Vivian Quarry table inclines, Gilfach Ddu, Llanberis

Link to Welsh translationVivian Quarry table inclines, Gilfach Ddu, Llanberis

Photo of table inclines at Vivian quarry, Llanberis
Table inclines at Vivian quarry Llanberis
© Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales

Along the hillside near here is a flight of former table inclines which brought slate from the nearby Vivian quarry. The second lowest of them, the V2 incline, was restored to working order in 1998 by the National Slate Museum, with support from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

The V2 incline, built in the 1870s, has two large railway wagons, both providing a level surface on which small quarry wagons can sit. The descent of laden quarry wagons on one of the large wagons hauled up the empty wagons on the adjacent track. A cable connected the large wagons via a winding house at the top, where brakes regulated the speed.

The old photo shows the V-series inclines on the hillside. At the bottom are quarry wagons loaded onto transporter wagons on the Padarn Railway. In the bottom right corner is the bridge which carried waste rock to the lakeside for tipping, until replaced by Pont Vivian c.1900.

Photo of traverser at foot of V2 incline, LlanberisThe incline fell into dereliction in 1937. The museum occasionally demonstrates the V2 incline in operation, using a motor because there’s no longer a supply of slate at the top for gravity operation.

At the foot of V2 is a traverser, shown in the lower photo. The rails on the left carry a low wagon, large enough for one quarry wagon at a time. An empty slate wagon arriving on the curved entry/exit track on the right would be loaded onto the traverser wagon and moved to one of the short tracks leading to the table incline. The procedure was reversed for loaded wagons arriving on V2. 

Table inclines, also known as tank inclines, were typically used for some of the steepest descents in slate quarries. There were several in the large Dinorwig quarry, higher up the mountain. Where the gradient was less severe, inclines were constructed with narrow-gauge tracks on which the quarry wagons ran directly, as you can see at the A1 incline a little to the south-east.

Postcode: LL55 4TY    View Location Map

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