Funiculars

During our lovely trip to the Eiffel Tower this past week I learned what a funicular actually is. A funicular is basically an elevator/train combo that moves diagonally via some tracks and some cables, and one such machine took us from the base of the tower to the first platform. Previously, my only encounter with funiculars had been through the movie The Grand Budapest Hotel and I’ve come to associate them with Wes Anderson whimsey. That is probably why I think they’re quite neat.

However, as I do think they’re neat, I set out to learn a bit more about them. The first funicular can be dates back to 1496, and is called the Reisszug. The Reisszug is located in Salzburg, Austria and has been used for the last 521 years or so, that’s right it’s still in use, to bring goods into the Festung Hohensalzburg. It was originally operated with one cart on wooden tracks attached to a rope attached to a pulley. The rope was then pulled by either prisoners, horses, or oxen and the cart was raised into the castle.

Funiculars didn’t become widespread until the 19th century, which I would suspect had something to do with no longer having to manually power them. Funiculars became popular in areas with very steep inclines, particularly the alps. In many parts of the world funiculars are still regularly used as a way to avoid challenging terrain, including many parts of Pennsylvania, oddly enough.

Personally, I would love it if funiculars spread all the way down through Appalachia. I imagine a sort of semi-vertical Amtrak.