I've got a podcast! It's called Lateral, it's about interesting questions and answers, and it's at lateralcast.com with highlights at ru-vid.com - already live are episodes with Simone Giertz, Devin "LegalEagle" Stone, Wren from Corridor Crew, and loads more; and we've got Mark Rober, Xyla Foxlin, Jabrils and a load of other folks on upcoming episodes.
These are also common here in Switzerland, as communes are often built into hillsides. I've never thought of them as "cable cars", more like stairlifts, but outdoors
I wasn't able to quickly find any information on your swiss versions online, but are your swiss versions pullled up by a cable? Because most stairlifts that I've seen operate like a toothed railway, so if your swiss versions operate like the starilifts I mention then you'd be right in not thinking of them as cable cars.
@@Estok8805 the residential ones are mostly cable cars, altough I have also seen some toothed ones. I've never ridden one since the terrace homes that use them are mostly owned by elderly people.
I'm not physically disabled myself, but I really appreciate Tom emphasizing that this isn't about laziness, that some people have a legitimate and practical need for this kind of tool.
@@MichaelAW17 I would imagine that the companies which service those have 24 hours callout for their technicians. it's not much different than an elevator. If you're living in a multi-floor apartment building, and your elevator gets stuck between floors on Friday night, you don't have to wait in the elevator until the company opens on Monday morning.
Agreed - and you can tell by the stairways next to the cars in the video, that these are *serious* inclines - and having to do them day in and day out, or even with a load of groceries would be grueling to the point of implausibility for most people.
this is no different than having elevators in a high rise. Sure we would take the stairs, but once you go past 3-4 flights of stairs you really start to feel it, especially if you're also carrying any kind of weight at all. But in Wellington's case there is no actual road access to many of those houses - a lot of them are only accessible on foot or on bicycle, and that's if you're willing to go up the mountainside. These cable cars allow them to use the space on that mountain, without destroying it to make space for roads
Mark seems to be a good guy with such a positive attitude towards life. I dont know how you always find great guests for these videos, but i always feel lucky to hear from people who are passionate about what they do.
Agreed. There is nothing quite like a person who is allowed to realise a dream or make a living doing something they perceive as good and fulfilling. Great examples to look up to.
If you ask for people involved in something you're probably more likely to get people that enjoy talking about it and take pride in what they do. I mean I wouldn't be happy to tell people what I did for a living but I could talk for days about my hobbies, similar stuff.
The engineering is so clever, especially the way it keeps the car level even when the angle of the rail changes. Would have loved to see more about that.
it looks to be purely mechanical at 2:00 - as in the space between the upper and the lower rail gets smaller, resulting in the two arms forcing the car into a different angle than before. so purely a matter of correct rail placement with no additonal mechanical systems being needed imo - clever!
@@jbrou123 Was thinking the same. Did you see the way the cable is rubbing against the rail whilst pulling the entire weight of the cable car? I wonder how often the cable would need replacing
Maybe a substantial part of it is for the terrain work... (where to put the pillars, and actually installing them in the middle of the hill). That might be comparable to to laying the base of the house itself. It's definitely an interesting question to guesstimate this
In my perspective, It should be just as expensive as the cable car. Because most of the expenses would go towards the maintenance of the cable car(s) on the house's property.
As a New Zealander I feel overwhelmed getting to see our country in so many videos haha. Usually one off references is shocking enough! Love the videos!!
New Zealand is a truly unique place. Im American and New Zealand is very fascinating with its landscape and people. Don’t forget to appreciate the beauty of your home!
1:59 I just want to take a second to appreciate that leveling system that mechanically keeps the car flat by (from the look of it) changing the thickness of the track. That's awesome.
A friend's parent (who is a engineer) built a smaller cable car to move groceries from the road to his summer house in Finland. It made it much easier to go down and up the stairs without having to carry heavy bags.
Two days ago I seriously contemplated getting a light block and tackle to hoist groceries up to my apartment, as I am hitting mobility limits lately. Currently, a common four-bag shopping trip is two trips up and down the stairs to get them all inside, and as a formerly fit and able person, this bothers me a lot.
