Funicular is a sea of emotions. How the funicular works: device, length, height. The most famous funiculars in Kiev, Vladivostok, Prague and Barcelona

Residents of some cities in the world can boast of the fact that there is a landmark on their small homeland, like a funicular. It's not just a vehicle. It can be confidently called an attraction in which the utilitarian function of lifting is combined with entertainment.

How is the funicular arranged?

The fundamental structure of the funicular is characterized by its name (the word "funicular" is translated as a rope from Latin and Italian). It consists of traction system and trailers, usually moving in opposite directions. Such a scheme allows balancing the load. The engineering structure also includes rails, reducers, electric drives and a braking system, including emergency ones, which are automatically activated if the cable breaks off or other freelance situation arises. The funicular structures are diverse, in each of the cities they were built according to their own design, with a unique architecture of the stations and the design of the rolling stock.

The revived Odessa funicular

For example, in Odessa, next to the Giant Staircase (later renamed Potemkin), since 1902 the funicular, the first in the Russian Empire, operated. In the 60s of the XX century in its place was mounted an escalator, similar to those that work in the subway. Throughput increased, but the excessively modern look did not fit well with the historical appearance of the southern city. In the end, the modern "running ladder" was worn out, and now the funicular again re-started. This building enjoys well-deserved success among Odessa citizens and visitors, it offers a wonderful view of the port and harbor, besides it facilitates the way to the Primorsky Boulevard, because climbing 192 steps for some people, especially the elderly, is a tedious business.

Tram in San Francisco - a sample for the funicular in Vladivostok

Funicular in Vladivostok was conceived as one of the measures to turn this wonderful seaside city into "Soviet San Francisco". During his visit to the United States in 1959, First Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee Khrushchev was impressed by the urban transport system of this Californian metropolis, which is not equal throughout the world. Like Vladivostok, San Francisco is located on the terrain with a difficult terrain, and it is quite difficult to walk along it, it is necessary to go up and down the steep slopes. Typical urban transport, some of these ascents could not be under force, and then an interesting decision was made. All city trams in San Francisco are moving along rails, between which a rope is laid. To stop the car, the counselor must open the connecting device and press the brake, and the movement starts when performing reverse actions. It is difficult even to determine exactly whether it is a funicular or a tram, but this system works perfectly, and as a rolling stock used restored old cars without motors brought from different countries, which gives any trip the character of a fun adventure.

Funicular - a landmark of "Vladik"

It is possible that the funicular in Vladivostok, commissioned in 1962, is inferior in scale and branching to the American, but it is also very good. The only one in the Far East, it connects the Golden Horn Bay with the Eagle's Soprano along V. Sibirtseva Street. It is loved by students who travel to the Higher Technical School, tourists are sure to visit this landmark, and city residents overcome a steep hill if they do not want to go up the stairs "one thousand and one steps" (in fact there are 368 of them, but this is also a lot). The ascent of the funicular to a height of 70 m lasts a minute and a half, during which time it overcomes 183 m of the way. Thus, the average gradient exceeds 22 degrees, which is quite a lot.

Funiculars in Prague - a road for lovers

Unlike the modern and extremely useful Vladivostok cable car for locals, in the capital of the Czech Republic the railway to Mount Petrshin is an extremely entertaining attraction, and its age is respectable - it started operating in 1891. At the same time, another famous funicular was opened in Prague, on Letna Hill. The itinerary of the movement is romantic and picturesque. At its 510-meter length, the car overcomes a small tunnel under the wall of the old fortress, and at the final stop of visitors, except for the observation tower, a sculpture dedicated to the kiss awaits. This is a favorite place for young prague visits.

Barcelona cable car

"Tibidabo" - the oldest funicular in Barcelona (and only three of them). Its route leads to the top of the mountain, in honor of which it is named, the other station is located on Dr Andreu street. On Tibidabo there is another cable train - "Vaividrera", which leaves from Peude station, but it is much smaller, it can accommodate only fifty passengers. The lift height for both cable cars is approximately the same, more than 160 meters, but the length is different (1152 and 729 meters respectively), which implies that the traffic occurs at different slope steepness. Therefore, the more gentle "Tibidabo", despite its venerable age (it has been in operation since 1901), takes four hundred passengers, and its younger brother Peude - eight times less.

Funicular Montjuic - urban transport and attraction at the same time

The third funicular - "Monument" - is part of the municipal transport of Barcelona, it is automatic and fast. Its purpose is to connect the local cable car to the metro station "Parallel". The track is very beautifully located, its 758-meter route passes between lush thickets and raises passengers to a height of 76 meters. A worthy imitation of the desire of the city administration of Barcelona to ensure that the attraction brought to the treasury as much as possible. The pilgrimage of tourists is facilitated by the developed infrastructure, full of restaurants, cafes and other entertaining establishments that create all conditions for enjoying the beautiful views that open from Mount Montauka. A funicular was built in Barcelona on the occasion of the World Exhibition held there in 1929, but the excellent technical condition allowed using it as an Olympic facility in six or more decades.

Kiev funicular - idea and embodiment

Funicular in Kiev - one of the symbols of the city. He had experienced many historical upheavals. The revolution, the civil war, the directory, the Makhnovshchina, the Austrian intervention, the Ukrainian republic, the devastation, the Great Patriotic War and a couple of "Maidans" are just an incomplete list of events through which the Kiev cable hoist passed. And his life began in 1905, when, after two years of construction, the Belgian Joint Stock Company took it into operation. The authors of the project, Russian engineers NI Baryshnikov and NK Pyatnitsky, planned a quarter-kilometer length, but the owner of one of the houses in the lower part of the road refused to sell his property to the city authorities, and he had to reconsider the plan by shortening the path by fifty arshins. However, the common task, namely the facilitation of the life of the people of Kiev, forced to rise from Podil along paths and ladders with hundreds of steps, was solved. Tram along steep Kiev hills could not pass. After Odessa, Kiev became the second city in Russia, the system of improvement of which included such an electromechanical miracle as the Mikhailovsky Rise (as originally called this technical innovation).

The second birth of the Kiev cable car

The Kiev funicular worked in its original form until 1928, when during the maintenance work there was a breakdown of a trailer that, having rolled along the rails, broke the second one. In this incident, fortunately, there were no casualties, but the construction required a serious reconstruction. The rolling stock, cable lines and braking system were replaced. In addition, the lower station was finally transferred, and the route was extended by another 38 meters. The power unit consisting of two electric motors of a direct current of the Swiss manufacture (on 65 hp, 1903 of release), and also a pulley of a cable drive served till 1984.

In 1986, the third major reconstruction was completed, which in its history was subjected to the Kiev funicular. This structure now raises the car with a hundred passengers to a height of 75 m at a speed of 2 m / s. Significantly increased power-to-weight ratio, the installed engine power is 100 kW. The total length of the track reached 222 m. The trains leave every seven minutes. Every day about 15 thousand passengers use this convenient mode of transportation.

Works on improving the funicular are held regularly, they concern the increase of safety and the improvement of the passengers' awareness. Much attention is paid to the aesthetic side, because this structure has long been part of the historical appearance of the Ukrainian capital.