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An inclined elevator [1] or inclined lift [2] is a form of cable railway that hauls rail cars up a steep gradient. [3]
| | This article needs additional citations for verification .(May 2014) |
An inclined elevator [1] or inclined lift [2] is a form of cable railway that hauls rail cars up a steep gradient. [3]
An inclined elevator consists of one or two inclined tracks on a slope with a single car on each carrying payload. In the case of a two-track configuration each car operates in a shuttle principle: it moves up and down on its own track independently of the other car. A car is either winched up to the station on the top of the incline where the cable is collected on a winch drum. Alternatively a car is balanced by a counterweight moving along the track in the opposite direction, quite similar to an ordinary lift. [3] [4]
Unlike a standard elevator, it can go up tilted grades. It can be used for both residential and commercial purposes. The purpose of inclined elevators is to provide accessibility to steep hillsides and inclines at minimal effort to the user. An inclined elevator is a form of cable railway.
Users with mobility and disability challenges often use an incline platform lift to climb staircases in their home with their mobility scooter or motorized wheelchair. Outdoor inclined elevators are used to access steep hillside property where stairs are not a preferred option for conveying passengers or loads. Inclined elevators can also be used to move equipment and materials to hard to reach elevated locations for industrial or construction purposes.
Within the European Union inclined lifts are subject to EU lift regulations part 22 EN 81-22:2014 [5] which defines some standard limits for their implementations: track inclination is between 15° and 75°; maximum cabin capacity is 100 people (7.500 kg); maximum speed of 4 m/s; the track is straight in the horizontal plane. These limits are not compulsory, though, and if not followed by an installation—for example, the path is curved—some unspecified additional risk analysis is required to be conducted. [2]
Inclined elevator design is based on the same basic technology as conventional, vertical elevator. [6] In general standard elevator equipment can be adapted for systems with an inclines up 10° from vertical, while an incline with more than 20° from vertical will require some additional adaptation. [1]
For example, inclined elevators used in the Stockholm metro were using standard "vertical" elevator cabins mounted on wheeled platforms adapted to 30° incline. The cabin was balanced by a counterweight and it was moved by a conventional elevator's hoist and cables along the guide rails. [7]
While some inclined elevators are outdoor systems designed to move people and goods along steep gradients, [3] others are used in buildings for smoother access. [8]
Most common inclined elevators are constructed from steel or aluminum, are powered by electric motors, and operate with push button electronic controls. Common drive systems include cable winding drums and continuous loop traction drives.
Many inclined lifts are constructed along the pressure lines of storage power plants for transporting building materials. Examples are the Gelmerbahn leading to the Gelmersee and the Funicolare Piora–Ritom leading to Lago Ritom, both in Switzerland.[ citation needed ]
Modern versions resembling an elevator are used in some installations, such as at the Cityplace Station in Dallas, Texas, the Huntington Metro Station in Huntington, Virginia, the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, the Luxor Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada, and the Eiffel Tower in Paris. The London Millennium Funicular provides an alternative to staircase access to London's Millennium Bridge. [9] [10]
A mixture between an inclined lift and a funicular with two cars was the second Angels Flight in Los Angeles, which ran from 1996 to 2001. The original funicular closed in 1969 and was reinstalled in 1996 using separate cables for each car, which were winched on separate winch drums in the station at the top. The winch drums were connected to the drive motor and the service brake by a gear train. The system failed because of a gear train breakage, causing a fatal accident in 2001. The railway reopened as a true funicular, with a single main haulage cable with one car attached to each end, in 2010. [11] It has closed and reopened several times since, last re-opening on 31 August 2017. [12]
An inclined elevator differs from a funicular in that the latter has a cable attached to a pair of vehicles, the ascending and descending vehicles counterbalancing each other. In the inclined elevator one car is either winched up to the station at the top of the incline where the cable is collected on a winch drum, or the single car is balanced by a counterweight. [3] Some scholars, though, consider an inclined elevator as a descendant of a funicular. [1]
European Union legislation separates inclined elevators and funiculars by putting them in different regulations: inclined lift installations are regulated by EN 81-22:2014 [5] while funicular installations are regulated by EU directive 2000/9/EC [13]
For example, despite its name, the Montmartre Funicular in Paris after a reconstruction in 1991 is technically a double-inclined elevator [14] since each of its two cabins has its own cable traction with its own counterweight and they operate independently from each other. [3]
A funicular 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 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, the other descends at an equal speed. This feature distinguishes funiculars from inclined elevators, which have a single car that is hauled uphill.
Cable transport is a broad class of transport modes that have cables. They transport passengers and goods, often in vehicles called cable cars. The cable may be driven or passive, and items may be moved by pulling, sliding, sailing, or by drives within the object being moved on cableways. The use of pulleys and balancing of loads moving up and down are common elements of cable transport. They are often used in mountainous areas where cable haulage can overcome large differences in elevation.