@@DamienAlexander I rent, so the installation of a chairlift for the common staircase is kind of a no-go. A rope hoist is something I could clamp to the railings of the external/back stairs, making it not a permanent modification of the structure, and thus not a violation of my lease.
I normally work as a tour guide in Wellington (Tom, next time you're here, let me know and I'll find you something interesting), but over Covid, with no tourists, I worked 5 different jobs. One of those was as a courier (for the huge backlog of parcels being ordered). I got to ride a few of those cable cars which, for a Wellingtonian who doesn't know anyone with a private cable car, was a bucket list item. Some of them were surprisingly slow, but there's no other way to the house, so sit back and enjoy the ride.
I moved furniture to a house with one, it had a canopy so couldn't fit big items in it, still had to use the long path. Two seats one either side. It went across more than down - unusual it went down from the street, in Grafton Rd Roseneath - long time ago, fairly sure Grafton.
I went on a school trip to Wellington in 2019 and as we were going around the city I noticed multiple houses with these cable cars. I kinda thought I imagined it because it seemed too cool to be real. I’m glad to get this video to confirm they are in fact real and to learn more about them. I had no idea there was so many! I only saw a handful while I was there.
If it's this challenging to access an already built house, I can't imagine what it must've been like for the construction workers building into a undeveloped hillside
As a long-time Wellingtonian, I grew up going to and from school via the Cable Car every day and have always loved the inclinators you see around the city. Their extraordinary expense is due to the customization required for each one. Most people don't have the budget for these conveniences, so people have to just get fit walking the hills and steps required.
It was only the rich who would build somewhere that needed one. The rest of Wellington doesn't have hundreds of steps per property, does it? I lived in Wellington and had six steps, most have less than fifty and not many have more than eighty. I've never heard the word inclinator until this video and from decades in Wellington only ever heard them called cable cars. Most people drive mate - or bus / train. Even if a house has 60 steps it's one minute of walking - not a huge effort. Minority of people actually walk anywhere and walk up hills.
@@moaningpheromones I lived in Kelburn near the top of the Cable Car, so it was a no-brainer to use it for direct access to Lambton Quay and then take a bus the rest of the way. As Scott says, the only reason you'd get an inclinator is for the disabled or to reach otherwise inaccessible property.
These are also common in my area. Maintenance is important. There was a story in the news a few years back where a private cable car broke loose and crashed, killing one of the occupants.
Wouldn't it be a simple matter to have some kind of inertia mechanism (like car seatbelts) so that if the cable breaks a ratchet or pin flies out and locks the car into the rail. I thought regular building elevators had this.
@@Matthew-ut6ed I’m sure they have something like that already, but everything needs regular inspection and maintenance to ensure it works correctly when needed.
@@Matthew-ut6ed The mechanism for these car puts on the brakes when tension is lost on the cable. My property is one of 10 serviced by a similar cable car and we are on the least steep part of the track. We often lose tension when we start to go down the hill and the brakes will stop the cable car and we have to reset and start again. It's only for our stop, and only when we're getting started but it gives me a lot of confidence in the system.
I live on the flat Canadian prairie where a hill is a novelty in itself. A cable car house on a steep hill in Wellington would be a very different living experience to what I'm used to.
Same here. Things we take for granted here on the prairies could be a chore especially if it is raining. Groceries, moving, even getting furniture deliveries etc could be more of a chore.
I live in Wellington, and I absolutely love finding new cable cars. I've lived in a few different suburbs, and it feels like every time I'm walking about, I discover a whole new, private cable car (though I always wonder if they'd let me in). What a magical little city!
@@Rokomarn several of the previous videos about New Zealand and Wellington have covered conservation topics. Perhaps with more optimism than I would have for something as terribly flawed as Predator Free 2050, but it’s nice to see coverage
@@agnesagni interesting question! These houses are old and there are networks of pathways through the city. Due to the hills this city is quite compact, and accessibility was an afterthought to build-able land. We do have a large percentage of green space compared to many other cities due to regenerating areas where houses couldn’t be built. Ecological corridor projects are underway to connect boundaries of the city that are bush to the people and to create a single continuous section of bush that would allow safe migration of animals from the sea to the mountains north of the city
I thank you for making these New Zealand videos. They have really opened my eyes to things that I didn't even know about in the country that I live in!
