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Chemin De Fer Du Salève
The Chemin de fer du Salève (nicknamed ''Funiculaire du Salève'' in spite of the absence of any traction cable), was an electric rack railway that went up the Salève mountain in the French département of Haute-Savoie on the south side of Geneva. In the 1890s, as today, the inhabitants of Geneva enjoyed the view afforded from the Salève of the Jura, the Alps (including the Mont-Blanc) and part of lac Léman, However it was a 3-hour walk up to les Treize Arbres. This was the heyday of local railways in France, and Chemin de fer du Salève came into being in 1892. It continued operations until 1935. Construction In 1887, a concession was awarded to Messrs Meuron and Cuénod to build a railway from the village of Etrembières to a place known as Treize-Arbres near the summit of the Salève via Mornex and Monnetier. This line was 5.7 km long. A 3 km branch from Veyrier to Monnetier was planned for later. The ''Société anonyme des Chemins de fer du Salève'' (CFS ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Railcar
A railcar (not to be confused with a railway car) is a self-propelled railway vehicle designed to transport passengers. The term "railcar" is usually used in reference to a train consisting of a single coach (carriage, car), with a driver's cab at one or both ends. Some railway companies, such as the Great Western, termed such vehicles "railmotors" (or "rail motors"). Self-propelled passenger vehicles also capable of hauling a train are, in technical rail usage, more usually called "rail motor coaches" or "motor cars" (not to be confused with the motor cars, otherwise known as automobiles, that operate on roads). The term is sometimes also used as an alternative name for the small types of multiple unit which consist of more than one coach. That is the general usage nowadays in Ireland when referring to any diesel multiple unit (DMU), or in some cases electric multiple unit (EMU). In North America the term "railcar" has a much broader sense and can be used (as an abbr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Électricité De France
Électricité de France S.A. (literally ''Electricity of France''), commonly known as EDF, is a French multinational electric utility company, largely owned by the French state. Headquartered in Paris, with €71.2 billion in revenues in 2016, EDF operates a diverse portfolio of at least 120 gigawatts of generation capacity in Europe, South America, North America, Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. In 2009, EDF was the world's largest producer of electricity. Its 56 active nuclear reactors (in France) are spread out over 18 sites (nuclear power plants). They comprise 32 reactors of 900 MWe, 20 reactors of 1,300 MWe, and 4 reactors of 1,450 MWe, all PWRs. EDF was created on 8 April 1946 by the 1945 parliament, from the merging of various divided actors. EDF led France's post-war energy growth, with a unique focus on civil nuclear energy, through reconstruction and further industrialization within the Trente Glorieuse, being a fleuron of France's new industrial landscape ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ruling Gradient
The term ruling grade is usually used as a synonym for "steepest climb" between two points on a railroad. More simply, the steepest grade to be climbed dictates how powerful the motive power (or how light the train) must be in order for the run to be made without assistance. Even if 99% of the line could be run with a low-powered (and inexpensive) locomotive, if at some point on the line there is a steeper gradient than such train would be able to climb, this gradient "rules" that a more powerful locomotive must be used, in spite of it being far too powerful for the rest of the line. This is why special "helper engines" (also dubbed "Bankers") are often stationed near steep grades on otherwise mild tracks. It is cheaper than running a too-powerful locomotive over the entire track mileage just in order to make the grade, especially when multiple trains run over the line each day (to help justify the fixed daily cost of the helper operation). In the 1953 edition of ''Railway Engineer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Abt Rack System
A rack railway (also rack-and-pinion railway, cog railway, or cogwheel railway) is a steep grade railway with a toothed rack rail, usually between the running rails. The trains are fitted with one or more cog wheels or pinions that mesh with this rack rail. This allows the trains to operate on steep grades above 10%, which is the maximum for friction-based rail. Most rack railways are mountain railways, although a few are transit railways or tramways built to overcome a steep gradient in an urban environment. The first cog railway was the Middleton Railway between Middleton and Leeds in West Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom, where the first commercially successful steam locomotive, ''Salamanca'', ran in 1812. This used a rack and pinion system designed and patented in 1811 by John Blenkinsop. The first mountain cog railway was the Mount Washington Cog Railway in the U.S. state of New Hampshire, which carried its first fare-paying passengers in 1868. The track was compl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Metre Gauge
Metre-gauge railways are narrow-gauge railways with track gauge of or 1 metre. The metre gauge is used in around of tracks around the world. It was used by European colonial powers, such as the French, British and German Empires. In Europe, large metre-gauge networks remain in use in Switzerland, Spain and many European towns with urban trams, but most metre-gauge local railways in France, Germany and Belgium closed down in the mid-20th century, although many still remain. With the revival of urban rail transport, metre-gauge light metros were established in some cities, and in other cities, metre gauge was replaced by standard gauge. The slightly-wider gauge is used in Sofia. Examples of metre-gauge See also * Italian metre gauge * Narrow-gauge railways A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rheostatic Braking
