Overview | |
---|---|
Headquarters | Cincinnati, OH |
Locale | Cincinnati, OH |
Dates of operation | 1876–1948 |
Technical | |
Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
The Mount Adams Incline was a funicular, or inclined railway, located in the Cincinnati neighborhood of Mount Adams. It was the third of the city's five inclines to open, beginning operations in 1876, and the last to close down in 1948. [1] It has since been demolished. [2]
The incline was 945 feet (288 m) long and carried streetcars and automobiles. [3] It began carrying horsecars in 1877, and it was later strengthened for use by electric streetcars, which were much heavier. [4]
Planning for the incline was underway by 1873. [5] The brick carhouse at the top of the hill was constructed by July 1874. [6] The incline was officially opened as Cincinnati's third inclined railway on March 8, 1876. [7] [8]
The incline was closed for six months beginning in November 1879 for renovations to support electric streetcars instead of horse-drawn cars. [7]
The incline underwent repairs in 1906 and was closed beginning on May 14. [9]
In April 1948, the Cincinnati Street Railway Co. closed the incline for repairs. The following month, they announced that the repairs would take at least a year. With the announcement, they also detailed how the incline operated at a major loss; they said that in 1947, the incline earned $8,407.05 in fares and cost $68,617.49 to operate. [10] The announcement led many locals to believe the incline would close permanently, and sparked cries to save the incline. [11] Proposals included having the city take it over from the railway company, establishing a non-profit to operate it as a tourist attraction, or converting the carhouse atop the hill into a restaurant. [12] [13] [14] These proposals ultimately did not come to fruition, and demolition of the structure began in February 1952. [15]
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.
An inclined plane is a type of cable railway used on some canals for raising boats between different water levels. Boats may be conveyed afloat, in caissons, or may be carried in cradles or slings.
The Johnstown Inclined Plane is a 896.5-foot (273.3 m) funicular in Johnstown, Cambria County, Pennsylvania, U.S. The incline and its two stations connect the city of Johnstown, situated in a valley at the confluence of the Stonycreek and the Little Conemaugh rivers, to the borough of Westmont on Yoder Hill. The Johnstown Inclined Plane is billed as the "world's steepest vehicular inclined plane". It can carry automobiles and passengers, up or down a slope with a grade of 71.9%. The travel time between stations is 90 seconds.
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 Duquesne Incline is a funicular scaling Mount Washington near the South Side neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Designed by Hungarian-American engineer Samuel Diescher, the incline was completed in 1877.
The Monongahela Incline is a funicular on the South Side in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, near the Smithfield Street Bridge. Designed and built by Prussian-born engineer John Endres in 1870, it is the oldest continuously operating funicular in the U.S.
Cincinnati Street Railway (CSR) was the public transit operator in Cincinnati, Ohio, from 1859 to 1952. The company ceased streetcar operations and was renamed Cincinnati Transit Company.
Mount Adams is one of the 52 neighborhoods of Cincinnati, Ohio. Located on a hill immediately east of downtown Cincinnati, it is south of Walnut Hills, southwest of East Walnut Hills, and west of the East End. The population was 1,578 at the 2020 census.
The Knoxville Incline was a broad gauge inclined railway that ran between Pittsburgh's South Side and Allentown neighborhoods. The incline was built in 1890 and had a track gauge of 9 feet (2,700 mm).
The Castle Shannon Incline was a funicular railroad in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania that was part of the Pittsburgh and Castle Shannon Railroad. It ran down the southern slope of Mount Washington, as part of the route to the suburb of Castle Shannon, 6 miles south of the incline's location. It replaced an earlier incline dating to 1825 that brought coal down from a mine in Mount Washington.
The Mount Oliver Incline was a funicular on the South Side of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was designed in 1871 by the Prussian-born engineer John Endres and his American daughter Caroline Endres, one of the first women engineers in the United States.
Castle Shannon Incline Number 2 was an inclined cable railway in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was originally designed by Samuel Diescher, and opened in 1892 as part of the Pittsburgh and Castle Shannon Railroad as a means of transporting passenger traffic over Mt. Washington in concert with the Castle Shannon Incline. From the top station at Bailey Street, adjacent to the Castle Shannon Incline top station, No. 2 ran down hill west of Haberman Avenue, ending at Warrington Avenue.
The North Hudson Railway Company built and operated a streetcar system in Hudson County and southeast Bergen County, New Jersey before and after the start of the 20th century. It was founded by Hillric J. Bonn who became the first President in 1865 and served for 26 years until his death, and eventually taken over by the Public Service Railway. In its endeavors to overcome the formidable obstacle of ascending the lower Hudson Palisades, or Bergen Hill, it devised numerous innovative engineering solutions including funicular wagon lifts, an inclined elevated railway, an elevator and viaducts.
Streetcars operated by the Cincinnati Street Railway were the main form of public transportation in Cincinnati, Ohio, at the end of the 19th century and the start of the 20th century. The first electric streetcars began operation in 1889, and at its maximum, the streetcar system had 222 miles (357 km) of track and carried more than 100 million passengers per year. A very unusual feature of the system was that cars on some of its routes traveled via inclined railways to serve areas on hills near downtown. With the advent of inexpensive automobiles and improved roads, transit ridership declined in the 20th century and the streetcar system closed in 1951. Construction of a new streetcar system, now known as the Connector, began in 2012. Consisting initially of a single route, the new system opened on September 9, 2016.
An inclined elevator or inclined lift is a form of cable railway that hauls rail cars up a steep gradient.
Beginning operation in 1861, the Yonge streetcar line was the first streetcar line in Toronto and the first in Canada. It started off as a horsecar line and closed in 1954 operating two-unit trains of Peter Witt motors pulling a trailer. Under the Toronto Transportation Commission, the Yonge line was the busiest and most congested streetcar line in the city leading to its replacement in 1954 by the Yonge Subway line, also Toronto's first and the first in Canada.
The Penn Incline, also known as the 17th Street Incline, was a funicular railroad that ran between the Strip and Hill districts in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It operated from 1884 to 1953.
The Ridgewood Incline was an inclined plane railroad in Allegheny City, Pennsylvania, in what is now the Perry South neighborhood of Pittsburgh. Built in 1886 and burned the next year, it was Allegheny's first and shortest-lived incline.
The St. Clair Carhouse was a streetcar facility in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was located south of St. Clair Avenue on a parcel of land bounded by Wychwood Avenue on the east, Benson Avenue on its north side and Christie Street on the west side. It was opened by the Toronto Civic Railways in 1913, taken over by the Toronto Transportation Commission in 1921 and closed by its successor, the Toronto Transit Commission, in 1998. The carhouse was subsequently transformed into a community centre called the Wychwood Barns.