Inclined Elevators are known by many names including cable cars, funiculars, hillside elevators, hillside lifts, tramways, people movers, chair lifts and, when specifically built for people with physical disabilities, as accessibility systems. Waterfront property owners might call them lakeshore lifts, high bank lifts or waterfront elevators.
The wide variety of names is indicative of the many ways in which people have found them useful for moving goods and people up and down hills.
What is the function of an Inclined Elevator?
An Inclined Elevator moves people and materials between two levels that are separated by an incline using an external source of energy to work against the effects of gravity.
As we all know from personal experience, climbing stairs is a strenuous activity that places significant demands on our bodies, especially when our arms are full. Sometimes we might want this exercise, but at other times it's too much and can limit our activities to the point of making a cherished piece of property unusable. An Inclined Elevator can often make home or cottage living feasible and enjoyable.
Benefits of an Inclined Elevator
They add value and convenience to real estate which is vertically challenging, and anecdotal evidence suggests that the increase in value covers the cost of the lift.
They are ideal for the elderly and those with health and mobility issues and they can make it possible for everyone to continue enjoying the family home or cottage.
They provide a means of moving motorboat gas, sports equipment, BBQ items, firewood, everything that cottage owners need to move back and forth between the cottage and the dock or the cottage and the parking lot.
Many people who have had an Inclined Elevator installed say it's the best improvement they've ever made to their home or cottage living and wish they'd done it sooner. Because a well made lift lasts for decades and retains its value, it can be thought of as an investment rather than as an expense and can even be made part of a mortgage.
A Brief History of Inclined Elevators
Staircases and later elevators were originally developed to overcome the difficulties of changing levels as comfortably as possible. Inclined railways were popular from the last quarter of the 19th century into the 1930s. Otis built an incline railway in the curved legs of the Eiffel Tower in Paris to carry passengers and freight, installed an inclined catwalk in the Goodyear Zeppelin Plant in Akron, Ohio, in 1930 and built an incline elevator at the Thornhill Golf Course in Toronto in 1933.
Funicular Facts
Steepest: The world's steepest passenger railway is the Katoomba Scenic Railway, a funicular down the wall of the Jamison Valley near Katoomba, New South Wales, Australia. It has a maximum grade of 122° (which is 32° beyond the horizontal).
Oldest: The oldest railway in the world is a funicular or inclined elevator! It was built circa 1500 in Salzburg (Mozart's city) to carry people between the town and the fortress and is still in use today! http://www.funimag.com/funimag10/RESZUG01.HTM
Longest: On December 16th 1997 the two sections of the Sierre-Montana-Crans funicular were joined into a single section, making it the world’s longest funicular at 4192 meters (or just over 2.6 miles). It links the city of Sierre, in the Rhône valley, to the Crans-Montana-Vermala resort in a 12 minute ride. http://www.funimag.com/funimag12/smc01.htm
Other: The Great Incline of the Mount Lowe Railway had multiple grades with cars that adjust to the variations. The gentlest grade is 48° and the steepest is 62°.
