Thursday, 29 June 2017

Aberystwyth Cliff Railway

The Aberystwyth Cliff Railway is one of the longest funicular railways in the UK and runs from Aberystwyth up Constitution Hill. The railway opened in 1896 to serve a Victorian visitor attraction with a camera obscura and parks on top of the hill and a restaurant and arcade at the bottom. Originally the funicular railway used a water balance system but since 1921 has used electricity to operate the 2 carriages via steel cables. The funicular railway rises 130m with a gradient that exceeds 1:2 in places.
Station at town level

One of the carriages

A footpath on the hill crosses the track via this bridge

The views of Aberystwyth are astonishing

On top of the hill