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Including Montserrat
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This page shows images of the funiculars and
cableways of Barcelona and the surrounding areas, particularly at the
monastery at Monserrat.
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Google Interactive Map of the Metrotranvia di Sassari
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Including Montserrat
All images link to larger
copies which will open in a new window/tab
The Tibidabo Funicular was opened on October 29, 1901
with a length of 1152 metres. The funicular railway, built in 1901, was the
first of its kind in Spain. The system is single track with a single passing
place at Apeadero Observatorio, where there was originally a third station.
The funicular has featured in a huge number of postcards issued since its
opening, a selection of which are shown below, along with more recent
digital images.
Tibidabo Funicular -
Postcards of Lower Station
Estacion Inferior
Tibidabo Funicular - Postcards
of the Lower Station (Estacion Inferior)
Tibidabo Funicular in 2013 - the Lower Station (Estacion Inferior)
Photo: © Ian Boyle, 7th July 2013
Tibidabo
Funicular - Postcards of Lower Section
Estacion Inferior to Apeadero Observatorio
Tibidabo Funicular - Postcards
of the lower section (Estacion Inferior to Apeadero Observatorio)
Tibidabo Funicular in 2013 -
Lower section from the lower station to the crossover
Photo: © Ian Boyle, 7th July 2013
Tibidabo
Funicular - Postcards of Intermediate Station
Apeadero Observatorio
Originally the the Funicular had an intermediate station at Apeadero
Observatorio, at the top end of the passing loop. The original building was
tall and narrow, but it was later widened.
Tibidabo Funicular - Postcards
of the intermediate station (Apeadero Observatorio)
The original tall narrow building
Tibidabo Funicular - Postcards
of the intermediate station (Apeadero Observatorio)
The enlarged building
Tibidabo
Funicular - Postcards of Upper Section
Apeadero Observatorio to Estacion Superior
Tibidabo Funicular - Postcards
of the Upper Station (Estacion superior)
Tibidabo Funicular in 2013 -
Upper section from crossover to the summit
Photo: © Ian Boyle, 7th July 2013
Tibidabo Funicular -
Postcards of Upper Station
Estacion Superior
Tibidabo Funicular - Postcards
of the Lower Station (Estacion Superior)
Tibidabo
Funicular in 2002
Tibidabo Funicular in 2002
I thought the trains were just covered in graffiti but in fact were done as
school projects - they have since been repainted
Photo: © Ian Boyle, 1st September 2002
Telefèric del Port
Montjuic-Barcelona Port Cable Car
The Telefèric del Port is a cable car which starts at
the Miramar station situated halfway down the hill of Montjuïc at an
altitude of 57m, passes through the peak of Torre Jaume I which is 107m high
and ends at the top of Torre Sant Sebastià at 86 m, from where an elevator
descends to the streets of Barcelona. The ride offers a fine view over
Barcelona, the nearby Plaça del Portal de la Pau with the Columbus Monument,
Port Vell with its Balearic ferries and the World Trade Centre, and
Barceloneta with its Mediterranean beaches. The tramway normally makes a
short stop at Torre Jaume I, allowing passengers to wander around the
platform of this tower which was the world's highest aerial lift pylon until
1966. However, the central Torre Jaume I has been closed on my two 2009/2011
visits whilst the lifts are being refurbished.
The aerial tramway was intended to be an attraction at the 1929 Barcelona
International Exposition, a World's fair. To this end, the Air Rail San
Sebastian-Miramar, S.A. was incorporated and obtained the royal licence to
build and operate the tramway. The manager of the project was Juan Rodriguez
Roda. The towers were designed by the architect Carles Boigas and executed
by Material para Ferrocarriles y Construcciones S.A.. The aerial tramway was
built by Bleichert, at that time a company with a worldwide reputation which
had just completed the Aeri de Montserrat. However, the size of the project
was underestimated and the aerial tramway was opened only on 12 September
1931.
Initially, the aerial tramway consisted of two sections with two cars each.
The cabins travelled from the terminal stations to Torre Jaume I and back,
however, there was only one haul rope for the total length which moved all
four cabins.
All hopes for a commercial success of the venture were annihilated in the
Great Depression and in the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939). Torre Jaume I was
used as a look-out and a machine gun post. The aerial tramway was heavily
damaged and reduced to the structures of the towers rusting away. One of the
two surviving cabins was transferred to Aeri de Montserrat which started to
operate again in 1940. There were discussions to demolish the installation
completely. Eventually, Friedrich Gründel, Bleichert's chief engineer during
the construction, succeeded in establishing Teleféricos de Barcelona, S.A..
