7 Cool Funiculars

1. Peak Tram Railway, Hong Kong. A nearly mile-long ride to the top of Victoria Peak offers impressive views when the smog abates.

2. The Metro Alpin, Valais, Switzerland. This underground funicular links the Felskinn cable-car station at 9,777 feet on the shore of the Fee Glacier to the Mittelallalin station, at a whopping 11,339 feet in the Penine Alps.

3. The Monongahela Incline, Pittsburgh. The oldest continually operating funicular in the U.S., which opened in 1870, scales Mt. Washington.

4. The Funiculaire du View, Quebec City, Canada. This little funicular, which links the upper part of Old Quebec with the lower part of the Old City, first operated in 1879.

5. Funicular of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland. Since 1899 this funicular has been powered by 3,000 liters of filtered wastewater used as ballast. Talk about green!

6. Lookout Mountain Incline Railway, Chattanooga, Tennessee. Built in 1895, this is one of the world’s steepest funiculars (maximum grade: a scary
73 degrees).

7. The Reiszug, Salzburg, Austria. This private funicular has been lifting goods into Hohensalzburg Castle since 1495.