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67-440: Download coordinates as: Falcon Cliff was a large residence, dating from the 1840s, at the top of the cliff overlooking Douglas Bay. By 1887 it was converted to a hotel and entertainment complex. Two distinct cliff railways were built to carry customers between the hotel and the road along the sea-front. The first lift was built in 1887 by Mr T. Cain, as a funicular with two parallel 4 ft ( 1,219 mm ) gauge tracks. It

134-502: A 4 ft ( 1,219 mm ) gauge double track funicular, but this time on a wooden trestle supported by stone pillars. Two new cars with sloping or stepped floors were used. The length was unchanged at 66 metres (217 ft), but laid on a gentler gradient (1:2.2) than at Falcon Cliff. It was powered by an oil engine. It closed about the same time as the Electric Tramway in 1939, and was dismantled in 1947–9. This mysterious line

201-418: A drive bullwheel – which then controls the movement of the haul rope using friction. Some early funiculars were powered in the same way, but using steam engines or other types of motor. The bullwheel has two grooves: after the first half turn around it the cable returns via an auxiliary pulley. This arrangement has the advantage of having twice the contact area between the cable and the groove, and returning

268-433: A water wheel . In a gravity balance system two parallel tracks are employed with ascending trains on one and descending trains on the adjacent track. A single cable is attached to both trains, wound round a winding drum at the top of the incline to provide braking. The weight of the loaded descending cars is used to lift the ascending empties. This form of cable railway can only be used to move loads downhill and requires

335-482: A 415V AC motor of the same power. The line closed in 1990. As of 2007 it remained in situ, though overgrown and inaccessible. This was built in 1897–8 using some of the hardware of the first Falcon Cliff Lift. It provided an easy route between the southern terminus of the Douglas Southern Electric Tramway and the beach-level hotel and amusements of Port Soderick. The track was re-erected, again as

402-597: A bus service to the top of Douglas Head in 1950. The tracks were lifted in 1955 to be re-used by the Manx Electric Railway near Ramsey . It is the only cliff railway in Britain to have appeared on a British postage stamp: the Isle of Man Post Office 5p definitive of 1988. Funicular A funicular ( / f juː ˈ n ɪ k j ʊ l ər , f ( j ) ʊ -, f ( j ) ə -/ few- NIK -yoo-lər, f(y)uu-, f(j)ə- )

469-423: A horizontal platform on which the slate wagons rode. This is a variant of the gravity balance incline that can be used to move loads uphill. A water tank is attached to the descending train. The tank is filled with water until the combined weight of the filled tank and train is greater than the weight of the loaded train that will be hauled uphill. The water is either carried in an additional water wagon attached to

536-406: A second cable – bottom towrope – which runs through a pulley at the bottom of the incline. In these designs, one of the pulleys must be designed as a tensioning wheel to avoid slack in the ropes. One advantage of such an installation is the fact that the weight of the rope is balanced between the carriages; therefore, the engine no longer needs to use any power to lift the cable itself. This practice

603-564: A sewage plant at the upper part of the city. Some funiculars of this type were later converted to electrical power. For example, the Giessbachbahn in the Swiss canton of Bern , opened in 1879, was originally powered by water ballast. In 1912 its energy provision was replaced by a hydraulic engine powered by a Pelton turbine . In 1948 this in turn was replaced by an electric motor. There are three main rail layouts used on funiculars; depending on

670-425: A short distance down from the passing loop as well, for the sole purpose of allowing the other car to call at Nebozízek. A number of cable railway systems which pull their cars on inclined slopes were built since the 1820s. In the second half of the 19th century the design of a funicular as a transit system emerged. It was especially attractive in comparison with the other systems of the time as counterbalancing of

737-440: A system of pulleys at the upper end of the line. If the railway track is not perfectly straight, the cable is guided along the track using sheaves – unpowered pulleys that simply allow the cable to change direction. While one car is pulled upwards by one end of the haul rope, the other car descends the slope at the other end. Since the weight of the two cars is counterbalanced (except for the weight of passengers), no lifting force

