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This was a very cunning arrangement for lifting the iron
up to the tramway where it could be hauled away. Apparently these lifts were not
uncommon, but few survived and none in as good a condition as this. Built in 1839,
there were two cages equipped with water tanks underneath, balanced together on
a chain over a wheel at the top. Water would be poured into one to make it lower
and the other rise. They were then braked and the water drained from the lower
cage. A loaded tram would be wheeled into the lower cage then the upper cage would
be filled with water from a reservoir at the top. When the weight of the water
exceeded the weight of the laoded tram, the brake was released and the upper cage
would descend, bringing up the load. At the bottom, a brake was applied and the
water would be drained out, a new tram loaded and the other cage, now at the top
and unloaded, would be filled with water to repeat the process. Given the amount
of water that falls on the Welsh valleys, this was almost a perpetual motion machine. |
