Blondin (quarry equipment)
- Blondin (quarry equipment)
Blondins were a type of aerial ropeway employed in open pits in the slate quarries in Wales to transport wagons loads of rock between locations. They were named after the famous tightrope walker Charles Blondin [.] History
The first known use of Blondins in the quarry industry was at Penrhyn Quarry where they were installed by 1913[cite book |last=Boyd |first=James I.C. |title=On the Welsh Narrow Gauge |publisher=Bradford Barton] . Penrhyn quarry was based around a single large pit over 400 feet deep, worked as a series of terraces. A variety of means were used to transport slate from the terraces to the mills where the rock was processed. The quarry already had an extensive internal narrow gauge railway system in place and many terraces were connected via inclines. Blondins were developed to connect more remote terraces directly to the mills - they were distinguished by the fact that rock was transported on the ropeways in railway wagons slung from cradles. the ropeways ran horizontally or nearly horizontally until the cradle hit a stop, at which point the wagons were automatically lowered to ground level where they were moved by rail to the point of loading or unloading. ]Other nearby quarries also adopted Blondins, notably those in the Nantlle Valley. References
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Charles Blondin — Blondin redirects here. For other uses, see Blondin (disambiguation). Not to be confused with Blondel de Nesle. Blondin carrying his manager, Harry Colcord, on a tightrope Jean François Gravelet Blondin (24 February 1824 – 22 February 1897) was a … Wikipedia
Penrhyn Quarry — The Penrhyn Slate Quarry is a slate quarry located near Bethesda in north Wales. It is reputed to be the world s largest slate quarry: the main pit is nearly a mile long and 1200 feet deep.The quarry was first developed in 1770 by Richard Pennant … Wikipedia
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