Riffelalp Tram
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Riffelalp Tram
The Riffelalp tram (german: Riffelalptram, RiT) is a high altitude tramway line located in the Swiss canton of Valais near the resort of Zermatt. The line links the Riffelalp Resort to Riffelalp station, on the Gornergrat railway, and via that line to Zermatt and beyond. The Riffelalp tram is the highest tram line in Europe. History The Riffelalp Grand Hotel, the predecessor of today's Riffelalp Resort, was opened by Alexander Seiler in 1884. In 1898, the Gornergrat railway was opened, linking Zermatt to the summit of the Gornergrat. The line included a station called Riffelalp, but this was situated some distance from the resort. In order to provide better access to the station, the hotel built the Riffelalp tram. The line opened on 13 July 1899, one year after the opening of the Gornergrat railway. The original track was long and electrified, using a twin overhead line carrying a three-phase ac supply at 550 volts. The tram operated in the summer months only. Durin ...
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Matterhorn
The (, ; it, Cervino, ; french: Cervin, ; rm, Matterhorn) is a mountain of the Alps, straddling the main watershed and border between Switzerland and Italy. It is a large, near-symmetric pyramidal peak in the extended Monte Rosa area of the Pennine Alps, whose summit is high, making it one of the highest summits in the Alps and Europe.Considering summits with at least 300 metres prominence, it is the 6th highest in the Alps and Europe outside the Caucasus Mountains. The four steep faces, rising above the surrounding glaciers, face the four compass points and are split by the ''Hörnli'', ''Furggen'', ''Leone''/''Lion'', and ''Zmutt'' ridges. The mountain overlooks the Swiss town of Zermatt, in the canton of Valais, to the northeast; and the Italian town of Breuil-Cervinia in the Aosta Valley to the south. Just east of the Matterhorn is Theodul Pass, the main passage between the two valleys on its north and south sides, which has been a trade route since the Roman Era. The M ...
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Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. Comprising the westernmost peninsulas of Eurasia, it shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with both Africa and Asia. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south and Asia to the east. Europe is commonly considered to be Boundaries between the continents of Earth#Asia and Europe, separated from Asia by the drainage divide, watershed of the Ural Mountains, the Ural (river), Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Greater Caucasus, the Black Sea and the waterways of the Turkish Straits. "Europe" (pp. 68–69); "Asia" (pp. 90–91): "A commonly accepted division between Asia and E ...
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Snowmobile
A snowmobile, also known as a Ski-Doo, snowmachine, sled, motor sled, motor sledge, skimobile, or snow scooter, is a motorized vehicle designed for winter travel and recreation on snow. It is designed to be operated on snow and ice and does not require a road or trail, but most are driven on open terrain or trails. Snowmobiling is a sport that many people have taken on as a serious hobby. Older snowmobiles could generally accommodate two people; however, most snowmobiles manufactured since the 1990s have been designed to only accommodate one person. Snowmobiles built with the ability to accommodate two people are referred to as "2-up" snowmobiles or "touring" models and make up an extremely small share of the market. Most snowmobiles do not have any enclosures, except for a windshield, and their engines normally drive a continuous track at the rear. Skis at the front provide directional control. Early snowmobiles used simple rubber tracks, but modern snowmobiles' tracks are usu ...
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Kilowatt
The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James Watt (1736–1819), an 18th-century Scottish inventor, mechanical engineer, and chemist who improved the Newcomen engine with his own steam engine in 1776. Watt's invention was fundamental for the Industrial Revolution. Overview When an object's velocity is held constant at one metre per second against a constant opposing force of one newton, the rate at which work is done is one watt. : \mathrm In terms of electromagnetism, one watt is the rate at which electrical work is performed when a current of one ampere (A) flows across an electrical potential difference of one volt (V), meaning the watt is equivalent to the volt-ampere (the latter unit, however, is used for a different quantity from the real power of an electrical circuit). : ...
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Balloon Loop
A balloon loop, turning loop, or reversing loop ( North American Terminology) allows a rail vehicle or train to reverse direction without having to shunt or stop. Balloon loops can be useful for passenger trains and unit freight trains. Balloon loops are common on tram and streetcar systems. Many streetcar and tram systems use single-ended vehicles that have doors on only one side and controls at only one end. These systems may also haul trailers with no controls in the rear car, and, as such, must be turned at each end of the route. History Balloon loops were first introduced on tram and, later, metro lines. They did not commonly appear on freight railways until the 1960s, when the modernising British Rail system introduced '' merry-go-round'' (MGR) coal trains that operated from mines to power stations and back again without shunting. Tramways On the former Sydney tram system, loops were used from 1881 until the second-generation system's closure in 1961. Initia ...
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List Of Highest Railway Stations In Switzerland
This is a list of railway stations in Switzerland located at an elevation over 1,200 metres above sea level. Switzerland includes most of the highest railways of Europe and therefore also includes its highest railway stations, both underground and open-air, on dead-end rail and on rail crossing. With the notable exception of the region of Graubünden, where are some of the highest European towns connected to railways, most of these stations are on railways that primarily carry tourists and are not used by commuters. In the list are indicated the elevation, municipality, canton, railway and nearest location, inhabited or not. For a list of the highest railways, see List of mountain railways in Switzerland. Note that this list does not include funicular nor any cable transport related facilities. For a list of funiculars, see List of funiculars in Switzerland. For a list of aerial tramways, see List of aerial tramways in Switzerland. Main list See also *Rail transport in Switz ...
