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Otis Elevating Railway
The Otis Elevating Railway was a narrow gauge cable funicular railroad leading to the Catskill Mountain House in Palenville, New York. For the first 64 years of its existence, the Catskill Mountain House was accessible only by a long stagecoach from Catskill Landing on the Hudson. Faced with increased competition from the Hotel Kaaterskill (served by the Kaaterskill Railroad), Charles Beach hired the Otis Elevator Company to build a cable funicular railroad straight up the Great Wall of Manitou. Opening on August 7, 1892, the line measured long with a rise of , a maximum grade of 34%, and an average grade of 12%. In 1904, the line was shortened and the lower trestle eliminated. A cable pulled the specially-designed passenger cars up the mountain, hooking a mechanism from the car onto the cable. To balance the system there were two cars which could each seat 75 passengers. The cars were built by Jackson & Sharp Co. in 1892. The cars were named ''Rickerson'' and ''Van San ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Steam Engine
A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force can be transformed, by a connecting rod and crank, into rotational force for work. The term "steam engine" is generally applied only to reciprocating engines as just described, not to the steam turbine. Steam engines are external combustion engines, where the working fluid is separated from the combustion products. The ideal thermodynamic cycle used to analyze this process is called the Rankine cycle. In general usage, the term ''steam engine'' can refer to either complete steam plants (including boilers etc.), such as railway steam locomotives and portable engines, or may refer to the piston or turbine machinery alone, as in the beam engine and stationary steam engine. Although steam-driven devices were known as early as the aeolipile in the f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Otis Worldwide
Otis Worldwide Corporation ( branded as the Otis Elevator Company, its former legal name) is an American company that develops, manufactures and markets elevators, escalators, moving walkways, and related equipment. Based in Farmington, Connecticut, U.S, Otis is the world's largest manufacturer of vertical transportation systems, principally focusing on elevators, moving walkways, and escalators. The company pioneered the development of the "safety elevator", invented by Elisha Otis in 1852, which used a special mechanism to lock the elevator car in place should the hoisting ropes fail. The Otis Elevator Company was acquired by United Technologies in 1976, but it was spun off as an independent company 44 years later in April 2020 as Otis Worldwide Corporation. Its slogan is "Made to move you". History The booming elevator market In 1852, Elisha Otis invented the safety elevator, which automatically comes to a halt if the hoisting rope breaks. After a demonstration at the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
List Of Funicular Railways
This is a list of funicular railways, organised by place within country and continent. The funiculars range from short urban lines to significant multi-section mountain railways. A funicular railway is distinguished from the similar incline elevator in that it has two vehicles that counterbalance one another rather than independently operated cars. Africa South Africa * Cape of Good Hope, Flying Dutchman Funicular (opened 1996) Réunion * Saint-Benoît, Takamaka funicular (opened 1968) industrial funicular for Takamaka hydroelectric power stations employees Saint Helena * Jamestown, Jacob's Ladder (1829–1871) Americas Brazil * Niterói, Niterói funicular (1906- closed before 1950s) * Paranapiacaba, São Paulo Railway (two lines 1867–1982; now rack operated) * Rio de Janeiro: **Outeiro da Glória funicular (opened 1942; modernized 2003) **Paula Mattos funicular (1877-1926) * Salvador: ** (opened 1889) ** (opened 1981) ** (opened 1915) replacing a rack railway ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lookout Mountain Incline Railway
The Lookout Mountain Incline Railway is a inclined plane funicular railway leading to the top of Lookout Mountain from the historic St. Elmo neighborhood of Chattanooga, Tennessee. Passengers are transported from St. Elmo's Station at the base, to Point Park at the mountain summit, which overlooks the city and the Tennessee River. It is just a short drive to three of Chattanooga's main tourist attractions, Ruby Falls, Cavern Castle, and Rock City. The railway is approximately in length ( single-track except for a short two-track passing loop at the midway point, allowing operation of two cars at one time). It has a maximum grade of 72.7%, making it one of the world's steepest passenger railways. It obtained Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark status in 1991. The cable system for the cars was made by the Otis Elevator Company. History The Lookout Mountain Incline Railway (Incline No. 2) was opened on November 16, 1895, by the Chattanooga Incline and Lula Lake Railway and f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chattanooga, Tennessee
Chattanooga ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. Located along the Tennessee River bordering Georgia, it also extends into Marion County on its western end. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, it is Tennessee's fourth-largest city and one of the two principal cities of East Tennessee, along with Knoxville. It anchors the Chattanooga metropolitan area, Tennessee's fourth-largest metropolitan statistical area, as well as a larger three-state area that includes Southeast Tennessee, Northwest Georgia, and Northeast Alabama. Chattanooga was a crucial city during the American Civil War, due to the multiple railroads that converge there. After the war, the railroads allowed for the city to grow into one of the Southeastern United States' largest heavy industrial hubs. Today, major industry that drives the economy includes automotive, advanced manufacturing, food and beverage production, healthcare, insurance, tourism, and back office ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gondola (rail)
