Water ballast track

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A water ballast ropeway is a funicular without a prime mover that uses gravity as the driving force. A synonym for this is the water weight cable car .

Construction and drive

Schematic track diagram of water ballast runways. Examples of three basic types are: the Malbergbahn in Bad Ems, Germany - closed (left), the Nerobergbahn in Wiesbaden, Germany (center) and the Neuveville – Saint-Pierre funicular in Freiburg, Switzerland (right).
Nerobergbahn in Wiesbaden, 1907

The two carriages of the facility are connected by a pull rope that runs over a sheave in the mountain station. The carriages are roughly in equilibrium , so that only the force has to be applied to drive the train to bring the system out of balance. This is done by artificially increasing the mass of the wagon standing in the mountain station with water so that the force of gravity acting on this additional mass can move the train.

Both wagons therefore have a ballast water tank. Between two trips, water is filled into the tank of the car in the mountain station, while the tank of the car in the valley station is emptied. The upper, heavier vehicle driving downhill now pulls the lower, lighter one up the slope. The amount of water required depends on the weight difference between the two cars, assuming about 80 liters for each passenger. Because the length of the rope and thus the weight of the rope between the sheave and the downhill trolley increases while the rope weight of the uphill trolley decreases, the speed must be regulated during the trip. This is done with brakes in the vehicles, which mostly act on a rack in the track bed , and especially with longer systems also by draining water from the car traveling downhill. Some lifts have a lower rope to compensate for the weight of the rope, which is also guided over a pulley in the valley station.

The water required for the operation of the railway was usually taken from a body of water at the mountain station. In places where no water from the surrounding area was available at the mountain station, this was pumped from the valley station through a pressure line running along the route into a reservoir at the mountain station.

The track system is usually single-track and has a passing point in the middle. Due to the special construction of the Abt turnout , each car is automatically routed to one of the two sidings. The narrow route reduces the space required and the effort required to build bridges and tunnels.

Although the water was cheap to get hold of, running with water ballast had disadvantages. Winter operation became dangerous as soon as there was a risk of the water tanks or the brake racks icing up. The compulsory break, which was necessary until the next trip due to the refilling, also proved to be disadvantageous. In addition, the high operating weight and the large axle load of the wagons increased the maintenance effort for the entire system. Therefore only a few railways with water ballast operation have survived worldwide. Most were converted to or discontinued on electrical operation.

history

Historic and only still in operation water ballast runway in Switzerland: Funi in Freiburg

The oldest installation was believed to be the Prospect Park Incline Railway, opened in 1845 near Niagara Falls in the United States . The plant was later converted to electrical operation and shut down in 1908 after an accident.

The oldest facility in Europe is the Giessbachbahn , which opened in 1879 and was converted to electrical operation in 1948. In 1882 the Elevador do Bom Jesus was opened in Braga (Portugal) , which is the world's oldest system still operated with water ballast.

In Germany, there is only one railway left with the Nerobergbahn in Wiesbaden . In Switzerland, too, there is only one train, the Neuveville – Saint-Pierre funicular in Freiburg .

Lanes

(Sorting according to the opening year)

Car of the Elevador do Bom Jesus in Braga (Portugal) in the mountain station. This is the oldest plant in the world still in operation.
Folkestone Leas Cliff Water Lift , from Lower Sandgate Road
Material cable car Obermatt-Unter Zingel in Engelbergertal

Funicular railways running with water ballast

Cable cars running with water ballast

Water ballast runways converted to electrical operation

Only a few examples are listed here, as a great many railways were initially operated with water ballast.

Germany

Austria

Switzerland

(complete list of all funiculars in public passenger transport)

France

Czech Republic

Water ballast runways converted to cogwheel operation

Disused water ballast tracks

Germany

Switzerland

Geneva water ballast track

Other countries

See also

literature

  • Walter Hefti : Cable cars all over the world. Inclined cable levels, funiculars, cable cars. Birkhäuser Verlag, Basel et al. 1975, ISBN 3-7643-0726-9 .
  • Hans Waldburger: The last cable cars with water weight drive . In: Railway amateur . No. 10 , 1979, p. 593-597 .

Web links

Commons : Water Ballast Railways  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Niagara Falls 1907 Incline Railway Crash. Retrieved September 5, 2009 .
  2. ↑ Hans G. Wägli: track profile Switzerland in 1980 . General Secretariat SBB, pp. 71, 73.
  3. ↑ Grand Hotel Giessbach (ed.): Giessbach funicular . S. 6 ( giessbach.ch [PDF]).
  4. ↑ Michel Azéma: Suchard chocolate factory. Funimag, The first web magazine about funiculars. Retrieved January 6, 1996 .