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800 Mm Gauge Railways
800 mm gauge railways are narrow-gauge railways built to a track gauge of . Whilst this gauge is uncommon amongst adhesion railways, some of the world's best known rack railways are built to it. Six of these are in Switzerland, including the world's steepest rack line (the Pilatus Railway) and the world's longest pure rack line (the Wengernalp Railway), whilst the United Kingdom's only rack railway (the Snowdon Mountain Railway) is also to this gauge. A few funicular railways are also built to this gauge. Installations See also *List of track gauges This list presents an overview of railway track gauges by size. A gauge is measured between the inner faces of the rails. Track gauges by size Minimum and ridable miniature railways For ridable miniature railways and minimum gauge railways, t ... References {{Navbox track gauge ...
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Above Mean Sea Level
Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as ''orthometric heights''. The combination of unit of measurement and the physical quantity (height) is called "metres above mean sea level" in the metric system, while in United States customary and imperial units it would be called "feet above mean sea level". Mean sea levels are affected by climate change and other factors and change over time. For this and other reasons, recorded measurements of elevation above sea level at a reference time in history might differ from the actual elevation of a given location over sea level at a given moment. Uses Metres above sea level is the standard measurement of the elevation or altitude of: * Geographic locations such as towns, mountains and other landmarks. * The top of buildings and other structures. * Flying objects such ...
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Battery Power
An electric battery is a source of electric power consisting of one or more electrochemical cells with external connections for powering electrical devices. When a battery is supplying power, its positive terminal is the cathode and its negative terminal is the anode. The terminal marked negative is the source of electrons that will flow through an external electric circuit to the positive terminal. When a battery is connected to an external electric load, a redox reaction converts high-energy reactants to lower-energy products, and the free-energy difference is delivered to the external circuit as electrical energy. Historically the term "battery" specifically referred to a device composed of multiple cells; however, the usage has evolved to include devices composed of a single cell. Primary (single-use or "disposable") batteries are used once and discarded, as the electrode materials are irreversibly changed during discharge; a common example is the alkaline battery used f ...
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Volt
The volt (symbol: V) is the unit of electric potential, electric potential difference (voltage), and electromotive force in the International System of Units (SI). It is named after the Italian physicist Alessandro Volta (1745–1827). Definition One volt is defined as the electric potential between two points of a conducting wire when an electric current of one ampere dissipates one watt of power between those points. Equivalently, it is the potential difference between two points that will impart one joule of energy per coulomb of charge that passes through it. It can be expressed in terms of SI base units ( m, kg, second, s, and ampere, A) as : \text = \frac = \frac = \frac. It can also be expressed as amperes times ohms (current times resistance, Ohm's law), webers per second (magnetic flux per time), watts per ampere (power per current), or joules per coulomb (energy per charge), which is also equivalent to electronvolts per elementary charge: : \text = \tex ...
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Three-phase AC Railway Electrification
Three-phase AC railway electrification was used in Italy, Switzerland and the United States in the early twentieth century. Italy was the major user, from 1901 until 1976, although lines through two tunnels also used the system; the Simplon Tunnel between Switzerland and Italy from 1906 to 1930 (but not connected to the Italian system), and the Cascade Tunnel of the Great Northern Railway in the United States from 1909 to 1939. The first standard gauge line was in Switzerland, from Burgdorf to Thun (), from 1899 to 1933. Advantages The system provides regenerative braking with the power fed back to the system, so is particularly suitable for mountain railways (provided the grid or another locomotive on the line can accept the power). The locomotives use three-phase induction motors. Lacking brushes and commutators, they require less maintenance. The early Italian and Swiss systems used a low frequency (16⅔ Hz), and a relatively low voltage (3,000 or 3,600 volts) compared wi ...
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Gornergrat
The Gornergrat ( en, Gorner Ridge; ) is a rocky ridge of the Pennine Alps, overlooking the Gorner Glacier south-east of Zermatt in Switzerland. It can be reached from Zermatt by the Gornergrat rack railway (GGB), the highest open-air railway in Europe. Between the Gornergrat railway station () and the summit is the Kulm Hotel (). In the late 1960s two astronomical observatories were installed in the two towers of the Kulmhotel Gornergrat. The projec“Stellarium Gornergrat”is hosted in the Gornergrat South Observatory. Overview It is located about three kilometers east of Zermatt in the Swiss canton of Valais. The Gornergrat is located between the Gornergletscher and Findelgletscher and offers a view of more than 20 four-thousand metre peaks, whose highest are Dufourspitze (Monte Rosa massif), Liskamm, Matterhorn, Dom and Weisshorn. This is the last stop of the Gornergrat train, opened in 1898, which climbs almost through Riffelalp and Riffelberg. At the terminus on th ...
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