Funicular
Since the weight of the two cars is counterbalanced (except for the weight of passengers), no lifting force is required to move them; the engine only has to lift the cable itself and the excess passengers, and supply the energy lost to friction by the cars' wheels and the pulleys.
One advantage of such an installation is the fact that the weight of the rope is balanced between the carriages; therefore, the engine no longer needs to use any power to lift the cable itself.
Instead, the propulsion is provided by an electric motor in the engine room (typically at the upper end of the track); the motor is linked via a speed-reducing gearbox to a large pulley – a drive bullwheel – which then controls the movement of the haul rope using friction.
[11][12] The Abt rack and pinion system was also used on some funiculars for speed control or emergency braking.
[2][6] The Bom Jesus funicular built in 1882 near Braga, Portugal is one of the extant systems of this type.
For example, the Giessbachbahn in the Swiss canton of Bern, opened in 1879, was originally powered by water ballast.
An example of this arrangement is the lower half of the Great Orme Tramway, where the section "above" the passing loop has a three-rail layout (with each pair of adjacent rails having its own conduit which the cable runs through), while the section "below" the passing loop has a two-rail layout (with a single conduit shared by both cars).
Another example is the Peak Tram in Hong Kong, which is mostly of a two-rail layout except for a short three-rail section immediately uphill of the passing loop.
In the case of two-rail funiculars, various solutions exist for ensuring that a carriage always enters the same track at the passing loop.
These switches are moved into their desired position by the carriage's wheels during trailing movements (i.e. away from the passing loop); this procedure also sets the route for the next trip in the opposite direction.
One car has the flanged wheels on the left-hand side, so it follows the leftmost rail, forcing it to run via the left branch of the passing loop; similarly, the other car has them on the right-hand side, meaning it follows the rightmost rail and runs on the right branch of the loop.
For example, the Petřín funicular in Prague has three stations: one at each end, and a third (Nebozízek) a short way up from the passing loop.
[17] Because of this arrangement, carriages are forced to make a technical stop a short distance down from the passing loop as well, for the sole purpose of allowing the other car to call at Nebozízek.
The oldest funicular railway operating in Britain dates from 1875 and is in Scarborough, North Yorkshire.
[7] In the United States, the first funicular to use a two-rail layout was the Telegraph Hill Railroad in San Francisco, which was in operation from 1884 until 1886.
Currently, the United States' oldest and steepest funicular in continuous use is the Monongahela Incline located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
[25] The Lynton and Lynmouth Cliff Railway, built in 1888, is the steepest and longest water-powered funicular in the world.
Its formal title is a relic of its original configuration, when its two cars operated as a counterbalanced, interconnected pair, always moving in opposite directions, thus meeting the definition of a funicular.
However, the system has since been redesigned, and now uses two independently-operating cars that can each ascend or descend on demand, qualifying as a double inclined elevator; the term "funicular" in its title is retained as a historical reference.
