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#120937 01/23/04 06:22 PM
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wwh Offline OP
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When I was in the seventh grade, we sang a song:
"Funiculi, Funicula!" But we were never told what the
words meant. Here is the song:
http://www.kididdles.com/mouseum/f059.html

Some but not all of the "cable cars" in San Francisco
are "funicular":

"Both the Great Orme and Elevador da Bica are funicular railways. Unlike the Hallidie’s San Francisco system in which cars attach and detach from a constantly moving cable, funicular railways usually have two cars permanently attached to either end of a cable. The cable is powered in one direction to send one car uphill and the other downhill, reversing the direction for the return trip. The weight of the car going downhill helps the upward-bound vehicle. "


#120938 01/24/04 01:10 AM
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Like a ski lift?...


#120939 01/24/04 02:57 AM
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Dear maahey: The cable lies between the tracks on which
the cars run. The upgrade is too steep for the wheels to
drive the cars. So the cable has to be very strong, and
lies close to the ground. I'll go see if I can find pictures.


#120940 01/25/04 01:08 AM
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Here's a URL about the original funicula, that went up Mt.Vesuvius. There are dozens of pictures that can be enlarged, if you click on "photos" in upper right line.
http://www.vesuvioinrete.it/funicolare/e_funicolare_funiculi.htm



#120941 01/25/04 01:13 AM
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In Québec, we have several "funiculairs" (note the extra 'i') that go up mountainsides where the view is spectacular.

There was an accident a couple of years ago, when the bar holding the funiculair to the rope broke and everyone inside was killed (some 20 people if I remember) - Very sad.


#120942 01/25/04 01:23 AM
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There is one in Maggie Valley that takes the brave up the mountainside to a Wild West town--and this Wild West town is actually in North Carolina. Go figure. Anyway, no power on earth could make me go up that mountain on that thing because I would be expecting the accident to occur that you just described, b'm'dk!


#120943 01/25/04 01:48 AM
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There's a funicular on Monte Titano in San Marino, linking the old historical centre with Borgo Maggiore, one of the other castelli. Unfortunately, I neither got time to ride it or get a decent shot of it.


#120944 01/25/04 02:08 AM
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I have forgotten what you once called those denizens of San Marino. Was it 'San Marinians'? No, that's too logical. It was something very unusual and unexpected in sound. I could LIU, but I've just read the most amazing passage that I must PM Faldage about...


#120945 01/25/04 02:13 AM
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wwh Offline OP
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And when you run out of funiculars and cable cars, you can
try a cogwheel railroad,aka Zahnradbahn.
http://europeforvisitors.com/europe/articles/zugspitze-lifts-transportation.htm


#120946 01/25/04 02:34 AM
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I've ridden a funicular, in the Siebengebirge area near Bonn, to go up to the Drachenfels, but the Montallegro funicular in Rapallo was closed for the winter when I was there. I seem to remember there being one in Malaysia, too, that some Singapurians told me about.


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