Center for Alternative Technology Railway
The Center for Alternative Technology Railway is a water ballast railway operated broad-gauge funicular in Powys , Wales . It runs about four kilometers north of the village of Machynlleth and connects the Afon Dulas valley and the A487 trunk road with the Center for Alternative Technology (CAT), which was built in a former quarry .
history
Inspired by the 1972 study The Limits to Growth published by the Club of Rome , a group of people, including people close to the hippie movement, settled in an abandoned slate quarry in Wales to set up a research and presentation center for to build sustainable , environmentally friendly technologies. A funicular was put into operation in 1992 to improve the accessibility of the facility, which is located high above the valley, for visitors. It runs on the route of an inclined plane , on which at the time of the operation of the quarry, the Llwyngwern Slate Quarry, the extracted slate was transported on open wagons to the Corris Railway in the valley .
vehicles
On the railway there are two parallel tracks with a gauge of 1600, according to another statement 1676 millimeters , two cars that were built by the CAT itself. They have a door on each side and offer space for 17 passengers on wooden seats. Each of the cars has a water tank with a capacity of 1.6 cubic meters. In memory of the widow of one of the last quarry workers, who has now passed away and who supported the CAT crew intensively during the construction years, they have their first names, Annie and Martha .
technology
The route is 53 meters long and overcomes a height difference of 30 meters. The maximum gradient is 67.5 percent, which corresponds to 34 degrees . The maximum speed is 0.7 meters per second. The train is in operation between Easter and the end of October.
Each of the two wagons is suspended in opposite directions from a common drum with its own steel cable , so the one moving down pulls the other up. The two carriages are also directly connected by another rope, which ensures the tension of the main ropes. Each car also has a safety rope, which triggers an emergency braking if a certain speed is exceeded .
In operation, the tank of the car above is filled just enough for the car below to be pulled up. The water required comes from a lake within the quarry that is fed by groundwater and precipitation. Once the descending car has reached its destination, its water is emptied into a basin from which it can be pumped up again. CAT employees are not in the car during the journey, control is from the upper station.
literature
- Michel Azéma: Center for Alternative Technology . Extensively illustrated report in the Funimag funicular magazine , issue 19, undated (English)
Web links
- Information about the railway on the CAT website
- Designing a water-balanced railway. The railway as a case study on the website of the Sustainable Technology Education Project. (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Roger Harrabin: Turning a slate quarry green: 40 years of Center for Alternative Technology. The Guardian , August 1, 2014, accessed August 4, 2018.
- ↑ Llwyngwern Slate Quarry in the database of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales, accessed on August 5, 2019 (English)
- ↑ Center for Alternative technology Railway on a private website, accessed August 6, 2019. (English)
Coordinates: 52 ° 37 ′ 23.3 " N , 3 ° 50 ′ 31" W.