Volume Six - Pre-Victorian to the Present Day - Select Aspects - Mechanical appliances used in the shipping of coal at Penarth Docks - 1906 . . .

Two cranes are provided on the top of each tip, an 8-ton and a 4-ton. The point of the shute, which is suspended on a wire rope, is raised by two hydraulic engines placed on the top deck. The butt end is raised by the cradle.

The arrangement of the valves is as follows:-



The wagons are brought to the fixed tips on a high-level road ; they can be tipped at any height between 3 and 45 feet above the quay level, or, with a depth of 32 feet of water on the dock-cill, the wagon can be tipped at a height of 57 feet above the water-level. The speed of the male is 180 feet per minute on the up and down stroke.

The two movable tips, No's. 19 and 20, are of the same design; they are each carried on eight wheels 3 feet diameter, and can each be moved 200 feet along the quay wall. Six 10-inch diameter rams with 15 feet stroke are provided for moving the tips ; these are placed at each end of the track, and their crossheads are connected by two chains which pass under the tips. Cast-steel brackets are fixed to the bottom of the tips, and through these the chains pass and can be coupled to them by means of pins.

To work the rams four valves-two pressure-valves and two exhaust-valves-are provided for each set of rams. The valves are arranged to admit pressure to the two outside rams and the centre ram independently. The levers for working them are connected by rods carried on brackets in the main sump; these rods a can be worked from several positions along the tip road, so that the operator can be on or near the tips when they are being moved.