Lickey Incline

The Lickey Incline is the steepest sustained main-line railway incline in Great Britain. Situated just south of Birmingham in England the climb is two miles (3.2 km) at 1 in 37.7 (2.65%).

History and geography

It is part of the Birmingham and Gloucester Railway, surveyed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel in 1832, who suggested a route well to the east. William Moorsom, who had been associated with the Cromford and High Peak Railway, [Hodgkins, D.J., (1983) "Captain Moorsom and the Attempt to Revive the Cromford And High Peak Railway," Derbyshire Archaeological Journal Vol 103 Pp 137‑159] was asked to take over, with his remuneration linked to the savings he achieved. At the time, most railways were for difficult terrain between canals, and the use of cable assistance would not have seemed unreasonable. (When Brunel, for instance, first surveyed the GWR, he planned to use cable assistance in Box Tunnel.)

The climb is just over two miles (3.2 km), at an average gradient of 1 in 37.7 (2.65%), between Bromsgrove and Blackwell (near Barnt Green). It is on the railway line between Birmingham and Gloucester (gbmapping|SO985710). The Lickey Incline is the steepest sustained adhesion-worked gradient on British railways. It climbs into Birmingham from the south over the Bunter geological formation (one or two exposures are visible from the track-side), and passes about a mile and a half (2.4 km) away from the Lickey Hills, a well-known local beauty spot.

While many have suggested a gentler route could have been taken, and others have pointed out that there are steeper climbs elsewhere, the Lickey has acquired a mystique all of its own.

Bankers

Steam locomotives

To assist trains up the incline and in some cases to provide additional braking, particularly to unfitted freights, specialised banking engines were kept at Bromsgrove shed at the foot of the incline.

The first locomotives were American Norris 4-2-0s, English manufacturers having declined to supply. The railway acquired 26 of them, of which the last nine were built in England, three by Benjamin Hick and Sons and six by Nasmyth, Gaskell and Company The last one was withdrawn in 1856.

Around 1845 a large 0-6-0ST, the "Great Britain" was built in Bromsgrove Works.

1377 Class 1Fs, and later 2441 Class 0-6-0Ts were used on the route.

In 1919 the specialised 0-10-0 No. 2251 "Big Bertha" was introduced to complement the existing 0-6-0Ts.

The LNER Class U1 Garratt was also tried out unsuccessfully in 1949–1950 and again in 1955. "Big Bertha" was withdrawn in 1956 and replaced by BR standard class 9F No. 92079, which acquired its headlight.

The Lickey was transferred to the Western Region in 1958 and the 3F tanks were replaced by GWR 9400 Class pannier tanks and 92079 was replaced by classmate 92230, which did not acquire the headlight.

Diesel locomotives

Steam was replaced by Class 37s, working in pairs. Other classes that appeared include Hymeks.

Modern diesel multiple units negotiate the line with little speed reduction, though there remain rules that at least half of the units must be working in order to ascend. Some freight trains still need to be banked however and EWS uses five dedicated Class 66 Nos 66055–9 to do this.

References

External links

* [http://www.lickeyincline.com www.lickeyincline.com] - A Website dedictated to the famous Incline
* [http://lickeyarchive.photobook.org.uk - Lickey Archive Photobook] - Sister site to lickeyincline.com exclusively for photographs from all era's
* [http://www.lickeyincline.co.uk www.lickeyincline.co.uk] - Lickey Incline Preserved Rail Resources