Koranui Incline
| Koranui Incline | |
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 Koranui Incline
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| Coordinates: 41°43′18″S 171°47′22″E / 41.72167°S 171.78944°E | |
| Country | New Zealand |
| Region | West Coast |
| District | Buller District |
The Koranui Incline was an inclined tramway on the West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand that, for four years from late 1882 to the end of 1886, brought coal from a mine high on Mt Frederick down to a railway line near sea level.
It was first powered by a single engine that moved the whole 3.6 kilometre (2.2 mile) length of ropeway, but was later modified into a series of five self-acting inclines.
The Koranui Incline was located in the Waimangaroa valley on the West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It ran from the Koranui Coal Mining Company’s mine on the southern slopes of Mt Frederick and descended to the north bank of the Waimangaroa River – with a total fall of 700 metres (2,300 ft) and a length of 3.6 kilometres (2.2 miles). A bridge across the river connected the incline to the Conns Creek branch railway that followed the south bank of the river to the main Westport to Seddonville line.
The more famous Denniston Incline, on the other side of the river and further up the valley from the Koranui Incline, was smaller, with a fall of 518 metres (1,700 ft) and a length of 1.67 kilometres (1.04 miles).
The survey for the incline was completed by John Rochfort by 19 October 1877, construction began in 1879, and the incline opened in November 1882.
As originally built, the incline was divided into four stages (of 644, 1207, 1182 and 634 metres in length) and the ropes that worked each one were connected at the stage breaks by means of double drums. This allowed one engine to keep the whole length of 3.6 kilometres working. The drum diameters were so proportioned that the sets of trucks would arrive at the stage breaks simultaneously despite the incline stages being of unequal lengths. Trucks holding about 1.5 tons of coal each were chained together in sets of six, and two sets were operated on each portion of the incline – eight sets in all. The track gauge was two feet (0.61 m).
However, the incline did not work well. In 1884, the company chairman reported to shareholders that "one of the greatest difficulties that had had to be overcome in working the mine had been the task of finding a competent mechanical engineer to work the incline." A new engineer, Henry Hughes, was engaged at the end of 1883 and the whole system remodelled. George Binns, an Inspector of Mines, had suggested in 1883 that an ordinary endless rope system would be better than the system then being tried for lowering coal on the incline. Mr Hughes adopted this idea and altered the system into five self-acting inclines, each with an endless rope. In 1884, George Binns reported that the new inclines worked very well, but noted it was necessary to stop each incline every time a tub (truck) passed the incline terminus, causing considerable delays. He expected this would soon be resolved.
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Wikipedia