Mountain railways use different methods to climb steep gradients, including rack railways, cable cars, and funiculars. A rack railway uses a toothed center track to prevent the train from losing grip, while a cable car is connected to a stationary motor by cable. A funicular uses two carriages of equal weight connected by cable to balance each other while moving up and down the mountain railway.
A mountain railway travels over a mountain whose gradient is steep. In order for a train to travel such precipitous inclines, many different climbing methods can be employed. The most commonly used methods include a rack railway, a cable car, and a funicular.
A normal railway operates on the adhesion principle. The friction between the wheels and the rail is so great that the power delivered to the wheels causes the train to move. Friction becomes inefficient upon reaching a medium grade and stops working entirely on steeper grades. As a result, mountain railways use other techniques to traverse near-vertical landscapes.
A rack railway solves this adhesion dilemma by adding a rack and pinion configuration to the mountain railway. This is a locomotive-driven method, unlike the others, in which a third rail is placed between the two normal rails, which the train can grip with a tooth, or teeth, mounted below it. This center track is called a rack track, and it has teeth that rise from its top surface or from its sides. The tines are mounted on the bottom of the train that lock with the frame rail. The result is a simple mountain railway that prevents the train from losing its grip while running both uphill and downhill.
A cable car is a type of mountain railway with a train connected by cable to a stationary motor residing at the elevated destination. It is often the case that these trains are not permanently connected to the cable. Wires and cars can be moved from track to track as the need arises. The train does not use a locomotive engine with this design. Cable railways are most often employed at job sites such as mines and quarries.
The funicular is similar to the cable car. He also uses a cable-mounted system to move his cars up and down a mountain railway. Unlike a cable car, the cable of the funicular is connected to two carriages, or trams, of equal weight. As one goes up the slope, the other goes down, each balancing the other and preventing any kind of drastic movement. As a result, very little power is required to move the trains and a simple electric pulley is capable of moving both cars on the mountain railway.
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