A Do It Yourself Funicular
Jeff Johnson just informed me about these two videos about an inclined lift he built from scratch for his house at Butler on Watauga Lake, in the Cherokee National Forest, Tennessee (USA).
His dad and him have worked on it for about 3-4 months, and it took about 8 weekends for the "site work" and probably 2 weeks for the controls.
Bravo Jeff!
Un funiculaire à faire soi même
Jeff Johnson vient juste de m'informer de ces deux vidéos sur un ascenseur incliné qu'il vient de construire entièrement pour sa maison de Butler sur le lac Watauga, dans le parc National Cherokee, Tennessee (USA).
Son père et lui y ont travaillé pendant environ 3 à 4 mois et cela a pris presque 8 semaines pour le plan incliné lui même et 2 semaines pour l'électronique.
Bravo Jeff!
Photo Jeff Johnson
October 27th, 2006 at 2:59 pm
Michel, thanks for the posting. It was a fun project. I still have much to do. I have to finish the body of the cart and make a landing at the bottom so we don’t have to hop off or climb up.
Dad and I are looking how to have the funicular stop at other fixed points (basement level and subbasement level) We’re trying to figure out how to make it “on request” so it doesn’t stop automatically twice going up or down. We have an idea how to do it however.
October 27th, 2006 at 3:42 pm
Funiculaire à faire soi-même? Bon, il n’est quand-même pas livré en kit préfabriqué qu’il reste juste à monter! Jeff pourrait proposer son modèle à Ikea et faire fortune
Quel système de sécurité? Y a-t-il un frein de secours?
Ça m’épate ce truc! Bravo aux inventeurs-réalisateurs
October 27th, 2006 at 4:12 pm
Sugus, I don’t understand French, but I think I was able to translate it online. (http://www.freetranslation.com)
Regarding making a kit for Ikea to sell, yes, it would be nice. My father can actually make and sell more of the controller boxes and motor system and provide our cart and track design for people to build themselves. The controls are the most complicated item. Beyond that, anyone who can build a deck can build a track and cart.
As to the security brake question, we don’t have a security brake but we hope to add some more security measures. The remote has an emergency stop button and we have 2 cables (in case one breaks) where we only need one. Dad thinks we should just have a boat anchor to drop and catch on the supports,
Thanks for the complements.
October 27th, 2006 at 4:52 pm
The idea of boat anchor to drop and catch the supports… this kind of security was used on some really primary funicular systems… before the emergency brakes appeared! There was real anchor below the cars of “la Ficelle de la Rue Terme - Croix Rousse” in Lyon en 1862!
The modern emergency brakes are jaws which automatically squeeze the rail in case of overspeed of the car.
Jeff, emergency stop button and double cables are good security but I must tell you that the most recent funicular crashes were due of overspeed of cars which did not have emergency brakes on the cars. The problem was on the drum, for some reasons the cable went out of the pulleys and the car run down… I have never heard of cable ruptures…
L’idée d’une ancre de bâteau à jeter pour s’arrêter en attrapant quelque support, ce type de sécurité a été réellement utilisé sur certains funiculaires très anciens! Il y avait une véritable ancre sous les voitures de la Ficelle de la Rue Terme - Croix Rousse à Lyon en 1862!.
Le système moderne de sécurité consiste maintenant en des mâchoires qui viennent automatiquement serrer le rail en cas de survitesse de la voiture.
Jeff, le bouton STOP et le double câble sont déjà de bonnes sécurités mais je dois dire que les derniers crashs de funiculaires ont été causés par des voitures, sans freins ‘parachute’, en survitesse due à un cble qui était sorti de la poulie! Je n’ai jamais entendu parler d’accident dus à une rupture de câble!
October 27th, 2006 at 5:22 pm
Yes, that is truly one of our concerns. Being a homebuilt funicular, we don’t have the resources to design a speed measuring device to clamp down on the rail. One of the thoughts I had was to to have a center cable run and set taught with the cable running through some kind of holder on the cart. If tension were released, the cart would clamp down on the cable. The trick is to figure out how to determine the lack of tension, since the cable tension is pretty slack when the cart is going down. Or perhaps there should be a manual brake that a rider could hit to lock the cable.