Despite its branding, the Wellington Cable Car is actually a funicular because the cars are permanently attached to the cable. In a traditional cable car system, like what Dunedin lost but San Francisco retains, a person had to stand in the car and move big levers to clamp onto the cable.
Dunedin had two cable car systems... One I travelled on as a baby... the Rattray St--Ross St--Kaikorai Valley one... and the High St one which I used in its last year...1957.... the single line was every bit as good as the ones in San F running down to the Piers. Imagine that now as a tourist drawcard.......
Tom did such a great job finding the right people to talk about this. The homeowner's enthusiasm is infectious and it's always great to hear someone talk eloquently about a job they so clearly love. Great video!
Hah I immediately recognized it! When I was an exchange student in New Zealand my homestay family had a cable car that was going roughly 600m downtown and would save you a 20 minute car ride. It was a shared wind with roughly 10 other houses and they would need to coordinate as a ride downtown and back up would take a good 10 minutes
Very nice solution that both opens up new property solutions in difficult landscape while providing improved accessibility. Though the homeowner's talk about having an additional expense is relatable.
As a Wellingtonian it's fantastic to see our city cast so into the spotlight recently. It's great you're having a good explore around and learning tons of stuff about us
It’s likely the expert who reached out to him and asked if he was interested in doing a video on it. Tom mentions in a lot of videos that he was asked to go there by wherever he is doing a video on. I’m sure lots of people are constantly emailing him asking if he’s interested in doing a video on something because they get free advertising if Tom decides to do a video.
Tom you should absolutely do a meet and greet while you're in wellington I know at least 3 people that would scream if they got to meet you (myself included) I've got a cable car that runs up to my house (exact same model as Rose's) and it is the handiest thing I've ever had at a flat, I use it practically every day and it beats the hell outta the long staircase we've got otherwise
the next step is to make the cable car part of the house - say you step in through a perfectly normal looking front door at the street into what appears to be a regular entryway, but really the entryway is the cable car and it moves up to the house and becomes part of the structure, so you can you step out of it into the living room or whichever, just like you would any other house
Also available, and just costs a lot more as you enclose it. Tom could do the same here by me in South Africa, where the Cape province ultra rich live. Areas like Bantry bay and Llandudno, where there are plenty of properties where you absolutely need to have a cable car to access them, or the number where all you have at street level is a set of garages, and a lift to the premises
I grew up in a house on a hillside (sloped maybe 30deg) and there was no roadside access to the house. Sure, the two-car garage at the "back" (uphill end) of the property was roadside, but to get to the actual house we walked down a gentle driveway shared with two neighbors, then down a steep walkway to the door. We also had a second walkway (mostly stairs) leading to the road on the downhill side, which we used mostly for the schoolbus stop at the bottom.
Cool to see Rose Lu here. I imagine Tom and Rose could talk for days and days about things they find interesting, with Rose being an Author, Engineer and Software developer, and Tom Scott's love of linguistics, mechanics and code.
Local problems, local solutions. Very nice indeed. The price is not eye-watering, but not insignificant either. Thanks Mr. Scott for these unique pearls from the other side of the world...
There is a lot of these in Sydney Australia as well. Most of the ones I have seen are towards the top of the Northern beaches peninsula and many are not to access the house but to get down the step hills at the back to access the boat house of the property. And yes if you can afford any of those houses the price of the inclinator is not going to bother you it will be insignificant compared to the price of your boat let alone the house.
In my home town, this is a very common occurrence on lake houses, many of the lake houses cant walk down the steep slopes to get to the lake and some istall these. Always fun to spot them!
A friend of mine stayed at a secluded costal property somewhere in NZ (afraid I cannot remember where) which had an antiquated version of these that provided access to the the local beach. From the way it was described to me it definitely did not have a warrant of fitness, and was compared to something out of Indiana Jones!
