On 08/07/2019 09:01, Harry Bloomfield wrote:
After serious thinking newshound wrote :
You really have to admire the ingenuity of people who managed to make
these work so well! It's (sort of) a logical successor to Brunel's
atmospheric railway.

+1

A very complex system to develop. I wonder why they developed it as a
below ground drive system, rather than on poles like a ski-lift?


2 issues with that a

a. what happens when the cable breaks - a heavy cable (over an inch
across in SF) moving fast (9.5 mph in SF) above busy city roads. I
wouldn't want to walking along the road unless the height of the poles
(H) minus the interval between poles (L) was around 2m. That's a lot of
tall poles! (And still leaves the risk of the cable moving sideways. And
buses etc)

b. transmitting the driving force from a cable several meters above the
car requires a /much/ more substantial structure than from a cable a few
inches below street level.

--
Robin
reply-to address is (intended to be) valid