[?] Which is the world's steepest railway?
26lcb
--
Regards,
David Lindstrom
Dave Proctor
wrote:
=========
The Scenic Railway at Katoomba?
Dave
Roderick Smith
AFAIK the Barberine funicular in Switzerland beats everything.
--
Regards
Roderick Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor
26lcb <d_lin...@bigpond.com> wrote in article
> David Lindstrom
steam3801
in a blinding flash of brilliance - wrote:
Steepest railway? - Criteria? - cable, cog. conventional ... too broad
a question at the moment.
steam3801
Jonathan Boles
"Dave Proctor" <da...@spambait.proctor.net> wrote in message
news:3n9vau0q98gvennle...@4ax.com...
steepest only in Australia
--
Rgds
J. Boles
Sydney, Australia
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Jonathan Boles
"26lcb" <d_lin...@bigpond.com> wrote in message
news:%lNr8.31052$uR5....@newsfeeds.bigpond.com...
>
>
> --
> Regards,
> David Lindstrom
>
>
the question is, what actually is meant by a railway? What about rack
railways and cable trams, ie. does the railway have to rely only on adhesion
of conventional wheels?
If not considering rack railways etc then I don't know. If considering those
other types, then the ship-hauling electric railway in the Panama canal
might be a contender (1in1 gradient). What are the gradients of other steep
railways?
Roderick Smith
before.
'Mountain climbing sans rack', by J H Price, appeared in seven parts in
'Modern Tramway' in 1979.
Mar.79: Rare for street tramways to exceed 1 in 10; rare for railways to
exceed 1 in 15.
Trieste - Opicina: 1 in 12.5 adhesion section, but with a braking rail for
emergencies.
Some German railways had 1 in 115 [11.5?].
Apr.79: Uetlibergbahn (Zürich): 7%, 1 in 14.
May 79: St Gervais - Chamonix - Vallorcine - Le Châtelard (ie the French
side): 2 km at 1 in 11 (9%), adhesion. The line claims to be the world's
steepest railway, but is beaten by some trams.
June 79:
* Martigny - Châtelard (ie the Swiss side): rack sections at 1 in 5;
adhesion sections at 1 in 7.
* Bernina (Switzerland - Italy): 7% adhesion (1 in 14.3).
* MOB (Switzerland): 6.9% on the climb from Montreux to Les Avants; 7.3% on
the climb to the summit at Jaman tunnel (1 in 13.7)
* Many Swiss lines have bits of 6% (1 in 17)
* St Gallen - Trogen (Switzerland): 7.3% (1 in 13.3)
* Zürich trams: bits of 7.7% (1 in 13) and 7.5% (1 in 13.3).
* Neuchâtel trams (Switzerland): bits of 8.9% (1 in 11.2)
* Neunkirchen trams (Germany): bits of 1 in 9 (11.1%)
* Kassel trams (Germany): 1 in 14.
* Oslo trams: 1 in 5.4 for a continuous 1 km.
July 79:
* Hakone - Tozan mountain tram (Japan): 1 in 12 (8.3%), without a braking
rail, also lots more at 1 in 12.5 (8%).
* Karuizawa railway (Japan, a former rack line): 9 km at 1 in 15 (6.6%).
* Pöstlingberg tram (Linz, Austria): 1 in 9.5 (10.5%).
* Gmunden tram (Austria): 1 in 10.4 (9.6%).
* Lisboa trams (Portugal): 1 in 7.4 (13.5%) and 1 in 8.5 (12%).
Also a summary.
Sept.79: Snaefell (Isle of Man): 1 in 12 (with a braking rail).
Nov.79:
* British trams: some 1 in 9; short ramps at 1 in 10 and 1 in 13.
I also found a reference to Die Barberine Drahtseilbahn (ie funicular) in
the book 'Schmalspurparadies Schwyz'. It has a grade of 870 pro mille,
87%, 1 in 1.1.
