This page looks at what are known as 'niche' technologies. This term usually refers to lower capacity and specialist transports which either act as 'feeders' for the more 'mainstream' transports or fulfill rôles that other transports are incapable of providing.
Water Transport.Water transport is actually one of the oldest transports in recorded history, with dug-out canoes being used for thousands of years. According to the Wikipedia online encyclopædia, a ferry is a boat or a ship carrying passengers, and possibly their vehicles, on a relatively short-distance, regularly scheduled service whilst a foot-passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, is called a waterbus. Many transport advocates would suggest that in the present-day era the benefits of water transport as a form of urban transit is very much under-rated (and therefore under used), except perhaps by the tourist / leisure orientated industries. One city however where they have little modal choice is Venice, Italy, as here there are few roads and indeed alongside many watery thoroughfares few footpaths either. So even walking is not always an option! (OK so swimming might be another option, but it can be dangerous with the modern day motor boats and polluted water). The primary focus of this page is look at water transports which are used as part of the overall local transport scheme. Not looked at in detail are the longer-run ferries such as those which cross the English Channel connecting Great Britain with the rest of Europe, or those which sail in the Baltic Sea between Finland and Sweden and in many ways are more akin to full-blown car-carrying cruise ships (even though journeys typically last for just one night) than humble "ferries". |
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| A busy scene on the Grand canal with a waterbus calling at the Academia waterbus stop and freight boats passing by. | Many cities globally have a river or two - in Venice there is a network of rivers and other waterways throughout the city - this is a typical "street" scene near to the main bus station. | ||||
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| Waterbus stops typically comprise of a sheltered waiting room on a floating pontoon which juts out slightly into the canal. | |||||
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| When there are waterways instead of roads even the local delivery van becomes a local delivery boat! | Venice is also famous for its gondolas, which presumably were the water equivalent of the rickshaw or taxi but nowadays are primarily used by tourists. | ||||
Perhaps Venice is a special case because it has so many "water streets" that for much of the city boats are the only viable option. Far more cities feature just a handful of watery routes where within the overall scheme of things the water transports perform just a secondary rôle. (Plus, sometimes leisure-orientated tourist services too). |
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London is one of these cities too and although there is widespread support for the riverbuses to take on a more high-profile rôle in the urban travel system the reality (so far) is that the river - as a thoroughfare - is primarily used by the leisure industry. The principal constraint is that the people who allocate funds raised from the London-wide "pay once & ride at will 'Travelcard'" to the transport operators will not give the riverbus operators sufficient money to make it commercially viable for them to accept the Travelcards. And having bought Travelcards few Londoners are willing to pay individual fares for transports which they would have expected to already be included in price of their tickets. London's river buses should not be confused with the Woolwich Ferry which links the north and south riverbanks but does not serve other destinations along the river. This ferry is completely free at point of use - but then it dates from an age when things were done for 'the social good'. (It is funded via local government). |
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| The Woolwich Ferry which links the northern and southern sides of the River Thames, providing perhaps the most pleasant way to cross London's watery divide. Click image to see larger version in a new window. | Ferries are also ideal for linking rural riverside communities. This example links Lower Kingswear with Dartmouth, in south Devon. The pontoon carries eight cars and is towed across the River Dart by a small tug. Image sourced
from the free online "Wikipedia" encyclopædia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Ferry.dartmouth.750pix.jpg (link to an external site which opens in a new window). |
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Water transports are also frequently used for inter-urban travel, linking with offshore islands and remote riverside communities where difficult terrain makes the water an easier option than land transport and where inland lakes mean that the distances to be travelled across the lake can be much shorter than if the journey had been made by travelling on dry-land transports (rail or road). In the modern era some of these boats will also carry vehicles too, depending on local circumstances. |
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| Some ferries also carry trains, as well as cars and lorries. This car deck has some freight wagons and (not seen) some through passenger carriages on a train linking Germany with one of the Danish Islands. | The Norwegians also find that sometimes the easiest way to link remote waterside communities is by boat - especially those communities located within fjords where the option of travelling by land involves negotiating steep mountains. | ||||
Transports for hilly locations.A very unusual and innovative solution for helping cyclists up steep hills can be found in the Norwegian city of Trondheim. Known as the Trampe Bicycle Lift the manufacturer describes this as being somewhat akin to a ski lift - except that most of it is located just below the street surface so that people and vehicles can cross its route safely and without hindrance. Apart from the compact machinery & motor housing units at the start and end points the only things which protrude proud of the ground are the moving footplates used by the cyclists. When using the lift the right foot is placed on the starting point (the left foot stays on the bicycle pedal), the keycard is inserted in the card reader and one pushes the start button. After a few seconds the user is pushed forward and a footplate emerges. A common mistake among tourists and first-time users is that they don't keep their right leg outstretched and their body tilted forward. This makes it hard to maintain balance on the footplate, and can result in falling off. In the summer months it is used extensively by both commuting inhabitants of Trondheim and tourists with rented keycards. It is also sometimes used by thrill-seeking teenagers balancing on the footplate without a bicycle and by parents with young children in pushchairs (prams, buggies, etc.) The footplates are 20 metres apart, which means that if several people wish to use it at the same time then they can, albeit with 20 metre gaps between them. The speed of the lift is 2 m/s (4-5 mph), giving a maximum capacity of 6 cyclists per minute or 360 cyclists per hour. This installation opened in 1993, and in addition to being a useful facility for local people and tourists it acts as a working prototype with the aim of obtaining sales of similar systems elsewhere. It is 130 metres in length, although the concept allows for lengths of up to 400 metres, with longer runs being catered for by several installations. |
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| These four images come from the manufacturers' website, which can be found at http://www.trampe.no/english/index.php.
