Moonlit Rail ™

Tower Bridge

Famous Places Sherlock Holmes
Tower Bridge as seen from atop south wall, Tower of London The Bridge from The Tower
Looking upstream along the Thames towards Tower Bridge; London Towards "Tower Bridge"
Close-up of Tower Bridge as riverboat readies to pass beneath; London "Tower Bridge"
Upper walkways of Tower Bridge, as seen from a riverboat below; London Upper Walkways
A view inside the inter-tower walkway, Tower Bridge, London Tower Walkway
Disused hydraulic pumping engine, Tower Bridge, London Tower Engine
Engine cylinder detail, Tower Bridge, London Steam Cylinder
Hydraulic pump detail, Tower Bridge, London Hydraulic Pump
Disused hydraulic motor, Tower Bridge, London Hydraulic Motor
Hydraulic motor brake, Tower Bridge, London Brake

When I was little, I used to think that "Tower Bridge" was called "London Bridge", not realizing that the real London Bridge was much less grand. (The original London Bridge — or at least its 19th century version — was purchased by an American; it now resides land-locked in the USA.)

Many of the photographs of Tower Bridge detail its inner workings, or rather the workings that did at one time power the bridge's bascules. In 1979, the steam/hydraulic lifting engine was replaced by a more "economical" electrically-operated version; in a dashing example of the errosion of industrial-age ingenuity, the replacement takes twice as long to lift the bascules.

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