Friday, May 13, 2016

Portland, Oregon's aerial tram

At the stop station: Mt Hood is visible in the distance.
Also at the top station with a view of Mt Ranier.
The bottom terminal.
What is generally called an aerial cableway. 

This was opened in 2006 to carry commuters between the city's South Waterfront district and the main Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) campus, located in the Marquam Hill neighborhood. It is one of only two commuter aerial tramways in the U.S., the other being New York City's Roosevelt Island Tramway. 

It consists of two stations and a single intermediate tower. Two gondola cars operate in a pendular mode on parallel track ropes and are pulled in unison by a haul rope which is driven by an engine at the lower terminal; when one car is at the upper terminal, the other is at the lower terminal, and vice versa. 

The lower station is located beside an OHSU facility in the South Waterfront neighborhood, adjacent to a stop on the Portland Streetcar line, which connects the South Waterfront neighborhood with downtown Portland. The two stations are separated by a horizontal distance of 3,300 feet (1 km) and a vertical distance of 500 feet or 152 metres. The maximum vertical clearance between the tram and the ground is 175 feet or 53.4 metres. (Geoff Churchman pics)

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