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804-457: A third of the way from the bottom. The cars each had ten benches, seating four persons, arranged in back-to-back pairs, and stepped so that the uphill-facing bench of each pair was level with the downhill-facing bench of the next. It ran only in the summer, closing during WW I and from WW II until 1949. It closed after the 1953 season, following the closure of the DSET in 1939 and the introduction of

871-528: A tunnel 1.8 km (1.1 mi) long, is claimed by the Guinness World Records as the "least extensive metro " in the world. Technically, it is an underground funicular. The Dresden Suspension Railway ( Dresden Schwebebahn ), which hangs from an elevated rail, is the only suspended funicular in the world. The Fribourg funicular is the only funicular in the world powered by wastewater. Standseilbahn Linth-Limmern , capable of moving 215 t,

938-554: A two-rail layout (with a single conduit shared by both cars). Another example is the Peak Tram in Hong Kong , which is mostly of a two-rail layout except for a short three-rail section immediately uphill of the passing loop. Some four-rail funiculars have their tracks interlaced above and below the passing loop; this allows the system to be nearly as narrow as a two-rail system, with a single platform at each station, while also eliminating

1005-585: A wider space than a stationary engine-driven incline, but has the advantage of not requiring external power, and therefore costs less to operate. A variation of the gravity balance incline was the trwnc incline found at slate quarries in north Wales , notably the Dinorwic Quarry and several in Blaenau Ffestiniog . These were worked by gravity, but instead of the wagons running on their own wheels, permanently attached angled wagons were used that had

1072-464: Is a specific type of cable transportation . The most common use for a cable railway is to move vehicles on a steeply graded line that is too steep for conventional locomotives to operate on – this form of cable railway is often called an incline or inclined plane , or, in New Zealand, a jigline , or jig line . One common form of incline is the funicular – an isolated passenger railway where

1139-413: Is a type of cable railway system that connects points along a railway track laid on a steep slope . The system is characterized by two counterbalanced carriages (also called cars or trains) permanently attached to opposite ends of a haulage cable, which is looped over a pulley at the upper end of the track. The result of such a configuration is that the two carriages move synchronously: as one ascends,

1206-440: Is most commonly used for a temporary incline where setting up the infrastructure of a winding drum and stationary engine is not appropriate. It is similarly employed for recovery operations where derailed rolling stock must be hauled back to the permanent track. While the majority of cable railways moved trains over steep inclines, there are examples of cable-haulage on railways that did not have steep grades. The Glasgow Subway

1273-426: Is required to move them; the engine only has to lift the cable itself and the excess passengers, and supply the energy lost to friction by the cars' wheels and the pulleys. For passenger comfort, funicular carriages are often (although not always) constructed so that the floor of the passenger deck is horizontal, and not necessarily parallel to the sloped track. In some installations, the cars are also attached to

1340-455: Is said to have the highest capacity. Some inclined elevators are incorrectly called funiculars. On an inclined elevator the cars operate independently rather than in interconnected pairs, and are lifted uphill. A notable example is Paris ' Montmartre Funicular . Its formal title is a relic of its original configuration, when its two cars operated as a counterbalanced, interconnected pair, always moving in opposite directions, thus meeting

1407-950: Is the Fisherman's Walk Cliff Railway in Bournemouth , England, which is 39 metres (128 ft) long. Stoosbahn in Switzerland, with a maximum slope of 110% (47.7°), is the steepest funicular in the world. The Lynton and Lynmouth Cliff Railway , built in 1888, is the steepest and longest water-powered funicular in the world. It climbs 152 metres (499 ft) vertically on a 58% gradient. The city of Valparaíso in Chile used to have up to 30 funicular elevators ( Spanish : ascensores ). The oldest of them dates from 1883. 15 remain with almost half in operation, and others in various stages of restoration. The Carmelit in Haifa , Israel, with six stations and

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1474-474: Is used on funiculars with slopes below 6%, funiculars using sledges instead of carriages, or any other case where it is not ensured that the descending car is always able to pull out the cable from the pulley in the station on the top of the incline. It is also used in systems where the engine room is located at the lower end of the track (such as the upper half of the Great Orme Tramway ) – in such systems,

