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39-589: Matlock Cable Tramway was a cable tramway that served the town of Matlock, Derbyshire , UK between 28 March 1893 and 30 September 1927. The principal purpose was to serve the Hydro Spa Hotels, bringing customers from the railway station near the River Derwent . One of the tramway's directors, Job Smith got the idea for a steep-gradient tram for Matlock while in San Francisco in 1862. The original plan for

78-538: A cable car at New Orleans and was issued U.S. patent 97,343 . Other cable cars to use grips were those of the Clay Street Hill Railroad , which later became part of the San Francisco cable car system . The building of this line was promoted by Andrew Smith Hallidie with design work by William Eppelsheimer , and it was first tested in 1873. The success of these grips ensured that this line became

117-482: A car would leave the terminal every 15 seconds. A few funicular railways operate in street traffic, and because of this operation are often incorrectly described as cable cars. Examples of such operation, and the consequent confusion, are: Even more confusingly, a hybrid cable car/funicular line once existed in the form of the original Wellington Cable Car , in the New Zealand city of Wellington . This line had both

156-492: A continuous loop haulage cable that the cars gripped using a cable car gripper, and a balance cable permanently attached to both cars over an undriven pulley at the top of the line. The descending car gripped the haulage cable and was pulled downhill, in turn pulling the ascending car (which remained ungripped) uphill by the balance cable. This line was rebuilt in 1979 and is now a standard funicular, although it retains its old cable car name. The best-known existing cable car system

195-507: A couple of cable tram routes. Cable cars rapidly spread to other cities, although the major attraction for most was the ability to displace horsecar (or mule -drawn) systems rather than the ability to climb hills. Many people at the time viewed horse-drawn transit as unnecessarily cruel, and the fact that a typical horse could work only four or five hours per day necessitated the maintenance of large stables of draft animals that had to be fed, housed, groomed, medicated and rested. Thus, for

234-516: A curve, since Dunedin's curves were too sharp to allow coasting, while the latter forced a wedge down into the cable slot to stop the car. Both of these innovations were generally adopted by other cities, including San Francisco. In Australia, the Melbourne cable tramway system operated from 1885 to 1940. It was one of the most extensive in the world with 1200 trams and trailers operating over 15 routes with 103 km (64 miles) of track. Sydney also had

273-470: A moving rope that could be picked up or released by a grip on the cars was the Fawdon Wagonway in 1826, a colliery railway line . The London and Blackwall Railway , which opened for passengers in east London , England, in 1840 used such a system. The rope available at the time proved too susceptible to wear and the system was abandoned in favour of steam locomotives after eight years. In America,

312-510: A period, economics worked in favour of cable cars even in relatively flat cities. For example, the Chicago City Railway , also designed by Eppelsheimer, opened in Chicago in 1882 and went on to become the largest and most profitable cable car system . As with many cities, the problem in flat Chicago was not one of incline, but of transportation capacity. This caused a different approach to

351-458: A system in that its cars are not permanently attached to the cable and can stop independently, whereas a funicular has cars that are permanently attached to the propulsion cable, which is itself stopped and started. A cable car cannot climb as steep a grade as a funicular, but many more cars can be operated with a single cable, making it more flexible, and allowing a higher capacity. During the rush hour on San Francisco's Market Street Railway in 1883,

390-487: Is a device for propelling a vehicle by attaching to a wire rope (called a haul rope) running at a (relatively) constant speed. The vehicle may be suspended from the cable, as in the case of aerial lifts such as a gondola lift ( télécabine ), may be guided by rails , as in a cable traction railway , or may be self-guiding, as in a button lift . Typically, multiple vehicles will use the same cable; where just one or two vehicles are in use they will tend to be attached to

429-423: Is due to the economy of centrally located power stations, and the ability of descending cars to transfer energy to ascending cars. However, this advantage is totally negated by the relatively large energy consumption required to simply move the cable over and under the numerous guide rollers and around the many sheaves . Approximately 95% of the tractive effort in the San Francisco system is expended in simply moving

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468-416: Is relatively constant depending on the number of units gripping the cable at any given time. The cable car begins moving when a clamping device attached to the car, called a grip , applies pressure to ("grip") the moving cable. Conversely, the car is stopped by releasing pressure on the cable (with or without completely detaching) and applying the brakes. This gripping and releasing action may be manual, as

507-695: Is the San Francisco cable car system in the city of San Francisco, California . San Francisco's cable cars constitute the oldest and largest such system in permanent operation, and it is one of the few still functioning in the traditional manner, with manually operated cars running in street traffic. Other examples of cable powered systems can be found on the Great Orme in North Wales, and in Lisbon in Portugal. All of these however are slightly different to San Francisco in that

