03 April 2010

Botany Line Update

The photo below did raise some interest on various newsgroups, and as a result of kind people sharing their knowledge, I can advise that the lump of steel is called a 'Capstan' as was indeed used to assist in the unloading of wagons on side (although they may not have been used much at all at Kelloggs).

A wealth of information, RK, has advised that Kelloggs had 3 capstans installed in 1972/73.

Cheers

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1 comment:

  1. sth475April 8, 2010 at 12:05 PM

    Ah, I have seen capstans in use. It was when I was a kid, at the old mill at Goulburn North. They wound a rope, the end of which was shaped as a noose/loop, which was placed over the wagon axle box. Obviously, there had to be at least two capstans to be able to move the wagons in either direction. Locos were banned from entering the mill, the capstans were used to place the wagons for loading/unloading and for pick-up.

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