Cable Car
Wellington Cable Car
The Wellington Cable Car is a funicular railway in Wellington, New Zealand. It carries passengers between Lambton Quay, the main shopping street, and Kelburn, a suburb in the hills overlooking the central city, rising 120 m over a length of 612 m. It is widely recognized as a symbol of Wellington.
The line consists of 628 metres of mostly straight 1,000 mm (3 ft 3⅜ in)-gauge
single track with pine sleepers. The only curves are at the passing loop in the
middle, at Talavera station. Except for the lowest part, the line rises at a
constant grade of 1 in 5.06, through three tunnels and over three bridges.
The lower terminus is in Cable Car Lane, off Lambton Quay 41°17′03.3″S
174°46′28.7″E / 41.28425°S 174.774639°E / -41.28425; 174.774639). The upper
terminus is next to the Wellington Botanic Garden at the city end of Upland
Road, Kelburn's main street. There are three other equally-spaced stations
— from Lambton Quay, they are Clifton, Talavera and Salamanca (also referred to
as University), all named after nearby streets.
The Cable Car has two cars, which start from opposite ends of the line and pass
in the middle. They are attached to each other by a 30-mm diameter cable,
supported by 120 rollers, which runs round a pulley at the top of the hill. A
185-kW 550-V DC motor at the top of the hill drives the pulley. The Cable Car is
a funicular rather than a true cable car: the cars are permanently attached to
the cable, which stops and starts as required, while a cable car grips and
releases a continuously-moving cable. Wheels on the south side of car 1 and the
north side of car 2 have double flanges, while the opposite wheels on each car
have no flanges, directing the cars to the correct side of the mid-way passing
loop at Talavera.
The cars are designed to fit the grade, using internal steps to provide
horizontal floors.
The normal operating speed is 18 km/h (5 m/s), with a maximum passenger load of
around 100 (30 seated, 70 standing). Each car weighs approximately 13.5 t when
empty and 21 t when full.l.
elegance for a cable car outing
vintage car
side seat
The Cable Car is used by slightly under a million people each year. In the mornings and evenings, it is used by commuters travelling between Kelburn and the city; at other times of the day, it is used by people traveling between the city and the Wellington Botanic Garden, by students attending Victoria University and living in nearby student hostels, and by many tourists, especially during summer.
the conductor
The Cable Car is owned and operated by Wellington Cable Car Ltd, owned by
Wellington City Council. Wellington Cable Car Ltd also owns the overhead wires
for Wellington's trolleybuses. Operation until early 2007 was contracted out to
Australian company Transfield Services. Wellington Cable Car Ltd is responsible
for all operations of the Cable Car, including awarding contracts and for the
maintenance of cars and track, employing drivers, selling tickets, and providing
customer service. Unlike buses and trains, the Cable Car does not receive a
subsidy, and is profitable.
The Wellington Cable Car Museum opened in December 2000. Located in the original
winding house and new extension (completed in 2006), it houses original grip
cars 1 and 3 and electric winding gear. Car 1 is in red 1970s livery, including
original advertising boards. Car 3 was restored in 2005 to a green livery dating
from about 1905, and a bell from the San Francisco Cable Car was added. The
winding gear is still in working order and runs a loop of cable, but the cable
no longer leaves the building.
In the 1980s an original grip car and trailer were placed in the children's
playground opposite Salamanca station. The gripping mechanism was removed, and
they became a mock train.
top station
At the end of the 19th century, Wellington was expanding rapidly, and, due to the city's hilly terrain, good building land was at a premium. When new residential developments were proposed for Kelburn, it was suggested that a cable car or funicular could be built to provide easy access. In 1898, a number of people prominent in development of the residential subdivisions founded the Kelburne & Karori Tramway Company. The plan was to build a tramway between the city and Kelburn, and link it by carriage to Karori, a settlement on the far side of Kelburn. The company began purchasing land for the construction of the tramway, and negotiated with the Karori authorities for a new road (now Upland Road) to link the upper terminus with Karori. In 1898, the City Council granted permission for the venture, on condition that it had the option to purchase the operation at a later date. The location of Victoria University of Wellington was influenced by the company's offer of a donation of £1000 if the University were located in Kelburn, so students would patronise the car when travelling between the city and the University.
