Cable shunting at Runcorn?

[54Strat]

Hi all,

 

My commute takes me past Runcorn, and today popped out of the car to watch the shunting. So, the 66 stayed still, and to my surprise (or ignorance) the wagons moved. The culprit was at the other end, some kind of concrete loaded cable driven wagon coupled to the end of the train? You can see the cable attached, and it can shunt the wagons in both directions. I enjoyed watching it for about 15 minutes.

 

 

Maybe someone could enlighten me about how this works, as I'm intrigued and think this would make a fine modelling project. I've more photos if others are interested.

 

Cheers

 

Paul

[Classsix T]

The oil condensate terminal at North Walsham is also cable worked. I didn't notice a wheeled concrete block though.

 

C6T.

[edcayton]

Isn't there something similar at Carne Point to move the clay wagons around?

 

Ed

[Fat Controller]

Isn't there something similar at Carne Point to move the clay wagons around?

 

Ed

I believe the one at Carne Point sits beneath the wagon, and engages on the wheels, rather than being coupled to the wagon coupling hook. These things are sometimes referred to as 'mules', IIRC.

[Gordon A]

Dutch_Master

"some pulleys (for changing direction of the cable)" - could you explain how the change in direction made through using pulleys?

I would have thought changing the direction of the electric motor would have been simpler.

 

54-Strat - did you see if this was radio controlled or was there a fixed control point(s)?

Some more pictures please.

 

Gordon A

Bristol

[Fat Controller]

Here are some links to two views on Paul Bartlett's site:-

http://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/oilterminals/h3e51070#h3e51070 is one of the devices that engages on the wagon wheels.

http://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/oilterminals/h3e51070#h15ccaca7 is the haulage mechanism.

Such installations are not uncommon at locations such as the loading racks at refineries- there was a thread on RM Web a while back about a quarry or cement works in the South Midlands that had used them.

[keefer]

the small wheel-acting version is featured with stone wagons on the 'railfreight today' series of DVDs, unfortuneately can't remember which one, or indeed where it is!

 

the 'trolley' thing pulls the wagon onto the unloading platform, it's emptied, then onto a traverser. once the now empty wagon slides across, another trolley pulls the wagon off the traverser onto an adjacent line

[54Strat]

Thanks for the replies.

 

So I guess the cable uses a pulley at either end, one at the buffers and one just on the other side of the depot. Btw, what is the correct name for a loading facility such as this?

 

As requested, here's a few more shots of the concrete 'mule', plus a couple more to give it context....

 

 

 

 

 

Cheers

 

Paul

[Alex TM]

Hi folks,

 

There's a pulley system in use at Powderhall in Edinburgh, although it looks rather different from this one. At least now, from this thread, I know how they work. The Edinburgh one is used to 'shunt' the container flats for the city's refuse containers. The full ones are then taken away by EWS (usually a 66) to the landfill sites near Dunbar.

 

Of this different version is of interest, I could try and take some photos and post them here.

 

Regards,

 

Alex.

[MattWallace]

There's a pulley system in use at Powderhall in Edinburgh, although it looks rather different from this one. At least now, from this thread, I know how they work. The Edinburgh one is used to 'shunt' the container flats for the city's refuse containers. The full ones are then taken away by EWS (usually a 66) to the landfill sites near Dunbar.

 

Of this different version is of interest, I could try and take some photos and post them here.

 

I've no intention of modelling any of these, but I'd love to see some more pics if they're available - always interested in alternative ways of doing things...

 

Matt