Funicular Railways Here and in Europe

Discussion in 'Miscellaneous & Oddities' started by Roger Farnworth, Apr 2, 2018.

  1. Roger Farnworth

    Roger Farnworth Full Member

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    I thought it might be good to start a new thread about Funicular Railways. I don't know whether there will be any great interest in this but I offer two blogs about funiculars which have now disappeared. The first is between Cannes and Super-Cannes in the South of France.

    https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.com/2018/04/02/the-funicular-railway-in-cannes

    The second was in Grasse, the perfume capital of Provence, and linked the PLM railway station to the town centre.

    https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.co...ailway-in-grasse-chemin-de-fer-de-provence-23
     
    jakesdad13 likes this.
  2. jakesdad13

    jakesdad13 Staff Member Moderator

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    What a shame the funiculars were never restored. The Cannes one is in re markedly good condition, the engine room especially.
    The one at Grasse would have been a fantastic tourist draw if it had survived. The proposed new one doesn't inspire!

    Pete.
     
  3. Keith M

    Keith M Staff Member Moderator

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    Having been to Grasse and Cannes a few years ago, I had no idea there had been anything like this in the area in the past.
    Keith.
     
  4. SMR CHRIS

    SMR CHRIS Staff Member Moderator

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  5. Wolseley

    Wolseley Full Member

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    I'm not sure if it's strictly speaking a funicular railway, but there is the Scenic Railway at Katoomba, in the Blue Mountains about an hour and a half west of Sydney. It is listed in the Guinness Book Of Records as the world's steepest funicular. It drops 415 metres through a cliff-side tunnel into the rainforest, has a maximum gradient of 122 per cent and was built in the 1920s to haul coal up and coalminers up and down the cliff side. The coal mine closed in 1945, but the railway was retained as a tourist attraction.

    It is cable operated and was recently renovated (in 2013). It was a rather rough and ready contraption before this, but I can't report on what it's like now, as I haven't visited it for at least 10 years.

    [​IMG]

    And maybe Hong Kong's Peak Tramway could be included on your list too.
     

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