546-463: Is the type of grip used in the cable cars of San Francisco . The grip is attached to the lead truck of the car (or both trucks, in the case of double-ended cars), and is a field-replaceable unit . While side grips and even top grips have been used, the sheer number of rope (cable) changes, crossings, and "let-go" curves make the bottom grip, i.e., one in which the jaws open directly downward, the most practical type. The operating lever raises and lowers

585-426: The cable permanently such as in funiculars . While the cable grips used in the original cable railways were manually operated, requiring considerable skill and strength, modern cable grips tend to be automatic. Given that the cable runs at a relatively constant speed, accelerating the vehicle to match the speed of the cable presents a technical difficulty; possible methods are to apply the grip gradually, to accelerate

624-535: The cable, the Minimetro system from Poma /Leitner Group and the Cable Liner system from DCC Doppelmayr Cable Car both have variants that allow the cars to be automatically decoupled from the cable under computer control, and can thus be considered a modern interpretation of the cable car. The cable is itself powered by a stationary engine or motor situated in a cable house or power house. The speed at which it moves

663-402: The cable. Because of the constant and relatively low speed, a cable car's potential to cause harm in an accident can be underestimated. Even with a cable car traveling at only 14 km/h (9 mph), the mass of the cable car and the combined strength and speed of the cable can cause extensive damage in a collision. A cable car is superficially similar to a funicular , but differs from such

702-415: The car. As many early cable car operators discovered the hard way, if the grip is not applied properly, it can damage the cable, or even worse, become entangled in the cable. In the latter case, the cable car may not be able to stop and can wreak havoc along its route until the cable house realizes the mishap and halts the cable. One apparent advantage of the cable car is its relative energy efficiency. This

741-452: The cars are permanently attached to the cable. Several cities operate a modern version of the cable car system. These systems are fully automated and run on their own reserved right of way. They are commonly referred to as people movers , although that term is also applied to systems with other forms of propulsion, including funicular style cable propulsion. These cities include: Information Patents Cable grip A cable grip

780-501: The cars into and out of the terminals. After 1896 the system was changed to one on which a motor car was added to each train to maneuver at the terminals, while en route, the trains were still propelled by the cable. On 25 September 1883, a test of a cable car system was held by Liverpool Tramways Company in Kirkdale , Liverpool . This would have been the first cable car system in Europe, but

819-415: The center plate of the grip, which in turn operates the jaws. With the lever fully forward, the grip is open, and the cable is free to fall out, which is necessary when the cable crosses under another line, reaches the end of a line, or negotiates a "let-go" curve. With the cable lifted into the jaws, the operating lever is pulled back, forcing the jaws between two fixed rollers, and capturing the cable between

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858-449: The cheaper to construct and simpler to operate electrically -powered trolley or tram started to become the norm, and eventually started to replace existing cable car systems. For a while hybrid cable/electric systems operated, for example in Chicago where electric cars had to be pulled by grip cars through the loop area, due to the lack of trolley wires there. Eventually, San Francisco became

897-483: The combination of grip car and trailer. Rather than using a grip car and single trailer, as many cities did, or combining the grip and trailer into a single car, like San Francisco's California Cars , Chicago used grip cars to pull trains of up to three trailers. In 1883 the New York and Brooklyn Bridge Railway was opened, which had a most curious feature: though it was a cable car system, it used steam locomotives to get

936-413: The company decided against implementing it. Instead, the distinction went to the 1884 Highgate Hill Cable Tramway , a route from Archway to Highgate , north London, which used a continuous cable and grip system on the 1 in 11 (9%) climb of Highgate Hill. The installation was not reliable and was replaced by electric traction in 1909. Other cable car systems were implemented in Europe, though, among which

975-541: The first cable car installation in operation probably was the West Side and Yonkers Patent Railway in New York City , as its first-ever elevated railway which ran from 1 July 1868 to 1870. The cable technology used in this elevated railway involved collar-equipped cables and claw-equipped cars, proving cumbersome. The line was closed and rebuilt, reopening with steam locomotives . In 1869 P. G. T. Beauregard demonstrated

1014-606: The following tram pulled up at the Crown Hotel and alighted from his tram. The tram restarted on its own account and crashed into the derailed car. During the subsequent investigation it was discovered that a strand in the cable had snapped. In the 1920s the losses sustained by the tramway were reported as 1921 - £2,920 (equivalent to £163,600 in 2023), 1922 - £1,260 (equivalent to £86,900 in 2023), 1923 - £205 (equivalent to £14,800 in 2023), 1924 - £1,120 (equivalent to £80,700 in 2023). The council decided in 1927 to replace

1053-417: The four cables at 15.3 km/h (9.5 mph). Electric cars with regenerative braking do offer the advantages, without the problem of moving a cable. In the case of steep grades, however, cable traction has the major advantage of not depending on adhesion between wheels and rails . There is also the advantage that keeping the car gripped to the cable will also limit the downhill speed of the car to that of

