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I seem to remember the German manufacturer Brawa, that also made cable car sets, advertised a working funicular set late 70s early 80s in HO and possibly also in N.
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I recall that Launceston Steam Railway bought the bought the components of the Scarborough North Cliff Railway when it closed in the 1990s, presumably to provide a link between the lower and upper part of Launceston. Nothing ever happened. Perhaps the parts are still available and could be used at Okehampton.
Have visited LSR a few times but have not seen the Scarborough components, presumably stored off site?
Perhaps the freight incline at St Michaels Mount could be added to that list.
I seem to remember reading an article in 'A to B' magazine some years ago written by someone who had constructed a short minature-gauge incline alongside a set of steps connecting his house to a road. I think it ran past the house and into his back garden, and was mainly meant for hauling gardening supplies like compost up the slope.
Not sure about the cars - shame he didn't get to progress the idea
I have been in touch with the company that did the Ebbw Vale FR about the feasibility of a FR in Okehampton ....
How can you class the Southend Cliff Railway as a funicular if it only has one car?
Correct me if I'm wrong but AIUI a funicular consists of two cars, and as one goes up the other automatically comes down to counterbalance the system, whereas with a cable railway or tramway the cars can operate independently of each other.
I believe that funicular just means "rope-worked," so the number of cars or whether there is a counterbalance is irrelevant.
Of course the very first builders would have discovered that a counterweight or second car to balance the first one made life a lot easier...
Just a few miles away from the Bridgnorth Castle Hill Railway is the Blists Hill Inclined Lift which is probably the newest funicular in Britain. I think it opened in 2009. When I visited at the end of October it was closed and notices around the site and on web site suggested it was closed for maintenance. Though some of the onsite notices looked as though they had been around a while.
The main purpose appears to be to provide the less able as a means of going from the higher part of the site where most of the reconstructed / replica buildings are to the lower part of the site. The only thing that puzzles me is if that was the case why hasn't the canal tow path which leads to the upper station been surfaced and improved? That path isn't exactly wheelchair friendly.
The car was in the upper station - the structures have a fake heritage look about them.
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Not sure about the cars - shame he didn't get to progress the idea
I have been in touch with the company that did the Ebbw Vale FR about the feasibility of a FR in Okehampton ....
Early this year I managed to secure a copy of a limited circulation book "The Great Western Railway's Last Resort" by Alec Kendall which is a very detailed look at the plans for a high speed direct route to Plymouth. Associated with this was hotel, gold course and residential development. Only the Golf Course was completed before WWII brought it to a halt and Nationalisation finally killed it.
However, the new Looe Station was to be located in the higher part of East Looe. Initial plans were for an escalator to provide pedestrian access to the station. As plans were developed the idea of an escalator was quietly dropped as I imagine it would have had to be of considerable length. Perhaps that might have warranted a funicular but it could have ended up with a similar situation to what prevails at Okehampton.
I've been on at least one of the Scarborough cliff lifts: in I think 1979 and 1983 as a child, and in 1999. Not sure how many of them are still in operation: I think there used to be at least three, but at least one of them has been out of action for many years.
Scarborough actually had a grand total of 5 funiculars. One of them, just North of the castle was very short lived, only a matter of a few years. If you visit the site you can just about make out its path. The other 4 soldiered on for many years until the short North bay one was dismantled and sold off. It was supposed to be re-assembled in Cornwall, but this didn't happen (Launceston IIRC). The other 3 are all still there but became run down until only 1 was left operational (Spa). One of the middle ones has subsequently been restored and put back into service, so there are now 2.
The Central Tramway has operated almost continually since it opened, other than a 1 year closure in the 1970s after being damaged by building work nearby. That’s really not becoming run down.
I believe that funicular just means "rope-worked," so the number of cars or whether there is a counterbalance is irrelevant.
Of course the very first builders would have discovered that a counterweight or second car to balance the first one made life a lot easier...
There's also a cableway/funicular in South Wales, in a place called Ebbw Vale. It links the new section of the town with the train station, to the town centre. I gather it has reliability issues though!
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