50-499: Esholt Sewage Works Railway was a standard gauge works railway constructed in 1910 to serve a sewage works in Esholt , West Yorkshire , England. The works were built to remove wool-grease and other wastes from effluent coming out of the many mills of the Bradford woollen district. At its peak, the railway extended to 22 miles (35 km) of track served by 11 locomotives, as well as
100-628: A country (for example, 1,440 mm or 4 ft 8 + 11 ⁄ 16 in to 1,445 mm or 4 ft 8 + 7 ⁄ 8 in in France). The first tracks in Austria and in the Netherlands had other gauges ( 1,000 mm or 3 ft 3 + 3 ⁄ 8 in in Austria for the Donau Moldau line and 1,945 mm or 6 ft 4 + 9 ⁄ 16 in in
150-469: A museum of industry in 1982. The museum suffered damage in the 2015 Boxing day flood but has since reopened. The buildings are principally from Benjamin Gott's 1805 construction, with some 19th century infill and a little of the 1795 corn mill that hadn't been destroyed in the fire in 1804. The mill is l-shaped on sloping ground so varies between four storey and two storey. The main range runs north–south over
200-518: A short section of standard gauge track ran parallel to the Midland Line and ran underneath the line to access an area of land used for tipping. By 1957, the works was down to 6.5 miles (10.5 km) of track and full employment for only two locomotives, 'Nellie' and 'Elisabeth', both Hudswell Clarke 0-4-0ST engines. Steam engines were the workhorses for most of the railway's life, only yielding to diesel traction in 1976. The railway closed in 1977 with
250-404: A shorter section of narrow gauge railway served by three engines. Trains were employed to remove solid waste from the site; several of the engines were converted to run on oil derived from recovered wool-grease. The railway was closed completely in 1977, but the sewage works continues to operate. Bradford was a major force in woollen products in the 19th and into the 20th century; nearly 20% of
300-505: A standard gauge of 4 ft 8 + 1 ⁄ 2 in ( 1,435 mm ), and those in Ireland to a new standard gauge of 5 ft 3 in ( 1,600 mm ). In Great Britain, Stephenson's gauge was chosen on the grounds that existing lines of this gauge were eight times longer than those of the rival 7 ft or 2,134 mm (later 7 ft 1 ⁄ 4 in or 2,140 mm ) gauge adopted principally by
350-423: A time-consuming and expensive process. The result was the adoption throughout a large part of the world of a "standard gauge" of 1,435 mm ( 4 ft 8 + 1 ⁄ 2 in ), allowing interconnectivity and interoperability. A popular legend that has circulated since at least 1937 traces the origin of the 1,435 mm ( 4 ft 8 + 1 ⁄ 2 in ) gauge even further back than
400-745: Is currently operated by the Ghana Railway Company Limited . Kojokrom-Sekondi Railway Line (The Kojokrom-Sekondi line is a branch line that joins the Western Railway Line at Kojokrom ) Indian nationwide rail system ( Indian Railways ) uses 1,676 mm ( 5 ft 6 in ) broad gauge. 96% of the broad gauge network is electrified. The railway tracks of Java and Sumatra use 1,067 mm ( 3 ft 6 in ). Planned and under construction high-speed railways to use 1,668 mm ( 5 ft 5 + 21 ⁄ 32 in ) to maintain interoperability with
450-480: Is defined in U.S. customary / Imperial units as exactly "four feet eight and one half inches", which is equivalent to 1,435.1 mm. As railways developed and expanded, one of the key issues was the track gauge (the distance, or width, between the inner sides of the rails) to be used. Different railways used different gauges, and where rails of different gauge met – a " gauge break " – loads had to be unloaded from one set of rail cars and reloaded onto another,
500-556: Is the most widely used track gauge around the world, with about 55% of the lines in the world using it. All high-speed rail lines use standard gauge except those in Russia , Finland , Uzbekistan , and some line sections in Spain . The distance between the inside edges of the rails is defined to be 1,435 mm except in the United States, Canada, and on some heritage British lines, where it
550-623: The Leeds and Liverpool Canal was cut in 1777. This gave the mill a wharf which could be used for incoming raw materials, and outgoing goods and later for coal for the boilers. Nearby is Botany Bay Yard which was so named because it was the first place in England where wool from Botany Bay in Australia was landed. There was a wharf at this location that served the Benjamin Gott Mill. There still exists