More images can be found in their photogallery; other pages on the website include a video of the system in operation, schematic diagrams plus more detailed technical information. Additional information can be found on these pages:- http://195.18.161.151/engelsk/psmaler/eng_picture.asp?thisId=950631995 Trondheim.com website. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7j1PgmMbug8 Video of the lift in operation on YouTube. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trampe_bicycle_lift the free online "Wikipedia" encyclopædia. (all links to external sites open in new windows). |
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Much more well known, and well proven with many years of use are the funicular and / or rack & pinion 'cog-wheel' railways which are used in many hilly localities to overcome steep inclines where normal 'adhesion' railway systems would not be practical. |
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| Line 10 of the Stuttgart (Germany) urban travel network features a reserved track rack & pinion light rail line. Attached to each vehicle at the 'uphill' end is a bicycle trailer. Taking bicycles on trains is looked at on a different page. | |||||
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Line C of the Lyon, France métro is unusual because it combines both 'adhesion' (left) and 'rack & pinion' (right) operation along different
sections of its route.
Perhaps the most famous British example of the rack & pinion system is the Snowdon Mountain Railway, which nowadays operates as a tourist orientated leisure service but was originally built to carry industrial freight. Being aimed at tourists the use of steam locomotives could be considered to be appropriate. Apart from a few other transports which are also in backward looking fossil-fuel loving Britain virtually all the other (land) transports shown on this page are electrically operated. |
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The Snowdon Mountain Railway, North Wales.
For more efficient operation on the steep gradients the locomotives on this railway were built with angled fireboxes. For safety (to prevent a runaway carriage from careering out of control downhill) the trains always have the locomotive on the downhill side of the passenger carriage. Switzerland is famous for its many different types of hill climbing railways and whilst some of these (nowadays) survive because they provide tourist-orientated services in areas of outstanding natural beauty (and winter ski resorts) there are still some which meet 'real' urban transport needs. One of the best examples used to in the city of Lausanne, where métro line M2 featured the rack & pinion system. Dating back to 1877 the La Ficelle (as it was known then) was constructed to connect the lakeside resort of Ouchy with Flon in the city centre. There were several intermediate stops, one of which was conveniently located for the Swiss Federal Railways Station (Gare CFF). There were two complimentary services, with one being a two-station shuttle between Flon and the Gare CFF and the other serving five stations with electric locomotives powering two-vehicle trains. For safety the locomotive was at the 'downhill' end of the train. As with many 'mountain' railways this line was predominately single-track, albeit with a passing loop in the middle. In Lausanne this loop was located at a station (called Montriond) and gave rise to a most unusual arrangement whereby uphill trains were required to enter the station first so that its tracks could then be used as the station 'platform' for the downhill trains. At quieter times when only one train was in service then both uphill and downhill services used the 'proper' platform. On 22nd January 2006 the line was temporarily closed in connection with a northward extension, a process which will include adding several new stations, an upgrade to double-track throughout plus a conversion to driverless automated rubber-tyred "mini-métro" trains which will call at stations fitted with platform doors. Clicking any of these Lausanne images will lead to a dedicated page showing larger and more images in a popup window; alternatively clicking here will open the page in a new full-size window. |
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| Two trains pass at Montriond station, which is the midway passing point. Note that the downhill train's platform is effectively the uphill track! | Inside one of these trains - because of the volume of passengers it is not easy to see the full-width bench type seating at the far end of the carriage. | ||||
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A single carriage shuttles between Flon in the city centre (above left) and the Gare CFF (mainline railway station) (above right).