1092-414: The gift of R. Wildgoose JP and opened on 12 December 1899. In the calendar year 1900, it was reported that the receipts were £1,139 12s 11d, and the expenses were £1,191 14s 0d, a loss of £52 1s 1d. In 1912 the service was suspended for 3 days because of a break in a strand in the cable. One of the tramcars had failed to take the points of the loop at the bottom of the line, and was derailed. The driver of

1131-563: The model for other cable car transit systems, and this model is often known as the Hallidie Cable Car . In 1881 the Dunedin cable tramway system opened in Dunedin , New Zealand and became the first such system outside San Francisco. For Dunedin, George Smith Duncan further developed the Hallidie model, introducing the pull curve and the slot brake; the former was a way to pull cars through

1170-489: The only street-running manually operated system to survive – Dunedin, the second city with such cars, was also the second-last city to operate them, closing down in 1957. In the last decades of the 20th-century, cable traction in general has seen a limited revival as automatic people movers , used in resort areas, airports (for example, Toronto Airport ), huge hospital centers and some urban settings. While many of these systems involve cars permanently attached to

1209-442: The tramway was to run between Matlock railway station and the Hydro Spa Hotels of Smedley's and Rockside. The risk of flooding forced the terminus to be set up on Crown Square. The tramway was financed by locally born newspaper owner Sir George Newnes , at a cost of £20,000 (equivalent to £2,802,000 in 2023). The tram depot was designed by the architect James Turner , with a chimney 100 feet (30 m) high. The engine-house

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1248-498: The tramway with motor bus operation, and tramway services ended on 30 September 1927. The Council agreed in February 1928 to put the tramway up for sale. The tram shelter from Crown Square has been preserved, and is now standing at the head of Hall Leys Park . 53°08′26″N 1°33′09″W  /  53.1405°N 1.5526°W  / 53.1405; -1.5526 Cable car (railway) The first cable-operated railway, employing

1287-488: The vehicle (e.g. by guiding wheels) prior to applying the grip, or to use a sprung linkage between the grip and the vehicle. The cable must also be able to handle friction from the grip and increased load while the vehicle is accelerating. Cable grips have additional uses, such as supporting electric or structural cables for pulling or laying of the electric or structural cable itself. In such use they may also be called cable pulling grips, cable socks, or cable stockings. This

1326-410: Was 60 feet (18 m) by 38 feet (12 m), the boiler-house 54 feet (16 m) by 25 feet (7.6 m), a car pit 74 feet (23 m) by 33 feet (10 m), a waiting room 16 feet (4.9 m) by 16 feet (4.9 m) with ladies’ and gentlemen's retiring rooms, and two warehouses as lock-up shops. This was all erected for the sum of £2,600. The boilers were by L.T. Wildgoose, the building contractor

1365-509: Was W. Knowles and Sons, the sub-contractors were Soter and Derbyshire. The cable machinery, tramway and vehicles were supplied by Dick Kerr and Company . The engineer for the line was George Croydon Marks, 1st Baron Marks , the consulting engineer W.R. Colan, and the resident engineer was Edward C.R. Marks. The line was inspected by Major General Charles Scrope Hutchinson of the Board of Trade on 1 March 1893 and services started on 28 March 1893. It

1404-591: Was not wide enough for two tracks, so a single track was used, with a passing place where the trams met. The up and down cables had to run in the same tube between the rails. The trams averaged 5½ mph, and had the advantage of the down-tram balancing the up-tram, and saving power in the Depot steam engine. A spare tram was kept in the Depot. In 1898 Sir George Newnes gave the tramway as a gift to Matlock District Council. The tram shelter and clock tower in Crown Square were

1443-741: Was the Glasgow District Subway , the first underground cable car system, in 1896. ( London , England's first deep-level tube railway, the City & South London Railway , had earlier also been built for cable haulage but had been converted to electric traction before opening in 1890.) A few more cable car systems were built in the United Kingdom , Portugal , and France . European cities, having many more curves in their streets, were ultimately less suitable for cable cars than American cities. Though some new cable car systems were still being built, by 1890

1482-420: Was the case in all early cable car systems, or automatic, as is the case in some recent cable operated people mover type systems. Gripping must be applied evenly and gradually in order to avoid bringing the car to cable speed too quickly and unacceptably jarring passengers. In the case of manual systems, the grip resembles a very large pair of pliers , and considerable strength and skill are required to operate

1521-422: Was the steepest tramway in the world on public roads, featuring a 1 in 5½ grade slope (18%). The tramcars had no independent power but were pulled by a cable situated below and between the tracks. The depot was situated on Rutland Street and contained a boiler and a stationary steam engine , which pulled the cable and lifted the trams 300 feet up Bank Road. Fares used to be Tuppence up, Penny Down . Bank Road

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