Coal Drop at Shildon
Introduction
The photograph on this page of Coal Drop at Shildon by David Dixon as part of the Geograph project.
The Geograph project started in 2005 with the aim of publishing, organising and preserving representative images for every square kilometre of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man.
There are currently over 7.5m images from over 14,400 individuals and you can help contribute to the project by visiting https://www.geograph.org.uk
Coal Drop at Shildon
Image: © David Dixon Taken: 21 Jun 2011
These arches are the remains of a "coal drop"; an ingenious device for fuelling steam locomotives. Rail wagons full of coal were shunted up steep ramps and along the top of the coal drop. Meanwhile, a locomotive drew up below, in front of the arches. Doors in the bottoms of the wagons were opened, dropping coal into wooden hoppers and along iron chutes which directed the coal into the locomotive's tender. This method of loading coal into locomotives saved time and was much easier than doing it by hand. This coal drop is preserved as part of the Locomotion Railway Museum.
Images are licensed for reuse under creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0
Image Location
Latitude
54.625986
Longitude
-1.637381