The track nearer to the camera in the Flon view and the far platform seen in the Gare CFF view are for the 'other' line which features longer trains and extends down to Ouchy, which is on Lake Geneva. Only some mountain lines use the rack & pinion system, others (generally shorter lines) use cables. These are usually single-track with two vehicles in service at a time with them being located at opposite ends of the cable so that the descending vehicle counterbalances the ascending vehicle and they pass at a half way loop. One such example exists at Lugano, in Switzerland. The funicular railway of Lugano which links the city centre with its railway station. |
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| Two cars the midway passing point. There used to be a station here but it is no longer used. | Car 2 at the upper station, which is located next to the city's main railway station. | ||||
Higher capacity examples come from the French City of Lyon, which actually has two funiculars, both of which use Vieux-Lyon Métro station as their lower starting point. One serves the Basilica whilst the other goes to St Just. |
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| View out the front of a downhill (Vieux-Lyon) bound train from the Basilica as it enters Minimes station, this being the only intermediate station and conveniently located to also act as the passing point. | The funicular to St Just crosses a short viaduct after leaving Vieux-Lyon station and commences its steeply graded uphill journey through the hills. | ||||
Before electricity became the universal choice several cities used cable-operated tram / streetcar systems. Nowadays only San Francisco still uses this technology. Here the cable takes the shape of a large under-road loop which is in continuous motion; to obtain propulsion the cable cars use special 'grippers' which lock onto this cable through a slot in the roadway located between the running rails. At one time there were many cable lines operated by rival private companies which used incompatible track gauges. Although most lines were closed or electrified a few survived long enough to be appreciated for what they were. Nowadays they have become part of the tourist scene but the locals do still use them as legitimate urban transit - especially in the morning peak hour before the tourists swamp them. |
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The San Francisco cablecars.
The two views on the left show the vehicles which operate on the California Street service, these cablecars are double-ended (ie: can be driven from either end) and can use simple 'stub-end' termini to reverse direction; the other type of vehicle (as seen on the right) operates on the Powel - Mason & Powel - Hyde routes, and at termini must use a turntable to turn round. The Trammffordd Y Gogarth (Great Orme Tramway in English) in Llandudno, North Wales, is the only cable-hauled tramway still operating on British public roads. First opening in 1902, and still using its original tramcars, this system features twin funicular railways where the ascending and descending tramcars must operate as matched pairs counter-balancing each other, so it is not a cable car system as in the San Francisco mold. Both funiculars meet at a midway station, which is where the winding house is also located. Passengers wanting to make a full journey need to transfer between upper and lower railways at this station. The combined length of the two lines is approximately one mile (1.6km). The upper line extends from the midway station to the Great Orme's 679ft (207m) summit, and on days when the weather is favourable the views can include Snowdonia, Anglesey, the Isle of Man, Blackpool and the Lake District. The lower line links Llandudno town with the midway station. It includes sections of both street running and roadside right of way. Clicking any of these Great Orme Tramway images will lead to a dedicated page showing larger and more images in a popup window; alternatively clicking here will open the page in a new full-size window. |
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| The lower line includes a section of street running; for safety motor vehicle access to this road is restricted to authorised vehicles only - this is to avoid the hazard of a tramcar travelling in one direction meeting an oncoming vehicle travelling in the opposite direction on a road so narrow that there is no space to pass. | This descending tram almost clipped the blue hatchback stuck in a queue of traffic (beyond the junction) which was caused by single-file alternate directional traffic trying to pass a broken-down vehicle in the road further down the hill. Note the modern 'white dots" signal - these were introduced in Britain for street tramway operation in 1991. | ||||
It is questionable whether modern health and safety legislation would permit the construction of a new system - complete with street running - such as operates here; however as this line is already open it probably benefits from what is known as "grandfather" rights. (There should be no reason why there would be a problem for a new system that is away from the public highway). Being aimed at leisure travellers services only operate between late March and late October, with trains running at 20 minute intervals from 10am (10.00) to 6pm (18.00) (March and October 5pm / 17.00). More information and photographs of the Great Orme Tramway can be found by following this link http://www.greatormetramway.com/ which opens in a new window and leads to the "official" Great Orme Tramway website. |
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| Originally the line was equipped with an overhead wire which was used for communicating between tramcars and a control centre. Nowadays the trams use radio communications and the overhead has been dismantled, nevertheless for decorative and historic reasons the tramcars retain their trolley-poles. | The passing point on the lower section - still in the street domain but "off-road". The 'swept path' of the vehicle on the left slightly fouls the public highway and the white dotted line next to the double yellow lines delineates this and is intended to discourage road vehicles from straying too near the tracks. | ||||
