Cable railway

A cable railway (also known as an incline or inclined plane) is a steeply graded railway that uses a cable or rope wound about a cable winch system similar to a ski lift mechanism powered by a stationary engine to haul trains on adversely steep grades. Many such were funicular railroads, where one descending load in part counterbalanced an ascending consist, much like a cable car.

Introduction

Cable railways are typically built where the gradient of the route is so steep that a conventional adhesion train could not climb the track. Most commonly the cable is operated by a stationary engine, although other methods such as gravity or water-balance are also used.

Many cable railways connect to conventional adhesion lines at their top and bottom, allowing trains to be lifted from a lower line to a higher one. A specific type of cable railway is the funicular, which is a cable railway with the cars permanently fixed to the cable. Usually funiculars are self-contained and not connected to other railway networks.