Bulkeley Hill Narrow Gauge Railway

The Bulkeley Hill Narrow Gauge Railway was a 350 yards (320 m) long 2 ft (610 mm) gauge rope-hauled incline on the Bulkeley Hill near Bulkeley in Cheshire, England.[2] With a grade of nearly 1:1 in one section, it is known as Cheshire's Steepest Railway.

Bulkeley Hill Narrow Gauge Railway
Remains of the track at the top end, looking downwards 2016

Fuel tanks of pumping station at the bottom end, 2002

Incline (disused)[1]
Technical
Line length0.2 miles (0.32 km)
Track gauge2 ft (610 mm)

History

The Staffordshire Potteries Water Board was granted permission in 1937 to build drinking water pumping stations at Peckforton and Tower Wood in Cheshire with a reservoir on Bulkeley Hill, from where the water was piped to a large reservoir at Cooper's Green near Audley for distribution to Tunstall and the Potteries. After the water was pumped into the elevated reservoir, it ran in a 27-inch pipeline (ø 686 mm) to the potteries.[3][4]

The incline was used during the construction of the Bulkeley Hill Reservoir and the water pipeline to overcome a height difference of about 345 feet (105 m).[5] It has three catch points for derailing runaway vehicles. At its bottom station, five reused Lancashire boilers are available as diesel storage tanks for the pumps.[6][4]

  • Catch point in the lower part, uphill view
  • Steep area near the top, sidewards view
  • Top end, uphill view

References
  1. Cheshire West and Chester: Public Map Viewer. Retrieved on 4 July 2020.
  2. Henrys Adventures: Cheshire's Steepest Railway - The Bulkley Hill Narrow Gauge Railway. (CC BY 3.0) Retrieved on 4 July 2020.
  3. Roger Foden: The Peckforton ‘Railway’. South Cheshire Harriers, Newsletter, June 2009.
  4. Bulkeley Hill Tramway.
  5. Tarboat: Waterworks railway.
  6. David Kitching: Bulkeley boilers: Old Lancashire boilers in use as storage tanks at the Bulkeley waterworks.

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