Out of regulatory oversight (no inspectors..never been official....on private property..used by family and friends......Kiwi No.8 wirebuild quality See Denniston Incline history for some spectacular "cable cars".....
I imagine the people would just come down to get it. Like in apartments the person usually comes down to the building entrance instead of having the delivery driver come all the way up.
I live here and let me tell you - ease of access is a huuuuuuge factor for deliveries and tradespeople. Imagine needing to install a shower or build a balcony... and that is your access! It happens all the time. Tradies often have to haul huge loads up lots of stairs in Wellington... yet another reason why the city is very expensive
As a laborer in my younger years most of the houses that had cable cars were a nightmare to work on in most cases and there used to be a few in wellington that the only access was via cable car as the paths had fallen away or been overtaken fun times :)
I recently helped my daughter move out of a Wellington house with a cable car. Unfortunately it was out of service on moving day, so we just put moving blankets on the rail, placed the furniture on top and guided it down - easy! It wouldn't have been much fun going the other way though.
He has care and also responsibility.... he is responsible for their build safety...and the inspection team certifying them as fit for purpose as well....
This reminds me of Maryland, a lot of the houses had cable cars to bring them down the steep inclines and onto their docks for their boats. Always fascinated me as a child
Pittsburgh (where I live) currently has two "inclines", as they are called here. A hundred years ago, though, there were more than a dozen. Like most of the public transport network at the time, they were (poorly) run by private companies, hence most of them have disappeared. The system that you show here is fascinating, since there are some very hilly neighborhoods here in the Burgh!
They become more and more common in wealthy, slightly hilly areas in Germany. I know of roughly a dozen in Heidelberg. Some of them are only for freights for now, but since more and more high tech homes spring up in the rich neighbourhoods, I assume that amount will increase.
Never got to ride one (besides the Wellington "Cable Car") , but as a Kiwi kid growing up outside of Wellington, I do recalling seeing a couple of these in the 1980s out near the airport. My cousin did live closer to the city though and had a house that was on the hillside and required climbing a bunch of steps to get to - I loved sitting at their front window and watching the Picton ferry come and go
Live in Wellington, have been up and down a couple of these, but I'm actually more pleased to learn what that business does, as I've passed by it countless times.
Huh! I went to NZ for a holiday once, and I had always wondered just how fit you had to be to be a local there! It’s so steep! I see now, they’ve found some work arounds to the problem haha.
I'd always figured a requirement of monorails (and trains) is being able to propel themselves along the rail(s), not being pulled as seen here. But if we define a monorail as something that simply runs along a single track, then yes!
I think we call these funicular railways in the UK, unless I'm confusing them with something else. I'd be interested to learn about the brake/fall-arrest mech. I imagine it's something to do with the way the cable pulls on the hitch, and it levers downward if the cable loses tension. Can totally understand why there's a requirement for an annual maintenance inspection.
I've seen something similar in Haifa, which is built on Mount Carmel. I spotted some private houses along a particularly steep hill that had similar looking systems for getting to the main road. And there are 2 systems of cable cars in the city, one crappy one and one new, that everyone is in awe of but I haven't heard that many people using as everyday transportation. Architecture on hills is so interesting, in Haifa there are tons of houses that are built into the incline and have several entrances on different floors on different sides.
Tom, I love these videos that you make because I get to learn something new and cool about the world. As someone from boring northern Europe, private cable cars being a thing in New Zealand fascinates me.
So weird seeing all these stories based in Wellington. I always enjoyed your videos on strange or notable places, and I see how Wellington fits the bill, but it still does feel odd to see you talking about my home town. The hills are crazy here though; the trail up to some houses makes it look like you’re walking into the bush. If you haven’t already, you should check out Zealandia; there’s some interesting history there and it ties in with the predator-NZ project. Hope you’re enjoying your visit!
Is Tom planning to / did he visit anywhere else here on this trip? I'd enjoy seeing videos about smaller, more kiwi places. Like Bunnythorpe, home town of GlaxoSmithKline, now a suburb of Palmy. Or Arapuni - my personal fav town. I haven't been to the South island enough to recommend any good spots though.