Another British urban funicular is the The Bridgnorth Cliff Railway, which is sometimes also known as the Castle Hill Railway. This is located in the town of Bridgnorth in Shropshire. Claimed to be both the steepest and the shortest railway in Britain this line links the Low Town of Bridgnorth and the River Severn with the High Town, which is adjacent to the ruins of Bridgnorth Castle. The line dates back to 1890, when a public meeting in the town agreed to investigate a railway as an easier way of linking the two sections of the town avoiding the need to scale over 200 steps. Construction began in 1891, and the line opened in 1892. By way of comparison it would be interesting to see if a similar project could be carried out with such rapidity in the modern era - knowing the present day planning process and bureaucrats liking for detailed studies (often multiple studies) which often give the impression of 'paralysis by analysis' it is very probable that such a project would take over 5 years.. and thats before construction even begins! Originally the trains were water powered with each car housing a 2000 gallon water tank beneath the passenger compartment. These were filled at the top station and emptied at the lower station. The weight of the car with the water gently rolling downhill would be sufficient to haul the ascending vehicle. However in 1943 the gas powered engines which pumped the water to the top station became life-expired and the line was rebuilt to operate electrically. It reopened in 1944, and with trains now completing the journey more quickly than before passenger numbers increased. The present rolling stock dates to 1955. This railway provides a full daily service 6.5 days a week, with, to allow time for routine maintenance, there being a later start to the working day on Sunday mornings. Although of course visitors to Bridgenorth are welcome to use the line its primary purpose to provide transport for local people. More information and photographs of the Bridgnorth Cliff Railway can be found by following this link http://www.bridgnorthcliffrailway.co.uk/ which (opens in a new window and) leads to the "official" Bridgnorth Cliff Railway website. |
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| The upper station with a train in & people at a viewpoint. | The viewpoint overlooks the funicular railway, the lower town, River Severn and the local area. | ||||
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| A close view of one of the cabins which is about to arrive at the upper station, and some of the winding gear. | |||||
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For people who prefer to walk there is a steeply graded footpath & stairway, which starts next to the lower station entrance but at the top arrives at a location that is
remote from the upper station.
Elsewhere in Britain funicular systems mostly exist at seasides and are of the Cliff Lift variety, these typically being short cable railways located on very steep inclines featuring small 'cabins'. Although they can provide a useful transport service for local people nowadays they typically provide 'leisure-orientated' services in the summer months only. A railway which combines both urban transport for local people and seaside leisure-orientated transport is the Lynton and Lynmouth Cliff Railway. This line links the twin towns of Lynton and Lynmouth on the rugged coast of North Devon. Construction work began in 1887 and was completed in less than three years. This railway is water powered, with the water coming from the West Lynn River which is over a mile away. The two carriages feature a 700 gallon tank mounted between the wheels. Trains operate with a member of staff onboard whose duties include acting as brakeman and controlling the speed of the journey. In addition to the two stations at each end of the line there is a halt, with road access, at North Walk - this being just below Lynton station. This is used to transport larger freight items, for which the passenger carriage bodies can be removed to provide a flat load bed. In the early days of private motoring cars would sometimes be carried up the hill in this way. During rail replacement over the winter of 2006, the halt was used extensively for access and material storage. The railway is now classified as a listed monument. Services operate roughly between mid-February and mid-November, with heavy maintenance being carried out during the winter. More information and photographs of the Lynton and Lynmouth Cliff Railway can be found by following this link http://www.cliffrailwaylynton.co.uk/ which leads to the "official" Lynton and Lynmouth Cliff Railway website. A video of this line in action can also be found here...http://www.rewindstudios.co.uk/. (both links open in new windows). |
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| The Lynton and Lynmouth Cliff Railway, on a thoroughly wet July day in the 'non-summer' of 2007. | |||||
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The funiculars seen above all operate on the basis of ascending and descending vehicles running on twin tracks counterbalancing each other. A variant of this system however sees just the single vehicle running on a single surface track with a dummy weight on a (usually) narrower track below. In many ways this type of funicular is more like the well known lifts (elevator in the American dialect) which can be found in many buildings - except that whilst lifts (normally) travel vertically, these funiculars will travel at an angle. One such example is the funicular railway at Southend-On-Sea in Essex. Because of its location (on the side of a cliff) this is also sometimes known as a 'cliff lift'. This line opened in 1912. The funicular vehicle travels on 4ft 6in gauge running track whilst the counterweight uses an a 1ft 9in gauge track below. |
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The cliff railway at Southend-On-Sea, in Essex, as seen in the mid 1980's. Note the fixed stairs which flank the line on one side.
Of course cliff lift type funiculars also exist overseas too... the two examples below come from France and the French Canadian Province of Québec. |
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| The Montmartre funicular, Paris, France, is flanked by a steep stepped walkway. | Québec City, Canada. | ||||
Whereas most funiculars use wheeled transports running on top of rails and having the cables below them a little-used variant sees the vehicles hanging from the rail with the counterbalance cables being above them. Perhaps the best example of this is the Dresden Schwebebahn, which is a suspended funicular railway. Opening in 1901 this system uses trains which hang from a single rail, which means that it is technically also a monorail, and indeed it was built by the same person (Eugen Langen) who later went on to build the 11km Schwebebahn (hanging railway) in Wüppertal. The Wüppertal Schwebebahn is a high capacity urban transport, it is looked at in greater detail on the Monorails, Maglevs and 'Cabin' Transports page. The Schwebebahn is one of two funicular railways in Dresden, the other being the much more conventional Standseilbahn Dresden. Both lines are operated by the Dresdner Verkehrsbetriebe AG, who also operate the city's tram and bus networks. |
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| Above both and below left the Dresden Schwebebahn. | |||||
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Right: Looking out of the back of a descending car of Dresden's Funicular railway (Standseilbahn Dresden), passing an ascending car that has been specially
decorated for the 110th anniversary of the funicular, which was celebrated on the 30th October 2005.
