Originally Posted by
HollyBlack
I know there is mention somewhere of the Waterloo tunnel being rope hauled until 1895 or so.
But it seems that there has always been confusion between the Waterloo tunnel and the Victoria tunnel. Perhaps VR was none too popular with the scouse lads who preferred to avoid using the word and referred to the tunnels as one.
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Anyway, is it not a possibility that rope haulage was used for the run to Edge Hill but from the bottom of the cutting to Waterloo docks was loco hauled even from earlier times given the gentler gradient. In that case a shunter would be stationed at the bottom of the incline which seems to fit the track layout fairly well. And perhaps the side tunnel was merely a fuel (coke) bunker - it seems vaguely the right size to hold three "waggons" of coke as were to be delivered there according to the newspaper report.
That seems feasible. By 1846 when the tunnel opened locos were more powerful than 1829 when Wapping tunnels was opened. And the shorter Waterloo tunnel and shallower rake of would mean a shunter could take the trains from the cutting. The cutting is not actually at the lowest point of the two tunnels. The lowest point is further east towards Edge Hill. Any train unhitched from the rope naturally rolls back to Edge Hill giving a shunter loco driver light in the cutting to hitch up the train.
The much shorter tunnel is the Waterloo tunnel. I would think the term Waterloo Tunnel for both, as in effect they are all one tunnel, may have been because of the Waterloo Goods Depot. It would be natural to call the tunnel all one name.
From Oritelad's web site. The inside of the side tunnel does look rather black - maybe from coke storage. I think coke would have been used on any tunnel loco as it gives off less smoke than coal.
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