Orvieto funicular
| Orvieto funicular | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Orvieto funicular 2017 - mountain station
| |||||||||||||
| Route length: | 0.580 km | ||||||||||||
| Gauge : | Up to 1970: 1160 mm Since 1990: 1445 mm |
||||||||||||
| Maximum slope : | 281 ‰ | ||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||
The Orvieto funicular ( Italian : Funicolare di Orvieto) is a driverless funicular in Orvieto that was opened on October 7, 1888 with water ballast drive and rebuilt in 1990 with electric drive. It connects the train station with the historic old town of Orvieto and is operated by Umbria TPL e Mobilità SpA.
The mountain station is located on Piazza Cahen, just a few meters from the famous Pozzo di San Patrizio fountain .
history
The system was built and designed by the Genoa- born engineer Alessandro Ferretti , who later also realized the Montecatini Terme funicular . Originally the funicular was named Funicolare Bracci after the financier, Giuseppe Bracci Testasecca . At that time, the water ballast drive was also used in other cable car systems in Europe and North America.
The system worked largely without problems and was renovated in 1935. The plant stood during the Second World War and was then back in operation until March 1, 1970. A bus line built in parallel then stopped operations and the old railway was dismantled.
In 1990 a new funicular was built on the old route, which was now electrically powered. The former mayor of Orvieto, Wladimiro Giulietti, was responsible for the new building.
Route description
The single-track line is 580 m long and had a track width of 1,160 mm. In the middle there is a passing point with an Abt switch where the uphill and downhill vehicles pass. With a maximum incline of 28.1%, the track overcomes a height difference of around 157 m. Directly at the mountain station is a 123 m long tunnel, which was broken by the tufa that dominates here . The tunnel passes under the public garden ( Italian : Giardini Comunale).
vehicles
The two cars are connected to each other by a steel pulling rope and a counter rope. The pull rope is driven and deflected in the mountain station. The opposite rope diverted in the valley station serves to balance the forces so that both cars always move exactly in sync . The wagons are accelerated and braked via the ropes. In order to adapt to the incline of the route, wagons are raised towards the valley station side. In the car there is also the option to control the funicular. The two vehicles have a capacity of 75 people each.
In the original system, designed by Alessandro Ferretti, there was a central brake plank in the middle of the rails, on which the brake shoe pressed.
Drive technology
In normal operation, the lift is fully automatic, monitored by the operator in the mountain station, and electrically accelerated and braked.
See also
Web links
literature
- Stephan Steingräber and Giuseppe M. Della Fina (eds.): Orvieto. Verlag Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 2010, ISBN 978-3-8053-4072-4 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Peter Sohns: [ http://web.archive.org/web/20140315201447/http://www.tramway.com/bs/tramsderwelt2013.pdf Trams der Welt / Trams of the World 2013] . www.blickpunktstrab.net. Archived from the original on March 15, 2013.
- ↑ Rail cable cars all over the world: Schiefe Seilebenen funicular railways cable cars , p. 39 and Figure 217 (google books).
Coordinates: 42 ° 43 ′ 19.2 " N , 12 ° 7 ′ 19.2" E