Many audacious and improbable schemes for new railways were dreamed up
in the nineteenth century, but surely none matched the plan to link the
Cromford Canal with the Peak Forest Canal at Whaley Bridge in Derbyshire
using a series of rope-worked inclines. This railway oddity opened in
1831 and somehow survived almost unnoticed until 1967, when there was a
flurry of publicity when it closed. The line weaved its way through some
of the finest scenery in England and was dotted with crazy gradients and
whiplash curves. Here was the steepest normal railway in Britain and the
only place where you could see a gradient post saying '1 in 8.' It also
used steam right to the end, by which time it had outlived many more
illustrious undertakings. John Evans visited the line many times in its
later years, his camera nearly always loaded with priceless colour film.
His pictures are published here for the first time, giving a unique view
of a railway which was full of intrigue and history. Popular today with
walkers and cyclists, the route of the Cromford & High Peak Railway
refuses to die.
