5 replies to this topic

[NHskier13]

Hey all
I've been wondering for a while a few things about trams, there's only two near me that I have ridden.

1 ) Has there been trams anywhere with a depression/hold down tower? The tram at cannon has little sheaves at the bottom station, I'm honestly not sure how much of a difference they make. If there isn't a tram with one, is it more about practicality (trams, from what I know, really don't need to run low since the carriers are heavy) or that the car would drag the rope down below the depression tower and cause derailment? (I honestly don't know if it would work that way)

2 ) What are those wheels that are on the line and not attached to a tower? Are they attached to the guide ropes?

3 ) How much heavier/lighter would, say, a fully loaded 70 person tram car be compared to a fully loaded line of a quad chair? (Let's say the quad is 5000 feet)

4 ) How do tram cars get onto the line? (My guess is via crane, but I don't know really)

5 ) Why would they put a fire department valve and stuff like that at the top of the mountain (in the case where there is a lodge at the tram's summit)

Thanks

This post has been edited by NHskier13: 13 May 2016 - 08:18 AM

[julestheshiba]

2 ) What are those wheels that are on the line and not attached to a tower? Are they attached to the guide ropes?


What are you talking about?

[Lift Dinosaur]

The wheels on line that are not attached to the towers (see red box) are attached to the Track Ropes and are commonly called Slack Carriers. Because the Track Ropes are under much higher tension than the hauling rope, the hauling rope will tend to droop or go 'slack' in between towers and these wheel assemblies prevent too much sag.
Dino

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[NHskier13]

Ah, ok
I haven't had a chance to see those up close, thanks dino

[_litz]

It's worth noting that 3S gondolas also have slack carriers.

In form and function, the actual trackway on a 3S is essentially identical to a tram (2 track rope, and a haul rope)

[Liftkid99]

From what I've seen, Tram carriages and hangers are attached to the cable with a crane and then the cabin is hoisted up. This is how Grouses tram carriages and hangers were replaced
In terms of tram hold downs the Peak 2 Peak has a hold down assembly at the entrance/ exit to each terminal, the track ropes are secured into the saddles and then the haul rope runs under a set of hold down sheaves directing the haul rope and cabin upwards- not sure how this would work on a tram since the carriages are different but generally a tram will just go over a valley so a hold down wouldn't be needed