In 1960, Torre Sebastià reopened with a new restaurant at its top, followed
two years later by Torre Jaume I. 1963, the aerial tramway reopened with
only two cabins which travelled along the total length and through the top
of Torre Jaume I. After Mr. Gründel's death, the ownership changed several
times, commercial results diminished and the technical status deteriorated.
The authorities had already decided to close the installation, when in 1996,
Barcelona decided to redevelop Port Vell and to build the World Trade
Centre. In this context, the aerial tramway was also renovated and it
reopened in 2000. (Ref: Wikipedia)
The Telefèric del Port at Barcelona
Photo: © Ian Boyle, 30th October 2011
The Funicular de Montjuïc, or Montjuïc funicular, is
a funicular railway in the city of Barcelona, in Catalonia, Spain. The line
is largely in tunnel and connects the Barcelona Metro Parallel station with
the hill of Montjuïc and the various sporting and other facilities there.
The funicular uses the same fares as the metro and is listed on maps as part
of the metro network. It is operated by Transports Metropolitans de
Barcelona (TMB), which also operates most of the metro lines. The line was
opened in 1928, in order to serve the International Exhibition of 1929. It
was extensively reconstructed in 1992, in order to cope with traffic to and
from the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys and other facilities used for the
1992 Summer Olympics, situated on the Montjuïc hill. The funicular is one of
three in Barcelona, the others being the Funicular de Vallvidrera and the
Funicular del Tibidabo, although neither of these is operated by the TMB.
(Ref: Wikipedia)
Length: 758 metres
Height: 76 metres
Maximum Steepness: 18%
Cars: 2x 3-car train sets
Capacity: 400 passengers per train
set
Configuration: Single track with
passing loop
Journey time: 2 minutes
Maximum speed: 10 metres per
second
Track gauge: 1.2 metre
Traction: Electricity
Montjuic Funicular
Photo: © Ian Boyle, 30th October 2011
Montserrat Funiculars & Cableways
Santa Maria de Montserrat is a Benedictine abbey
located on the mountain of Montserrat, in Monistrol de Montserrat, in
Catalonia, Spain. Montserrat, whose name means serrated mountain, is 48
kilometres (approx 30 miles) west of Barcelona, and can be reached by road,
train or cable car. Two further steep funiculars run from the monastery, one
to further up the mountain and one down. It hosts the Virgin of Montserrat,
and the Publicacions de l'Abadia de Montserrat, a publishing house, one of
the oldest presses in the world still running, with its first book published
in 1499.
1: Cremallera de Montserrat
Main public transport access to the monastery is the Cremallera de
Montserrat (Montserrat Rack Railway), which is a mountain railway line which
runs from Monistrol de Montserrat Station, on the Ferrocarrils de la
Generalitat de Catalunya (FGC) line from Barcelona-Plaça d'Espanya station
to Manresa
2: Aeri
de Montserrat
The Aeri de Montserrat is an aerial cable car which provides one of the
means of access to the Montserrat mountain and abbey. The line runs from the
monastery to the station of Montserrat-Aeri, on the Ferrocarrils de la
Generalitat de Catalunya (FGC) line from Barcelona-Plaça d'Espanya station
to Manresa.
3: Funicular de
Sant Joan
The Funicular de Sant Joan connects the monastery, and the upper terminus of
the Montserrat Rack Railway, with sacred sites, walking trails and
viewpoints higher up the mountain. With a maximum gradient of 65%, it is the
steepest funicular in Spain.
4: Funicular de
Santa Cova
The Funicular de Santa Cova descends from the monastery, and the upper
terminus of the Montserrat Rack Railway, on a continuous curve to a lower
station that gives access, via a path, to Santa Cova, a shrine lower down
the mountain.
The Cremallera de Montserrat (Montserrat Rack
Railway), is a mountain railway line which runs from Monistrol de Montserrat
Station to the mountain-top monastery of Montserrat.