SECTION 10
#1732863358299600-598: The Liverpool and Manchester Railway , authorised in 1826 and opened 30 September 1830. The extra half inch was not regarded at first as very significant, and some early trains ran on both gauges daily without compromising safety. The success of this project led to Stephenson and his son Robert being employed to engineer several other larger railway projects. Thus the 4 ft 8 + 1 ⁄ 2 in ( 1,435 mm ) gauge became widespread and dominant in Britain. Robert
650-649: The Forster Square line. 53°50′40″N 1°43′01″W / 53.84441°N 1.71707°W / 53.84441; -1.71707 Standard gauge A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of 1,435 mm ( 4 ft 8 + 1 ⁄ 2 in ). The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson ), international gauge , UIC gauge , uniform gauge , normal gauge in Europe, and SGR in East Africa. It
700-889: The Great Western Railway. It allowed the broad-gauge companies in Great Britain to continue with their tracks and expand their networks within the "Limits of Deviation" and the exceptions defined in the Act. After an intervening period of mixed-gauge operation (tracks were laid with three rails), the Great Western Railway finally completed the conversion of its network to standard gauge in 1892. In North East England, some early lines in colliery ( coal mining ) areas were 4 ft 8 in ( 1,422 mm ), while in Scotland some early lines were 4 ft 6 in ( 1,372 mm ). The British gauges converged starting from 1846 as
750-631: The Netherlands for the Hollandsche IJzeren Spoorweg-Maatschappij ), but for interoperability reasons (the first rail service between Paris and Berlin began in 1849, first Chaix timetable) Germany adopted standard gauges, as did most other European countries. The modern method of measuring rail gauge was agreed in the first Berne rail convention of 1886. Several lines were initially built as standard gauge but were later converted to another gauge for cost or for compatibility reasons. 2,295 km (1,426 mi) Victoria built
800-629: The advantages of equipment interchange became increasingly apparent. By the 1890s, the entire network was converted to standard gauge. The Royal Commission made no comment about small lines narrower than standard gauge (to be called "narrow gauge"), such as the Ffestiniog Railway . Thus it permitted a future multiplicity of narrow gauges in the UK. It also made no comments about future gauges in British colonies, which allowed various gauges to be adopted across
850-511: The canal alight. Resolved to do something by new laws and the desire to rid themselves of the problem, Bradford Corporation initiated first the Frizinghall works (being the lowest part of the city at that time) and when this did not work, they bought the estate at Esholt adjacent to the River Aire . This was a protracted process that wasn't completed until 1906 with assent from parliament to build
900-476: The coal mines of County Durham . He favoured 4 ft 8 in ( 1,422 mm ) for wagonways in Northumberland and Durham , and used it on his Killingworth line. The Hetton and Springwell wagonways also used this gauge. Stephenson's Stockton and Darlington railway (S&DR) was built primarily to transport coal from mines near Shildon to the port at Stockton-on-Tees . Opening in 1825,
950-487: The coalfields of northern England, pointing to the evidence of rutted roads marked by chariot wheels dating from the Roman Empire . Snopes categorised this legend as "false", but commented that it "is perhaps more fairly labeled as 'Partly true, but for trivial and unremarkable reasons. ' " The historical tendency to place the wheels of horse-drawn vehicles around 5 ft ( 1,524 mm ) apart probably derives from
1000-525: The colonies. Parts of the United States, mainly in the Northeast, adopted the same gauge, because some early trains were purchased from Britain. The American gauges converged, as the advantages of equipment interchange became increasingly apparent. Notably, all the 5 ft ( 1,524 mm ) broad gauge track in the South was converted to "almost standard" gauge 4 ft 9 in ( 1,448 mm ) over
1050-459: The course of two days beginning on 31 May 1886. See Track gauge in the United States . In continental Europe, France and Belgium adopted a 1,500 mm ( 4 ft 11 + 1 ⁄ 16 in ) gauge (measured between the midpoints of each rail's profile ) for their early railways. The gauge between the interior edges of the rails (the measurement adopted from 1844) differed slightly between countries, and even between networks within
