho wire ropes by chain clips, and' on each of theso lines is to be seen tho same endless procession of full and empty tubs. When work is stopped for tho day .the tub procession makes a halt' also, and the landscape is dotted over, until work begins next day,'with'stationary tub 3, one half of tTiem full and tho othor half empty. In tho wire rope-' haulage system, in and out of the mines, some twenty miles of steel rope is employed. Tho greater part of tho rope is 4 inches in circumference, with a breaking strain of G4 tons.