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Encyclopedia > Cable railway

Cable railways are railways with very steep gradients and use stationary engines to haul the wagons up and down the hills. They are slow, but do the job. A stationary engine is an engine that does not move. ...


Tracks are arranged above and below the gradient to allow wagons to be moved onto the incline either singularly or in short rakes of two or more. On the incline itself the tracks are often interlaced to reduce the width of land needed. This may mean that 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 loop to allow where ascending and descending trains pass each other (a gantlet track). track Rail tracks are incredibly exciting. ... Double switch A railroad switch (known in British and Australian English as (a set of) points or, in technical usage, a turnout) is a mechanical installation provided at a point where rail track A divides into two tracks B and C. It can be set in either of two positions...


Railway workers attach the cable to the upper wagon, and detatch it whenm it arrives at the other end of the incline. There are generally safety couplings used rather than rely on the ordinary wagon couplings. The cables are 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. steel wire rope Wire rope consists of several strands of metal wires twisted together. ...


If the incline is short and steep, and only empty wagons pass up it, the gradient may be worked without motive power, full descending trains hauling up empty wagons returning for loading. Most, however, do need so form of assistance to overcome length, shallow gradients, or the need to haul full wagons uphill. This may be by stationary steam engine or water wheel. An overshot water wheel standing 42 feet high powers the Old Mill at Berry College in Rome, Georgia A water wheel (also waterwheel, Norse mill, Persian wheel or noria) is a hydropower system; a system for extracting power from a flow of water. ...


A few inclines hauled up locomotives using the cable, but these were comparatively rare as it 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 passeneger lines, for example at Cowlairs in Glasgow. For other uses, see Glasgow (disambiguation). ...


Examples

The Cromford and High Peak Railway was a railway built in the 1830s and operated by the London and North Western Railway to carry minerals and goods between the Cromford Canal at Cromford Wharf and the Peak Forest Canal at Whaley Bridge. ... Introduction 18XX is the generic term for a series of board games which recreate the building of railroads during the 19th century, since the individual games use particular years in the 19th century as their title (usually the date of the start of railway development in the area of the... The Liverpool and Manchester Railway (LMR) was the worlds first intercity passenger railway operated solely by steam locomotives. ... Rainhill is a suburb of St Helens, Merseyside, England. ... A locomotive (from lat. ... The Rainhill Trials were an important competition in the early days of steam locomotive railways, run in October of 1829 near Rainhill (just outside Liverpool). ...

See also


  Results from FactBites:
 
Cable railway - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (396 words)
Cable railways are railways with very steep gradients and use stationary engines to haul the wagons up and down the hills.
Railway workers attach the cable to the upper wagon, and detatch it whenm it arrives at the other end of the incline.
The cables are 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.
Cable car (railway) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (1669 words)
A cable car or cable railway is a mass transit system using rail cars that are propelled by a continuously moving cable running at a constant speed.
Cable cars rapidly spread to other cities, although the major attraction for most was the ability to displace horse-drawn (or other animal-drawn) systems rather than the ability to climb hills.
A cable car is superficially very similar to a funicular but differs from such a system in that its cars are not permanently attached to the cable and can stop independently, whereas a funicular has cars that are permanently attached to the propulsion cable, which is itself stopped and started.
  More results at FactBites »


 

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