[dwb]

There's a funicular that runs from the Lugano station down into the town. It's well worth the fare if you have cases and don't fancy hauling them up rather a large number of steps. I don't think it would make a great model; it's mostly in tunnel or cutting....

and then there's all those funiculars in Switzerland such as the one which takes you to the base of the Rheichenbach Falls near Meiringen.

David

 

[dwb]

Whilst browsing last year's holiday photos, I found this one of the Lugano funicular.

David

 

[dwb]

QUOTE which I take is just for lighting

Probably. As you can see from the photo, most of the journey is in tunnel.

David

 

[dwb]

QUOTE Another question - I take it that the "points" have no moving parts similar to how the Brawa model works - double flanged wheels on the "outer rails" (on the passing loop) & a flangelass on the "inner" ?

I've no idea. Whilst the original of this photo is a lot larger than the one I have posted, the points themselves are not visible, so no amount of magnification is going to help

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I've seen a few funiculars on my holidays in Switzerland - another is at the Rheichenbach falls near Meiringen, and yes it is /those/ Rheichenback falls, Dr. Watson where meringues come from and very tasty they are too - but I've never noticed anything special about the passing places. I don't recall seeing any "remote" moving parts in their vicinity apart from the cable which connects the two cars, so the points must "decide locally", probably based on which side the cable is running. It's not the kind of thing you can leave to "chance" since both cars will arrive at the points at the same time.

David

 

[dwb]

I took this close up of the upper switch on the modern section of the funicular at Heidelberg last Friday. As far as I can tell there are no moving parts in the rails. There don't appear to be flange ways for wheels either which makes me wonder if only one side of each car has a flange with the other side being smooth?

I have a photo of the switch on the older (~100 years?) section too. It looks pretty similar with no obvious moving parts.

David