Railway Herald
Fifty years ago on 30th April 1967 the Cromford & High Peak Railway between Middleton Top to Friden was closed, with a special working tackling the 1 in 14 Hopton incline for the last time. A year before on 27th April 1966 WD Austerity Class J94 0-6-0ST No. 68012 is seen on the Hopton incline, the steepest adhesion incline in the UK, with two loaded limestone wagons. The working from Middleton Top to Friden consisted of 6 limestone wagons, a LNER tender used as a water bowser, and a guardsvan, and as the limit for Hopton was 3 wagons, 3 trips up the incline were necessary.
John Neave
