MySwissAlps.com features ads, commercial and non-commercial Funiculars operational in March in Switzerland?
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Hi everyone
Good day🙂
any funiculars operating in march.
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Hi Yshu Krishna,
Your question is very generic. We have plenty of funiculars in Switzerland. If you could be more specific. perhaps tell us where you will be based, it would help me to answer your question better.
Regards,
Anna
Hi anna
i am so sorry..i found that some of the funicular operations are closed in march..we would like to base in lucern.
thankyou
Hi Yshu Krishna,
Well, the steepest funicular in Stoos, not very far from Lucerne, is open all year round. You might want to consider that?
Have a look at this thread for details: http://www.myswissalps.com/forum/topic/day-trip-to-stoos-worlds-steepest-funicular
Regards,
Anna
Thankyou so much dear:)
i really want to experience it
lots of love
If by funicular you mean the cogwheel trains, the two at RIgi – coming up from opposite sides of the mountain – are open all year. Other cogwheel trains close to Luzern are at Pilatus and Stanserhorn. Pilatus train begins operation in mid-May, and Stanserhorn begins on April 10 this year. There may be others but I’ve been on the trains noted above. Also went to Stoos last fall. Pretty impressive from an engineering standpoint but a short ride compared to the others.
<<” Also went to Stoos last fall. Pretty impressive from an engineering standpoint but a short ride compared to the others.”>>
Funiculars are not cogwheel trains. By their nature and function they tend to be short trips.
Slowpoke
If I assumed incorrectly, I would appreciate a definition of what a funicular is vs. a cogwheel train. I think I have the gondola vs. cable car distinction but I could be wrong on that too. I’m not being argumentative, I just want to ensure everyone reading is clear on what is being discussed.
Thanks.
Hi Cabinjon-
<<“I would appreciate a definition of what a funicular is vs. a cogwheel
train. I think I have the gondola vs. cable car distinction but I could
be wrong on that too.”>>
It is easy to get the variations confused. Even more so because “cable car” is an ill-defined name. Many things…such as gondola cars, but also chairlifts, are technically cable cars. I tend to use the term “cableways” ( also poorly defined) when I discuss the things that go through the air on cables.
In part, that is because we have “cable cars” in the USA that are very different. See below.
A cogwheel train ( also rack train) is a train which runs on regular tracks, but which, when steep grades demand it, engages a toothed (cogged) gear wheel (cog wheel)under the locomotive with a third (toothed) rail ( the rack) in the center of the roadbed. In German – “die Zahnradbahn” ( the toothed wheel train). Motive power is provided by the locomotive. Such trains usually can run on regular tracks which do not have a rack., and may have several cars.
In the ‘States…Mt Washington:
is a cog-wheel train.
Examples in Switzerland – Pilatusbahn, Rigibahn, and others as shown in the attachments. There are different designs for the gear system, which have names, such as the Riggenbach design.
Since they are powered by the locomotive, they are not limited in length/distance or time of ride. The gearing may be retracted or engaged, as needed.
A funicular is a also railway, running on the ground – usually with only a few cars powered by a cable attached to it/them. The cable in older designs runs over a powered wheel or large pulley at the top, and has two train sets (groups of cars). One is at each end of the long cable. The weights of the cars roughly counterbalance each other, and one comes up as the other goes down. Inherent in the design is the length of the cable. There is no locomotive, so the train cannot operate anywhere but on its specific set of tracks. The old design was developed when power sources where not so strong, and needed needed to have the car weights roughly counterbalance. Modern designs or retrofits can have a sufficiently powerful motors turning that pulley that only one section of cable is needed. So, in that case, the car(s) is(are) on the end of one long cable which winds up and pulls the car up the hill, on rails (so it is a railroad) and holds it back while unwinding as it descends. A mechanism to catch the cars is needed, in case the cable breaks. So, there may be some kind of third rail with teeth that can engage a ratchet under the cars to grab them, if the cable breaks.
I have attached a few images of the Treib-Seelisberg Bahn.
They show a couple of characteristics. The up car and the down car meet somewhere half way up the hill. Since there is only one track most of the way, when the cars pass each other, there must be two tracks. Shown in “meet..” Not needed for the new design with only one car or group of cars on the end of one long cable.
That image also shows the cables running on pulleys in the center of the roadbed, between the two tracks. In that image, the pulleys are tilted where the car is on a curved section of track.
Funiculars are common in mountainous cities, as well as other places through out Switzerland.
Many kinds of cableways go above the ground. There are specific names for each kind.
The “cable cars” in San Francisco operate with a continuously running cable under the train in the ground. The cars themselves have “shoes” that grab the cable to go along with it, or release the cable when they are stopped at a station.
Need more?…look up the names in Wiki.
Slowpoke
PS -I’m having some problems with image uploading at the moment, but I’ll put some up as soon as I can.
Thanks slowpoke. Perhaps I should just enjoy the rides regardless of what category they fall into. I found a list of 41 funiculars in Switzerland, more than I thought. I don’t enough about Swiss geography to identify which of those listed may be close to Luzern. Perhaps others will find this useful.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_funiculars_in_Switzerland
I guess it doesn’t really matter if you get to the top (and back down) via cogwheel, funicular, gondola, or cable car.
<<“I guess it doesn’t really matter if you get to the top (and back down) via cogwheel, funicular, gondola, or cable car.”>>
Cogwheel trains are noisy, and make a clunk which can be disconcerting when the rack is engaged. It might worry you if you did not know what it is. Aerial cableways can sway in the wind….
Slowpoke
Pretty sure the funicular from Kehrsiten to Bürgenstock runs all year round. Catch the shuttle boat from Luzern to Kehrsiten. It’s a very snappy unit. See http://www.lakelucerne.ch/en/offers/excursions/buergenstock/.
Great pics, Slowpoke. Those not only show the difference but added to my “Things we might do next time in Switzerland” list. Thanks.
I’ve still got some work to do. I’ve only been on 9 on that list of 41!
Another variety you will find are so-called “inclined elevators” such as at Le Locle. They are generally quite short and work as the name implies.
Thanks for the list of funiculars in Switzerland.
Good to know 🙂
<<“Pretty sure the funicular from Kehrsiten to Bürgenstock runs all year round. “>>
As far as I know, it was renewed, and the shuttle added ( actually, made more frequent and direct), to provide public transport for the residents of the deluxe housing up there. So, it needs to run all year. The bus service is slow and lacks elegance. 😉
Slowpoke
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