1541-755: The Australian Agricultural Company coal mine. B Pit opened 1837 and C Pit opened mid-1842. All were private operations by the same company. The majority of inclines were used in industrial settings, predominantly in quarries and mines, or to ship bulk goods over a barrier ridgeline as the Allegheny Portage Railroad and the Ashley Planes feeder railway shipped coal from the Pennsylvania Canal / Susquehanna basin via Mountain Top to

1608-746: The Lehigh Canal in the Delaware River Basin. The Welsh slate industry made extensive use of gravity balance and water balance inclines to connect quarry galleries and underground chambers with the mills where slate was processed. Examples of substantial inclines were found in the quarries feeding the Ffestiniog Railway , the Talyllyn Railway and the Corris Railway amongst others. The Ashley Planes were used to transship heavy cargo over

1675-505: The Tünel has been in continuous operation since 1875 and is both the first underground funicular and the second-oldest underground railway. It remained powered by a steam engine up until it was taken for renovation in 1968. Until the end of the 1870s, the four-rail parallel-track funicular was the normal configuration. Carl Roman Abt developed the Abt Switch allowing the two-rail layout, which

1742-551: The passing loop ) and the Carmelit in Haifa , Israel (six stations, three on each side of the passing loop). A few funiculars with asymmetrically placed stations also exist. For example, the Petřín funicular in Prague has three stations: one at each end, and a third (Nebozízek) a short way up from the passing loop. Because of this arrangement, carriages are forced to make a technical stop

1809-516: The Lehigh-Susquehanna drainage divide for over a hundred years and became uneconomic only when average locomotive traction engines became heavy and powerful enough that could haul long consists at speed past such obstructions yard to yard faster, even if the more roundabout route added mileage. Level tracks are arranged above and below the gradient to allow wagons to be moved onto the incline either singly or in short rakes of two or more. On

1876-418: The ballast method and two as conventional gravity balance. Inclines are classified by the power source used to wind the cable. A stationary engine drives the winding drum that hauls the wagons to the top of the inclined plane and may provide braking for descending loads. Only a single track and cable is required for this type. The stationary engine may be a steam or internal combustion engine, or may be

1943-575: The belief that locomotive haulage was impracticable. The Rainhill Trials showed that locomotives could handle 1 in 100 gradients . In 1832, the 1 in 17 Bagworth incline opened on Leicester to Burton upon Trent Line ; the incline was bypassed in 1848. On July 20, 1837, the Camden Incline , between Euston and Primrose Hill on the London and Birmingham Railway opened. A Pit fishbelly gravitational railway operated between 1831 and 1846 to service

2010-444: The cable railway part way along its length. Various methods were used to achieve this. One arrangement used at the Dinorwic Quarry was known as the "Ballast" method. This involved a two track incline with one track reserved for fully loaded wagons and the second used by partially loaded wagons. The line used by the partially loaded wagons was known as the "ballast" track and it had a stop placed on it part way down. The distance from

2077-414: The cable that runs through the top of the incline is still necessary to prevent the carriages from coasting down the incline. In most modern funiculars, neither of the two carriages is equipped with an engine of its own. Instead, the propulsion is provided by an electric motor in the engine room (typically at the upper end of the track); the motor is linked via a speed-reducing gearbox to a large pulley –

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2144-464: The carriage's wheels during trailing movements (i.e. away from the passing loop); this procedure also sets the route for the next trip in the opposite direction. The Great Orme Tramway is an example of a funicular that utilizes this system. Another turnout system, known as the Abt switch, involves no moving parts on the track at all. Instead, the carriages are built with an unconventional wheelset design:

2211-553: The cars are also equipped with spring-applied, hydraulically opened rail brakes. The first funicular caliper brakes which clamp each side of the crown of the rail were invented by the Swiss entrepreneurs Franz Josef Bucher and Josef Durrer and implemented at the Stanserhorn funicular  [ de ] , opened in 1893. The Abt rack and pinion system was also used on some funiculars for speed control or emergency braking. Many early funiculars were built using water tanks under

