Model Railway Forum

hi, does anyone have a design for a funicular railway?

No but I did fancy having a go at at building one at some time, just for the challenge.

I guess it depends what sort and going up and down what terrain.

Saltburn-by-the Sea in North Yorkshire has one. Try Googling it or the council may have details/plans. Also, tourist information.

So does Bournemouth and the one at Bridgnorth is a beauty.

Scarborough has 5 of which 2 are 'operational'.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category: ... ed_Kingdom

Should give some ideas especially if you wish to choose a one 'local' to you.

Sorry about the duplicate post - maybe a mod will delete it as I can't.

Scarborough has 5 of which 2 are 'operational'.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category: ... ed_Kingdom

Should give some ideas especially if you wish to choose a one 'local' to you (there may not be one local enough, but should give some ideas.)

Saltburn is a water balanced one so very unusual.

Thanks for your help.

Building a Funicular as a model railway will require quite a bit of ingenuity. The trickiest bit will be making it work.

As the track will be laid on a severe gradient the usual model railway propulsion of adhesion is out of the question, so some form of rope working will be essential In model form the counterbalance system where one car is made heavier at the top so its weight pulls the lighter car at the bottom, is unlikely to work reliably at small scale. So a powered haulage rope is probably going to be required. A thin nylon string attached to a motor driven pulley may be suitable. You will need to arrange the pulley to each car so that as one is hauled up the other is lowered. By winding the strings in opposite direction on a coupled pulley one would pay out as the other winds in.

The motor which drives the pulley will require some form of automatic stop so that when one car reaches the top it stops automatically., and can oinly re-start in reverse.

Funicular track will require some means for the cars to pass midway. If it uses a common rail this will need some special track to ensure the cars follow the correct route.

Could be a very interesting excercise!