SS: The steepest non-cog line in NSW Australia is the Richmond Vale
Railway, in the section Weston - Pelaw Main. The grade approaching Pelaw
Main is 1:19. In the section Richmond Main - Pelaw Main the steepest grade
is 1:22.
JW: Although assisted by the counterweight car, how steep was the Balmain
line to Darling Street Wharf?
DM: 1 in 8.25, I believe. The mechanism is apparently at the tramway
museum at Loftus.
DB: the Roaring Camp and Big Trees Railroad, Felton, California which uses
steam ex-logging locos claims a grade of 1 in 12.
MG: Pilatus has 48%, as stated before in this thread.
DM: What started this was an e-mail challenging the claim that our local
entry, the Katoomba Scenic Railway, is the steepest in the world. I haven't
seen the latest copy of Guiness Book of Records, but they recently had KSR
listed as the world's steepest cable-hauled railway. The KSR is 52 degrees
or 1 in 0.82 or 122% at its steepest section.
see http://info.mountains.net.au/rail/ksr
G: According to the information that I have:
The 9% grade on the meter gauge French electric line between Chedde and
Servoz is the steepest that regularly accepts passenger trains.
The São Paulo Railway used to have a 5.3 mile long section of track at 10%,
worked by cables. This system was changed once in the 1900 rebuilding, and
again in the 1968-1974 rebuilding program.
MG: Santos - Jundiai in Brazil is 10%, 1600mm gauge electric with rack.
It's purpose is to bring freight cars up from the sea port.
David Johnson
<jab...@NOSPAMihug.com.au> wrote:
>
>"Dave Proctor" <da...@spambait.proctor.net> wrote in message
>news:3n9vau0q98gvennle...@4ax.com...
>> On Sun, 7 Apr 2002 11:39:06 +1000, "26lcb" <d_lin...@bigpond.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>> =========
>>
>> The Scenic Railway at Katoomba?
>>
>> Dave
>
>steepest only in Australia
So what is the steepest in the world, JonathOn?
The Scenic Runaway is 52 degrees, or 1 in 0.78.
David Johnson
trai...@ozemail.com.au
http://www.ozemail.com.au/~trainman/
------------------------------------
These comments are made in a private
capacity and do not represent the
official view of State Rail.
C.O.W.S. Page 11.
Thomas Pacy
I heard the Postlingberg Railway was the steepest rail-based railway in
the world. It travels up the Postlingberg mountain in Linz, Austria.
2.9km to rise 255m. It says it's the steepest in the world in the Linz
Tourist Guide :).
Thanks,
Tom Pacy
26lcb wrote:
> --
> Regards,
> David Lindstrom
>
>
>
David Bennetts
"Jonathan Boles" <jab...@NOSPAMihug.com.au> wrote in message
news:a8ol3f$7ie$2...@lust.ihug.co.nz...
Have a look at http://www.carta-bus.org/ under incline railway, the
Chattanooga (Lookout Mountain) Incline in Tennessee boasts an incredible
72.6% near the top. Wouldn''t be the first time Guinness has been proven
wrong.
The Royal Gorge Incline in Colorado also claims to be the World's steepest
but is only 45% - it quite possibly has the steepest average grade over its
entire length.
Regards
David Bennetts
David Bennetts
72.7 per cent grade is stated for Chattanooga, converting to degrees that
would be 65.4, to give a comparison with the 52 degree grade at Katoomba.
(being 72.7% of 90 degrees).
Regards
David Bennetts
James Robinson
A 72.7 percent grade is a 1 in 1.38 or a 36 degree angle. Therefore,
Katoomba is steeper.
Roderick Smith
percentage is not calculated as a percentage of 90%, but is the tangent of
the angle (rise over run in vegie maths speak) expressed as a percentage.
In more familiar grades, 1 in 50 is 2%. This is only 1.1 degrees.
Because most practical grades are below 3%, decimal places have to be used
to much of the time.
In Europe, pro mille is the preferred measure (ie parts per 1000). 1 in 50
would be 20 pro mille.