SECTION 20
#17328633582991100-520: The east and north of the canal, and west and south of the river as both curve north of Thackley . Branches at Thackley Hill bridged both watercourses. The connection with the Midland line required a signal box and exchange sidings for the transfer of wagons between the two systems. Sludge was pressed into 'Cake' at the Press House, a 237 feet (72 m) long, by 92 feet (28 m) wide building which housed
1150-735: The first railways to the 5 ft 3 in ( 1,600 mm ) Irish broad gauge. New South Wales then built to the standard gauge, so trains had to stop on the border and passengers transferred, which was only rectified in the 1960s. Queensland still runs on a narrow gauge but there is a standard gauge line from NSW to Brisbane. NMBS/SNCB 3,619 km (2,249 mi) Brussels Metro 40 km (25 mi) Trams in Brussels 140 km (87 mi) 1,032 km (641 mi) The Toronto Transit Commission uses 4 ft 10 + 7 ⁄ 8 in ( 1,495 mm ) gauge on its streetcar and subway lines. Takoradi to Sekondi Route,
1200-438: The flammable structure. Gott rebuilt the mill using fireproof principles: the mill structure survives and it is this structure that has achieved a grade II* listing. Gott was the owner of several woollen mills. He died in 1840 and was succeeded by his sons John Gott and William Gott . They introduced a steam engine to supplement the water wheels in 1850 but it was in the 1860s that the waterwheels were phased out. By 1907 part of
1250-429: The initial gauge of 4 ft 8 in ( 1,422 mm ) was set to accommodate the existing gauge of hundreds of horse-drawn chaldron wagons that were already in use on the wagonways in the mines. The railway used this gauge for 15 years before a change was made, debuting around 1850, to the 1,435 mm ( 4 ft 8 + 1 ⁄ 2 in ) gauge. The historic Mount Washington Cog Railway ,
1300-484: The locomotives were not being used (especially at night) the grease was kept molten by piping steam into the fireboxes. The grade 'A' product of the sewage works was used by the railway companies as an axle grease for freight wagons. Coal for the sewage beds was transhipped into the works via the connection from the Midland Railway as was Sulphuric acid until the works commissioned their own Sulphur plant in 1922. Because
1350-517: The main range was replaced in 1929 and is no longer to fireproof standards. The mill race flows under the main range of the mill and at water level are 6 finely detailed arches with wrought iron grills. The 1788 mill was powered by 5 waterwheels. The 1805 mill was powered by two metal wheels, named Wellington and Blucher , heroes in the current fights against Napoleon . They were suspension wheels with rim-gearing as pioneered by Thomas Hewes . These wheels were rated at 70 horse power. A beam engine
1400-451: The mill had been let out to tenants in a room and power agreement. The woollen clothing manufacturers Bentley and Tempest took over the mill: an accident book relating to dangerous incidents which occurred during their tenure is in the museum's possession. Operations at the mill ceased in 1969, a victim to the changing technology, loss of market and the prevailing economic conditions. It was sold to Leeds City Council , who re-opened it as
1450-543: The millrace and is 23 bays wide, built of ashlar stone with a hipped slate roof. It has a six bay easterly projection (downstream), known as the Corn Mill, built into the sloping ground which is thus two storeys high. The mill was built to a fireproof design, The cast iron columns are circular and support brick floors built as shallow arches. In the earlier work that did survive the fire, wooden joists are isolated with sheet-iron which has been nailed to them. The roof structure in
1500-523: The museum intend to reflect both historic and contemporary industrial heritage in the city. This includes archives and objects belonging to John Smeaton , Matthew Murray , Systime Computers , Elizabeth Beecroft and many others. The gallery shows the complete woollen manufacturing process in what was a woollen mill. The final product demonstrated here is a blanket. There is a, as listed below The museum has an extensive collection of standard gauge and narrow gauge railway rolling stock. The collection
