The Cromford & High Peak Railway
by D S Barrie and J R Hollick
The Railway Magazine, Nov 1934, pages 356-360
The High Peak Railway starts its
sinuous, mountainous and lonely career
at High Peak junction, between Whatstandwell
and Cromford stations on the
Derby-Manchester main line of the
L.M.S. Two exchange sidings are provided
on the down side of the main line
and from these the High Peak line turns
off through the woods, on a rising
gradient of 1 in 200, to Cromford Sidings,
at the foot of Sheep Pasture incline,
which is a mile distant from the junction.
The first 500 yards are worked as a
siding, after which a staff section extends
to the foot of the incline. Just before
reaching Cromford proper is a goods
warehouse, close to which is a road crossing
protected by an old hand-operated
signal consisting of a rectangular oblong
plate carried on a rotating post. This
must be one of the oldest railway signals
in the country.
At the foot of Sheep Pasture incline and
between the road and the Cromford Canal
are, Cromford Sidings, the old High Peak
workshops, (still used for light repairs),
and a small shed housing the solitary
locomotive employed between Cromford
and High Peak junction; this is usually
an ex-L.N.W.R. 0-4-2 pannier tank.
Among the wagons in the sidings will be
noted a number of old L.N.W.R. four-
wheeled locomotive tenders; these have
been. converted into tank-wagons for conveying
fresh water from Cromford Canal
to locomotive stand-pipes on the High
Peak section, and also to the village of
Longcliffe, which has no fresh-water
supply other than this.
Passing under the Derby-Matlock road,
the line ascends the Sheep Pasture incline,
which is cable-worked, ¾ mile long, rising
at 1 in 9 for the first half-mile and at 1
in 8 for the remainder of its length.
Originally it consisted of two inclines,
Cromford and Sheep Pasture, which were
amalgamated in 1855; the point of division
is now marked by a short level
stretch of fencing halfway up. There is
believed to have been a winding-engine
between the two inclines, but no trace of
this now remains. The original winding
engine at Sheep Pasture was replaced in
!883. Immediately after passing under
the road bridge previously referred to,
the up and down tracks separate and pass
on either side of a large catch-pit for
runaway wagons. The points, on the
descending line are normally set to direct
wagons into the pit; they are worked from
an adjacent cabin, and it is the pointsman's
duty to set the road for the main
line if and when. he is satisfied that
descending wagons are fully under control.
Automatic gongs, some distance
apart, are rung by the wagons as they
come down, affording to the pointsman
an indication of the speed at which they
are travelling. In addition to the protection
afforded by this catch-pit, there are
three pairs of catch-points on the ascending
line and a trap-point at the summit
on the descending road to derail any
vehicles which might inadvertently start
to move down the incline without being
attached to the cable. The journey of
the wagons up and down the incline is
called a "run," which may be made
either by balancing or by winding, the
maximurn gross weight permitted for a
"run" being 38 tons. Signals are provided
at the top and bottom of the incline.
and when the wagons are ready
and attached to the cable, the pointsman
at the bottom pulls off the signal at the
top for the descending wagons; his colleague
at the top then, but not before,
pulls off that for the ascending wagons,
and the "run" begins.
From the incline, and again between
the top and Middleton, magnificent views
are to be seen, first of the Derwent Valley
and Matlock, and then of the bleaker but
ruggedly attractive Derbyshire hills. The
last part of the incline is in cutting, with
woods on either side; at the top are the
winding house, sidings, and a shed for
the engine - usually an ex-L.N.W.R.
2-4-0 tank - which on the one engine in
steam principle operates the traffic over
the 11 miles between the top of the Sheep
Pasture incline, and the bottom of the
Middleton Top incline.
The intervening stretch of single track
between the two inclines is sharply curved
and has a number of siding connections,
several of which lead to derelict quarries
and are no longer in use. At Steeple
house and Wirksworth Goods Depot,
where there are three sidings, a short
quarry line known as Killers Branch
comes in. Between Steeplehouse and
Middleton, the town of Wirksworth lies
in the valley below and to the left, and
considerable traces may be seen of the
cable-worked incline which connected the
High Peak line with the Wirksworth
incline of the Midland Railway's branch
from Duffield. A walled-off cutting marks
the point of divergence from the High
Peak line, and beyond this the old incline,
which was double track, may be
followed down to the site of its junction
with the Midland line siding. On one
side of the hill a quarry is rapidly cutting
into the incline embankment, of which
there are several relics at the bottom,
including an overbridge, a derelict winding
frame, and a pile of corroded cable.
