Editing Cable transport (section)

== History ==
Rope-drawn transport dates back to 250 BC as evidenced by illustrations of aerial ropeway transportation systems in [[South China]].<ref name=hoffman>{{cite web |url=http://www.mas.bg.ac.rs/_media/istrazivanje/fme/vol34/4/5._hoffmann_205-212.pdf |title=Recent Developments in Cable-Drawn Urban Transport Systems |access-date=November 17, 2015 |publisher=mas.rs}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.oitaf.org/Kongress%202011/Referate/Marocchi.pdf |title=Early History |access-date=July 9, 2018 |publisher=oitaf.org |archive-date=March 5, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305063627/http://www.oitaf.org/Kongress%202011/Referate/Marocchi.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

=== Early aerial tramways ===
[[File:MayflowerTramwayBucket.jpg|thumb|right|An aerial tramway used in mining, at the [[Shenandoah-Dives Mill]] in [[Silverton, Colorado]]]]

The first recorded mechanical ropeway was by Venetian [[Fausto Veranzio]] who designed a bi-cable passenger ropeway in 1616. The industry generally considers Dutchman [[Adam Wybe]] to have built the first operational system in 1644. The technology, which was further developed by the people living in the Alpine regions of Europe, progressed and expanded with the advent of wire rope and electric drive.<ref name=csm />

The first use of [[wire rope]] for aerial tramways is disputed. American inventor [[Peter Cooper]] is one early claimant, constructing an aerial tramway using wire rope in [[Baltimore]] 1832, to move [[landfill]] materials. Though there is only partial evidence for the claimed 1832 tramway, Cooper was involved in many of such tramways built in the 1850s, and in 1853 he built a two-mile-long tramway to transport [[iron ore]] to his [[blast furnace]]s at [[Ringwood, New Jersey]].<ref name=highwire>{{cite book |title=Riding the Hire Wire |last=Trennert |first=Robert A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5sW9AwAAQBAJ |date=2001 |publisher=University Press of Colorado|isbn=9781457109850 }}</ref>

World War I motivated extensive use of [[Military cableways in the First World War|military tramways]] for warfare between Italy and Austria.<ref name="csm">{{cite web |url=http://www.mines.edu/library/ropeway/about_ropeways.html |title=About Ropeways |publisher=Colorado School of Mines – Arthur Lakes Library |author=Information Center for Ropeway Studies |date=2006-03-17 |access-date=2006-11-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060904183704/http://www.mines.edu/library/ropeway/about_ropeways.html |archive-date=2006-09-04}}</ref>

During the industrial revolution, new forms of cable-hauled transportation systems were created including the use of steel cable to allow for greater load support and larger systems. [[Aerial tramway]]s were first used for commercial passenger haulage in the 1900s.<ref name=hoffman />

=== The first cable railways ===
[[File:Special feature in Y Cymro on the Llechwedd slate quarry at Blaenau Ffestiniog (15367488824).jpg|thumb|right|A gravity incline in use in 1955 at [[Llechwedd quarry]] in [[Wales]]. Empty wagons are arriving at the top of the incline – the winding drum is in the shed in the background]]
[[File:Harvey Cable Car.jpg|thumb|right|A test run on the Westside and Yonkers Patent Railway Company line in 1867]]
[[File:LLOYD(1876) VIEW OF CLAY STREET SHOWING THE WIRE RAILROAD pg191.jpg|thumb|right|Hallidie's Clay Street Hill Railroad, the first successful cable railway running at street level]]
The earliest form of [[cable railway]] was the '''gravity incline''', which in its simplest form consists of two parallel [[Track (rail transport)|tracks]] laid on a steep gradient, with a single rope wound around a winding drum and connecting the trains of [[Railroad car|wagons]] on the tracks. Loaded wagons at the top of the incline are lowered down, their weight hauling empty wagons from the bottom. The winding drum has a [[brake]] to control the rate of travel of the wagons. The first use of a gravity incline isn't recorded, but the [[Penrhyn Railway|Llandegai Tramway]] at [[Bangor, Gwynedd|Bangor]] in North [[Wales]] was opened in 1798, and is one of the earliest examples using iron rails.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Richards |first1=Alun John |title=The Slate Railways of Wales |date=2001 |publisher=Gwasg Carreg Gwalch |location=[[Llanrwst]] |isbn=978-0-86381-689-5 }}</ref>