The designer of the system was James Fulton, a Dunedin-born engineer. Fulton was
responsible for both selecting the route and deciding the method of operation, a
hybrid between a cable car and a funicular. Like a cable car, the line had a
continuous loop haulage cable that the cars gripped using a cable car gripper,
but it also had a funicular-style balance cable permanently attached to both
cars over an undriven pulley at the top of the line. The descending car gripped
the haulage cable and was pulled downhill, in turn pulling the ascending car
(which remained ungripped) uphill by the balance cable. There was a Fell type
centre rail, used for emergency braking only. The line was double track, of 3 ft
6 in (1,067 mm) gauge.
Construction began in 1899, involving three teams working around the clock. The
line opened to the public on 22 February 1902. Demand was high, with thousands
of people traveling each day. In 1903, a number of old horse-drawn Wellington
trams were converted into cable car trailers, increasing capacity. By 1912, the
annual number of passengers had reached one million. In 1933, the steam-powered
winding gear was replaced by an electric motor, improving control and reducing
operating costs.
passing station
In the 1940s, the Cable Car suffered from increased competition: City Council buses ran to Karori and other western suburbs, bypassing it. The company believed that it was inappropriate for the City Council to compete with a private company, and a legal dispute broke out. The argument ended when the City Council agreed to purchase the company, which occurred on 13 February 1947.
In the 1960s and 1970s, the Cable Car was the subject of complaints about safety
and comfort. The old wooden cars were increasingly considered antiquated. In
1973 a worker on the new motorway suffered serious injuries in an accident when
he stepped in front of a Cable Car, prompting a review. The Ministry of Works
concluded that aspects of the Cable Car were unsafe, particularly the use of
unbraked trailers, and called for the system to be scrapped. The trailers were
withdrawn, considerably reducing capacity.
Despite public protests led by Mayor of Wellington Michael Fowler, the line
closed on 22 September 1978 for re-gauging and installation of new steel cars
and equipment by Habegger AG of Switzerland, becoming a full funicular. The
contract was managed by Wellington engineering firm Cory-Wright and Salmon. The
line re-opened on 22 October 1979.
View down the track from the Kelburn terminus showing a car at Salamanca
station. The two ends of the cable are between the rails
Initially, the refurbished Cable Car suffered a number of problems. The service
was frequently interrupted for technical reasons and for extensive safety
checks. Largely as a result of these problems, patronage dropped to a low of
500,000 in 1982. After a serious accident in 1988, which put the cars out of
service for months, the system underwent a major revamp. This solved most of the
problems and patronage has steadily increased since then. A safety survey is
conducted annually at the end of October, and takes four days.
In 1991, when passenger transport was deregulated, there was speculation about
the future of the Cable Car. Councils could no longer provide transport services
directly, having to either privatise or corporatise their operations. The City
Council sold its bus operation, and it was thought by some that the same would
happen to the Cable Car, but due to public pressure it retained ownership of the
Cable Car and the trolleybus overhead wiring, with operations and maintenance
contracted out separately.
Initially, both contracts were won by Harbour City Cable Car Ltd, a joint
venture between the Stagecoach Group, which had purchased the buses, and East by
West, a Wellington ferry operator. In 1994 the City Council decided to carry out
its own maintenance, and Wellington Cable Car Ltd established its own
maintenance capacity. In 1997 the operations contract was won by Serco, which
was later purchased by Transfield Services. Wellington Cable Car Ltd took the
operation in-house in early 2007.
Cracks were discovered in the tunnel below Talavera station during the 1999
Annual survey. These were fixed with metal anchoring and by coating the tunnel
with reinforced concrete.
In July 2006 renovation of Lambton station began, to improve its looks and
accessibility. The works were budgeted at $1.3 million, scheduled to be
completed in early November. On 18 December the renovated station came into use,
with automated turnstiles (and a substantial price rise). Lingering problems
with the ticketing system upgrade were fixed during the October 2007 annual
survey. A new computer was also added to the winding mechanism during the survey
which has caused a few temporary issues with how smoothly the cars run.
Text from Wikipedia
view of the cricket field
