Funicular

A funicular, also called funicular railway or inclined railway, inclined plane, or in the United Kingdom a cliff railway, consists of a system of transport in which cables attach to a tram-like vehicle on rails to move it up and down a very steep slope.

History

The earliest such railways were water-driven, allowing barge traffic of canals to ascend and descend steep hills. They were used primarily in the early 19th century, especially during the height of the canal-building era in the 1830s in the United States.

Related Topics:
Water-driven - Canal - 19th century - 1830s - United States

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Such railways operated by allowing water in feeder canals at the top of the plane to drive a turbine, raising or lowering a canal barge along a steep slope. Along level sections, the railroads essentially operated as standard towpath canals, with the barges typically drawn by horse or mule.

Related Topics:
Turbine - Towpath

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Examples of hydropower inclined plane railroads in the United States included the Allegheny Portage Railroad, part of the Pennsylvania Main Line Canal, built in 1834 with ten planes as the first railroad across the Allegheny Mountains of Pennsylvania. Similarly, the Morris Canal in New Jersey connected the Delaware River with the Passaic River using 23 planes, as well as a series of locks along the gentler gradients.

Related Topics:
Allegheny Portage Railroad - Pennsylvania Main Line Canal - 1834 - Allegheny Mountains - Pennsylvania - Morris Canal - New Jersey - Delaware River - Passaic River - Lock

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One of the most famous funiculars of its time was the Mount Lowe Railway in Southern California, combining a funicular raising passengers 3,500 up the side of Mount Lowe with a trolley, in later years operated by Pacific Electric Railway, that plied tracks built around the edges of the mountain, finally depositing tourists at the Alpine Inn, only 1,100 feet from the mountain's summit. The railway was built at the turn of the twentieth century, but it was gone by 1938, lost after a fire destroyed the Alpine Inn.

Related Topics:
Mount Lowe Railway - Pacific Electric Railway

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The funicular of Mount Vesuvius inspired the song Funiculì Funiculà (by Luigi Denza with text by Peppino Turco).http://www.vesuvioinrete.it/funicolare/e_funicolare_funiculi.htm The funicular was wrecked repeatedly by volcanic eruptions and finally abandoned after the eruption of 1944.

Related Topics:
Mount Vesuvius - Luigi Denza

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