Love venicular railways, the Victorians were masters of innovation! I've not been on this one, but I've been on the one at SouthEnd and the two at Hastings.
Brilliant video as always, Lewis. The railway is amazing and as anyone who has walked up from Oddicombe beach will confirm, it is definitely needed. It's a seriously steep walk if you miss the last ride up.
We have quite a few funiculars like those built during the 1800s in Valparaiso, Chile. We still use them every day to move up and down hills and they are part of the public transit system, and I have no doubt they have some shared British engineering
Thanks Lewis for nice trip down memory lane, my great Grandfather was the civil engineer on the lifts at Bournmouth. The original machinery was based on the inclines used to haul coal and stone. Water ballast tanks kept the system balance so the winch gear and brakes need not to be that large. Modern day reg have made the system so complicated and less reliable. However they are still running and that so that is good. Best
Yes! The ones in Gatlinburg Tennessee that carry you up to tourist attractions look like coal carts, lots of coal mining happened around there. I liked riding in them more than the attractions, nothing else feels like them.
Nice pivot, I've got absolutely no connection to the radio community, but I enjoy this essay style format. Nicely transferable to another subject, well done!
Outstanding report! Thank you for fully informing me about a system that I have never heard of! All of your videos are informative, very well produced and captivating! Please keep up the great work and thank you!
Your filming and photography skills are really something Lewis! You can see it in most of your video's, but this one proves it very obviously! Nice work!
Reminds me of the long defunct cliff railway between the river Avon and Clifton in Bristol. It’s actually inside the cliffs so you can just see the blocked up entrances at the bottom and top. There’s a radio connection though - during WW2 the tunnel was equipped as a BBC studio to keep broadcasting in the event that Broadcasting House in London was bombed, or if there was an invasion from the East.
@@RaceDayReplay According to Wikipedia there was a jetty opposite the lower entrance for access to paddle steamers and a ferry, sounds feasible, otherwise as you say nothing much there
cool, I've ridden that railway. There is/was one in Bristol inside the cliffs but was shut down before WW2 with the space used to set up an emergency BBC broadcast station
Remember riding it in 1971 during our summer holidays. We stayed at Dawlish Sands Holiday Camp and Mum drove us to Torquay and Babbacombe. A blast from the past
Well done. You’ve managed to fill the intersection of my interest in funicular railways and esoteric radio with a visit to part of the country I visited for many childhood holidays but somehow my parents never took us on this. I’m calling Childline.
I rode my first funicular only in 2019, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; it was once an important part of a quick commute for a lot of workers who previously had to walk up and down a steep slope leading down to one of the rivers.
Interesting content as usual. The camera work included in this really deserves a special mention. Always enjoy seeing "live", pictures. You really go all in. Gratitude!
I've been down there twice in the last two years but as mentioned, it's been closed when I've been there. I did the Linton/Lynmouth one though on one of my visits, which I hadn't done since I was a child.
Reminds me of the funicular at the Horseshoe Curve near Altoona, Pennsylvania. It takes you from the parking area up to the middle of the Curve where you can watch heavy freight trains screaming up the grade.
I walked up there today, there is a path that goes under the track and then follows the track to the rear of the top building, I can confirm the 1 in 2 steepness !
We have one of those in Los Angeles CA called the “Angels Flight Railway”. But the LA version has two traits on one track, with a crossover point in the center.
Victorians: Build something that lasts 100 years on a 700k budget. Us: Manage to fuck up the track replacement so much they need replacing again 10 years later, then also fuck up the hydraulics and electrics and god knows what else and close the thing down repeatedly for years at a time constantly while spending millions of pounds on it. Honestly, the UK is so shit at building literally ANYTHING.
The 112 mile London to Birmigham Railway was started in 1833 and completed in 1838. Five years. And built with just human labour and the use of animals such as horses, mules etc. No machinery, cranes, at that time. Meanwhile HS2...........
Nice! Beautifully shot and produced - a visual treat. Not been to Babbacombe but I have travelled on the Lynton and Lynmouth service as well as the one at Bournemouth and they're a wonderful curiosity!