A line on this route was originally opened in 1892 using Swiss steam rack
locos. Competition arrived in 1930, in the form of the
Aeri de Montserrat, an
aerial cable car that also carries passengers to the monastery. A narrow
road also reaches the monastery. After poor financial results and an
accident in 1953, the rack railway line was closed on May 12, 1957. However
over time the Aeri and road became unable to handle the increasing number of
visitors to the monastery. After many years of planning, a program began to
rebuild the rack railway in 2001, and the line re-opened in its modern form
on June 6, 2003. In its first 12 months of operation, the new Montserrat
Rack Railway carried 462,964 passengers.
The line is 5 km (3.1 miles) long and has a rail
gauge of 1 metre. The first 1 km (0.6 mi) of the line, between Monistrol and
the only intermediate station at Monistrol Vila, is operated by conventional
adhesion. The remainder of the line is operated as a rack railway using the
Abt system, overcoming a height difference of 550 m (1,804 ft) with a
maximum gradient of 15.6%. The line is electrified with an overhead supply
at 1500 V DC.
The line is operated by the Ferrocarrils de la
Generalitat de Catalunya (FGC).
(ref: Wikipedia)
Cremallera de Montserrat -
Postcards of the steam-operated railway
Cremallera de Montserrat -
Postcards of the revived electric railway
The Aeri de Montserrat is an aerial cable car which
provides one of the means of access to the Montserrat mountain and abbey.
The line runs from the monastery to the station of
Montserrat-Aeri, on the Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya (FGC)
line from Barcelona-Plaça d'Espanya station to Manresa. The FGC also
operates the Montserrat Rack Railway, which provides an alternative access
to the mountain and abbey, and two funicular railways on the mountain, the
Funicular de Sant Joan and the Funicular de Santa Cova.
(ref: Wikipedia)
Postcards of the Aeri de
Montserrat
The Funicular de Sant Joan is
a funicular railway at Montserrat, near Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain. The
line connects the monastery, and the upper terminus of the Montserrat Rack
Railway, with sacred sites, walking trails and viewpoints higher up the
mountain. With a maximum gradient of 65%, it is the steepest funicular in
Spain.
The line is operated by the Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya
(Catalan Government Railways, FGC), who also operate the Montserrat Rack
Railway and the Funicular de la Santa Cova funicular railway on Montserrat
Mountain, together with two other funicular railways and a significant
suburban railway system in and around Barcelona.
The line was originally built in 1918, and modified to increase capacity in
1926. In 1986 it passed to the FGC, who modernised it in 1997, providing new
panoramic cars with transparent roofs. (ref: Wikipedia)
Technical details:-
Length: 503 m (1,650 ft)
Height: 248 m (814 ft)
Maximum steepness: 65.2%
Cars: 2
Capacity: 60 passengers per car
Configuration: Single track with passing loop
Travel time: 6 minutes
Track gauge: 1
Traction: Electrical
Postcards of the Funicular de
Sant Joan
Images of the Funicular de Sant
Joan
Photo: ©2013 Martin Grant
I have found only one postcard
of the Funicular de Santa Cova so far, publishers preferring the more
spectacular Funicular de Sant Joan.
The Funicular de Santa Cova is a funicular railway at Montserrat, near
Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain. The line descends from the monastery, and the
upper terminus of the Montserrat Rack Railway, on a continuous curve to a
lower station that gives access, via a path, to Santa Cova, a shrine lower
down the mountain.
The line is operated by the Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya
(Catalan Government Railways, FGC), who also operate the Montserrat Rack
Railway and the Funicular de Sant Joan funicular railway on Montserrat
Mountain, together with two other funicular railways and a significant
suburban railway system in and around Barcelona.
The line originally opened in 1929 and was passed to the FGC in 1986. It was
renovated in 1991 with the retention of its original stepped and wooden
bodied cars. Unfortunately one of these was damaged by floods in 2000, as
was the lower station. When the line reopened in 2001, new panoramic cars,
similar to those already in use on the nearby Funicular de Sant Joan, were
provided. Although the line operates two cars, in normal service only one
carries passengers, whilst the other simply acts as a counterweight. (ref:
Wikipedia)
Technical details:-
Length: 262 m (860 ft)
Height: 118 m (387 ft)
Maximum steepness: 56.5%
Cars: 2
Capacity: 90 passengers per car
Configuration: Single track with passing loop
Travel time: 2.5 minutes
Track gauge: 1
Traction: Electrical
Postcard of the Funicular de
Santa Cova
Postcard of the shrine for Santa
Cova
Postcard of the view from Santa
Cova back up to the monastery