In US railroad terminology, a gondola is an open-topped rail vehicle used for transporting loose bulk materials. Because of their low side walls, gondolas are also suitable for the carriage of such high-density cargos as steel plates or coils, or of bulky items such as prefabricated sections of rail track. Gondolas are distinct from hopper cars in that they do not have doors on their floor to empty cargo. In Australia these wagons are called ''open wagons''. History The first gondola cars in North America were developed in the 1830s, and used primarily to carry coal. Early gondolas were little more than flatcars with wooden sides added, and were typically small – or less in length, and or less in weight. These cars were not widely used at first, as they could only be unloaded by workers shoveling out their cargo by hand, a slow and labor-intensive process. A solution for this problem was developed around the 1860s with the drop-bottom gondola, which had hatches installed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Boxcar
A boxcar is the North American ( AAR) term for a railroad car that is enclosed and generally used to carry freight. The boxcar, while not the simplest freight car design, is considered one of the most versatile since it can carry most loads. Boxcars have side sliding doors of varying size and operation, and some include end doors and adjustable bulkheads to load very large items. Similar covered freight cars outside North America are covered goods wagons and, depending on the region, are called ''goods van'' ( UK and Australia), ''covered wagon'' ( UIC and UK) or simply ''van'' (UIC, UK and Australia). Use Boxcars can carry most kinds of freight. Originally they were hand-loaded, but in more recent years mechanical assistance such as forklifts have been used to load and empty them faster. Their generalized design is still slower to load and unload than specialized designs of car, and this partially explains the decline in boxcar numbers since World War II. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Catskill And Tannersville Railway
The Catskill and Tannersville Railway was a historic narrow gauge railroad operating in New York. Also known as "The Huckleberry", the C&T operated tracks that were laid to a narrow gauge. The railroad commenced at the Otis Summit station in Kaaterskill at the top of the Wall of Manitou, which was the terminus of the Otis Elevating Railway, and ended away at its headquarters in Tannersville. The C&T faced competition from the parallel Stony Clove and Kaaterskill branch of the Ulster and Delaware Railroad. History The Catskill Mountain Railway didn't always have the Catskill & Tannersville to connect the Otis Elevating Railway to Tannersville. Instead, the Kaaterskill Railroad served that purpose, as it was the same narrow gauge as the Otis Elevating and the Catskill Mountain Railway, and connected by a shorter C&T from the Otis Summit Station, too. But the C&T was also present in the area, and was very close to the Kaaterskill. In fact, the two lines were so close that ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Freight Cars
A railroad car, railcar (American and Canadian English), railway wagon, railway carriage, railway truck, railwagon, railcarriage or railtruck (British English and UIC), also called a train car, train wagon, train carriage or train truck, is a vehicle used for the carrying of cargo or passengers on a rail transport system (a railroad/railway). Such cars, when coupled together and hauled by one or more locomotives, form a train. Alternatively, some passenger cars are self-propelled in which case they may be either single railcars or make up multiple units. The term "car" is commonly used by itself in American English when a rail context is implicit. Indian English sometimes uses "bogie" in the same manner, though the term has other meanings in other variants of English. In American English, "railcar" is a generic term for a railway vehicle; in other countries "railcar" refers specifically to a self-propelled, powered, railway vehicle. Although some cars exist for the railroad ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Catskill Mountain Railway
The Catskill Mountain Railway (CMRy) was a narrow gauge railroad, long, running from Catskill to Palenville in Greene County, New York. Organized as the Catskill Mountain Railroad (CMRR) in 1880, it bas built in 1881 and 1882. The principals had interests in shipping on the Hudson and in hotels in the Catskill Mountains. Unlike most railroads, the CMRR was built primarily for the purpose of transporting passengers and was intended to operate seasonally. Most people using the line were summer tourists who travelled by steamboat from points along the Hudson River. Their final destinations were hotels and boarding houses located high in the Catskill Mountains. While the railroad served its purpose of bringing passengers closer to the mountain top resorts, it still left them with an arduous hour-long stage trip up the face of the Catskill Escarpment (also known as the Wall of Manitou). In 1885 a branch was built to Cairo, New York, with the intent to carry bluestone, hay ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Passing Loop
A passing loop (UK usage) or passing siding (North America) (also called a crossing loop, crossing place, refuge loop or, colloquially, a hole) is a place on a single line railway or tramway, often located at or near a station, where trains or trams travelling in opposite directions can pass each other. Trains/trams going in the same direction can also overtake, provided that the signalling arrangement allows it. A passing loop is double-ended and connected to the main track at both ends, though a dead end siding known as a refuge siding, which is much less convenient, can be used. A similar arrangement is used on the gauntlet track of cable railways and funiculars, and in passing places on single-track roads. Ideally, the loop should be longer than all trains needing to cross at that point. Unless the loop is of sufficient length to be dynamic, the first train to arrive must stop or move very slowly, while the second to arrive may pass at speed. If one train is too long for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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