Luxembourg-City has the Pfaffenthal-Kirchberg Funicular. It's a fully automated and it's a fun ride. The funicular is approximately 200 metres in length, overcomes a height difference of 38.7 metres, and has a constant slope of 19.7%. (Wiki facts). I've been riding it a couple of times during my holidays.
Those are so cool! Very picturesque, there's a couple in Gatlinburg Tennessee, one is a ride up to the Hillbilly putt putt golf where the course is all back down the hill. This one is more serious than the golf course one, that one was just a cart last time I was there. I enjoyed this video! It's not like you're replacing your usual content. Post what you enjoy and fuck the toxic commenters.
I live on the Canadian west coast in my area. from the 1910's to early 50's we once had an extensive railway logging operation where there were many short steep railway lines, or inclines, as they were called here. A rail car would be pulled up and down by a cable and steam winch at the top of the hill. These inclines were used to access high mountainous areas for logging operations. However these steep tracks were a prime reason railroads were phased out and replaced by trucks which only had to gear down to climb steep gravel roads without a cable winch. Today many of these lines are now hiking trails. I saw an old incline rail bed while hiking up to Della Falls in the 1980's I did ride a short steep cable railway while in Barcelona Spain.
I fully agree - well worth a ride as my old legs can't get me back up the steep path easily. Sadly have not visited for seveal years now but must do soon whilst I can.
Well that was a change and i must admit i thoroughly enjoyed it. We have a similar lift in Saltburn which only a few weeks ago had a serious electrical fire so i guess will be out of action for while.
Reminds me of the Duquesne Incline (Pittsburgh) and Angels Flight (Los Angeles) here in the U.S. A hike up Mt. Lowe in Los Angeles includes the remains of the Pacific Electric incline that ran there until 1936... Good show...
I 100% thought I was clicking on a Tim Traveller video, I was surprised and confused to hear your voice in it and thought that you guys were doing some sort of collaboration before I figured out it was your channel 😆 I guess great minds think alike 😉Great video! 👍
I enjoyed this particular trip into Tim Traveller and Jago Hazzard territory, nice look into something you might not get the chance to see unless you knew about it beforehand. Planning on going on a lot more railway adventures at some point in the future and its one of those thing I'd like to make a stop for on my travels.
In Sausalito, California, Several residences built into the steep hillsides had smaller versions of these railways to access them. Most seemed to be 4-6 people sized but they looked very similar and had only a single car with a large counterweight.
Great video. I immediately recognized the name Otis and wondered if it was the elevator company(lifts). I bet they are the biggest lift/elevator company in the world.
There is an interesting restaurant in Capitola, California called Shadowbrook that is accessed by a small funicular railway., I wonder if they had as many problems as this? I remember having to descend there once by foot because of maintenance work.
There's a water powered one here in Folkestone, but it's been _closed for repairs_ for quite a few years. Since they closed the Sunday market, there's not much call for it any more.
Thank you for a great diversion and spectacular views. Just wondering if you are going into competition with ‘Jago Hazard’!! This video certainly gripped my attention 👌
I know its unrelated to this video but i figured it would reach a large group of radio enthusiasts... Anyone else around the globe notice the noice on 10.136 MHz? If so anyone know what it is? Thanks everyone 73
Is this the same Torquay as set in Fawlty Towers? Forgive me if this is a dumb foreigner question lol but I love that show and yours so, thank you Lewis . Cheerio mate, 73s
I like funiculars and have been on a few. Should I make it to the area, I will ride this historic one also. Let me plug old Quebec for a car which moved from the old lower town to the Chateau above.
Ooh, I've been there. I found it by accident, following a footpath along from Torquay. The funicular was a godsend, because I was TIRED by that point and didn't fancy walking back the whole way I'd come. Of course, while I'd love to ride it again, devon and cornwall have leaned heavily into being anti-speed, anti-motorist, and particularly anti-biker. I'll be taking my money and my motorbike elsewhere from now on. Same with south wales, who apparently let policemen hide in bushes with mobile cameras.