The first '''cable-hauled street railway''' was the [[London and Blackwall Railway]], built in 1840, which used fibre to grip the haulage rope. This caused a series of technical and safety issues, which led to the adoption of [[steam locomotive]]s by 1848.<ref>{{cite web |title=The First Docklands Railway : The Story of the London and Blackwall Railway |url=https://isleofdogslife.wordpress.com/2016/07/13/the-first-docklands-railway-the-story-of-the-london-and-blackwall-railway/ |website=Isle of Dogs Life |access-date=9 July 2018 |date=13 July 2016}}</ref>

The first '''[[Funicular]] railway''' was opened in [[Funiculars of Lyon|Lyon]] in 1862.<ref>{{cite web |title=First Funicular Railway |url=https://www.cremallerademontserrat.cat/content/pdf/montserratfunicularssantjoanhistory.pdf |access-date=11 July 2018}}</ref>

The [[IRT Ninth Avenue Line#West Side and Yonkers Patent Railway|Westside and Yonkers Patent Railway Company]] developed a '''cable-hauled [[elevated railway]]'''. This 3½ mile long line was proposed in 1866 and opened in 1868. It operated as a cable railway until 1871 when it was converted to use [[steam locomotive]]s.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F1UPAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA455 |pages=455–456 |title=Report of the Public Commission for the First District of the State of New York |date=1907|last1=First District |first1=New York (State). Public Service Commission }}</ref>

The next development of the [[Cable car (railway)|cable car]] came in California. [[Andrew Smith Hallidie|Andrew Hallidie]], a Scottish emigre, gave [[San Francisco]] the first effective and commercially successful route, using steel cables, opening the [[Clay Street Hill Railroad]] on August 2, 1873.<ref>{{cite web |first=Joe |last=Thompson |date=1998–2004 |url=http://www.cable-car-guy.com/html/ccwho.html |title=Who Was Important in the History of the Cable Car?}}</ref> Hallidie was a manufacturer of steel cables. The system featured a human-operated grip, which was able to start and stop the car safely. The rope that was used allowed the multiple, independent cars to run on one line, and soon Hallidie's concept was extended to multiple lines in San Francisco.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Hughes |first1=Stephen L. |title=San Francisco Cable Car – the gripping tale of an aged compact |url=http://www.cablecarmuseum.org/archive/Library/road_track.html |website=www.cablecarmuseum.org |access-date=9 July 2018}}</ref>

The first cable railway outside the [[United Kingdom]] and the United States was the [[Dunedin cable tramway system|Roslyn Tramway]], which opened in 1881, in [[Dunedin]], [[New Zealand]]. America remained the country that made the greatest use of cable railways; by 1890 more than 500 miles of cable-hauled track had been laid, carrying over 1,000,000 passengers per year. However, in 1890, electric tramways exceeded the cable hauled tramways in mileage, efficiency and speed.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ESnBiR7vLPQC |title=World Railways of the Nineteenth Century: A Pictorial History in Victorian Engravings |last=Harter |first=Jim |publisher=JHU Press |date=2005|isbn=9780801880896 }}</ref>

=== Early ski lifts ===
The first surface lift was built in 1908 by German [[Robert Winterhalder]] in [[Schollach (Germany)|Schollach]]/[[Eisenbach]], [[Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald|Hochschwarzwald]] and started operations February 14, 1908.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hochschwarzwald.de/Eisenbach/1.-Skilift-der-Welt-in-Schollach-entdecken|title=Hochschwarzwald.de: 1. Skilift der Welt in Schollach entdecken (German)|website=hochschwarzwald.de}}</ref> 

