The Rimutaka Incline was a 3-mile-long (4.8 km), 3 ft 6 in gauge railway line on an average grade of 1-in-15 using the Fell system between Summit and Cross Creek stations on the Wairarapa side of the original Wairarapa Line in the Wairarapa district of New Zealand. The term "Rimutaka Incline" is sometimes used incorrectly to refer to other parts or all of the closed and deviated section of the Wairarapa Line between Upper Hutt and Speedy's Crossing, near Featherston. The incline formation is now part of the Remutaka Rail Trail.
The Fell system was the first third-rail system for railways that were too steep to be worked by adhesion on the two running rails alone. It used a raised centre rail between the two running rails to provide extra traction and braking, or braking alone. Trains were propelled by wheels horizontally applied and retracted by springs onto the centre rail, controlled from the cab, as well as by the normal running wheels. In practice, the running wheels could be allowed to run freely to reduce wear, but the centre brake shoes needed to be replaced frequently. For example: the locomotives' shoes were replaced after each journey on the Mont Cenis Pass Railway. Extra brake shoes were fitted to specially designed or adapted Fell locomotives and brake vans, and for traction the prototype locomotive had an auxiliary engine powering the horizontal wheels. The Fell system was developed in the 1860s and was soon superseded by various types of rack railway for new lines, but some Fell systems remained in use into the 1960s. The Snaefell Mountain Railway still uses the Fell system for (emergency) braking, but not for traction.
Thomas Russell Crampton, MICE, MIMechE was an English engineer born at Broadstairs, Kent, and trained on Brunel's Great Western Railway.
The Steeple Grange Light Railway is a narrow-gauge heritage railway visitor attraction near Wirksworth in Derbyshire, England. Opened in 1985 on the trackbed of a disused branch line, it uses industrial locomotives and rolling stock from disused mines, quarries, and steelworks around the country.
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 0-4-2 represents the wheel arrangement with no leading wheels, four powered and coupled driving wheels on two axles and two trailing wheels on one axle. While the first locomotives of this wheel arrangement were tender engines, the configuration was later often used for tank engines, which is noted by adding letter suffixes to the configuration, such as 0-4-2T for a conventional side-tank locomotive, 0-4-2ST for a saddle-tank locomotive, 0-4-2WT for a well-tank locomotive and 0-4-2RT for a rack-equipped tank locomotive.
The Lynton and Barnstaple Railway (L&B) opened as an independent railway in May 1898. It was a single track, 1 ft 11+1⁄2 in narrow gauge railway and was slightly over 19 miles (31 km) long running through the rugged and picturesque area bordering Exmoor in North Devon, England. Although opened after the Light Railways Act 1896 came into force, it was authorised and constructed prior to that act. Therefore, as with all other railways, it was authorised under its own Act of Parliament and built to higher standards than similar railways of the time. In the United Kingdom it was notable as being the only narrow gauge line required to use main-line standard signalling. For a short period the line earned a modest return for shareholders, but for most of its life the L&B made a loss. In 1923, the L&B was taken over by the Southern Railway, and eventually closed in September 1935.
The Fréjus Rail Tunnel is a rail tunnel of 13.7 km (8.5 mi) length in the European Alps, carrying the Turin–Modane railway through Mont Cenis to an end-on connection with the Culoz–Modane railway and linking Bardonecchia in Italy to Modane in France. Its mean altitude is 1,123 metres (3,684 ft) and it passes beneath the Pointe du Fréjus and the Col du Fréjus.
John Barraclough Fell was an English railway engineer and inventor of the Fell mountain railway system.
Manning Wardle was a steam locomotive manufacturer based in Hunslet, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England.
Sir James Brunlees FRSE MICE was a Scottish civil engineer. He was President of the Institution of Civil Engineers for 1882-3.
The NZR H class steam locomotive was a unique class of Fell locomotive used by New Zealand Railways (NZR) on the Rimutaka Incline, the 3-mile (4.8 km) section of 1 in 15 gradient between Cross Creek and Summit, over the Rimutaka Ranges.
The Eaton Hall Railway was an early 15 in gauge minimum gauge estate railway built in 1896 at Eaton Hall in Cheshire. The line, which connected the Grosvenor estate with sidings at Balderton on the GWR Shrewsbury to Chester Line about 3 miles (4.8 km) away, opened in 1896. It was built for the Duke of Westminster by Sir Arthur Percival Heywood, who had pioneered the use of 15 in gauge with his Duffield Bank Railway at his house at Duffield, Derbyshire in 1874.
The Castlederg and Victoria Bridge Tramway was a 3 ft narrow gauge railway operating in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It opened in 1883 and closed in 1933.
Nidd Valley Light Railway was a light railway in upper Nidderdale in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England. It was owned by Bradford Corporation Waterworks Department and the corporation also operated its public passenger services. Power & Traction Ltd of London obtained a Light Railway Order for the 6.5-mile (10.5 km) railway from Pateley Bridge to Lofthouse in 1900, but these powers were taken over by Bradford Corporation. A contract to build Angram Reservoir was awarded to John Best & Son in 1903, and he also won the contract to build the public railway and a 6.5-mile (10.5 km) private extension to the reservoir site. This was initially built to 3 ft gauge but was converted to standard gauge by 1907, when the public railway opened. Best had his own locomotives, and Bradford Corporation equipped the public railway with second hand locomotives and carriages from the Metropolitan Railway.
The Mont Cenis Pass Railway operated from 1868 to 1871 during the construction of the Fréjus Rail Tunnel through the Alps between Saint-Michel-de-Maurienne, southeast France and Susa, Piedmont, northwest Italy. It was designed by John Barraclough Fell and his three-rail design was used on some other mountain railways. The railway was 77 kilometres long, with a gauge of 1,100 mm. The height at the summit was 2,283 metres (7,490 ft) and the maximum gradient was 9 per cent. It was used to transport English mail to India as part of the 1,400-mile (2,300 km) All Red Route.
The Bessbrook and Newry Tramway operated a 3 ft narrow gauge, hydro-electrically powered tramway transporting passengers and freight between Bessbrook and Newry in Northern Ireland between 1885 and 1948.
The Cape Government Railways Type A 2-6-4T of 1902 was a South African steam locomotive from the pre-Union era in the Cape of Good Hope.
The Aldershot narrow-gauge suspension railway was built in 1872 as an innovative experimental railway at Aldershot Camp in Hampshire, England. It had a gauge of 18 in and incorporated the suspension principle, invented and patented by John Barraclough Fell.
Beckhole Incline was a steep, rope-worked gradient on the railway line between Whitby and Pickering, in the North Riding of Yorkshire, England. Opened in May 1836 as part of the horse-worked Whitby & Pickering Railway, the line was operated by three railway companies before becoming redundant on the opening of a diversionary line to the east that allowed through working by steam engines on the entire line. Although the incline was closed to regular traffic in 1865, it was used for a very brief period in 1872, to test a special locomotive intended for railways with steep gradients.
