Line shaft
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The line shaft was the power transmission system at the heart of the Industrial Revolution. Prior to electric motors, line shafting was used to distribute power throughout a factory or mill.
In an early mill – for example Jedediah Strutt's water-powered cotton mill in Belper, built in 1776 – all the power to operate the machinery would come from a single water wheel or steam engine. Power was distributed from this prime mover by the 'rope race': a system of raw hide belts, ropes, pulleys and line shafts.
A typical line shaft would be suspended from the ceiling of one floor of the mill and would run the length of that floor. One pulley on the shaft would receive the power from the floor below. The other pulleys would supply the power to each individual machine.
