{"id":1683,"date":"2016-12-19T11:03:27","date_gmt":"2016-12-19T11:03:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thebe.co.za\/thebeblog\/?p=1683"},"modified":"2016-12-19T11:03:27","modified_gmt":"2016-12-19T11:03:27","slug":"the-cape-of-climbs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thebe.co.za\/thebeblog\/2016\/12\/the-cape-of-climbs\/","title":{"rendered":"The Cape of Climbs"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Funicular Trams<\/strong><\/p>\n

A tough trip to the top<\/strong><\/p>\n

In 1877, the lighthouse keeper at the Cape Point lighthouse began to keep a visitor\u2019s book. The objective was partly for his own records and amusement, and partly to reward those who had made the arduous trip.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cHades of an ascent,\u201d gasped one early entry.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome climb,\u201d panted another.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want a road,\u201d squealed a third.<\/p>\n

To give you an idea of how difficult the trek to the lighthouse was, between 1877 and 1915 there were only about 70 entries per year into the lighthouse keeper\u2019s visitors books. And if you consider that most visitors\u2019 groups consisted of at least 5 people per group, that\u2019s an average of only 14 visits per year!<\/p>\n

In 1915 a decent road was built and visitor numbers ticked up but the climb from the road to the lighthouse was still prohibitively arduous.<\/p>\n

Of bus services and upgrades<\/strong><\/p>\n

Before the funicular railway was built in 1996, there was a bus service that transported people from the car park to the staging point, from where they could make their way to the lighthouses and viewing sites. (The main restaurant in Cape Point was in the Buffelsvlei building \u2013 where the Information Centre is today.)<\/p>\n

The original bus was called The Flying Dutchman<\/em>, after the famous ghost ship whose Captain Van der Decken was cursed to sail the stormy waters round Cape Point. The American writer Michael Fraser immortalized the original bus service in a passage that deserves eternal repetition:<\/p>\n

\u201cDestined, like its namesake, to never round the Cape, and doubly cursed to never get out of second gear, the roaring blue beast strains its way interminably up and down the steep road, the bus driver undoubtedly uttering his own Van der Decken-like oaths when American tourists in tartan shorts and a world of their own wander dreamily across his bows, requiring that the anchor be dropped rather precipitately for the sake of harmonious international relations<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 1995, a construction company called Concor Holdings (the same company that reconstructed the Sea Point swimming pool and built the Hartleyvale Olympic hockey stadium in Observatory) received a contract from the Cape Metropolitan Council to create a tourist facility at Cape Point. The facility would include a scenic restaurant, kiosk, information centre and a shiny new funicular railway to replace the accursed bus service.<\/p>\n

The funicular<\/strong><\/p>\n

The word \u2018funicular\u2019 comes from the Latin word funis<\/em>, which means rope \u2013 a clue to the aspect of this particular technology that makes it unique. A funicular railway uses two rail trams attached to one another with a cable. The counter-weight of each car produces a part of the power required to move each car up and down the steep slope.<\/p>\n

The Cape Point funicular took its name from the bus service that preceded it, but these days it is much smoother sailing. The rails upon which the cars are set is proudly a South African invention \u2013 the brainchild of one Peter Kussel of the Tubular Track company. Unlike conventional railway tracks, the tubular tracks are laid on twin reinforced concrete beams tied together using galvanized steel tie bars \u2013 an innovative engineering concept.<\/p>\n

The top station of the funicular was once the staff quarters of the original 1860 lighthouse. (Which was replaced by the newer, lower lighthouse in 1919 because it was frequently obscured by mists.) Today it is a curio shot and kiosk.<\/p>\n

Construction delays<\/strong><\/p>\n

Construction of the funicular started in 1995. As so often happens with projects of this nature, there were some unexpected delays. A selection of newspaper reports tells the story:<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026the system will only be competed after February next year.\u201d \u2013 Weekend Argus<\/em>, 21 October 1995<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is hoped to have the funicular completed by March next year.<\/em>\u201d \u2013 Weekend Argus<\/em>, 25 November 1995<\/p>\n

\u201cConstruction of the track has already started and the entire project is expected to be commissioned (sic) before April 1996.\u201d \u2013 Engineering News<\/em>, 24 November 1995<\/p>\n

\u201cThe R3,5m environmentally friendly, locally made funicular rail system\u2026 is nearly ready.\u201d \u2013 Weekend Argus<\/em>, 6 July 1996<\/p>\n

\u201cDELAYED CAPE POINT CABLE RAILWAY WILL OPEN BY END OF YEAR\u201d \u2013 Weekend Argus<\/em>, 5 October 1996<\/p>\n

\u201cCape Point\u2019s long-awaited funicular will finally open on Monday morning after months of delay.\u201d \u2013 Weekend Argus<\/em>, 1 December 1996<\/p>\n

\u201cThe long-awaited opening of the Cape Point funicular was set back a gain when a computer fault shut down then system.\u201d \u2013 Cape Argus<\/em>, 3 December 1996<\/p>\n

Until, at last:<\/p>\n

\u201cFUNICULAR IN TIMELY DEBUT\u201d \u2013 Cape Times<\/em>, 19 December 1996 (The editor of the Weekend Argus<\/em> had presumably stopped sending his reporters to the events.)<\/p>\n

The funicular today<\/strong><\/p>\n

Today, nearly one million people make the journey to Cape Point every year, and 378,000 of them use the funicular to get to the lighthouse.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s safe, it\u2019s smooth, it\u2019s silent, and it\u2019s a lot more environmentally friendly than a bus. (The winch at the top is electric.) The funicular is able to transport up to 450\u00a0people per hour \u2013 40 people per car \u2013 at 16km\/h for the 585 metres between the parking lot and the staging point below the lighthouse. It employs 14 people.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re sure you\u2019ll agree: it was worth the wait.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ve read the story of the funicular, now head to Cape Point where you can:<\/em><\/p>\n