WEBVTT - What is a funicular railway?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Brainstuff from hastaff marks dot com where smart happens.

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<v Speaker 1>I am Marshall Brain with today's question, what is a

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<v Speaker 1>funicular railway? A funicular uses the technology of an elevator,

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<v Speaker 1>in other words, a cable pulling a car up, and

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<v Speaker 1>the technology of a railroad, which is a car on

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<v Speaker 1>a track. Devised in the fifteen century, is a way

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<v Speaker 1>of getting people and things up steep hillsides. The funicular

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<v Speaker 1>now is more likely to carry skiers to the top

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<v Speaker 1>of a mountain in the United States that are often

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<v Speaker 1>referred to as incline railways. A conventional train could never

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<v Speaker 1>travel up such as steep incline because the steel train

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<v Speaker 1>wheels don't have enough traction against the steel rails. Trains

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<v Speaker 1>that do climb mountains go up tracks that spiral around

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<v Speaker 1>the mountain or go through many switchbacks. You might be wondering,

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<v Speaker 1>then why not build a train with rubber tires instead,

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<v Speaker 1>They might have enough traction to make it up the hills.

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<v Speaker 1>The reason trains have steel wheels and tracks is to

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<v Speaker 1>minimize rolling resistance to its absolute lowest level. This is

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<v Speaker 1>a force that tends to slow wheeled vehicles down. It

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<v Speaker 1>comes from the weight of the vehicle squishing the tires.

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<v Speaker 1>But even with rubber tires, it would be tough to

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<v Speaker 1>get enough traction on a steep slope, especially if it's

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<v Speaker 1>raining or snowing. The funicular conquers these problems in a

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<v Speaker 1>very elegant way. First, the car has pulled up the

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<v Speaker 1>mountain by a cable, which means that traction is no

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<v Speaker 1>longer an issue. The wheels just guide the car up

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<v Speaker 1>the mountain. They don't provide any of the pulling power

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<v Speaker 1>are But the true genius of the funicular is that

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<v Speaker 1>it uses two cars at the same time, one on

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<v Speaker 1>each side of a top pulley. At any one time,

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<v Speaker 1>one car is balancing the way to the other. The

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<v Speaker 1>descending cars weight helps pull the ascending car up the mountain,

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<v Speaker 1>and the ascending train keeps the speed of the descending

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<v Speaker 1>train from going out of control. There's still a motor

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<v Speaker 1>powering the pulley, but it only has to provide enough

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<v Speaker 1>force to overcome the difference in weight between the two cars.

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<v Speaker 1>Usually the way of the passengers is different and overcome

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<v Speaker 1>any friction in the system. At the kit stein Horn

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<v Speaker 1>Glacier in Austria, two cars carry skiers up and down

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<v Speaker 1>the mountain on a single cable that forms a loop

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<v Speaker 1>around a pulley at the top of the mountain and

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<v Speaker 1>then a passive pulley at the bottom. The kit stein

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<v Speaker 1>Horn funicular runs on electricity, which is supplied from a

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<v Speaker 1>power station at the top of the mountain. An electric

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<v Speaker 1>motor at the top keeps the cable moving. There's a

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<v Speaker 1>passive pully at the bottom of the mountain that provides

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<v Speaker 1>tension to the loop of cable. The Austrian funicular has

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<v Speaker 1>a single set of tracks going up the whole mountain,

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<v Speaker 1>except for a small section in the middle where it

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<v Speaker 1>splits into a double track. This is where the two

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<v Speaker 1>cars can pass each other. Building a funicular is quite

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<v Speaker 1>a feat because the track has to be laid either

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<v Speaker 1>on a steep mountain side or on a trestle that

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<v Speaker 1>rises from the side of the mountain and provides a

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<v Speaker 1>smooth platform. The Kistein Horn is ten thousand, four or

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<v Speaker 1>thirty meters tall. The tunnel that the funicular travels through

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<v Speaker 1>is eleven thousand, five hundred feet or thirty five hundred

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<v Speaker 1>meters long. It was a huge project to build this railway.

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