1550-635: The museum was once the world's largest woollen mill. The current structures were built in 1805 by Benjamin Gott and closed as a commercial mill in 1969. They were taken over by Leeds City Council and reopened as a museum of industrial heritage in 1982. It is located between the Leeds and Liverpool Canal and the River Aire and accessed from Canal Road or Milford Place. It is part of Leeds Museums & Galleries , which also includes Leeds Art Gallery , Leeds City Museum , Leeds Discovery Centre , Thwaite Mills , Lotherton Hall , Temple Newsam , Abbey House Museum and Kirkstall Abbey . Armley Mills lie on
Esholt Sewage Works Railway - Misplaced Pages Continue
1600-591: The old 4 ft ( 1,219 mm ) plateway was relaid to 5 ft ( 1,524 mm ) so that Blenkinsop's engine could be used. Others were 4 ft 4 in ( 1,321 mm ) (in Beamish ) or 4 ft 7 + 1 ⁄ 2 in ( 1,410 mm ) (in Bigges Main (in Wallsend ), Kenton , and Coxlodge ). English railway pioneer George Stephenson spent much of his early engineering career working for
1650-436: The rails is better, thus the minimum distance between the wheels (and, by extension, the inside faces of the rail heads ) was the important one. A standard gauge for horse railways never existed, but rough groupings were used; in the north of England none was less than 4 ft ( 1,219 mm ). Wylam colliery's system, built before 1763, was 5 ft ( 1,524 mm ), as was John Blenkinsop 's Middleton Railway ;
1700-604: The railway from Bradford Council in 1975. No railway exists at Esholt today, though many of the overbridges spanning the River Aire and the Leeds & Liverpool Canal are still extant. 0-4-0ST 'Nellie' was preserved at the Bradford Industrial Museum at Eccleshill , and one of the diesel engines, another 0-4-0 built by Hunslet of Leeds, found employment at Crossley's scrapyard just up the valley outside Shipley station on
1750-510: The railway wagons in the basement. This allowed the 'Cake' to be gravity fed into the railway wagons for transfer to another part of the site. This would involve running into a siding, dumping the 'Cake' and leaving it to dry, before being sold as fertiliser and transhipped via the exchange sidings on the Midland line. At the peak of the workings in 1931, 22 miles (35 km) of track existed being worked over by 11 locomotives, some of which were converted to run on oil derived from wool grease. When
1800-561: The remains of the wharf unloading shed and what appears to be a sunken barge alongside the canal at this location. The earliest record of Armley Mills dates from the middle of the sixteenth century when local clothier Richard Booth leased 'Armley Millnes' from Henry Saville. A document of 1707 describes them as fulling mills. One contained two wheels and four fulling stocks , while another was used to grind corn mill and two fulling stocks'. The mills expanded and by 1788 were equipped with five waterwheels driving eighteen fulling stocks. Fulling
1850-411: The rest of the network. All other railways use 1,668 mm ( 5 ft 5 + 21 ⁄ 32 in ) ( broad gauge ) and/or 1,000 mm ( 3 ft 3 + 3 ⁄ 8 in ) metre gauge . BLS , Rigi Railways (rack railway) 449 km Several states in the United States had laws requiring road vehicles to have a consistent gauge to allow them to follow ruts in
1900-531: The road. Those gauges were similar to railway standard gauge. Leeds Industrial Museum at Armley Mills The Leeds Industrial Museum at Armley Mills is a museum of industrial heritage located in Armley , near Leeds , in West Yorkshire , Northern England . The museum includes collections of textile machinery, railway equipment and heavy engineering amongst others. The Grade II* listed building housing
1950-415: The sewage was gravity fed into the works, some steep inclines were present (as steep as 1 in 49 in places) and several sidings were taken up and re-laid in line with the building programme and whenever a section became redundant. A small section of 2-foot (0.61 m) gauge railway also ran around part of the site. This was operated by two Simplex petrol tractors and one small steam locomotive. Additionally,
2000-422: The south bank and an island in the River Aire . The mill is 150 feet (46 m) above sea level, at a point where the river is falling. A weir has been built upstream, and this maintains a good head of water to power water wheels . Water from above the weir enters the millpond, it passes under the main mill and over the water wheels falling into the goit On the south bank of the river, on the 150 ft contour,
