ROPE TRICK

Series

Series Name

Mining Review 6th Year

Issue

Issue No.

5

Date Released

Jan 1953

Stories in this Issue:

1. 1ROPE TRICK
2. 212X: F.A. Cup ties
3. 3PROFILE: THE DOCTOR

Story

Story No. within this Issue

1 / 3

Summary

BFI synopsis: the automatic surface haulage layout at Kingshill collieries, Lanarkshire.
NCB Commentary - The new Number 5 pit at Kingshill in Lanarkshire is two miles across the moor from Kingshill number 1.
All its coal goes overland for processing - and it goes by itself! At number 5 pit bank this electric traverser can handle full or empty mine cars, drawing them off the rails and onto the chassis, with only one man in charge. The Commando, they call him at Kingshill. As he rams an empty car into the cage, the full one coasts out the other side, rolling down by gravity.
In between the rails is an endless rope. The car clips itself on automatically. See how the jaws under the car clamp round the rope. This is old-fashioned rope haulage brought up-to-date.
Now it’s plain sailing - two miles of it across moorland country at a steady 3 miles an hour. Apart from the two drivers, one at each end, the only other man on the system is there to keep an eye on the track.
At number 1 colliery the cars un-clip themselves from the rope and coast on into the tipping station. The same sort of traverser picks them up one by one and moves them across to the tippler. This switch is a neat safety idea. It controls the tippler, which can’t start up until the traverser moves back.
Jock Kane in the driving cab is already picking up a fresh car to ram the empty cut of the tippler. It’s as simple as that. Back go the empties, while the full cars roll in all through coal winding hours.

Researcher Comments

BFI sources suggest that this story was filmed from the 30th September to the 3rd October 1952. Footage from the story was also used for ‘Surface Mechanisation (Kingshill Colliery)' (1952). Commentary recorded 8 December 1952.

Keywords

Transport; Science and technology; Mining; Engineering

Locations

Scotland; Lanarkshire

Written sources

British Film Institute Databases   Used for synopsis
Film User   Vol.8 No.87 January 1954, p32.
The National Archives COAL 32   /3 Scripts for Mining Review, 1949-1956

Credits:

Production Co.

Documentary Technicians Alliance

Support services

Eric Pask

Camera

John Gunn

Sponsor

National Coal Board

Director

Peter Pickering

Camera

Wolfgang Suschitzky