Image sourced from the free online "Wikipedia" encyclopædia (link opens in a new window) http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:051030-Standseilbahn-Dresden-Talfahrt-Begegnung-Viadukt.jpg. More well known types of hanging funiculars are systems which typically involve small cabins (sometimes also called gondolas) or open chairs which are located and hauled above the ground by means of cables. Sometimes the vehicles are directly attached to moving cables and sometimes they are hang from fixed cables (ie: which only support the vehicle's weight) with other cables moving the vehicle(s). More than any other type of transport these hanging / suspended systems have a multiplicity of names which even in English speaking nations often vary widely depending on where the person lives and the type of English they speak. The online "Wikipedia" encyclopædia (which is mostly written in the American dialect) uses a generic term of 'aerial lift', and then subdivides them many ways further depending on the type of vehicle, how many cables it uses and how it operates.
Although not specified every time all the cable car images below have been sourced from the free online "Wikipedia" encyclopædia and the links will open in new windows. |
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| Left: Upper station of Caron's cable car (Val Thorens, Savoie, France) http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image%3ACaron6.jpg Right: Furtschellas cable car, Engadin, Switzerland. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:CH_Furtschellas_aerial_tram.jpg |
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Left: Closer view of a twin cable system showing how it is supported from the upper cable while the lower cable pulls it. Cable car Rasa near Intragna, Switzerland.
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:HoldAndPull.jpg Right: Rotating cable car cabin on a system which serves the Titlis mountain in Switzerland. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:TitlisGondol.jpg
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Above Left: Twin cable gondola system which serves Ngong Ping village in Hong Kong http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Cablecarslantau.jpg Above Right: Classic 1960s 4-seater monocable gondola lift in Emmetten, Switzerland http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/ Image:Gondola_lift_lucerne_2006.03.18.jpg Left: Passenger and freight gondolas on the twin cable gondola system in La Grave, France. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/ Image:Aerial_tramway_La_Grave_France.jpg |
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Left: Small gondola sized cable cars at the Sentosa station of the Singapore cable car system. This twin cable system uses detachable-grip gondolas which
seat four people, and includes one intermediate station.
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Singapore_cable_car_station.jpg Right: Interior of an intermediate station on the GMD Mueller gondola system in Gstaad, Switzerland. At this station the gondolas detach from the line, automatically travel through the building on tracks and attach to the line of the second section. The drive motors for both sections are visible below the bullwheels http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Mueller_gondola_gstaad3.jpg
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| Left: Open chairs on the ski lift at Praz-de-Lys / Sommand (Haute-Savoie, France) http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image%3ATelesiege.JPG Right: The return bullwheel of the chairlift of Col dei Baldi, Alleghe, Italy. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Chairlift_bullwheel.jpg |
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| Left: Bubble chairs on the Marchner chairlift, Kronplatz mountain (Plan de Corones in Italian), South Tyrol, Italy. Whilst the chairs facing / coming towards the camera are empty people's feet can be seen hanging
from the cabin in front. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Sesselbahn_Marchner.jpg Right: Top station of the same chairlift showing (amongst other things) the safety netting in case a passenger has not been properly seated and falls out. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Kronplatz_Berstation_Sonnenlift.jpg |
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| Left: The gondola mounting of a small ropeway, for example a chairlift. The mounting consists of a metal clasp which in normal mode is held in the closed position by two steel
springs, thereby forcing the clasp to firmly grip the steel rope. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Ropeway_mounting_march_2006.jpg Right: The grip of a Doppelmayr detachable quad chairlift built in 1985 as parked on a sidetrack in the lower lift terminal. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Co_Vail_chairclamp.jpg |
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The telemix / chondola is a relatively new innovation in the world of ski lifts, and was first introduced by Poma, a French lift manufacturer. Telemix / Chondola in Åre, Sweden.