2278-549: The cars are permanently attached to the cable. In other forms, the cars attach and detach to the cable at the ends of the cable railway. Some cable railways are not steeply graded - these are often used in quarries to move large numbers of wagons between the quarry to the processing plant. The oldest extant cable railway is probably the Reisszug , a private line providing goods access to Hohensalzburg Fortress at Salzburg in Austria. It

2345-484: The cars exchanging roles. The movement is controlled by a brakeman using the brake handle of the rack and pinion system engaged with the rack mounted between the rails. The Bom Jesus funicular built in 1882 near Braga , Portugal is one of the extant systems of this type. Another example, the Fribourg funicular in Fribourg , Switzerland built in 1899, is of particular interest as it utilizes waste water, coming from

2412-529: The cars was deemed to be a cost-cutting solution. The first line of the Funiculars of Lyon ( Funiculaires de Lyon ) opened in 1862, followed by other lines in 1878, 1891 and 1900. The Budapest Castle Hill Funicular was built in 1868–69, with the first test run on 23 October 1869. The oldest funicular railway operating in Britain dates from 1875 and is in Scarborough , North Yorkshire. In Istanbul , Turkey,

2479-400: The definition of a funicular. However, the system has since been redesigned, and now uses two independently-operating cars that can each ascend or descend on demand, qualifying as a double inclined elevator; the term "funicular" in its title is retained as a historical reference. Cable railway A cable railway is a railway that uses a cable , rope or chain to haul trains. It

2546-524: The descending train, or is carried underneath a trwnc car on which the empty train sits. This type of incline is especially associated with the Aberllefenni Slate Quarry that supplied the Corris Railway. This form of incline has the advantages of a gravity balance system with the added ability to haul loads uphill. It is only practical where a large supply of water is available at the top of

2613-576: The distinction of being the first funicular in the United States for strictly passenger use and not freight. In 1880 the funicular of Mount Vesuvius inspired the Italian popular song Funiculì, Funiculà . This funicular was destroyed repeatedly by volcanic eruptions and abandoned after the eruption of 1944. According to the Guinness World Records , the smallest public funicular in the world

2680-649: The downhill end than at the other. It closed either in 1906 or in 1914 at the start of World War I , and nothing now remains of the rails or stations. Four years after the opening of the Douglas Southern Electric Tramway, this funicular railway was built to carry passengers between the harbour and the northern terminus of the DSET. Also referred to as the Douglas Head Incline Railway , or the Douglas Head Cliff Railway , it

2747-422: The downward-moving cable in the same plane as the upward-moving one. Modern installations also use high friction liners to enhance the friction between the bullwheel grooves and the cable. For emergency and service purposes two sets of brakes are used at the engine room: the emergency brake directly grips the bullwheel, and the service brake is mounted at the high speed shaft of the gear. In case of an emergency

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2814-408: The drum braking system. At Maenofferen Quarry a system was installed that raised a short section of the rail at the head of the incline to prevent runaways. The operation of an incline was typically controlled by the brakesman positioned at the winding house. A variety of systems were used to communicate with workers at the bottom of the incline, whose job it was to attach and detach the wagons from

2881-575: The early days of the Industrial Revolution , several railways used cable haulage in preference to locomotives, especially over steep inclines. The Bowes Railway on the outskirts of Gateshead opened in 1826. Today it is the world's only preserved operational 4 ft  8 + 1 ⁄ 2  in ( 1,435 mm ) standard gauge cable railway system. The Cromford and High Peak Railway opened in 1831 with grades up to 1 in 8. There were nine inclined planes: eight were engine-powered, one

2948-405: The floor of each car, which were filled or emptied until just sufficient imbalance was achieved to allow movement, and a few such funiculars still exist and operate in the same way. The car at the top of the hill is loaded with water until it is heavier than the car at the bottom, causing it to descend the hill and pull up the other car. The water is drained at the bottom, and the process repeats with