A steam-powered toboggan tow, {{convert|950|ft}} in length, was built in [[Truckee, California]], in 1910.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Richards|first1=Gordon|title=HILLTOP WINTER SPORTS AREA HISTORY|url=http://truckeehistory.org/historyArticles/history34.htm|website=Truckee Donner Historical Society, Inc|access-date=16 September 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101203041504/http://truckeehistory.org/historyArticles/history34.htm|archive-date=3 December 2010}}</ref> The first skier-specific tow in North America was apparently installed in 1933 by Alec Foster at [[Prévost, Quebec|Shawbridge]] in the [[Laurentides|Laurentians]] outside [[Montreal]], [[Quebec]].<ref>[http://skiinghistory.org/history/timeline-important-ski-history-dates ISHA resources] ''Timeline of Important Ski History Dates''</ref>

The modern J-bar and T-bar mechanism was invented in 1934 by the Swiss engineer Ernst Constam,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Constam, Ernst|url=https://hls-dhs-dss.ch/articles/031325/2015-02-11/|access-date=2021-03-20|website=hls-dhs-dss.ch|language=de}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Espacenet – AT145894B Schleppseilanlage für Skiläufer und Fußgänger.|url=https://worldwide.espacenet.com/patent/search/family/004402110/publication/AT145894B?q=AT145894B|url-status=live|access-date=2021-03-20|website=European Patent Office|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211107012128/https://worldwide.espacenet.com/patent/search/family/004402110/publication/AT145894B?q=AT145894B |archive-date=2021-11-07 }}</ref> with the first lift installed in [[Davos|Davos, Switzerland]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=The oldest ski lift in the world|url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/going-up_the-oldest-ski-lift-in-the-world/41246122|access-date=2021-03-20|website=SWI swissinfo.ch|date=9 February 2015 |language=en}}</ref> 

The first chairlift was developed by [[James Michael Curran|James Curran]] in 1936. The co-owner of the [[Union Pacific Railroad]], [[William Averell Harriman]] owned America's first ski resort, [[Sun Valley, Idaho]]. He asked his design office to tackle the problem of lifting skiers to the top of the resort. Curran, a Union Pacific bridge designer, adapted a cable hoist he had designed for loading bananas in [[Honduras]] to create the first [[ski lift]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/23/magazine/who-made-that-ski-lift.html |title=Who Made That Ski Lift |newspaper=New York Times |date=February 21, 2014 |last=Engber |first=Daniel}}</ref>

=== More recent developments ===
More recent developments are being classified under the type of track that their design is based upon.{{citation needed|date=December 2019}} After the success of this operation, several other projects were initiated in [[New Zealand]] and [[Chicago]]. The social climate around pollution is allowing for a shift from cars back to the utilization of cable transport due to their advantages.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.oitaf.org/Kongress%202017/Referate/Marocchi%20Andrea.pdf |title=A new approach to urban transportation by cable |publisher=oitaf.org |access-date=July 9, 2018 |archive-date=July 10, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180710010213/http://www.oitaf.org/Kongress%202017/Referate/Marocchi%20Andrea.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> However, for many years they were a niche form of transportation used primarily in difficult-to-operate conditions for cars (such as on ski slopes as lifts). Now that cable transport projects are on the increase, the social effects are beginning to become more significant.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.sss10.bartlett.ucl.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/SSS10_Proceedings_131.pdf |title=Significant Social Effects |access-date=July 9, 2018 |archive-date=May 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210511092239/http://www.sss10.bartlett.ucl.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/SSS10_Proceedings_131.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>
In 2018 the highest 3S cablecar has been inaugurated in [[Zermatt]], [[Switzerland]] after more than two years of construction. This cablecar is also called the "Matterhorn Glacier ride" and it allows passengers to reach the top of the [[Klein Matterhorn]] mountain (3883m)<ref>{{cite web |title=highest 3S cablecar |url=https://www.zermatt.ch/en/Media/Media-corner/Press-releases/The-world-s-highest-3S-cableway-is-officially-inaugurated |website=Zermatt Matterhorn |publisher=Zermatt |access-date=8 October 2018 |archive-date=9 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181009052655/https://www.zermatt.ch/en/Media/Media-corner/Press-releases/The-world-s-highest-3S-cableway-is-officially-inaugurated |url-status=dead }}</ref>