2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16
Inhabitants of some cities of the world can boast that there is such an attraction in their small homeland as a funicular. It's not just a vehicle. It can be confidently called an attraction that combines the utilitarian function of the lift with entertainment.
How does the funicular work?
The fundamental device of the funicular is characterized by its name (the word "funicular" is translated as a rope from Latin and Italian). It consists of a traction system and wagons, usually moving in opposite directions. This scheme allows you to balance the load. The engineering structure also includes rails, gearboxes, electric drives and a braking system, including an emergency one, which is activated automatically if the rope breaks or another emergency occurs. The designs of funiculars are diverse, in each of the cities they were built according to their own project, with a unique architecture of the stations and the design of the rolling stock.
Restored Odessa Funicular
KFor example, in Odessa, next to the Giant Staircase (later renamed the Potemkin Staircase), a funicular operated since 1902, the first in the Russian Empire. In the 60s of the XX century, an escalator was installed in its place, similar to those that work in the subway. Throughput increased, but the overly modern look did not fit well with the historical appearance of the southern city. In the end, the modern "running stairs" wore out, and now the funicular has started working again in its original place. This building enjoys well-deserved success among Odessa residents and guests of the city, it offers a wonderful view of the port and harbor, and it also makes it easier to get to Primorsky Boulevard, because climbing 192 steps for some people, especially the elderly, is tiring.
The tram in San Francisco is a model for the funicular in Vladivostok
The funicular in Vladivostok was conceived as one of the measures to turn this wonderful seaside city into a "Soviet San Francisco". During a visit to the United States in 1959, the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU, N. S. Khrushchev, was impressed by the urban transport system of this California metropolis, which has no equal in the whole world. Like Vladivostok, San Francisco is located on a terrain with difficult terrain, and it is quite difficult to walk along it, you have to go up and down steep slopes. Some of these ascents might not have been possible for ordinary urban transport, and then an interesting decision was made. All San Francisco city trams run on rails betweenwhich the rope is laid. To stop the car, the driver must open the coupling device and apply the brake, and movement begins when the opposite actions are performed. It's hard to even pinpoint whether it's a funicular or a tram, but the system works great, and the rolling stock uses restored old railcars without motors brought in from around the world, making any ride a fun adventure.
Funicular - attraction "Vladik"
It is possible that the funicular in Vladivostok, put into operation in 1962, is inferior in scale and branching to the American one, but it is also very good. The only one in the Far East, it connects the Zolotoi Rog Bay with the Orlinaya Hill along V. Sibirtsev Street. Students like to get to the Higher Technical School along it, tourists certainly visit this attraction, and city residents overcome a steep hill if they don’t want to go up the “thousand and one steps” stairs (in fact, there are 368 of them, but this is also a lot). The funicular ride to a height of 70 m lasts one and a half minutes, during which time it overcomes 183 m of the path. Thus, the average slope exceeds 22 degrees, which is quite a lot.
Funiculars in Prague - a road for lovers
Unlike the Vladivostok funicular, which is modern and extremely useful for local residents, in the capital of the Czech Republic, the railway to Mount Petrin is an exclusively entertaining attraction, and its age is respectable - it startedwork in 1891. At the same time, another famous funicular was opened in Prague, on Letna Hill. The route is romantic and picturesque. On its 510-meter length, the carriage overcomes a small tunnel under the wall of the old fortress, and at the final stop, in addition to the observation tower, a sculpture dedicated to the kiss awaits visitors. It is a favorite date place for young Praguers.
Barcelona funiculars
Tibidabo is the oldest funicular in Barcelona (there are only three of them). Its route leads to the top of the mountain, after which it is named, another station is located on Dr. Andreu street. Another cable train goes to Tibidabo - Vaividrera, which leaves from the Peude station, but it is much smaller, it can accommodate only fifty passengers. The lifting height of both funiculars is approximately the same, more than 160 meters, but the length is different (1152 and 729 meters, respectively), from which it follows that the movement occurs at different slope steepness. Therefore, the more gentle Tibidabo, despite its venerable age (it has been in operation since 1901), takes four hundred passengers, and its younger brother Peude takes eight times less.
Montuica funicular - urban transport and attraction at the same time
The third funicular - "Montuica" - is part of the municipal transport of Barcelona, it is automatic and high-speed. Its purpose is to connect the local cable car with the Parallel metro station. The track is very beautifully located, its 758-meter route passes through lush thickets and lifts passengers toheight 76 meters. It is worth emulating the desire of the city administration of Barcelona to ensure that the attraction brings as much money to the treasury as possible. The pilgrimage of tourists is facilitated by a developed infrastructure full of restaurants, cafes and other entertainment venues that create all the conditions for enjoying the beautiful views from Mount Montuica. The funicular was built in Barcelona on the occasion of the world exhibition held there in 1929, but its excellent technical condition allowed it to be used as an Olympic venue after more than six decades.
Kyiv funicular – idea and implementation
The funicular in Kyiv is one of the symbols of the city. He had to endure many historical upheavals. Revolution, civil war, directory, Makhnovshchina, Austrian intervention, the Ukrainian Republic, devastation, the Great Patriotic War and a couple of "maidans" - this is just an incomplete list of events that the Kyiv cable car went through. And his life began in 1905, when, after two years of construction, the Belgian Joint-Stock Company took it into operation. The authors of the project, Russian engineers N. I. Baryshnikov and N. K. Pyatnitsky, planned a length of a quarter of a kilometer, but the owner of one of the houses in the lower part of the highway refused to sell his property to the city authorities, and the plan had to be revised, shortening the path by fifty arshins. However, the general task, namely, to make life easier for the people of Kiev, who are forced to climb from Podil along paths and stairs with hundreds of steps,has been resolved. The tram could not pass through the steep Kyiv hills. After Odessa, Kyiv became the second city in Russia, the improvement system of which included such an electromechanical miracle as the Mikhailovsky rise (as this technical innovation was originally called).
The second birth of the Kyiv funicular
The Kyiv funicular operated in its original form until 1928, when during routine maintenance one trailer broke down, which, rolling along the rails, broke the second. Fortunately, there were no casu alties in this incident, but the structure required serious reconstruction. The rolling stock, cable lines and brake system were replaced. In addition, the lower station was finally relocated and the route extended by another 38 meters. The power unit, consisting of two Swiss-made DC motors (65 hp each, manufactured in 1903), as well as a cable drive pulley, served until 1984.
In 1986, the third major reconstruction was completed, which the Kyiv funicular has undergone in its history. This structure now raises a car with a hundred passengers to a height of 75 m at a speed of 2 m/s. The power-to-weight ratio has significantly increased, the power of the installed engine is 100 kW. The total length of the track has reached 222 m. Carriages leave every seven minutes. Approximately 15,000 passengers use this convenient form of transportation every day.
The work to improve the funicular is carried out regularly, they relate to improving safety and improvingpassenger awareness. Much attention is paid to the aesthetic side, because this building has long been a part of the historical appearance of the Ukrainian capital.
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