Deltaville in Middlesex County, Virginia — The American South (Mid-Atlantic)
Marine Railway
From Water to Land
The winch and rails before you represent the arrangement that many boatyards used to haul boats from the water before the advent of the Travel Lift.
The rails extended far enough into the water for a boat to be floated onto a cradle fastened to a rail car. The rail car was attached to the winch by a chain running over the chain sprocket.
Powered One Way or Another
The winch in this exhibit could be powered by a belt placed between some power source and the belt drum on the middle shaft, or it could be hand-cranked. The hand crank could be placed in either of two positions:
On the middle crankshaft, the gearing provides a mechanical advantage of 6:1, times the advantage of the 18-inch gear handle (18:1). The total mechanical advantage was 108:1.On the near crankshaft, the gearing provides a mechanical advantage of 3.43:1 to drive the middle shaft, with an overall mechanical advantage of 370:1 (18Χ6Χ3.43).
The crank would be used on the middle shaft for small boats, or for returning an empty rail car to the water relatively quickly. It would be used on the near shaft for heavier boats requiring more force, but the boats would be moved much more slowly.
Erected by The
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Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Railroads & Streetcars • Waterways & Vessels.
Location. 37° 33.109′ N, 76° 19.499′ W. Marker is in Deltaville, Virginia, in Middlesex County. It can be reached from Jackson Creek Road (Virginia Route 660) 0.2 miles north of Orchard Lane, on the right when traveling north. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 287 Jackson Creek Rd, Deltaville VA 23043, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is on Virginia’s Middle Peninsula. It is also in the American South, specifically in the Upper South, in the Tidewater, in the Chesapeake Bay Region, and on the Eastern Seaboard. Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region, North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture, one of the original Thirteen Colonies, one of the Confederate States of America, and the Antebellum South.
Other nearby markers. At least
Credits. This page was last revised on June 27, 2021. It was originally submitted on June 27, 2021, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia. This page has been viewed 210 times since then and 7 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on June 27, 2021, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia.