3015-469: The hotel was built in 1927 on a different alignment to the first; the line started at the end of a short cul-de-sac off the Esplanade, and led to the other side of the hotel building. It had a single 129 feet (39 m) track of 5 ft ( 1,524 mm ) gauge, at an angle of 60° (1 in 0.57) or 41° (1 in 1.15). Powered at first by a 400V DC 6 electric horsepower (4.5 kW) motor, it was changed in 1950 to

3082-416: The incline cable. One of the most common communication methods was a simple electrical bell system. Cable railways were often used within quarries to connect working levels. Sometimes a single cable railway would span multiple levels, allowing wagons to be moved between the furthest levels in a single movement. In order to accommodate intermediate levels, turnouts were used to allow wagons to leave and join

3149-430: The incline itself the tracks may be interlaced to reduce the width of land needed. This requires use of gauntlet track : either a single track of two rails, or a three-rail track where trains share a common rail; at the centre of the incline there will be a passing track to allow the ascending and descending trains to pass each other. Railway workers attach the cable to the upper wagon, and detach it when it arrives at

3216-422: The incline. An example of this type of cable railway is the passenger carrying Lynton and Lynmouth Cliff Railway . An uncommon form of cable railway uses locomotives, fitted with a winding drum, to power the cable. With the cable or chain attached to the wagons to be drawn, but the drive to the drum disengaged, the locomotive climbs the slope under its own power. When the cable is nearly at its full extent, or when

3283-497: The need for the costly junctions either side of the passing loop. The Hill Train at the Legoland Windsor Resort is an example of this configuration. In the case of two-rail funiculars, various solutions exist for ensuring that a carriage always enters the same track at the passing loop. One such solution involves installing switches at each end of the passing loop. These switches are moved into their desired position by

3350-595: The other car has them on the right-hand side, meaning it follows the rightmost rail and runs on the right branch of the loop. This system was invented by Carl Roman Abt and first implemented on the Lugano Città–Stazione funicular in Switzerland in 1886; since then, the Abt turnout has gained popularity, becoming a standard for modern funiculars. The lack of moving parts on the track makes this system cost-effective and reliable compared to other systems. The majority of funiculars have two stations, one at each end of

3417-463: The other descends at an equal speed. This feature distinguishes funiculars from inclined elevators , which have a single car that is hauled uphill. The term funicular derives from the Latin word funiculus , the diminutive of funis , meaning 'rope'. In a funicular, both cars are permanently connected to the opposite ends of the same cable, known as a haul rope ; this haul rope runs through

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3484-415: The other end of the incline. Generally, special-purpose safety couplings are used rather than the ordinary wagon couplings. The cables may be guided between the rails on the incline by a series of rollers so that they do not fall across the rail where they would be damaged by the wheels on the wagons. Occasionally inclines were used to move locomotives between levels, but these were comparatively rare as it

3551-406: The outboard wheels have flanges on both sides, whereas the inboard wheels are unflanged (and usually wider to allow them to roll over the turnouts more easily). The double-flanged wheels keep the carriages bound to one specific rail at all times. One car has the flanged wheels on the left-hand side, so it follows the leftmost rail, forcing it to run via the left branch of the passing loop; similarly,

3618-580: The space required for building a funicular, reducing grading costs on mountain slopes and property costs for urban funiculars. These layouts enabled a funicular boom in the latter half of the 19th century. Currently, the United States' oldest and steepest funicular in continuous use is the Monongahela Incline located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania . Construction began in 1869 and officially opened 28 May 1870 for passenger use. The Monongahela incline also has

3685-478: The summit is reached, the locomotive is fastened to the rails and the cable wound in. In a simpler form the cable is attached to a locomotive, usually at the upper end of the incline. The locomotive is driven away from the head of the incline, hauling wagons up the inclined plane. The locomotive itself does not travel on the steeply graded section. An example is at the Amberley Chalk Pits Museum . This

3752-412: The system, the track bed can consist of four, three, or two rails. Some funicular systems use a mix of different track layouts. An example of this arrangement is the lower half of the Great Orme Tramway , where the section "above" the passing loop has a three-rail layout (with each pair of adjacent rails having its own conduit which the cable runs through), while the section "below" the passing loop has