Dynamic braking is the use of an electric traction motor as a generator when slowing a vehicle such as an electric or diesel-electric locomotive. It is termed " rheostatic" if the generated electrical power is dissipated as heat in brake grid resistors, and " regenerative" if the power is returned to the supply line. Dynamic braking reduces wear on friction-based braking components, and regeneration lowers net energy consumption. Dynamic braking may also be used on railcars with multiple units, light rail vehicles, electric trams, trolleybuses, and electric and hybrid electric automobiles. Principle of operation Converting electrical energy to the mechanical energy of a rotating shaft (electric motor) is the inverse of converting the mechanical energy of a rotating shaft to electrical energy (electric generator). Both are accomplished through the interactions of armature windings with a (relatively) moving external magnetic field, with the armature connected to an electri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Third Rail
A third rail, also known as a live rail, electric rail or conductor rail, is a method of providing electric power to a railway locomotive or train, through a semi-continuous rigid conductor placed alongside or between the rails of a railway track. It is used typically in a mass transit or rapid transit system, which has alignments in its own corridors, fully or almost fully segregated from the outside environment. Third rail systems are usually supplied from direct current electricity. Modern tram systems, street-running, avoid the risk of electrocution by the exposed electric rail by implementing a segmented ground-level power supply, where each segment is electrified only while covered by a vehicle which is using its power. The third-rail system of electrification is not related to the third rail used in dual gauge railways. Description Third-rail systems are a means of providing electric traction power to trains using an additional rail (called a "conductor rail") fo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Société Anonyme Des Ateliers De Sécheron
The (SAAS, in English translated as ''"Anonymous Society of Sécheron Workshops"'') was a joint-stock company based in Geneva, Switzerland. It specialized in electrical engineering, including the manufacture of electrical equipment and locomotives. In 1989, the company was split into four successor companies, ABB Sécheron SA, ABB Power Generation (closed in 1995), ABB Systèmes de Transport and Sécheron SA. History In 1879, Alfred de Meuron set up a small workshop in Geneva to manufacture electrical appliances. This workshop ultimately formed the basis for the establishment of SAAS on 9 July 1918. The following year, 1919, Brown Boveri & Cie (BBC) became SAAS's main shareholder. Five years later, SAAS resumed its independence. The company remained independent until 1969, when competitive pressures forced it to seek new partners. In 1970, BBC took over as sole shareholder. However, the company's name was changed only in 1982, when it became BBC Sécheron SA. In 1988, B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Schweizerische Industrie Gesellschaft
SIG Combibloc Group AG, originally founded as ''Schweizerische Industrie Gesellschaft'' (German for Swiss Industrial Company; in French, as ''Société Industrielle Suisse''; and, in Italian, as ''Societa Industriale Svizzera''), and later known as SIG Holding AG, is a company currently active in the Packaging industry but used to participate in firearms and railcar manufacturing as well. In 2007, SIG Holding AG was acquired by Rank Group Limited, the private investment company of New Zealand businessman Graeme Hart, and operated under its subsidiary, Reynolds Group Holdings Ltd., which, in March 2015, announced completion of its sale of SIG to ONEX Corporation of Canada. In 2018, SIG Combibloc secured a $1.101 billion loan, with Barclays Bank acting as the administrative agent on the transaction. The SIG Combibloc Group shares are listed on SIX Swiss Exchange and it is a component of the SMI MID index. History The ''schweizerische Waggonfabrik''Hermann Alexander von Berleps ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Goods Wagon
Goods wagons or freight wagons (North America: freight cars), also known as goods carriages, goods trucks, freight carriages or freight trucks, are unpowered railway vehicles that are used for the transportation of cargo. A variety of wagon types are in use to handle different types of goods, but all goods wagons in a regional network typically have standardized couplers and other fittings, such as hoses for air brakes, allowing different wagon types to be assembled into trains. For tracking and identification purposes, goods wagons are generally assigned a unique identifier, typically a UIC wagon number, or in North America, a company reporting mark plus a company specific serial number. Development At the beginning of the railway era, the vast majority of goods wagons were four- wheeled (two wheelset) vehicles of simple construction. These were almost exclusively small covered wagons, open wagons with side-boards, and flat wagons with or without stakes. Over the course of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rolling Stock
The term rolling stock in the rail transport industry refers to railway vehicles, including both powered and unpowered vehicles: for example, locomotives, freight and passenger cars (or coaches), and non-revenue cars. Passenger vehicles can be un-powered, or self-propelled, single or multiple units. A connected series of railway vehicles is a train (this term applied to a locomotive is a common misnomer). In North America, Australia and other countries, the term consist ( ) is used to refer to the rolling stock in a train. In the United States, the term ''rolling stock'' has been expanded from the older broadly defined "trains" to include wheeled vehicles used by businesses on roadways. The word ''stock'' in the term is used in a sense of inventory. Rolling stock is considered to be a liquid asset, or close to it, since the value of the vehicle can be readily estimated and then shipped to the buyer without much cost or delay. The term contrasts with fixed stock (infrastru ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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