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The Great Orme Tramway
The Great Orme is a limestone headland rising to the west of the town of Llandudno in north Wales. It is 679 feet (207m) high. In 1902, a short 1,954 yard (1.11 mile) funicular to the summit opened, on a gauge of 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm), and a ruling grade of 1 in 3.6 (27.8%). The cars are permanently fixed to the cable, and as one descends the gradient, another ascends. The cars are stopped and started from the winding house.
The line is in two sections. The lower part is paved street trackage; the cable runs in an enclosed conduit accessed by a slot. The upper section is entirely on open ballast track, the exposed cables running over pulleys. Passengers transfer between sections halfway, passing through the winding house. The four cars are permanently fixed to the cables; they are started and stopped from the winding house. Signals from car to winding house now use a buried induction cable beside the line. Despite competition from road and overhead cable, the cable line still operates every summer. It is now the only cable tramway in the British Isles. |