3819-442: The top of the incline to the stop was the same as the distance that the fully loaded wagons needed to travel. Empty wagons were hauled up the incline, counterbalanced by the descending ballast wagons. These empty wagons were replaced by fully loaded wagons ready to descend. The descending loaded wagons then returned the ballast wagons to the top of the incline. One of the major inclines at Dinorwic had four parallel tracks, two worked by

3886-519: The track. However, some systems have been built with additional intermediate stations . Because of the nature of a funicular system, intermediate stations are usually built symmetrically about the mid-point; this allows both cars to call simultaneously at a station. Examples of funiculars with more than two stations include the Wellington Cable Car in New Zealand (five stations, including one at

3953-477: Was 218 feet (66 m) long, rising 110 feet (34 m) on a gradient of 1:1.98. The cars may have been water-balanced, or driven by the same oil engine later used at Port Soderick. The cabins had a level base (as seen on photographs after they were converted to kiosks at Port Soderick). The lift was under-used, and was sold in 1896 to the Forrester family to be moved to Port Soderick . The second railway to serve

4020-557: Was built in 1890 to allow tourists more comfortable access to the Laxey Wheel . It was a double 5 ft ( 1,524 mm ) gauge water-driven funicular, running for 300 feet (91 m) at a gradient of 1 in 4 from just downhill of the Laxey Wheel to the valley floor below. The cars were in toastrack form, with seven or eight benches holding three passengers each. The floor of each car was kept level by mounting them on much larger wheels at

4087-566: Was cable-hauled from its opening in 1896 until it was converted to electric power in 1935. A few examples exist of cables being used on conventional railways to assist locomotives on steep grades. The Cowlairs incline was an example of this, with a continuous rope used on this section from 1842 until 1908. The middle section of the Erkrath-Hochdahl Railway in Germany (1841–1926) had an inclined plane where trains were assisted by rope from

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4154-405: Was constructed by Richard Maltby Broadbent, with two 4 ft ( 1,219 mm ) gauge tracks running 450 feet (140 m) from harbour level at Port Skillion up a 1 in 4.5 gradient to near the DSET terminus. It was powered by an oil engine. The tracks were not quite parallel but splayed out as they climbed to allow the cars room to pass each other; unusually, the tracks bent to the left (going up)

4221-417: Was first documented in 1515 by Cardinal Matthäus Lang , who became Archbishop of Salzburg . The line originally used wooden rails and a hemp haulage rope and was operated by human or animal power. Today, steel rails, steel cables and an electric motor have taken over, but the line still follows the same route through the castle's fortifications. This line is generally described as the oldest funicular. In

4288-425: Was normally cheaper to provide a separate fleet of locomotives on either side of the incline, or else to work the level sections with horses. On early railways, cable-worked inclines were also used on some passenger lines. The speed of the wagons was usually controlled by means of a brake that acted on the winding drum at the head of the incline. The incline cable passed round the drum several times to ensure there

4355-434: Was operated by a horse gin . The Middleton Top winding engine house at the summit of Middleton Incline has been preserved and the ancient steam engine inside, once used to haul wagons up, is often demonstrated. The Liverpool and Manchester Railway opened in 1830 with cable haulage down a 1 in 48 grade to the dockside at Liverpool . It was originally designed for cable haulage up and down 1 in 100 grades at Rainhill in

4422-419: Was sufficient friction for the brake to slow the rotation of the drum – and therefore the wagons – without the cable slipping. At the head of the incline various devices were employed to ensure that wagons did not start to descend before they were attached to the cable. These ranged from simple lumps of rock wedged behind the wagon's wheels to permanently installed chocks that were mechanically synchronized with

4489-728: Was used for the first time in 1879 when the Giessbach Funicular opened in Switzerland . In the United States, the first funicular to use a two-rail layout was the Telegraph Hill Railroad in San Francisco, which was in operation from 1884 until 1886. The Mount Lowe Railway in Altadena, California, was the first mountain railway in the United States to use the three-rail layout. Three- and two-rail layouts considerably reduced

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