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Cable transport


Cable transport is a broad class of transport modes that have cables as foundation for transporting things, people, or vehicles. The cable may be driven or passive; items may be moved by pulling, sliding, sailing, or by drives within the object being moved on cableways. The use of pulleys and balancing of loads going up and down are common elements of cable transport.They are also used in mountainous areas.

Common modes of cable transport are:

Cable drawn transport has been known of since at least 250 B.C. and received much attention during the industrial revolution. During said period of time several new methods were thought of and implemented including: the use of steel cable to allow for greater load support and larger systems. funicular railways were instituted in San Francisco in 1872 and as attention grew, aerial tramways became a greater focus shortly after but only coming into commercial use for passengers in the 1900s.

The idea for a cable hauled street railway in California belonged to Benjamin Brooks, who was not able to accomplish it due to the lack of capital. Instead, Andrew Hallidie, a Scottish emigre, gave San Francisco the first effective and commercially successful route, using steel cables. Hallidie was a manufacturer of such cables.. The system featured a man operated grip, which was able to start the carrier and stop it safely as well. The rope that was used allowed the independent use of more than one cable cars at once and soon Hallidie`s concept was extended to the whole city of San Francisco. The carriers were with capacity between 14 and 16 people but during the rush hours they could fit between 24 and 26 passengers without any problems. The tickets cost about 5 cents, which was relatively expensive for back then but still seems unbelievable compared to the price today – approximately 5 dollars!

Actually, from the historical point of view, the San Francisco Cable Car was implemented after the one in London and Blackwall Railway, built in 1840, but the technology that Andrew Hallidie suggested was far more practical and better and in a way similar to the systems in practice today. The London one used fiber, instead of steel ropes and collars to make the connection from the grip to the rope. This caused a series of technical and safety issues, which led to replacing the lines with steam vehicles by 1848.

More recent developments are being classified under the type of track that their design is based upon. In 1868 the Westside and Yonkers railway came into operation according to Andrea Marocchi. After the success of this operation, several other projects were initiated in New Zealand and Chicago. The social climate around pollution is allowing for a shift back to utilization of cable transport from cars due to their advantages. However, for many years they were a niche form of transportation used primarily in difficult-to-operate conditions for cars (such as on ski slopes as lifts). Now that Cable Transport Projects (CTP) are on the incline the social effects are beginning to become more significant.


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Wikipedia

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