2050-485: The term "narrow gauge" for gauges less than standard did not arise for many years, until the first such locomotive-hauled passenger railway, the Ffestiniog Railway , was built. In 1845, in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland , a Royal Commission on Railway Gauges reported in favour of a standard gauge. The subsequent Gauge Act ruled that new passenger-carrying railways in Great Britain should be built to
Esholt Sewage Works Railway - Misplaced Pages Continue
2100-479: The width needed to fit a carthorse in between the shafts. Research, however, has been undertaken to support the hypothesis that "the origin of the standard gauge of the railway might result from an interval of wheel ruts of prehistoric ancient carriages". In addition, while road-travelling vehicles are typically measured from the outermost portions of the wheel rims, it became apparent that for vehicles travelling on rails, having main wheel flanges that fit inside
2150-489: The works engine shed being transported brick for brick to the Industrial Museum at Armley in Leeds. As with other industrial railways, it was owned and operated by a private enterprise and not by a railway company. As such it was never grouped or nationalised. The railway was operated by the water division of Bradford Corporation until 1973, when Yorkshire Water was formed. Yorkshire Water eventually took over running
2200-463: The works not being granted until 1909. In 1910, a railway branch line was connected to the Midland Railway's Leeds & Bradford Railway Line , leaving as a northerly spur west of Apperley Viaduct and east of Thackley Tunnel . The spur left the mainline immediately east of the rail bridge over the Leeds & Liverpool Canal with the branch and associated sidings staying, for the most part, to
2250-426: The world's first mountain -climbing rack railway , is still in operation in the 21st century, and has used the earlier 4 ft 8 in ( 1,422 mm ) gauge since its inauguration in 1868. George Stephenson introduced the 1,435 mm ( 4 ft 8 + 1 ⁄ 2 in ) gauge (including a belated extra 1 ⁄ 2 in (13 mm) of free movement to reduce binding on curves ) for
2300-448: The world's wool production was being handled at Bradford. A branch of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal extended up Bradford Dale from Shipley to a point near to where Bradford Forster Square railway station is today. Bradford Beck spilled into this canal arm and it suffered from very bad sewage problems. It was rumoured that the canal was so badly affected with incendiary chemicals and sulphureted hydrogen , that children used to set
2350-406: Was a necessary but dirty process where woven wool is felted. The bundles of cloth are hit repeatedly by large hammers, the fulling stocks, while soaked in water, urine and a clay known as Fuller's earth . The urine which is a source of ammonia was collected from neighbouring houses, who saved it especially for the purpose. The mills were sold in 1788, ten years after the new canal opened. It
2400-412: Was bought by Colonel Thomas Lloyd, a Leeds cloth merchant, who expanded it to be the world's largest woollen mill. He leased the running of the mills to Israel and John Burrows; they built demi-detached house for themselves on the far bank of the canal. In 1804/1805 the mills were sold to Benjamin Gott - but burnt down. The early mills were fire hazards, the fibres in the air igniting and setting fire to
2450-426: Was introduced to supplement the wheels in 1855, The wheels were replaced and removed in 1885 but photographs do exist of them in situ. A further older wooden wheel that powered the corn mill is extant, but in need of repair. In 1805 the mill was the world's largest woollen mill containing 18 fulling stocks and 50 looms. Leeds was an industrial powerhouse in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The collections at
2500-589: Was reported to have said that if he had had a second chance to choose a gauge, he would have chosen one wider than 4 ft 8 + 1 ⁄ 2 in ( 1,435 mm ). "I would take a few inches more, but a very few". During the " gauge war " with the Great Western Railway , standard gauge was called " narrow gauge ", in contrast to the Great Western's 7 ft 1 ⁄ 4 in ( 2,140 mm ) broad gauge . The modern use of
#298701