--
Regards
Roderick Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor
David Bennetts <davi...@hotmail.com> wrote in article
<kYqs8.1875$qg.1...@ozemail.com.au>...
David Johnson
They quote: The breathtaking 72.7% grade of the track near the top
gives the Incline the unique distinction of being the
steepest passenger railway in the world.
On my web page at http://members.ozemail.com.au/~trainman/grade.htm is
a converter. 1 in 1 is 100%. However, the Chattanooga Incline is
only 72.7% or 1 in 1.38 or 36.02 degrees.
Compare this to the Scenic Runaway: 1 in 0.78. 128% or 52 degrees.
If you want to get really silly, there is a 1 in 0 cable railway in
most office buildings.
Jonathan Boles
"David Bennetts" <davi...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:zAps8.1811$qg.1...@ozemail.com.au...
Um, the percentage is an expression of the change in height over change in
distance (ie. dy/dx) or (y1-y2)/(x1-x2) Not a proportion of 90 degrees.
so 45deg actually ends up as 100% not 50%
David Bennetts
>> If you want to get really silly, there is a 1 in 0 cable railway in
> most office buildings.
>
> David Johnson
> trai...@ozemail.com.au
> http://www.ozemail.com.au/~trainman/
> ------------------------------------
Many thanks David for the handy converter. It's a problem for older folks
like me when there are three different ways of measuring gradients - and
forty years or more since I last did trigonometry.
Don't think you could really classify those devices in an office building as
a railway as the rails are only there for guidance rather than carrying
weight - although cableways are known as aerial tramways in the USA.
Nice to now know the yanks are wrong then with their claim, perhaps
Chattanooga should just stick with their famous choo choo and stop making
false claims about their funicular. I think the Royal Gorge may have a
claim as being the steepest railway over its entire length, as most
funiculars tend to be like the Katoomba Scenic and have a varying grade.
Regards
David
MrGunzel
Ted Gay
"MrGunzel" <mrgu...@optusnet.com.au> wrote in message
news:3cb44adb$0$17268$afc3...@news.optusnet.com.au...
> I have yet to met 1 in 0 cable train gunzels...:P
>
What's the 'met' got to do with cable trains :-)
Ted
PeeJay
"David Johnson" <trai...@ozemail.com.au> wrote in message
news:15n5buolk8fuqqfne...@4ax.com...
> On Tue, 9 Apr 2002 10:54:04 +1000, "David Bennetts"
> <davi...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> >Sorry, a correction and clarification is needed to my previous posting. A
> >72.7 per cent grade is stated for Chattanooga, converting to degrees that
> >would be 65.4, to give a comparison with the 52 degree grade at Katoomba.
> >(being 72.7% of 90 degrees).
>
> They quote: The breathtaking 72.7% grade of the track near the top
> gives the Incline the unique distinction of being the
> steepest passenger railway in the world.
>
> On my web page at http://members.ozemail.com.au/~trainman/grade.htm is
> a converter. 1 in 1 is 100%. However, the Chattanooga Incline is
> only 72.7% or 1 in 1.38 or 36.02 degrees.
>
> Compare this to the Scenic Runaway: 1 in 0.78. 128% or 52 degrees.
>
>
> If you want to get really silly, there is a 1 in 0 cable railway in
> most office buildings.
## DIV BY ZERO!
Jonathan Boles
"PeeJay" <m...@you.com> wrote in message news:3cb4...@dnews.tpgi.com.au...
tan^-1 (pi/2) is undefined ;-)
PeeJay
> > > If you want to get really silly, there is a 1 in 0 cable railway in
> > > most office buildings.
> >
> >
> > ## DIV BY ZERO!
>
> tan^-1 (pi/2) is undefined ;-)
?
1.003884822 radians
Jonathan Boles
"PeeJay" <m...@you.com> wrote in message news:3cb6...@dnews.tpgi.com.au...
whoops should be tan not tan inverse :-(