Posted on 12/15/2017 11:05:11 AM PST by sparklite2
ZURICH – Swiss technology is due to hit new heights on Friday when the world’s steepest funicular line opens at one of its Alpine resorts.
Swiss President Doris Leuthard will officially open the $52.6 million project running from Schywz to the mountain village of Stoos, which lies 4,300 feet above sea level in central Switzerland.
The barrel-shaped carriages adjust their floors so passengers can still stand upright even as they climb towards the Alpine plateau at inclines of up to 110 percent.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Wouldn’t the steepest be an elevator?
Around Victorville in CA, there are ‘exits’ that take you right up the face of steep hills. The purpose is to give trucks with failed brakes a way to stop their rigs from barreling down an incline out of control. I took my Cherokee up one to see how far I could get. About at a forty degree angle, I chickened out.
He was my favorite Chipmunk played base i think
The cog train at the Zugespitze at Garmisch is what immediately came to mind. Have ridden it a number of times but the most thrilling is the Sielbahn.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkHoVe19q0w
http://zugspitze.de/de/service/bautagebuch
Then there’s the Manitou Incline near Colorado Springs, with an average grade of 45% (24°) and as steep as 68% (34°) in places. The incline gains over 2,000 feet of elevation in less than one mile. This is a footpath.
I rode up this one back in 1990.
https://www.pilatus.ch/en/discover/cogwheel-railway/
This used to be the steepest.
As part of a First Class Europass(train) we took a boat from the dock in Lucerne to the other end of lake Lucerne. You then got on the cog railway to go the top of Mt Pilatus. From the top of the mountain you took a tram car down the other side and then a bus took you back into town. It was a great round trip day trip package.
I spent a weekend in a luxury hotel at Manitou Springs.
It was my Final Fling. Hotcha.
Back in the ‘50s I was in love with Annette Funicular.
with Annette, I thought less of inclines,
and more of tunnels.
I’ve seen those runaway ramps in other states. Many of them have staggered ramps with level parts so that the trucks don’t have to come to a stop on a grade and roll backwards. Going down grades between 8 and 12 percent, those are vital.
Vesuvius used to have a funicular railway. It was wrecked by the 1944 eruption and abandoned after that.
My mother was born in Bad Tolz. My dad met her while he was stationed at the old SS Casserne there and they were married in Oberamagau. That side of the family lives near Tegensee at the base of the mountains. The last time I went back for Christmas and New Years, my uncle and I went up the Sielbahn to ski on the glacier. Once finished, we ate at the restaurant up there on top of the Zugspitze and then rode the cog train back.
We took the one up to Mount Pilatus, near Lucerne, one of the most awesome things I’ve ever done.
*** Marvin - Christine Nelson **** (To the tune of “Funiculi, Funicula”)
Some think.. that kids should be in bed by seven..
and so do I.. and so do I!
But Marvin.. won’t go to bed before eleven..
he starts to cry.. and so do I!
One time, I thought I’d try to slip a mickey..
into his juice.. his orange juice!
I tried! But, oh, that kid is really tricky..
He switched the glass, so whats the use!
Marvin! Marvin! You’re a rotten kid!
Marvin! Marvin! Be like your brother Sid!
I’m getting grey, so go away.. now, just for once, do what I say!
Go and play in traffic.. don’t come back ‘till Saturday!
(So, go and play in traffic.. don’t come back ‘till Saturday!)
Some think.. that raising kids is so bucolic..
I always did.. I really did!
With Marvin.. I could become an alcoholic..
I almost did.. but he’s my kid!
We bought.. a car for him to ride to school in..
a Jag-u-ar, is that bizarre?
Then he.. insisted that we put a pool in..
not in the yard, but in the car!
Marvin! Marvin! You’re a rotten kid!
Marvin! Marvin! I’m gonna flip my lid!
Its such a sin, its such a crime.. you’re just so rotten all the time!
I wish that I could sell you, but I wouldn’t get a dime!
(I wish that I could sell you, but I wouldn’t get a dime!)
Some think.. that kids, today, are awfully thankless..
You ask me why? I’ll tell you why!
It stems from.. the fact, today, that kids are spankless..
And yet they cry, oh, how they cry!
We try.. to buy him everything we’re able..
We bought him clothes.. a brand-new nose!
.. Marvin! get out from underneath the table..
Your brand-new nose.. just ripped my hose!
Marvin! Marvin! You’re a rotten kid!
Marvin! Marvin! look at what you did!
Don’t break my heart, do as you’re told.. you know your mommy hates to scold!
Stop chewing on your teddy-bear.. you’re twenty-eight years old!!
LOL! Thanks.
Still, I bet it feels more steep than that insaide the car..............
I think that they’re talking about the ratio of rise to run. 110% would mean 11 feet of rise for every ten feet of run, or a little over 45 deg slope.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.