Ride the world's steepest incline railway, the Scenic Railway at Katoomba in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney. It drops through a canyon at 52 degrees through a total distance of 310 meters
Very scenic, I love things like that. Would love to take a ride one day. Thanks for taking us along Dave. Sounds like Sagan enjoyed every second of it.
Absolutely awesome video. When I first rode this railway back in the 1960's, there was no grills, no doors and sadly no Indiana Jones theme music. I loved every minute of the ride, despite thinking every minute that it may be my last ride. LOL..
+GunsOfPlentyNZ It didn't have the wussy protective grill and gullwing door rubbish back then. Just a hand rail to stop you falling straight out the front!
+EEVblog2 Me to, Mid 80's on a school trip from Brisbane to the Snowy mountains. I remember seeing and being excited about the roller coaster they had under construction at the time It's a shame they never finished it. it looked scary. Perhaps to scary.
Thanks for the memories Dave. A bunch of mates and I climbed this railway after descending the 1000 steps and exploring the mine at about 2am one Sunday morning way back in time :-) Suffice to say it was a bit scary with big gaps between the 'sleepers' and carrying old torches in the other hand!
Stayed just a few mins away in the caravan park last Oct (15) and wanted to ride the train but the queue was too long. Great location though for the scenery. Passed through this area many times on the way to Bathurst before and this was the first time to take in the view and walk around. Breath taking. Will be back again some day.
Hey I've been there! (I'm from holland). Loved the area. So beautiful, Especially the Fern trees intrigued me. Nice peek at the 3 sisters in the end! Was there when i was about 12 I think, with my parents. I hope to return for another visit to Australia once....
There is a wonderfull railway in Greece called "Odontotos". I'm sure, if you come any time in Greece, you will fell in love with it. It's an amazing trip through mountains from Diakopto to Kalavryta.
Actually the incline railway in Lookout Mountain, Tennessee has an incline of 72.7% and claims it is the world's steepest grade. Been there since 1895. Looks like a fun ride just the same though.
I just previously watched another steep incline railway vid and was in the zone for doing the calculations in my head. Here a 52 degree incline equals 128% incline (had to look that part up though) which equals 15-3/8" vertical drop for every 12" horizontal (if my numbers are correct). Dang that's steep.
It is only 72 degrees in its last section, overall both the Mongohelia Incline in Pittsburgh and the Johnstown Incline are steeper. Both claim to be the steepest in the USA, the Mongohelia is steeper but passengers only, the Johnstown Incline is almost as steep but can take vehicles on it, thus Johnstown claim it is the Steepest Vehicular Incline. When the Johnstown Incline was designed after the Johnstown flood, it was designed to haul horse drawn wagons up that mountainside. Today, you can still take cars up it as large as Subanbans and other heavy SUVs.
I think that front grill is to keep your hands inside the car in case the cable breaks and the car slams into the bottom. Wouldnt want your fingers pinched.
You wouldn't survive a ride down this thing with the car rolling on its own. The transition from the decline to the bottom station is also way to sharp. The forces on that part would be probably strong enough to break the car. And iven if it didn't it would crash through the station. In case the cable snaps your fingers would be the least of your problems. :D
@@spencerlyman6443 Don't think so. Lookout Mountain Incline Railway looks pretty steep, but nowere near 52 degrees as far as I can tell. 52 degrees is even steeper than the Pilatus Cog Railway (48°) and probably also steeper than the Gelmersee and the Stoos funiculaires in Switzerland. Although this thing here is considerably shorter than any of those mentioned.
Hi Dave, that was cool. We have something similar in ( the united states of america.....america ) In the state of New Hampshire. The Cog Railway, it goes up Mount Washington. It's a long slow ride, very steep but not as steep as that. It is an old coal burning steam locomotive, the smells and sounds are like nothing else. I think it climbs a 43 degree incline- not sure of that figure. By the way the blue mountains look fantastic! Love to spend some time there.......
I did the trip going up as well when I went on it six years ago. Our guide warned us that it was going to pick up speed much faster than we might think.
Went on this today. I wasn't expecting it to feel as steep as it is after seeing videos of it. We were unfortunately at the back when we went down, and there were no "seat adjusters" to do the laid back/cliff hanger experiences. On the way up, we were closer to the front and we went cliffhanger, almost slipped out of the seat hahaha.
For myself, this does not look all that exciting. Not after seeing footage of riding the Gelmer Funicular in Switzerland. It is a much slower ride, but a lot longer and I think the scenery views/experience look absolutely breathtaking! And certainly no mesh screen in front to completely screw with a person's view! (And I would definitely want to be riding at the front of that cable railway car!!)
You could write me a “no strings attached” check for 10 million dollars and I STILL would never get on this thing, MUCH LESS get on this thing with my whole kids
This was a little faster in years gone by and there were no guard rails or safety screens to stop you falling out. The original purpose of this was to haul coal to the top of the valley. The coal wagons were replaced with passenger wagons and the train was converted to a tourist conveyance. The scenic railway as it became known was never meant to be a roller-coaster. The train today is a far cry from the original and is less exciting due to safety practices that need to be observed in order to maintain their licence. The beautiful walks from the lower terminus through the forest are the real highlight of this area and definitely not a waste of time.
That's not a railway it is a funicular also called cable railway... meaning it is pulled by a cable. And it's not the world's steepest. The world's steepest funicular is at Stoos Switzerland. Check it out: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-G-7a0S5wsss.html
FALSE!!! Lookout Mountain Incline in Tennessee USA is the steepest at 72.7 degrees look it up in Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lookout_Mountain_Incline_Railway