Angels Flight is a landmark and historic 2 ft 6 in narrow gauge funicular railway in the Bunker Hill district of Downtown Los Angeles, California. It has two funicular cars, named Olivet and Sinai, that run in opposite directions on a shared cable. The tracks cover a distance of 298 feet (91 m) over a vertical gain of 96 feet (29 m).
Scenic World is a family-owned tourist attraction located in Katoomba in the Blue Mountains, New South Wales, Australia, about 100 kilometres west of Sydney. Scenic World is home to four attractions, the Scenic Railway, the Scenic Skyway, the Scenic Cableway and Scenic Walkway, a 2.4-km elevated boardwalk through ancient rainforest.
Hillclimbing is a problem faced by railway systems when a load must be carried up an incline. While railways have a great ability to haul very heavy loads, this advantage is only significant when the tracks are fairly level. As soon as the gradients increase, the tonnage that can be hauled is greatly diminished.
A lift hill, or chain hill, is an upward-sloping section of track on a roller coaster on which the roller coaster train is mechanically lifted to an elevated point or peak in the track. Upon reaching the peak, the train is then propelled from the peak by gravity and is usually allowed to coast throughout the rest of the roller coaster ride's circuit on its own momentum, including most or all of the remaining uphill sections. The initial upward-sloping section of a roller coaster track is usually a lift hill, as the train typically begins a ride with little speed, though some coasters have raised stations that permit an initial drop without a lift hill. Although uncommon, some tracks also contain multiple lift hills.
A cable railway is a railway that uses a cable, rope or chain to haul trains. It is a specific type of cable transportation.
The Montmartre Funicular is an inclined transport system serving the Montmartre neighbourhood of Paris, France, in the 18th arrondissement. Operated by the RATP, the Paris transport authority, the system opened in 1900; it was entirely rebuilt in 1935 and again in 1991.
The Southend Cliff Railway, or Southend Cliff Lift, is an inclined lift in the English city of Southend-on-Sea, constructed in 1912. The lift operated for the first time on Bank Holiday Monday, in August of that year.
The Chiaia Funicular is one of four funiculars in the public transportion system of Naples, Italy. Each system is a true funicular: an inclined railway with two passenger cars connected via cables, operating in concert.
The Bica Funicular, sometimes known as the Elevador da Bica, is a funicular railway line in the civil parish of Misericórdia, in the municipality of Lisbon, Portugal. It connects the Rua de São Paulo with Calçada do Combro/Rua do Loreto, operated by Carris.
The Saltburn Cliff Lift is a funicular railway in Saltburn-by-the-Sea, Redcar and Cleveland in the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, England. It provides access to Saltburn Pier and the seafront from the town. The cliff lift is the oldest operating water-balance cliff funicular in the United Kingdom.
Ashley Planes was a historic freight cable railroad situated along three separately powered inclined plane sections located between Ashley, Pennsylvania at the foot, and via the Solomon cutting the yard in Mountain Top over 1,000 feet (300 m) above and initially built between 1837-38 by Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company's subsidiary Lehigh and Susquehanna Railroad (L&S). One result of the 1837 updates of omnibus transportation bills called the Main Line of Public Works (1824), the legislation was undertaken with an eye to enhance and better connect eastern settlement's business interests with newer mid-western territories rapidly undergoing population explosions in the Pre-Civil War era. But those manufactories needed a source of heat, and the Northern Pennsylvania Coal Region was barely connected to eastern markets except by pack mule, or only through long and arduous routes down the Susquehanna then overland to Philadelphia.
A steep grade railway is a railway that ascends and descends a slope that has a steep grade. Such railways can use a number of different technologies to overcome the steepness of the grade.
The Odesa Funicular serves the Ukrainian city of Odesa. Running alongside the Potemkin Stairs, it connects the Primorsky Boulevard with the Port of Odesa.
The Lugano degli Angioli funicular was a funicular railway and inclined lift in the city of Lugano in the Swiss canton of Ticino. It linked a lower terminus near the lakeside and the church of Santa Maria degli Angioli with an upper terminus adjacent to the Hotel Bristol. The upper station was on the third floor of a tower, linked with a footbridge to the hotel. The line had a single track and single car, which was balanced by a vertically operating counterweight in the tower.
There have been five cliff railways in the Isle of Man, none of which remain operational. Usually referred to as 'cliff lifts', they were all railways, having wheeled carriages running on weight-bearing rails. The two Falcon lifts served the same hotel at different periods ; the first Falcon lift was moved to become the Port Soderick lift, at the south end of the Douglas Southern Electric Tramway, with the Douglas Head lift at its north end. The Browside lift served the Laxey Wheel.
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