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Vm8-an_%C3%85re.JPG |
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Left: Gold Coast Funitel at the Squaw Valley Ski Resort, California, USA.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Funitel_1.jpg Right: Funitel at La Plagne, France. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Furniplagne_s.JPG
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| Left: Empty T-bars but full chairlifts on a system at Sauerland/NRW Germany. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Skilift_2.jpg Right: T-Bar at Galicowa Grapa, Poronin, Poland, with fencing to encourage passengers to travel to the end of the line, and discourage non-passengers from 'getting in the way'. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Orczyk.jpg |
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| Left: Detail of modern rope tow at loading station. The small hand grips help minimize "slippage" and encourage safe passenger separation. The red button is an emergency stop for use by the attendant if an obstacle,
such as a fallen skier, blocks the rope line. The thin line looped under the rope is a safety limit: if a rider goes past this point, it disconnects the circuit and stops the tow. The foreground coiled yellow line is for deployment to
mark a loading queue.
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Rope_tow_bottom_detail.jpeg Right: Side view of magic carpet. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Magic_carpet_P1177.jpeg |
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Specialist Winter Weather Transport.Whilst the transports seen above are often used in snowy weather they are mostly suitable for all weather conditions. However one form of transport which is rarely seen away from snow and ice is the sleigh. Sleigh Rides. |
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Sleighs are ideal for wintry weather when snow and ice can make the use of rubber-tyred transports hazardous. |
![]() Children going for a sleigh ride! Seen crossing the tracks at a station on Stockholm, Sweden's 'Nockebybanan' light rail line. |
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Seaside Railways.Although sometimes seen as 'leisure orientated' niche transports seaside railways can - and do - also meet real transport needs for which larger railways could be unsuitable. The first views are of the former electric trains that operated on the 1½ mile long pier at Southend-On-Sea, in Essex. They were introduced in 1949 (replacing older trains which operated a pre-war service) and in all there were four 'trains' each of which consisted of seven four-wheel carriages. The system was electrified at 500v dc using a centrally located third rail and the track gauge was 3ft 6in (approx 106cm). The line closed in the late 1970's - some reports suggest 1978 whilst others say that public services ended in October 1976 but for the benefit of the lifeboat crew some occasional trains continued to operate until July 1979. In 1986 a new two-train diseasal service was opened (disease diesel train not illustrated). Clicking either of these two Southend Pier railway images will lead to a dedicated page showing larger and more images in a popup window; alternatively clicking here will open the page in a new full-size window. |
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| A train (in passenger service) standing in the platform at the pier head station. | Inside former Southend Pier railway motor car. | ||||
Another electric pier railway is to be found at Hythe, Hampshire. These trains also serve a 'real' transport function in that they
meet the ferry boats which ply across the Solent from Southampton and dock on the pier. This is reputed to be the oldest pier railway "anywhere" globally
- the pier opened in 1881, the railway opened in 1909 and was electrified in 1922. The pier is 2100' (approx 640m) in length, the railway is electrified on the third
rail principle at 240v dc and the trains run on 2ft (approx 61cm) gauge track. The two links below lead to external sites which will open in new windows.
In Blackpool the North Pier features a short (diseasel) tramway which links the pier entrance with the theatre at the far end. Of special note is that the entire journey from pier entrance to theatre is "weather protected" - either inside the tram or via sheltered platforms and walkways - obviously someone has realised that in inclement weather passengers (OK, in this case theatre patrons) don't want a soaking. Would that similar thoughtfulness applied to ALL British transport systems! The person (people?) responsible for this thoughtfulness should be given a peerage, knighthood, or similar - & made a British government Transport Minister! Clicking either of these two Blackpool North Pier images will lead to a dedicated page showing larger and more images in a popup window; alternatively clicking here will open the page in a new full-size window. |
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The diesel powered North Pier tramway in Blackpool.
Another seaside railway is the Volks electric railway on the Brighton seafront. This line provides a very useful service along the sea front and there are plans to
extend it towards the pier as it will then also be nearer the town centre. It uses an unusual track gauge of 2ft 8½ in (approx. 83cms) and is electrified at 160v dc with an
insulated 3rd rail offset between the running rails for the live with return being via both running rails.
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| Approaching a pedestrian level crossing with the pier in the distance behind it. | Waiting to board whilst passengers disembark at Black Rock station (the eastern terminus). | ||||
Land Trains.Not strictly a railway "land trains" are usually used to provide local transport within a specific area at seaside resorts, tourist destinations or special events where large crowds can be expected. Usually they consist of a motor unit pulling half a dozen or so passenger vehicles, perhaps with the entire 'train' being decorated to look somewhat like a steam engine pulling passenger coaches. Land trains may operate either on a specially reserved lane within the public footpath or on the public highway as is used by other road traffic; in either situation they will travel at a sedate speed because the ride is itself part of the 'visitor experience'. Land trains sometimes come in for criticism from local bus companies because they often offer free (or very cheap) transport and the commercial bus companies see them as providing unfair, subsidised competition. |
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| This land train was seen in Weston-Super-Mare at the height of the summer holiday season. | |||||
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| Land train seen outside the National Railway Museum, York. | Land train seen in Paris, France in a district popular with tourists close to the Montmartre funicular. | ||||
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More modern styled 'beach trams' at Sentosa, which is a small island near to Singapore City that has become a recreational resort destination.
