Butterley Gangroad
The Butterley Gangroad was an early tramway in Derbyshire which linked Hilt's Quarry and other limestone quarries at Crich with the Cromford Canal at Bullbridge.[1][2] The first railway project of Derbyshire civil engineer Benjamin Outram (1764–1805), the line was originally a horse-drawn and gravity-driven plateway, a form of tramway that Outram popularised.[1][3][4] Unlike modern edgeways, where flanges on the wheel guide it along the track, plateways used "L" shaped rails where a flange on the rail guided the wheels.
The line was constructed in 1793, with the construction of Fritchley Tunnel, now believed to be the world's oldest railway tunnel,[3] being required to go under a road junction at Fritchley.
A steam locomotive using a walking mechanism was trialled on the line in 1813. In the 1840s, upgrading took place to accommodate steam locomotives, and part of the original line was moved.[1]
The railway remained in use until 1933.[1]
References
- 1 2 3 4 "Fritchley Tunnel, Butterley Gangroad". Historic England. Retrieved 19 March 2015.
- ↑ "Tramway embankment, Bobbinmill Hill". National Heritage List for England. Historic England. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
- 1 2 "'World's oldest railway tunnel' awarded protected status". BBC News. 19 March 2015.
- ↑ Riden P (2004). "Outram, Benjamin (bap. 1764, d. 1805)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 21 March 2015.
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Coordinates: 53°04′23″N 1°27′59″W / 53.07315°N 1.46629°W