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An 'aerial tramway' is a type of aerial lift, often called a 'cable car' or 'ropeway', and sometimes incorrectly referred to as a gondola. Because of the proliferation of such systems in the Alpine regions of Europe, the French and German language names of 'Téléphérique' and 'Seilbahn' are often also used in an English language context. "Cable car" is the normal term in British English, as in British English the word "tramway" generally refers to a railed street tramway. Note also that, in American English, "cable car" is most often associated with surface cable car systems, e.g. San Francisco's Cable Cars, so careful phrasing is necessary to prevent confusion.
Aerial tramways differ from gondola lifts in that the latter use several smaller cabins ''circulating'' on a looped cable, and can be stopped at intermediate or end stations for passenger loading and unloading when uncoupled from their haulage cable by releasing cable grips.

Contents

Overview

Records

List of accidents

Gallery

See also

References

External links

Overview

An aerial tramway is one or two fixed cables (called track cables), one endless loop of cable (called a haulage rope), and two passenger cabins. The fixed cables provide support for the cabins. The haulage rope, by means of a grip, is solidly connected to the truck (the wheel set that rolls on the cables). The haulage rope is usually driven by an electric motor and being connected to the cabins, moves them up or down the mountain.
Two-car tramways use a ''jig-back'' system: A large electric motor is located at the bottom of the tramway so that it effectively pulls one cabin down, using that cabin's weight to help pull the other cabin up. A similar system of cables is used in a funicular railway. The two passenger cabins, which carry from 4 to over 100 people, are situated at opposite ends of the loops of cable. Thus, while one is coming up, the other is going down the mountain, and they pass each other midway on the cable span.
Some aerial trams have only one cabin, which lends itself better for systems with small elevation changes along the cable run.
The original version was called ''telpherage'', and was invented by Scottish engineer Fleeming Jenkin. Smaller telpherage systems are sometimes used to transport objects such as tools or mail within a building or factory.

Many aerial tramways were built by Von Roll Ltd. of Switzerland, which has since been acquired by Austrian lift manufacturer Doppelmayr. The German firm of Bleichert built hundreds of freight and military tramways .
An 'escape aerial tramway' is a special form of the aerial tramway that allows a fast escape from a dangerous location. They are used on rocket launching sites in order to offer the launch staff or astronauts a fast retreat. The tramway consists of a rope which runs from the launch tower downward to a protection shelter. On the launch supply tower several small cabs can be occupied by the launch staff or the astronauts. After loosening a barrier these roll downward to the protection shelter. An escape aerial tramway exists on the launch pads 39A and 39B on Cape Canaveral.
Some aerial tramways have their own propulsion, such as the Lasso Mule or the Josef Mountain Aerial Tramway near Merano.

Records

★ Tallest support tower: 113.6 metres (373 feet) (Gletscherbahn Kaprun, Austria)

★ Deepest: Masada cableway, Israel

★ Highest: Mérida cable car, Venezuela

★ Longest ropeway: Norsjö aerial ropeway, Sweden

★ As mass transit: The Roosevelt Island Tramway in New York City was the first aerial tramway in North America used by commuters as a mode of mass transit (See Transportation in New York City). Passengers pay with the same farecard used for the New York City Subway. The Portland Aerial Tram in Portland, Oregon was opened in January 2007 and became the second public transportation aerial tramway in North America.

★ The Sandia Peak Tramway in Albuquerque, New Mexico is the world's longest double reversible tramway.

★ The Mount Roberts Tramway in Juneau, Alaska, serves visitors arriving in Juneau on cruise ships with its base terminal on the cruise ship dock. At sea level it is one of the lowest aerial tramway terminals.

List of accidents

★ August 151960: between Castellammare di Stabia and the Monte Faito, near Naples, Italy.

★ August 291961: A military plane splits the hauling cable of a cabin railway on the Aiguille du Midi in the Mont Blanc massif: six people killed.

★ 1963: Cabin of the renovated PKB crashes at the valley station, one person killed, several injured.

★ December 251965: Power failure on the aerial ropeway at Puy de Sancy in central France causes abrupt cabin halt, cabin wall breaks. 17 people fall, seven killed.

★ July 91966: A cable breaks on a cabin railway at Aiguille du Midi in the Mont Blanc massif: three cabins fall, four people killed.

★ December 61970: Five people killed at Merano (Meran), Italy.

★ July 131972: 13 killed at the crash of a cab in Bettmeralp, Switzerland.

★ October 261972: During a test at an aerial tramway at Les Deux Alpes in France, two cabs collide. nine killed.

★ July 91974: Hauling cable breaks on the aerial tramway at Ulriken, Norway. One cabin fell, four killed.

★ March 101976: In the Italian Dolomites at Cavalese, a cab falls after a rope break, killing 42. ''(See Cavalese cable-car disaster)''

★ March 261976: Damage to the carrying rope leads to crash of multiple cabs of the aerial tramway at Vail, Colorado, USA. Four people killed, five injured.

★ April 151978: In a storm, two carrying ropes of the Squaw Valley Aerial Tramway in California fall from the aerial tramway support tower. One of the ropes partly destroys the cabin. four killed, 32 injured.

★ February 131983: Two cabs collide in Aosta (Italy), 11 dead.

★ January 131989: Eight people killed during a test of the French aerial tramway ''Vaujany'' in the Alpe D'Huez area.

★ June 11990: 15 people killed after a rope break in Tbilisi, Georgia.

★ 1995: Operator error causes cabin of Muttereralmbahn near Innsbruck, Austria, to crash. No casualties or injuries.

★ February 31998: U.S. military aircraft severs the cable of an aerial ropeway in Cavalese, Italy, killing 20 people. ''(See Cavalese cable-car disaster)''

★ July 11999: 20 people killed at the crash of an aerial tramway at the Bure observatory in the French alps.

★ July 62000: Entering the middle station of Nebelhornbahn, a cabin fails to brake. 23 people injured.

★ October 192003: Four were killed and 11 injured when three cars slipped off the cable of the Darjeeling Ropeway.

★ October 92004: Crash of a cabin of the Grünberg aerial tramway in Gmunden, Austria. Many hurt.

★ November 142004: Empty cabin of tramway in Sölden, Austria, falls after becoming entangled with rope. No casualties, 113 people rescued from other cabins

★

★ April 182006: New York's Roosevelt Island Tramway experiences a power failure, leaving 69 passengers in two trams stranded over the East River for approximately seven hours, just eight months after a similar incident in which trams were stranded for 90 minutes. No injuries or fatalities occurred in either incident.

★ July 132006: Five people, including a three-year-old girl, were injured after 2 cable cars collided and one crashed to the ground. The accident took place the Nevis Range, near Fort William in northwest Scotland.

Gallery

See also

★ Funicular

★ Aerial tramway support pillar

★ Roosevelt Island Tramway

★ Riblet Tramway Company

★ List of aerial tramways

★ Transport

★ List of aerial lift manufacturers

★ Cable ferry

★ Cable car (disambiguation)

★ Moanda cableway

★ Hallidie ropeway

★ List of spans

★ Transporter bridge

★ Skiing and Skiing Topics

References

External links

★ Aerial Tramways (worldwide) Lift-Database

★ Telpherage system in the repair sheds of the New York City subway

★ Ropeways.net