Starý Smokovec – Hrebienok funicular
The Starý Smokovec – Hrebienok funicular ( Slovak: Pozemná lanová dráha Starý Smokovec – Hrebienok or Pozemná lanovka na Hrebienok for short ) is a meter-gauge, year-round funicular in the Slovak part of the High Tatras and the only one in Slovakia . It ihas a route length of 1937 meters and connects Starý Smokovec (valley station 1025 m nm ), a district of the town of Vysoké Tatry , with the district and ski resort of Hrebienok (mountain station 1272 m nm ).
The funicular was built in 1908 and rebuilt in three major measures from 1950 to 1951, 1967 to 1970 and 2007 to 2008.
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history
The first plans go back to the beginning of the 20th century when Slovakia was part of the Kingdom of Hungary . The need for a connection to the Hrebienok (German comb ) increased rapidly after 1883, when a health resort was built on the mountain, which Altschmecks could reach by road a year later. After the grand hotel in Altschmecks opened in 1904, tourism continued to develop, which increased the need for a more efficient connection to the Hrebienok. First, the Poprad entrepreneurs Krieger and Matejka proposed a cog railway with a gauge of 700 mm, but the company had to change the project to a funicular for economic reasons and merge with the Budapest company Phoebus . They founded the Tátrafüredi helyi érdekű villamos vasút (German: Schmeckser Electric Local Railway) and began building the railway in the spring of 1908. Major earthworks and bridge constructions were not necessary, so the construction progressed so quickly that the collaudation could take place on December 16, 1908 and the railway was opened to the public one day later, four days before the opening of the Tatra railway section from Poprad to Old tastes. A planned continuation to the mountain Slavkovský štít (Eng. Schlagendorferspitze , 2452 m nm ) was not built.
The route was 2036 m long, the passing point in the middle of the route was provided with a tongue-less Abt switch . The technical equipment was supplied by AEG , the pull rope with a diameter of 18.5 mm by Vogel & Noot . The valley station was originally intended to be located directly at the Tatra Electric Railway Station, but was relocated to cross the undeveloped areas and the street where there was a risk of the rope being damaged by passing vehicles. The original two cars supplied by the Budapest company Ganz had wooden bodies and could accommodate 45 passengers, 15 of them on an open platform. The train was driven by an electric hoisting machine with a motor output of 25.7 kW, which was housed in the mountain station. The hoisting machine was fed with a direct voltage of 550 V. Although it was possible to set up an overhead line for the car lighting, the cars were only illuminated by oil lamps. The driving speed was 2.5 m / s, 9 km / h.
After the First World War and the establishment of Czechoslovakia, the railway was acquired by the Prague bank Legiobanka . From 1950 the Czechoslovak State Railway was the operator of the funicular railway.
Over the years, the hoisting machine has been rebuilt several times and equipped with new motors, so that the travel speed was now 4.5 m / s. The first major renovation took place in 1951. New, completely covered wagons were procured. In 1967 a further modernization began with a view to the Nordic World Ski Championships in 1970 . The route was shortened somewhat and relocated at the end of the mountain; the mountain station previously housed in the sanatorium building was given its own building. The valley station was expanded, a new winder with an output of 340 kW with a Ward-Leonard converter was installed and new wagons were procured from the Italian company Ceretti & Tanfani . These bogie cars now offered space for 125 passengers in nine compartments. There were originally four folding seats in each compartment, but they were expanded after a few years. Due to the more powerful hoisting machine and the new bogie car, the speed could be increased to 5 m / s (16.7 km / h). The new funicular opened on February 18, 1970. The line received a four-pole overhead line for the energy supply of the cars and a voice connection. This overhead line was dynamically retensioned at kilometers 0.5 and 1.5 using tensioning mechanisms. After the voice connection was replaced by a radio system in 1980, the overhead line could be dismantled again. Since then, the cars have been powered by accumulators that have been recharged in the stations where the overhead line had been maintained.
After the hurricane in the Slovak part of the High Tatras on November 14, 2004, the railway had to be closed for a few weeks until the fallen trees were cleared. This also changed the view in the lower part of the route: where previously only a dense forest could be seen, the view opened into the Lower Tatras basin in the south and the Slavkovský štít mountain in the west.
In 2006 the funicular was acquired by the private company Tatranské lanové dráhy , which had been renting the route from the previous owner ZSSK since 2004 . In late 2007, the wagons that had been in use for 37 years were replaced by new builds from the Swiss company Gangloff for 160 passengers each, and the speed could be increased to 10 m / s (36 km / h) and thus doubled. The new cable car technology was supplied by the Austrian-Swiss cable car manufacturer Doppelmayr / Garaventa . The reopening took place on December 22, 2007.
The 1973 Italian cars were able to be preserved, contrary to the original plan to scrap them. They were transported to the Poprad depot. One car will be exhibited in the future Tatra Transport Museum, the other will be used as a spare parts donor.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Pozemná lanovka Starý Smokovec - Hrebienok, Lanovky.sk, accessed on March 13, 2011 (Slovak)
- ↑ Pozemná lanovka Starý Smokovec - Hrebienok (pôv. 1970), Lanovky.sk, accessed on March 14, 2011 (Slovak)
- ↑ a b c Z histórie pozemnej lanovej dráhy, vlaky.net, accessed on March 13, 2011 (Slovak)
- ↑ a b c d Pozemní lanovka na Hrebienok, spvd.cz, accessed on March 13, 2011 (Czech)
- ↑ a b Prvá lanovka na Hrebienok skončila v šrote. Druhú dajú do múzea, Pravda, accessed on March 14, 2011 (Slovak)
- ↑ a b Novou lanovkou na Hrebienok, Tatry.cz, accessed on March 13, 2011 (Czech)