A deadman switch (has to be held down to ride) was considered but ruled out because the cart needs the ability to ride riderless. If a person were to be at the bottom of the hill and want to ride up (or at top when the cart is down), they can hit a button at the bottom to “call” the cart to them.
October 27th, 2006 at 7:52 pm
Jeff, here is an example of an emergency brake system which uses a kind of wooden central balk and a cable which can operate cam shaped grippers which dig into the balk:
http://www.funimag.com/funimag19/CAT03.htm
Hoping it can help you!
Jeff, voici un exemple de frein d’urgence qui utilise une poutre centrale en bois et un câble qui peut actionner un dispositif de crampons qui viennent se ficher dans la poutre en bois pour arrêter la cabine:
http://www.funimag.com/funimag19/CAT03FR.htm
En espérant que cela puisse donner des idées!
October 27th, 2006 at 10:11 pm
Thanks for the link. That is an impressive setup. Although it may be beyond my capability, there are lessons to be learned. Perhaps I can come up with something similar.
I do know that the connection point between the gear box and the spool is an industrial rated coupling. It is not a welded rod, but a very heavy duty coupling. I think its rated for close to 3000 lbs of torque, and are cart shouldn’t have more than 1,000 lbs.
October 28th, 2006 at 9:00 pm
Merci pour la traduction
November 7th, 2006 at 1:42 am
Jeff dit: Merci pour le lien. C’est un dispositif impressionnant. Bien que cela semble être au dessus de mes moyens, il y a des choses à en tirer. Peut être je peux faire quelque chose de similaire. Je sais que la liaison entre la boîte de vitesse et le tambour est un accouplement de type industriel. Ce n’est pas un axe rigide mais une liaison très résistante. Je pense que son couple est environ de 3000 livres et notre chariot ne doit pas dépasser 1000 livres.
February 14th, 2007 at 5:50 pm
Hi
Looking for a company to supply and install a Funicular ith approx. 100 ft incline. Would apprec. any leads.
Thanks in advance
February 14th, 2007 at 5:52 pm
Hi
Looking for a company to supply and install a Funicular with approx. 100 ft incline. Would apprec. any leads. Located in the Kingston Ontario Region
Thanks in advance
February 14th, 2007 at 6:05 pm
Look at
http://www.funimag.com/Funimag-Manufacturers.htm
Cheers
December 14th, 2007 at 5:33 am
How can I obtain plans to build a similar system; who supplied the motor, cable etc.
August 5th, 2008 at 10:14 pm
Would love to get the plans you used to make your beautiful incline system. Is that possible?
August 5th, 2008 at 11:19 pm
jack> I will send you the email address of Jeff Johnson so you will see directly with him for the plans!
September 8th, 2008 at 11:15 pm
Hi,
I am interested in getting Jeff’s email for the plans as well.
We are contemplating building one ourselves.
Thanks,
Liz
September 9th, 2008 at 12:12 am
Hello Liz… I just sent you the Jeff Johnson ’s email!
Please keep me informed of the advancement of your project…
Where is it?
September 10th, 2008 at 3:06 am
Hello,
Would someone be so kind as to provide me with Jeff’s email address. I live in the Santa Cruz mountains in Northern California. Ten years ago I bought the only house I could afford and it came with 108 stairs. It was fine for the last decade but now I have a beautiful wife who is 4 months pregnant and as you might imagine, the stairs are a bit more daunting. I would love to email Jeff about his plans. His funicular seems ideal for my setting. Thanks
Ken Morgan
September 10th, 2008 at 8:59 pm
Ken> I sent you Jeff’s email…. Please keep me inform of your project
September 16th, 2008 at 12:10 am
Just a quick note to any of your readers who would like to purchase a tram and have it installed or are looking for a DIY project. We can accommodate either approach. Pls visit our web site at http://www.lakesidetrams.com
Jack
September 16th, 2008 at 12:12 am
BTW Jeff, great job on the tram. I know Watauga lake and often fish the river around Boone, NC
December 18th, 2008 at 2:56 am
Please add me to the list of people interested in building a tram. I am in British Columbia Canada and have been trying to get it done for years including exploring commercial solutions. Please forward me Jeff’s contact information and/or have him contact me directly.
thank you
December 18th, 2008 at 7:36 am
I am looking for a good source for a cable drum or in ideas for a makeshift or used cable drum to hold approximately 1000 ft of 3/8″ cable. Any leads? Thanks.