BRAKE AND ROPE WHEELS

Above is a side view of the brake & rope-wheels, the size can be judged from the person standing near them. These are situated approximately 25 feet above the vertical winding engine floor to the wheel shaft. They are driven by a connecting rod which is sixteen feet long, the top of which is attached to the large crank shown near the centre of the picture. The crank on the left is the secondary crank, driven by the short drag-link. This drove, in this case, the depth indicating gear which showed the position of the cages in the shafts. The flat 'Palms' on the spokes are for attachment of the 'Up-cast' rope-wheel to the brake wheel, this wheel is partly of wood construction, with the wood now deteriorating badly. Near the top left of the picture, a short piece of the brake band can be seen, with some of the remaining Elm brake blocks still attached.

This is a view from the top of the brake wheel, left the up-cast wheel, centre, and the down-cast wheel, right. The brake wheel and brake band are shown clearly, as are the two ropes. As the wheels are of the 'reel' type, the rope winds over the last layer, thus altering the engine leverage constantly during the wind. This was balanced by the opposite rope. I.E. as one rope wound on the reel, the other wound off by the same amount. These reel-type wheels were only used with the flat ropes in use at the time. They were very prone to stretching, as can be seen by the differing width sizes of the ropes. Originally, both ropes were four and one-quarter inches wide by seven-eighths of an inch thick. There were various different sizes of rope in use, with the size depending on the duty and depth, Etc.