These operate over two different routes linking various parts of the island resort with Beach Station, which is the Sentosa Island terminus of the Sentosa Express Monorail - this being one of the transports which link Sentosa Island with the mainland. Images sourced from the free online "Wikipedia" encyclopædia. These links (which open in new windows) lead to pages about Sentosa from where more information and images can be found. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sentosa http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Sentosa Lifts, Escalators & Moving Walkways.Often overlooked as a form of transport are lifts, escalators and moving walkways. In addition to railway stations, escalators and lifts (or 'elevators' in American English) can frequently be found at large department stores, shopping centres, on cruise liners (ships) and many other multi-floor buildings. Their purpose is of course to provide transport between the station platforms & entrances / exits, different floors, decks, etc. A variant of the escalator is the moving walkway which is usually located where large numbers of people need transport along a long 'corridor' such as interchange passageways at railway stations or between the terminal and the 'gate' at airports. It is very unusual for anyone to be charged a fee for travelling on these transports - although of course at some locations access to these transports will be restricted to people who have paid to use 'other' transports. Although relatively rare there is no reason why escalators (or a series of escalators and / or moving walkways) could not be used over longer distances - although the travel time might be somewhat extended when compared to travelling similar distances on wheeled transports. In a few locations experiments have been tried with moving walkways which travel 'at higher speed' and are therefore more suited to longer distance travel, however as is explained further down this page, there have been issues with people falling over when joining / leaving the higher speed walkways. One of the most significent existing examples of the use of moving walkways and escalators to cover a 'longer distance' is the Central-Mid-Levels escalator system in Hong Kong. With a total length of 800 metres this is the longest outdoor covered escalator system anywhere globally. Consisting of 20 escalators and 3 moving walkways (as well as fixed stairways and static walkways) it was designed to carry 27,000 people a day, but actually carries over 55,000 people daily. The total travel time is 20 minutes although to shorten this most people walk while the system moves. It operates a tidal flow system running downhill from 6am to 10am and uphill from 10:30am to midnight everyday. The total vertical climb is 135 metres, this being equivalent to several miles of zigzagging roads if travelled by car. It has been operating since 1993 although the official opening was on 15th October 1994. This walkway transport system performs a very important role in Hong Kong since it links Des Voeux Road, in Hong Kong's Central district with Conduit Road in the Mid-Levels, passing through narrow streets. It is also a tourist spot, with many restaurants, bars, and shops lining its route. Images (and much of this information) from the free online "Wikipedia" encyclopædia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central-Mid-Levels_escalator (link to an external site which opens in a new window). |
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Because of the dynamic fluidity with which web pages adjust to the viewer's computer's screen size these images may be aligned slightly differently than the others on this page. |
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| Wall climbing glass lifts and escalators at the Exchange Shopping centre, Ilford, Essex. | These escalators at a shopping centre in Sutton, Surrey were so short that people kept falling down them! They no longer exist. | ||||
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| At some airports passengers can use the escalators to take luggage trolleys right down to the station platform - these images come from Kloten airport, Zürich, Switzerland. | |||||
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| Moving walkway linking the terminals at Kloten airport, Zürich, Switzerland. | Moving walkway linking the departure lounge with the gate at CDG airport in Paris, France. | ||||
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| Moving walkways installed at Waterloo station London with a 'static' walkway in between. | Escalator and moving walkway etiquette on the London UndergrounD. Stand on the right, walk on the left! | ||||
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Lift and escalator oddities.Some of the weird and the wonderful aspects of lift, escalator & moving walkway transport. ------------------------------- ------------------------------- ------------------------------- -------------------------------Curved Escalators.Also known as Spiral escalators these take up much less horizontal space than straight escalators. However early spiral designs were failures - for example, in 1906 a spiral escalator was installed at the London Underground Holloway Road station but it was dismantled almost immediately and little of the mechanism survives. However it is understood that this was a true spiral escalator (similar to the spiral fixed steps used as emergency stairways) and not the gently curved versions seen here. Locations which use curved escalators include: the Westfield San Francisco Centre in San Francisco, California; Forum Shops at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada; The Times Square shopping mall in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong; and the Wheelock Place in Singapore. Much of this information comes from the free online "Wikipedia" encyclopædia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Escalator#Spiral_escalators (link to an external site which opens in a new window). |
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| Almost always escalators are 'straight' - so exceptionally unusual are these curved escalators which exist at a shopping centre in San Francisco, USA. The
image on the right clearly illustrates the difference between the two types of escalator.
