Had a very wet walk past the Cwm Bychan ropeway on Saturday.

Looking at the top terminus of it:

🔗cwm-bychan-Copper-Mine-2-User-Album-Image-006[linkphoto]cwm-bychan-Copper-Mine-2-User-Album-Image-006[/linkphoto][/link]

(photo by owdsnuffy)

It is clear the hoppers detached from the cable, the cable then returning round the sheave, and the hoppers being moved (presumably by hand) on the rollers along the track behind the sheave for loading (and unloading at the bottom terminus).

The detachment was presumably simply a result of the rollers hitting the edge of the track and riding up off the cable?

🔗cwm-bychan-Copper-Mine-2-User-Album-Image-007[linkphoto]cwm-bychan-Copper-Mine-2-User-Album-Image-007[/linkphoto][/link]

(photo by owdsnuffy)

Close-up of the hopper rollers:

🔗cwm-bychan-Copper-Mine-2-User-Album-Image-62295[linkphoto]cwm-bychan-Copper-Mine-2-User-Album-Image-62295[/linkphoto][/link]

Close-up of the cable grip:

🔗cwm-bychan-Copper-Mine-2-User-Album-Image-62296[linkphoto]cwm-bychan-Copper-Mine-2-User-Album-Image-62296[/linkphoto][/link]

Presumably a grease / oil reservoir?

🔗cwm-bychan-Copper-Mine-2-User-Album-Image-62297[linkphoto]cwm-bychan-Copper-Mine-2-User-Album-Image-62297[/linkphoto][/link]

Is this all correct?

Was the cable grip purely a gravity affair? With the cable sitting in the notch. Would the hoppers (especially empty) be at risk of slipping or falling off. Or was there a mechanism for tightening them on the cable - which presumably would mean stopping and starting each time a hopper needed attaching.

Any dates of construction / operation would be of interest as well :flowers:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lift_Engineering  is interesting reading - with a detachable grip that only worked reliably when the chair was subject to gravity - causing problems if the lift stopped while the chair was over pylon wheels 😮 :offtopic:

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It is clear the hoppers detached from the cable ... The detachment was presumably simply a result of the rollers hitting the edge of the track and riding up off the cable?

That's my understanding.

Close-up of the cable grip ... Presumably a grease / oil reservoir?

Looks like a screw-down grease lubricator (fill with grease and then screw down half a turn or so occasionally to force grease into the bearing).

Was the cable grip purely a gravity affair? With the cable sitting in the notch.

I think so. (I think people-carrying gondola systems have spring loaded jaws which are forced open when the cars are detached from the cable for loading and unloading.)

Would the hoppers ... be at risk of slipping or falling off.

Yes ;D

An account of the Egryn manganese mine ropeway by someone who saw it operating as a child suggests that problems with it were not uncommon with loaded buckets falling to the ground on occasion.

Dave

Thanks Dave.

The fact that they were at risk of slipping or falling off might explain why there are parts of several hoppers part way along the ropeway?

(I think people-carrying gondola systems have spring loaded jaws which are forced open when the cars are detached from the cable for loading and unloading.)

That's correct - although the Wiki article linked in the original post shows that early ones weren't 100% reliable 😮

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Here's a modern industrial version with detachable grip.

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The teleferiques used in the Pyrenees work on a similar principle.
Two wheels run around on a track of thick strip metal via loading hoppers. Then they are shoved off the strip onto the continuous rope. At that point the skip sits on the rope on a two point cast 'hand'. A roller on a lever catches a striker plate and flips a finger underneath the rope between the two points on the hand and retains a bit of pressure on the rope to keep the whole thing from sliding down the rope. This design goes back to the late 1800's.
Below is a shot of a top station at Mines de Bentaillou in Ariege. You can see much of the arrangement.
Sorry, I can't just find a close-up of a skip at the moment.

Les