Actually, however, this incline was never
brought into use.
The Middleton incline, which is preceded
by a series of sidings, is double track and
cable-worked, 1,100 yd. long and on a
gradient of 1 in 8¼; the principle of working
is the same as at Sheep Pasture, with
the exception that there is no catch-pit,
and no signal at the foot, but catch-points
are provided. No vehicles with less than
10 in. clearance above rail level are
allowed to pass, over these inclines. At
the top of the incline are the engine shed
and winding-house, the latter containing
the original beam engine supplied by the
Butterley Company when the line was
opened. Its tall chimney forms a conspicuous
landmark for miles round. The
locomotive shed contains two engines for
working the line between Middleton Top
and Parsley Hay; for many years these
were ex-L.N.W.R. 2-4-0 tanks, but in
1931 two very strange newcomers
appeared in the shape of L.M.S. Nos.
7511 and 7521, 0-6-0 side-tanks of former
North London design. There could
surely be no more forceful comment on
the freakish results of grouping than the
presence among the bleak moorlands of
the Peak of these two "Cockney" engines,
which are admirably suited, how
ever, to the duties of this peculiar line.
From Middleton Top to Parsley Hay
the line runs among bare and almost tree
less hills, in marked contrast to the well
wooded Derwent Valley; human habitations
are few, and an occasional farmhouse
or limestone quarry is the sole
evidence of man's activities. This section
is single track and worked with staff-and
ticket, with staff stations at Hopton Top,
Longcliffe, and Friden. For the first
1¼ miles from Middleton Top to the foot
of the Hopton incline there is a falling
gradient of 1 in 1,056. Beyond Middleton
Top a quarry is passed; a short cutting
then precedes a tunnel, in which room was
left by the engineers for double-track;
beyond this a siding loop gives access to the.
branch to Hopton Wood quarries, home
of the famous Hopton stone. The tunnel
was at one time much longer than it is
to-day, but at some time unrecorded a
section at the Cromford end was con
verted to cutting.
The line now curves sharply to the
right and the Hopton incline comes in
view; this incline includes the steepest
gradient in Great Britain worked by
adhesion only, by ordinary locomotives,
and without any special form of assistance.
Originally it consisted of 500 yards
at 1 in 14, with a stretch of 1 in 470 at
the top, but the 1 in 14 portion has been
eased so that now only 50 or 60 yards
are at this inclination, which is encountered
almost at the top, and is preceded
successively by 1 in 60, 30 and 20. The
method of easing the grade was to
lengthen the approach to the incline by
building up the approach embankment.
When first opened the incline was double
track, but is now single, being worked
on the staff-and-ticket system, while the
original second track is in use at the
top as a siding. At the foot of the incline
is another siding serving a now derelict
manure works.
The ascent of the incline is made by
"rushing" it down the slightly favourable
grade from Middleton; the L.N.W.R.
2-4-0 tank engines can take up five empty
or three loaded wagons at a time and the
North London tanks, with their greater
adhesive power, seven empty or five
loaded wagons. There is no restriction
on the length of descending trains, provided
all brakes are pinned down before
starting the descent.
Hopton Top goods depot stands, as its
name implies, at the top of the incline,
and is five miles from High Peak junction.
The worst gradients have now
been surmounted and between Hopton Top
and Longeliffe, the next staff station, the
line falls at 1 in 792 for two miles past
Harborough Brickworks, Manystones and
Hickmans Limestone sidings. Longeliffe,
seven miles from High Peak junction, is
a relatively important goods depot, with
siding connnections to limestone works
and a fowl-grit factory. At Longcliffe a
locomotive watering depot is provided by
tender-tanks standing on a raised staging.
Longcliffe is the starting-point of a daily
milk train (Sundays included) to Manchester,
which is the only Sunday train on
the line.
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