------------------------------- ------------------------------- ------------------------------- ------------------------------- Walkway Escalators. |
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| Normally escalators have a short 'flat' section at each end as it makes for easier boarding & alighting. However they seem to have overdone it here... seen at an office centre near London Bridge station, in London. | A very unusual escalator... I found this image of this most extraordinary combined escalator / moving walkway on the Internet. I think it is in Japan somewhere.... |
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The Double-Deck Lift. |
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![]() A double-deck lift ('elevator') This example is believed to have been seen in Québec City, Canada, Elsewhere double deck lifts & elevators are featured in the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur, International Finance Centre in Hong Kong, the American International Building and Citigroup Center in New York,Stratosphere Tower in Las Vegas, and the Mori Tower in Tokyo. |
Double deck lifts are lifts designed such that two lift cars are attached one on top of the other. This allows passengers on two consecutive floors to be able to use the lift simultaneously, significantly increasing the passenger capacity of a lift shaft.
Additional information sourced from the free online "Wikipedia" encyclopædia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double-deck_elevator
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The High-Speed Moving Walkway.Dating from 2002 and originally introduced as an experimental prototype, this high-speed walkway is located at Montparnasse - Bienvenüe métro station in Paris, France. It is known as the trottoir roulant rapide which can be translated as fast rolling pavement (ie: fast moving pavement / footpath / walkway) which is sometimes abbreviated to TRR. It is also nicknamed the TGV, this being a well known term (in France) for the 180mph very high speed trains (train a grande vitesse) - although in this instance the initial T stands for trottoir and not train. The TRR is designed for distances between 150 metres and 800 metres in length; this example is 185metres in length and has a rated capacity of 10,000 passengers per hour. At first it operated at 12 km/h but too many people were falling over, so the speed was reduced to 9 km/h. Using this walkway is like using any other moving walkway, except that for safety there are special procedures to follow when joining or leaving. Staff (seen here in yellow jackets) vet who can use it as you must have at least one hand free to hold the handrail. So, if you are carrying bags, shopping, etc or are infirm you must use the regular walkway to the right. On entering there is a 10 metre acceleration zone where the 'ground' is a series of metal rollers - you MUST stand still with both feet on these rollers and use one hand to hold the handrail and let it pull you so that you glide over the rollers; the idea being to accelerate you so that you will be travelling fast enough to step onto the moving walkway belt. People who try to walk on these rollers are at significant risk of falling over. Once on the walkway you can stand or walk; there is no special sensation of travelling at speed. At the exit there is a deceleration zone where again you MUST stand still and let the handrail pull you as you slow down, again whilst gliding over metal rollers. Then you just walk off According to RATP it has been estimated that commuters using a walkway such as this twice a day would save 15 minutes a week and 10 hours a year. With the concept having been proven to be successful in 2007 a similarly themed high-speed walkway has been included in the newly opened Pier F of Pearson International Airport in Toronto, Canada. However the Canadian installation is of the pallet type rather than the belt type. The pallets "intermesh" with a comb and slot arrangement. They expand out of each other when speeding up, and compress into each other when slowing down. The handrailings work in a similar manner. The walkway moves at roughly 2 km/h when riders step onto it, speeds up to approximately 7 km/h for the bulk of the length, and slows to 2 km/h again at the end. Meanwhile, in May 2009 it was annouced that because of its unreliability and the number of users having accidents, in 2011 the TRR will be replaced with a standard moving walkway travelling at just 0.8 km/h. |
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![]() The high speed moving walkway at Montparnasse - Bienvenüe Métro station in Paris, France. |
Click the projector icon or here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBJN1X3LeJw to watch (on 'youtube') a 72 second video clip of this moving walkway in action. This clip is hand held, and at times it is a little unsteady. Towards the end of the clip note how the other people leaving the moving walkway stand with both
feet firmly on the ground and one hand on the handrail whilst passing through the deceleration zone. |
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| Additional information sourced from the English and French language pages at the free online "Wikipedia" encyclopædia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moving_walkway http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trottoir_roulant_rapide the BBC website http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3001182.stm a French language page about the history of the Parisian installation http://www.rue89.com/2008/08/15/la-piteuse-histoire-du-trottoir-roulant-rapide-de-montparnasse and a Canadian article about the installation at Toronto Pearson International Airport http://www.gtaa.com/en/news/torontopearson_today/details/2caa66e7-b3f0-4e11-ae2e-ec7cd2cd5f72 (links to external sites open in new windows). The Self Starting Escalator.Escalators running needlessly when no-one is around consume energy and incur extra 'wear & tear', both of which add to the transport system's operating costs. To find a balance between what is needed and what is just 'convenient' escalators at quieter locations are often configured to only start moving when people are about to travel on them. This facility also makes two-way escalators possible, as seen below.
The Two-Way Escalator. |
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![]() A two-way (bi-directional) escalator! |
This escalator seen at a German underground station works for passengers going both up and down. |
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