FUNIMAG, the magazine of the funiculars

The drawbridges of the funicolare San Antonio - Passo Mendola
(Standseilbahn St. Anton - Mendelpass)
Italy
Italy

Text and photos by Michel Azéma

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The funicular

the line

Photo of the entire line.

The length of the line is 2370 meters and goes to the real top of the Mendola Pass. You can see, on the photo, the steepest part (64 %) of the line just before the track disapears thru a tunnel.
The line includes two viaducts and the longest is 100 meters length with 7 archs.

top station
Interesting vue of the top station which shows the new cabin built by Agudio but also the strange stairs which look like terraces. In fact the terraces are divided in five parts which correspond to five waiting queues: one queue for each door of the five compartments of the cabin. But as you see the cabin has only two doors and one compartment! The explanation is that the original cabins built in 1903 were built with five separate compartments. The terraces were built also in 1903 and never modified even when the cabins were replaced by the new ones.

 

Click here to see the horizontal profile of the line (1903)
Line
Click here to see the vertical profile of the line (1903)
Profile
Click here to see the plan (1903) of the top station which is unchanged today. Note the terraces with the queues.
Top station
TECHNICAL DATAS
Status

public

 Current state

 

 Start

1903

End

...

Type of funicular

Type of tracks

Type of energy

Stations

San Antonio (510 m)
Passo Mendola (1365 m)

Length

2370 m

Difference of levels

855 m

Maximum Gradient

64 %

 

 

Menu | Introduction | The drawbridges | How the drawbridges were working | The funicular

Michel Azéma, Paris (France)
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