Foxton Canal Lift
in Leicestershire
The Foxton Inclined Plane was a canal inclined plane on the Leicester line of the Grand Union Canal about 3 miles/5 km west of Market Harborough, named after the nearby village of Foxton. The plane was built in 1900 as a solution to various operational restrictions imposed by the Foxton Lock flight. It had two tanks, or caissons, each capable of holding two narrowboats or a barge. The water-holding caissons balanced each other. The lift was powered by a 25 HP stationary steam engine.
The plane was designed by Gordon Cale Thomas, after a large-scale prototype was built at the company's Bulbourne yard and he had assessed the 75 ft (23 m) climb.
The site has been restored, and the boiler house rebuilt to house the Foxton Inclined Plane Trust's museum.
See Foxton Inclined Plane Trust website
1904: 'A NOVEL BARGE LOCK
One of the most remarkable locks in the world is now in operation at Foxton, Leicestershire, on the Grand Junction Canal. It is a lift lock of an entirely novel kind, and in one operation performs a duty which hitherto necessitated the use of a staircase of ten locks. The difference of level between the two canals at this point is no less than 75 feet, and under the old system of locking the time occupied in passing one boat through was one hour and fifteen minutes, a pair of boats taking one hour and twenty minutes. For the purpose of improving and accelerating the system, which was a serious handicap to the success of the canal, Mr Gordon Gale Thomas, the engineer-in-chief to the Grand Junction Canal, in conjunction with his brother, devised the present lift system of communication. The work of carrying out the installation was entrusted to Messrs J. and H. Gwynne, of Hammersmith, London W.
The principle of the invention is two barge lifts running in opposite directions upon the counterbalanacing system. An inclined plane 300 feet in length has been laid from the lower to the higher reaches. Upon this is laid eight pairs of rails, four for each lift. The gradient is in the proportion of 1 in 4, and the total height is 75 feet. The plant comprises two movable tanks, or lifts, two conduits, hydraulic gates and rams, steam engines and boilers. .hydraulic pump, water accumulator, steel wire haulage ropes, drums, guide pulleys, &c.
The two movable tanks are constructed of steel plates. Each lift is carried upon eight sets of wheels, which run upon the tracks. The internal dimensions of each tank are 80 feet in length, 15 feet in breadth, and 5 feet in depth. These tanks are each capable of accommodating two canal boats of 38 tons apiece, or one barge carrying 70 tons. The depth of water in the lifts is sufficient to float the barges within. At each end of the tank is provided a gate or sluice, which raised to the top of the steel frame for the admittance and egress of the boats within the lift. These gates are completely watertight, so that no loss of water is incurred during the passage of the lift up or down the inclined road, and no danger to or strain on the boat is incurred.
The two tanks travel in opposite directions. —i.e. while one is ascending the other descends, and vice versa. They are connected by wire ropes in such a manger that the weight of one balances that of the other as they travel up and down in opposite directions between the higher and lower canals. By this arrangement the engine has no work to do beyond overcoming the friction of the working parts.
When a boat has to be raised it is floated into whichever tank is at the lower level, through a suitable gate at the end, the water in the tank being, of course, at the same level as that in the canal; the gate is then closed by means of hydraulic cylinders, and the tank is hauled up the incline with the boats floating; thus the boats are waterborne during the whole operation, and are not strained in any way. While the tank in question ascends the other tank, as already explained, descends, and this also being full of water, a balance is sustained. It is scarcely necessary to point out that it is immaterial to the balancing whether there are boats in both tanks or not, as the total weight under any condition of loading is equal.
Upon arrival at the top of the inclined plane, the movable tank is held in position by means of hydraulic rams. The gate at the other end is then raised simultaneously with the. gate of the fixed conduit, thus making connection with the higher canal, after which the boats or barges are at liberty to continue their journey.
The wire haulage cable connecting the two lifts, which is 7in in diameter, is passed round the main hauling drums and guide pulleys. These are operated by an engine of the the double-cylinder jet-condensing type, the drums being driven through powerful worm gearing.
In addition to the great saving of water— approximating 90 per cent. of the quantity used by the locking system—the lift lock greatly facilitates the passage of the boats. Instead of 1 1/4 hours, the time now occupied in transferring a boat from one level to the other is twelve minutes. As to the cost of working, the duty, taking fifteen-minute intervals between the operations, is 6,000 tons (3000 tons in either direction) per day of twelve hours, and the cost of dealing with this tonnage, based on the actual experience of working, would be the almost nominal sum of £1 4s 6d per day, including coal, oil, stores, labour. ....'[1]
See Also
Sources of Information
- ↑ Northern Daily Telegraph - Monday 14 November 1904