The Hopton Incline was a very steep section of a mineral railway in England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 worked by adhesion. Its gradient was 1 in 14 (7%).

History

This incline on the Cromford and High Peak Railway was originally worked by a stationary steam engine but was modified later to be adhesion worked by locomotives. At 1 in 14, it was the steepest in Britain and trains frequently had to be split and pulled up a few wagons at a time. The railway is now part of the High Peak Trail.

The incline was part of the Cromford and High Peak Railway

Cromford and High Peak Railway

The Cromford and High Peak Railway in Derbyshire, England, was completed in 1831, to carry minerals and goods between the Cromford Canal wharf at High Peak Junction and the Peak Forest Canal at Whaley Bridge -Origins:...

, which closed in 1967. The small village of Hopton

Hopton, Derbyshire

Hopton is a hamlet in the English county of Derbyshire.It is south west of Wirksworth and at the northern end of Carsington Water.The village had a long association with the Gell family who had extensive lead mining interests in the Wirksworth area and lived at Hopton Hall...

 is about a mile to the south.

The incline (as most of the rest of the CHPR) is open to walkers and cyclists as part of the High Peak Trail. Recently, it was also designated as part of the Pennine Bridleway

Pennine Bridleway

The Pennine Bridleway is a new National Trail under designation in Northern England.It runs roughly parallel with the Pennine Way but provides access for horseback riders and cyclists as well as walkers. The trail is around long; through Derbyshire to the South Pennines, the Mary Towneley Loop...

.

See also

• Lickey Incline
  Lickey Incline
  The Lickey Incline is the steepest sustained main-line railway incline in Great Britain and is situated south of Birmingham, in England. The climb is a gradient of 1-in-37.7 for a continuous distance of two miles ....
  
  
• Hillclimbing (railway)
  Hillclimbing (railway)
  While railways have a great ability to haul very heavy loads, this advantage only really applies when the tracks are fairly level. As soon as the gradients stiffen, the tonnage that can be hauled is greatly diminished.- Techniques to overcome steep hills :...